TO DREAM THE IMPOSSIBLE DREAM

I think I read a little too much Twilight over the break. My family can attest to that but everyone has been bugging me about when I was going to finish the 4th book, Breaking Dawn. I spent Christmas Eve Eve and Christmas Eve (single kids only holiday in the mission home lends a little bit more down time than I am used to) reading that freaking book and all it left me with was a night full of, well...nightmares. Yep.

I woke up in a rotten mood Christmas morning because that dumb story was etched in my subconscious so deep that I had not 1, not 2, not 3, but 4 different dreams throughout the night! Every time I went back to bed after waking up (laughing at myself), I fell right back into the same dream sequence but a different story line. Blah. I just wanted to enjoy my evening. I would have willingly allowed for some great Edward/man-of-my-dreams dreams but not about wolves and vampires coming to destroy the people I love that resulted in a war in my classroom. I am just going to go to bed tonight hoping I dream about saffron rolls because thats all I did/made/thought about/ate all day.

TEACHING CHRONICLES: CHRISTMAS PRESENTS

Who knew that students really give teachers presents? I thought it was just in the movies. I wasn't imagining anything extravagant like a fruit basket from Ralphie but dont worry people, I got much more than that. My kids were bringing me random gifts throughout the last week of school. Here is a sample of what I received:

• free hair cut
• hot chocolate
• little stuffed santa
• 3 ornaments
• lots of Christmas goodie bags
• free lunch at Tucano's (for our faculty Christmas party)
• bag of candy from the seminary teachers
• 2 large mugs
• chocolate orange

Seriously, who knew? I mean I was a teachers pet-ish. Thats probably obvious since I loved school and became a teacher but that certainly doesn't mean I wished them well with presents. No way. And I know its only Saturday (i.e. day 1 of Christmas break) but I love knowing that I don't have to have anything prepared for Monday. I don't have to fake excitement when talking about Madurai Gopuras for the 100th time. Its going to be a good 2 weeks.
Merry Christmas to everyone. I hope you all enjoy your holidays and try and get some skiing in!

NICKNAME: AFFECTIONATE OR OFFENDED

The majority of OJH students call me:
Miss Belly-Bel or Miss Belly-nap

NOVEMBER SHOWERS BRING BIRTHDAY FLOWERS

Well November (aka the greatest month ever) is usually a good one for me because I tend to get older around this time. This November was pretty good in the birthday department. I had a good birthday, got some good presents, saw some great friends, ate some good food, snacked on delicious baked goodies, and got to be with all my students! Whats not to love about that? Well maybe the fact that mom and dad were missing from the whole thing but other than that the day was great.

I have to be honest, I was a little worried that the day would be a bust. I missed momma and daddy, I got some pretty bad news on birthday eve, and I didn't know what the school day had in store for me. Birthday greatness started off the day before with a beautiful delivery of flowers from Joshy. They were so gorgeous! Thank you son, you really don't even know what that did for me. Then I arrived at school on the day of all days - November 20 - and was showered with gifts from my students. That wasn't expected. Here is a candy poster one of my favorite students made for me:I got some very sweet cards, delicious candy, amazing renditions of happy birthday from screaming and off key teenagers, lunch from Janet, flowers from Heidi, balloons from Mom and Dad, Red Mango with my ladies, and kindness from my kids. All in a days work! The flowers and balloons continually being delivered to my room was a little embarassing but just the sweetest things ever. And my kids really were nice to me! They quieted down and sushed each other with "hey, be quiet now because its her birthday. its the only day we have to be quiet."

After school I met up with the fam for a birthday dinner at Spag Fag. I returned home to magic muffins (it was no longer too soon) from Leslie that I literally devoured. I had some friends come and eat cake and ice cream with me. I must thank Leslie, Alisha, Ashton, Chris, Lani, Heather, Jessica, Kyle, all of the brothers, Justin, Laura, Kyle, Chalet, Paul, and my VT for helping me celebrate the big 23! Big thanks to the fam for putting up with me for the last 23 years. You are all the best.

EARTH'S GREATEST WOMAN

No not me folks, my MOMMA! My mother, Elizabeth, is the most amazing woman that has ever graced the human world. Today is her birthday and I want the entire world (because I know the entire world reads this blog) to know that I love her. She is pretty, kind, loving, patient, adorable, beautiful, magnanimous, awesome, smart, funny, precious, and my mom! I wish I could be with her today but she decided to go on a mission instead. I miss her everyday, all day. I love her with all my heart and soul and thats a lot because I have a really big heart people. My mom was born into this world to be a mom. And more importantly, she was born to be my mom. I love you momma. Thanks for being born and also for having me even when daddy wanted to be done having kids. I hope you enjoyed the "Happy Birthday" rendition from my 9th graders. LOVE YOU!

TEACHING CHRONICLES: ESSAY TESTS

I have learned a lot in my first 3 months on the job. One of those I would like to mention right now is on lightening my grading load. The best example I have is when Allison and I got way in over our head by giving an essay test. Bad move. 9th graders + poor writing skill + 4 essays + incoherent babble = total of 10 hours to grade 200 tests. Again, bad move. Allison and I thought for sure we could give them an essay test and they would know how to write. Oh, how wrong we were. They couldn't even answer the questions. Most of them were complete nonsense. Here is a sampling:

"Communism is a classroom based on common overall good ships"
-supposed to be: Communism is a classless society based on common
ownership of goods

"Its like in Utah where they like only sell alcohol with like a .03 percent likker (liquor) and the other states sell .05."
- in an essay comparing Judaism and Islam

Basically, grading them was rough but so funny. I definitely learned my lesson that I can't throw them into an essay test and expect a). that they would be able to produce good writing, b). that I could easily grade them on time (its been 6 weeks and I still have 50 essays left to grade before midterms are due on Tuesday). Oops. I am just figuring this teaching thing out. Can ya tell?

TOO SOON

There are a few things I haven't mentioned on my blog for many reasons but one of them is that it was previously, "too soon." This is a phrase we use in my apartment to describe a situation that we are not ready to expand on, talk about, repeat, or participate in. It works really well. For instance, magic muffins. Leslie makes these delicious magic muffins that I actually worship (and I don't normally like anything that is not chocolate chips or Dasani). Leslie made two batches for our wonderful Disneyland 08 trip. Unfortunately, this ended up being our only source of nourishment for about a day and a half because D-Land rapes you of your money if you want to purchase anything inside the park. Leslie hasn't made magic muffins since our trip because it has just been too soon. So now you understand the essence of "too soon." Let me now move onto a couple topics that have been "too soon" and some of them might still be but we will give it a try.

1. Corey. Yes folks, I am talking about it now. Its fine. I had vowed to not talk about it really, especially to our mutual friends because I didn't want them to feel awkward, mad, or sad. But I was talking to my friend Justin today and he suggested that the only way to move on is to put everything on the table, get over my feelings, and so here I am blogging about it. We were best friends, we dated, we broke up. Thats the reality. Did it brake my heart? Yes. Do I miss him? Yes. Have I been on dates since? Yes and boy are those some interesting stories! Am I over him? No but trying and getting close.

2. Zumba. This one is still too soon in the sense that I still suck at it. Zumba is my new passion thanks to Miss Jensen (my partner in crime - we teach Geography together). She is an amazing teacher and I am so, so grateful I get to work with her (and of course you too Cameo but you need to come to Thursday Zumba). She was in the education program with me at BYU and I followed her to Orem Junior where her aerobic influence enticed me to try out her favorite class: Zumba. Zumba is just a lot of latin dancing to loud latin music. And its really fun and really hard. Cameo and I went a couple months ago and I fell in love. I now kind of stalk Allison and go to all of her Zumba classes I can get my hands on. She even has me listening to Zumba music in my car. Trying to Zumba in the car is quite a challenge but so worth it. Try one of her classes out if you can because I have a testimony of it. I am trying to peer pressure Allison into making a DVD for me because 3 times a week isn't enough. I will keep working on her until I get the result I want. I just need to say that Zumba has changed my life. I have since turned Leslie and Alisha into Zumba junkies as well. Holla Zumba!

3. Grandma. This one is definitely too soon because I can't even talk about. Grammy has cancer for the third time and it is so hard for me to watch. She is the most amazing example of faithful perseverance. Even on her worst days full of vomiting, tears, and a very tired body, she is so happy, kind, and chatty. Nothing can slow her down. I just pray everyday that Heavenly Father can keep her here for a long time because I am selfish. I am not ready to say goodbye. I couldn't go through that with my parents gone. She has surgery in a week to hopefully release her of some of the pain she is in daily. I hope it works and that she can go on with life the way she deserves. I love my grammy and watching her continually fight makes me so grateful. I will never give up on my love of breast cancer because one day, no one will not have to go through what my grammy has.

LAST WEEK I TAUGHT...

GYM. Thats right folks I am a certified gym teacher. Actually not at all certified and trust me, I never will be. I hate sports. But I actually loved teaching gym. It was so easy. Here is how it all went down: The girls gym teacher was out on Friday and a sub never took the job so frantically they needed some of our own OJH staff to cover the classes. I had a prep period on Friday so I got to teach 9th grade girls gym. Wow, what a different world. The girls came in and went straight to the dressing room. As soon as they came out they knew exactly what they should be doing and THEY DID IT. They did their warm ups without being reminded over and over. I never knew students could do things without continually be reminded. Then I took roll, shouted out the teams and they knew what to do, where to go, and how long to play. It was so easy. They just did it. No "loud" hints as to what their behavior should be because. I was so pleased with the situtation that Miss Belnap even got "dizzown in the gizzym" (as one of the girls said) by playing volleyball with them in my 5 inch heels. It was great. Well, except for the whole having to play a sport thing. That I will never do again. But man, gym is seriously an easy gig. No long essay tests to write or grade. The sub plan was a short line telling me thanks for subbing, not a two page summary on the lesson and warnings on their horrible behavior. No. Those are just things a history teacher has to deal with. Well crap. I chose the wrong. I guess I am going to start fake liking sports and change up my teaching certificate. Easy is going to be my middle name.

TEACHING CHRONICLES: OJH DANCE

I am the luckiest woman in all the land because of what I got to witness last week. Thursday after school was the Halloween Dance at Orem Junior. The social studies department has been in kind of a funk lately but I think this really pulled us out of it (Well that was until we had to face our rowdy and rambunctious kids on Halloween. That was just awful trying to teach them). I got to see what I have been waiting all year for: "the junior high slow dance." Best thing to ever happen to me, hands down. All of you who chose professions outside of the public school system are now regretting your decisions because I get to see tweenagers try to make feelings and emotions not awkward in such an awkward environment. Cameo and I went to "supervise" together and just stood against the wall laughing, laughing, laughing. Honestly it was the best time ever. Kids kept coming up to us in what I would classify as an attempt to remove themselves from the ongoings of the dance. Another great part of this day was the group of male students who came into my classroom early that day to practice and show me the dance sequence they had choreographed. It was like Ross and Monica's Rockin Eve dance meets Blades of Glory. Watching those kids perform it at the dance was just too precious to put into words. Unfortunately, as I mentioned, the glimmer of happiness did not last long because dealing with these kids on Halloween was so hard. I showed Hocus Pocus for the last 10-15 minutes in my geography classes and the one time the principal decides to come into my room, we have Hocus Pocus playing. I wanted to die. Way to make a good impression Miss Belnap. I promise I don't suck as a teacher. I was just desperate and needed a way to contain them without causing bodily trauma to myself and my students. We (Allison, Cameo, Ashley) did go out for Red Mango after school on Halloween. It has kind of become the winding down technique of the social studies clan.

I heart junior high dances, Allison, & Cameo (not necessarily in that order)

FANNY PACKS ARE TOTALLY IN RIGHT NOW

If you didn't know that fanny packs have made huge comeback then you are absolutely out of the loop. I found this ever so stylish fanny pack on one of my many breast cancer paraphernalia sites. If they make it, they also make a breast cancer version of it. This really is true. They have everything like breast cancer dishes, clothing, jewelry, appliances, cars, lunch bags, Christmas ornaments, and even for Jaimee: pashminas. Since October is already half over, you need to hurry and check out all the breast cancer sites I have listed to the right. I mean you can do that all year round but its like listening to Christmas music in April - its never as awesome.

RANDOM LIFE STORY: CATTLE SHOOT

Behind the milk house on the family farm was an old, rusty, green cattle shoot. The total lack of friends/neighbors when I was a little kid is what led me to spend my summer days playing in said cattle shoot. Honestly, it was so much fun. I would mess around with all the levers and tools that opened and closed the shoot. Sometimes I would even climb in there and close myself in. This was not as much fun as when I could find a sibling or cousin to play with me and I could put one of them in the cattle shoot. Growing up on a farm with all my family around was the best way to do it. What other kids get to play their days away entertaining themselves with a cattle shoot, climbing a silo, hiding in a milk house, being terrified of a chicken coop, riding horses, climbing trees, or canoeing on a pond? I don't know of many others. I think I owe a shout out to mom and dad for raising me right. Thanks!

SINCE YOU ALL WANT VISUAL PROOF

Please refer to my sister Heidi's blog (found on my blog list to the right) for some good pictures of my brother's (and favorite sibling) wedding. It was a good event but it felt really weird without dad there. FYI to all the young, handsome, college grad, single dudes out there that read my blog: you will have to marry me in Washington. Thanks. Welcome to the Belnap world Holly. Good luck because you already know we are weird.

TAKEN A LIKING TOWARDS MACS

I am blogging from a MacBook people. Thats right! Its about time I upgraded to one of these fine machines. I just wanted to make all of you (but not Leslie) jealous who are still awaiting the death of your PC to buy a little Apple love. It is so pretty and white and pretty and skinny and white and light and pretty. I owe a big thanks to Alisha for teaching me the way of the Mac. I need a lot of help from her and Leslie on how this thing even works. I am new to all of this. School may have been absolutely awful today but I don't care because it ended well with a Mac in my hands. I might have to become one of those worksheets and videos teachers so I can spend my days playing with my new friend. Speaking of my new friend (the Mac), what should I name it? Any suggestions?

TIS THE SEASON

Its finally October folks and do you know what that means? It is NATIONAL BREAST CANCER AWARENESS MONTH! Yeah! This is better than Christmas, this is the real "season." Be sure to check out the links I have on this blog to some good BC sites.

This is a really interesting BC month for me for many reasons. My grandmother is battling this disease again for the 3rd time. She is such a trooper, it is amazing. She drove all the way down to Provo by herself in the middle of a treatment period to come to my graduation. It meant the world to me - she means the world to me. I also have a student whose mother died of breast cancer 3 months ago. She is the most precious individual. She had to come to picture day in tears because she didn't have a mom at home to help her pick out an outfit and do her hair. Nobody should face that reality. I brought her a little gift pack of BC paraphernalia a couple weeks ago and she just lit up at the thought that someone else cares and kind of understands. She is a gem and I know she was put into my class for a reason - to have a friend who cares. This year I live with Alisha whose mother had breast cancer. They worship awareness at their house too and celebrating this month with her makes it pretty special as well.

Be sure to stop by Nordstrom or Macey's to pick up some free breast cancer pink ribbons. Wear them in support of someone you know who has dealt with this disease in their life (if you are reading this and you know me then thats someone you know already...kind of a stretch but it works). When you are at the grocery store and see an item with the pink ribbon on it, buy it because that small purchase automatically donates money to the cure. And let me tell you people, we WILL find a cure! Tis the Season!

TEACHING CHRONICLES

I have been a teacher for about 5 weeks now. These have been the longest 5 weeks of my life. I never knew why people loved weekends so much but Saturday really is a gift from the heavens. Now I haven't actually enjoyed a real "Saturday" because I have been at the junior high every weekend trying to stop from drowning in an ocean of new teacher woes. There are so many stories that I would love to force all of you to read but I do not have the time nor the will power to do so. But here is a glimpse into my daily routine now.

• 6:05 am: wake up angry (mornings are not really my thing)
• 7:20 am: leave for work and enjoy my 15 minute drive while trying to pump myself up for the day ahead of me
• 7:40 - 8:10: try and get my day in order and water my plant (the most beautiful plant ever that my mom and dad sent me on my first day of school and I haven't managed to kill yet)
• 8:15 - 11:30: something along the lines of teaching kids
• 11:30 - 12:00: adult interaction for the day with lunch in the faculty room
• 12:00 - 2:45: again, some more of that teaching stuff with a little yelling here and there
• 2:45 - 6-ish: meetings (faculty meetings, district meetings, accommodations meetings, collaboration meetings, curriculum meetings...) help students after school, planning, making copies, grading, organizing, etc.
• 7:00pm: usually arrive home around this time with little or no energy
• 7:30 - 10:00: attempt to socialize with my friends that I never see anymore, do some more lesson planning, make my roommates and friends help me grade, get crap done for my calling, eat something that resembles a meal, internet and read my daily email from Glenn Beck, and literally crawl into bed and fall asleep no later than 11 because the 200 kids in my life have taken all the life out of me!

And yes, I did have a student call me Babe today. That did not go over well.

BLACKLISTED PART II

Due to recent events the following items are currently blacklisted until further notice:

Pier 49 Pizza
Taylorsville
Spaghetti Factory
Kiwanis Park
Page, Arizona
People who wear bright orange shirts
Thai Kitchen
Lagoon
Ute Fans
6th East in Provo
Wii
Arby's
Driving to Disney Land
Macey's
Leatherby's
Corvettes
8th North Orem Sonic
B4 (one of my 7th grade classes)

I SHOT MORE GAME THAN I COULD CARRY

I love the Oregon Trail game but frankly, who doesn't? Its awesome. As I visited Washington/Oregon to see my parents, I was reminded of the glorious game that aided in my childhood awkwardness and obesity. As you can tell from the post below, my parents really like me and even more so, my dad likes taking me places that only the two of us would find interesting. Well another stop on our trail was the real Oregon Trail. Dad and I went to the Whitman Mission National Historic Site (if you want to hear the story of the Whitmans I will tell you because its pretty cool) and stood right on the trail. There was even this old wagon still on the trail. Some people are pretty lazy I guess because they've had like 150 years to finish the trek, geez. Anyway, it was pretty fun to see, especially with my inquisitive history buff dad.

MORE CORN

I like to know things about the world around me, how things work, why things are the way they are, etc. One of many "Ashley wonderings" was how they get corn off the cob. Do they pluck out each individual kernel? I didn't know but now I do. I asked me dad about this great puzzle and he actually had an answer for me - a visual answer. My awesome dad arranged for me to visit a processing plant in Weston, OR. One of the stake presidents in his area runs the plant and he gave me a personal tour of the entire place.

We got to see corn go from the fields to a frozen bag of Western Family corn right before our eyes. It was amazing. To get the juicy details on how it all works you will have to talk to me in person so I can show you some great pictures from inside the factory. Really guys, I know I am a nerd but this was amazing. I learned that it takes 45 minutes to freeze a cob of corn (and the freezer room was really cold) but it only takes 7 minutes for cut corn to freeze. Another thing I learned was how to grade corn and peas. There are grades A, B, and C for corn and to tell which one it is you squeeze an individual kernel to look at the liquid that is expelled. Depending on the color and consistency of that one kernel, you can grade an entire crop. Amazing.

We also got to see where the plant does carrots and peas and silage. This place was so full of all this crazy technology like red laser corn scanners that can tell if a single kernel of corn is not up to par. Yeah, crazy. We also got to eat a cob of corn while touring that President Brown just picked of the assembly line and gave it us. It was so cool. Thanks dad for giving me your inquisitive nature and taking me to see the corn, I loved it!!!

IF IT AINT BAROQUE DON'T FIX IT

Well folks, it is "Baroque" and by that I mean my toe. The extremely clever blog title is actually an art history joke that you lesser humans just wouldn't understand. Anyway, the point of this post is not to let you all know how smart I am, it is to make you all feel bad for me. I experienced a very painful "tripping" incident on Saturday that resulted in this:

Do you feel bad for me yet? You should! I would put a picture up of what my foot looks like without the bandage but I don't think you want to see it. Personally, I haven't even seen what it looks like because bodily trauma is not my thing. But the nasty description I got from my family and seeing the toenail that the doctor removed was enough. Heidi and Josh helped me to the ER where the doctor (who reminded me very much of Sydney Herring, the uber-happy doctor on Grey's Anatomy) tied on a tourniquet and injected two needles into my very tender toe. I will spare you anymore details other than to say it's seriously messed up and my little nail may never grow back. The most horrifying part of this whole ordeal is that I love my toes. You can ask anyone what my favorite body part is and toes will be the reply. In fact I was just having a conversation with Corey the other day about how pretty my feet are and how I have perfect toes. He even agreed with me and if you know us, we don't agree on much. Now many of you may be wondering how this actually occurred. I cannot tell you because I do not know. All that happened was that I slipped while stepping into the pool and I was holding my nephew Bennett. The next thing I knew I was in utter agony while my family looked on with disgusted faces at what was left of my beautiful middle toe.

GYM

Usually I go to the gym in the afternoon but today I went early because I am leaving on vacation today. Well I can say now that I hate the morning gym crowd. They are all real lame-wads. Morning gym people are not the people that go to show off in their slutty attire or crazies that don't sweat an ounce; they are worse. They are people with the will and energy to work out. Its a totally different feeling in the morning. All the people were already skinny and toned. And then I was there with the Belnap Flush (awkwardly red cheeks) shining brightly at about mile 2. Yeah, you could say I stood out a little. I look forward to my return to the afternoon crowd. More of my people, the lazier gym-goer if you will.

"THE POLICE? A REUNION!"

I can die happy now because I saw the Police reunite on stage for an hour and a half of insane musical bliss. The concert was great. The Police were great. The company was great. Wow, it was just really great. A slew of the Belnap clan (Jaimee, Jen, Heidi, Cousin, Nadler) along with Laura and Kyle enjoyed the show together. Jaimee was there pseudo pole dancing with her cane trying to seduce Sting and I think it worked. It was hilarious. We missed Josh and Lindsay and Mark who were supposed to attend but they could not make. Sorry guys, the concert was pretty good and a once in a lifetime chance. They did this amazing rendition of Wrapped Around Your Finger. It was probably my favorite song of the night.

PS - for those of you who don't see the quote from Friends in this post, you are lame because its one of the greatest moments from the whole series (hint: Pheobe)

CLASS LISTS

Class lists came in last week and I sat with the social studies department as they went through them. The purpose in doing this was because they (the teachers that have been at OJH for a while) wanted to see some very specific students and who got stuck with them. This is about how the conversation went:

Allison: "Who has Betty?"

Kathy: "Betty who? Oh, Betty. How could I forget??"

Cameo: "Oh no, Allison you have Betty."

Allison: "Okay. As long as I don't have Mary."

(long pause as they search for Mary)

Cameo: "Sorry Ashley."

Me: "I don't think I want Mary."

Lets just say that looking at the class lists was not a fun ordeal for me as they would come upon a student that they were sorry to say was in my class. Oh crap. Hopefully the students don't drive me to insanity. But honestly, I am really excited. I'm sure it doesn't seem like it but whatever they give me, I can handle. I will take it like a teaching champ because thats what I am.

GLENN DOESN'T LIE

My beloved Glenn Beck came to Utah on two separate occasions in celebration of July 4th. He put it best on his blog after giving his amazing Freedom Speech:

"We just took off from the Provo Utah airport. I just finished giving the keynote address at the Freedom Festival’s Patriotic Service. WOW. There is nothing like the way this state celebrates America. It is truly different here. It is more like the America I remember as a kid."

Glenn said Utah is the most patriotic and Glenn doesn't lie. I know he would have been blown out of the water had he spent the 4th of July in Kaysville because hands down, KAYSVILLE 4th RULES ALL! And I don't lie about the sacredness that is the 4th. Let me give you all a little taste of the 4th in K-town.

It starts with the Chuckwagon Breakfast put on by the mayor and the city council. There are pancakes, eggs, breakfast meats that I don't partake of, juice, and friends. You always dodge a couple people and you always hug a couple people. The person I love seeing most at the Chuckwagon is Hannah Watkins, well the whole Watkins clan actually.

After lazily eating 3 huge pancakes and chatting in the baking sun, we saunter down the street to stake our place for the parade. The Kaysville parade is the highlight of the day. I can't explain to you how amazing it is unless you come. I love it when I bring outsiders in the for the first time because they are seriously blown away at how awesome our little town is. At the parade you get to see people you know and then they throw candy and treats to you. Its fantastic. The best part of the parade for me is the Davis High marching band. Love 'em! After the hour long parade of wonder, there is a water parade that will cool you off really well. I'm a little too high maintenance for that so I don't usually participate because lets face it: I will not get ready twice in one day.

After the parade comes a day of BBQ and napping. Good food, good people, good sleep, good town. Perfect. Around 9 pm we head up to DHS for the firework show. You wouldn't think a little town could produce serious greatness with fireworks but we can! The show is about 30 minutes long and you get to lay right under the fireworks so you can kind of feel them exploding in your chest. Its the best feeling. Corey came up for the fireworks and I will admit he had a little sour attitude. He didn't see why it was so important for me to have him there. Then he saw the fireworks show and got how amazing it all is. So he is off my hate list because he made it and he loved it.

To sum up my lengthy piece on how fantastic the 4th of July is in Kaysville, I will leave you all with a few pictures. Enjoy. And don't get jealous that where ever you spent your 4th was lame and mine was awesome. Sorry, its just how Kaysville does it.

RANDOM LIFE STORY: NEWSPAPER ROUTE

My friend Hollie tagged me on her blog but I don't have anything interesting to say like she did so here is my version of it. I will fill you guys in on a little job the two of us had: a newspaper route. We were probably 13 years old when we decided this was a good idea. We delivered a free community newspaper (The Davis County Clipper) to two trailer parks in Layton. Yeah, scary. I think we made .5 cents for every paper we delivered and that turned out to be about $25 dollars a month each.

Our first day on the job, the first paper thrown was by Hollie but she was a little over zealous and broke the plastic/glass window on the trailer. That was funny because it took our first paycheck to pay for it. Sad. Well we loathed Thursdays because thats when we had our route. One Thursday in particular we did not want to deliver all 200+ papers so we came up with the idea to throw about 50 of them in the big construction dumpster in her neighborhood. That was a great idea because we finished our route in about 40 minutes! Good idea Hollie.

Anyway, to say the least it was a very interesting first job. It got so interesting in the trashy Layton trailer park that Hollie's cop dad had to come with us, armed one time because the trailer trash hated us. We didn't last too long but it was fun, something to keep us busy, and quite a story for you folks.

LEMONADE STAND

The other day Lindsay, Josh, and I were driving in a very, very nice neighborhood in Holladay. What we found was appalling. Gone are the days of the old school lemonade stand on the side of the road. The lemonade stand we found was stainless steel with a cooler built into it. No homemade parts of any kind. Not even the lemonade! The brat kids whose trust funds are more than I will ever make in ten lifetimes were out there selling cans of Country Time Lemonade. Can you believe it? Not only was this lemonade stand offensive to my childhood and kids' imaginations but there were actually people buying this crap. There were about 5 people waiting to purchase their $2 can of lemonade. Gees.

1 YEAR ANNIVERSARY / 4 YEAR ANNIVERSARY

One year ago today marks the beginning days of my parents leaving for their mission. June 17 was their farewell. That was a good - with mixed emotions - Sunday. They both gave great talks, along with Elder Madsen. We had a great afernoon at home after church with all of the family. Later that week they were set apart at the Church Administration Building by President Packer and Elder Christofferson. Poor Joshie had surgery just the day before plus emotions were so high, it made for a rough but amazing day. Then mom and dad spent one week at the MTC. The day they left for the MTC was so hard. Lucky for me though, I got to visit them everyday because I was here in Provo. We had a lot of good times. Then on June 28 they left us for good for the Washington, Kennewick Mission. Happy 1 year anniversary President and Sister Belnap. Its definitely been a hard year without you here but I know you are where you should be. Only 743 days to go!

Me and momma after their farewell

The day mom and dad left for the MTC

Today also marks the 4 year anniversary of meeting Jessica and Ashton, my college soulmates. Here is a shout out to them. I love you both. Hopefully we can enjoy the next four years just as much!

My besties

RANDOM LIFE STORY: BEAVERS

Yesterday I was outside in Provo Canyon when a huge flashback hit me: Beavers. The smell of beavers was in the air. For the fortunate readers of this blog who are from Kaysville, you will understand what I mean by this. It was mix between home+wet wood+stream+outdoors. Thats what beavers smell like and thats what I smelled yesterday.


For those of you who are lost let me fill you in on a few things. I was raised in Kaysville, UT on a "farm." Behind my house there is a field and on the other side of that field is a beaver farm. Marion Rouche, our neighbor and friend, had the beaver farm which included about 30 small cement houses with 5 to 7 beavers in each of them. Going to visit the beavers, petting them, and feeding them was a very special, important, interesting, and fun part of my childhood. I loved when daddy would take us down there to see the beavers. What kid gets to go play with beavers? Probably not many.

Don't all go getting jealous because you too can visit beavers one day if you are lucky (except for Leslie and Corey because they are lame and don't think it would be fun). Just go to Kaysville and enjoy. Oh, while you are there you should probably go to Grannie's and get a scone and cinnamon roll for the road. They're mo-licous (which means MOre than delicious).

Josh and I had a good time remembering some beaver stories in the car so I decided that I will occasionally post about random stories from my past that are unique, weird, and probably only interesting to me. Enjoy.

JAGUAR

I'm a Jaguar now!!! I will be teaching at Orem Junior High School next year! I could go on and on with exclamation points because no one will ever understand how excited I am. This is going to be such a good job and I am so happy. After 6 different interviews I knew I was going to find the perfect fit. My interview here lasted 2 hours people! I chatted with the entire social sciences department for over an hour on topics ranging from kids, discipline, marriage, Nordstrom, Diet Coke (the supposed drink from the Gods for teachers but I think I will stick with Dasani). I mean we just talked about everything and they were all so nice. The best part is that I walked into the classroom and there was my friend Allison Jensen from my program at BYU. She also got hired on for next year so I get to work with her! She is one of the most amazing people I have ever met (she actually lived next door to Grandma and Grandpa in Germany). I will do a few things over the summer with the social sciences department and my first required day with the district is August 11! I am so happy, nothing can get in my way. I hope everyone can have their dreams and goals all come together like mine just have. My dream was simple: to teach junior high. Here I am seizing it! I have to give a shout out to my mom and dad and friends and family who coached me through this long waiting period. Love to you all.

CERTIFIED SCHOLAR

HUGE DEAL: I passed the Praxis test!!! That's right folks, I can now graduate and be a teacher. For those of you who are not schooled in the hell that is the Praxis test I will inform you. As part of No Child Left Behind (which I have serious issues with), teachers now have to take an exam in their content area before they can graduate and before they can teach. Well I had to take the history Praxis test which is not hard...it is super hard. The test is 120 question of pure awful. There are study guides for almost every content area except history so you just kind of have to learn everything from forever ago to today. Thats thousands and thousands and thousands and thousands of years people!

I spent days just reading everything I could get my hands on about history, particularly ancient world history as that is a black hole in my knowledge pool. I woke up at 6:30am on SATURDAY March 15 (Josh's birthday) to trek it up to BYU campus to take my test at 7. The test took 2 hours and the questions were really hard. They have free reign to ask you anything, literally anything that has ever happened in the world. Dates, art, rulers, civilizations, periods, wars, dynasties, people, acts, bills, and anything inbetween. And trust me, they asked me all of that crap.

The complete torture that was the Praxis test lasted for 5 weeks after taking it while I awaited my scores. I was physically ill as I curled in a ball in my closet debating whether or not I should even open up my results. Good thing I did because I passed hard core. So if any of you are looking to give someone a gift for how awesome they are, you can save some time figuring out who that should be and send it my way. This test kicked my trash but I kicked it right back passing (not to be cocky), by a large margin!

GRANDMA AND THE RACE

As I am sure many of you know, my obsession with breast cancer started because of my Grandma Belnap. She developed breast cancer twice, years apart from each other. I don't remember her first battle but the second I do remember as I watched her go from one boob to zero , loose her hair, go through chemo, and still be as funny as ever. She came out of the second bout with cancer and has been an extremely healthy (not including the knee replacement) and active grandma.

She inspired me to want to do something so I did. About five years ago I just started reading everything I could about breast cancer and during my sophomore year at BYU I heard about the 3Day. I automatically signed up and pledged that I would raise nearly $3000.00. This didn't seem like it was going to be too hard but little did I find out that raising money in a poor college town with poor college students all around is not the easiest task. After this point I became addicted and dedicated to breast cancer. The theme of my 22 birthday party was breast cancer.

This Saturday (May 10) four of the Belnap kids - Heidi, Lindsay, Josh, Ashley - will participate in the RACE FOR THE CURE in Salt Lake. This race means a little bit more because I just found out that my grandma's breast cancer metastasized and she is know fighting bone cancer that has spread throughout her body, including her lungs. She's a fighter though so lets hope she still has that in her.

I could really use my parents right about now as a lot of crap has been piling up in my life between family (grandma, Jaimee breaking her leg, worrying about mom and dad) school (graduating, finding a job, being a grown up, knowing enough to teach, being a good teacher) and then theres the Corey issue (always a constant in my life but now a much more interesting twist in our friendship). I think I just need to take a vacation from my life and that vacation needs to be in Lake Powell.

GLENN BECK

This is long overdue. I love Glenn Beck. He and I are kindred spirits politically, humorously, and spiritually. This man owns my life weeknights from 7-8 pm with his CNN Headline News program. Leslie and I are his biggest groupies. Yeah thats right, Glenn Beck has groupies.

For those of you who are not subscribed to his daily emails, don't frequent the Glenn Beck website, or if you don't even know who I am talking about I will give you some Glenn info. Glenn started as a regular radio DJ in Connecticut and worked his way through brilliance and charm to a nationally syndicated radio show. In 2006, CNN gave him his own primetime news show and he has been blessing the lives of American homes ever since. He is a comedian/news anchor/genius/conservative/political analyst/economist/future president/Mormon. Basically Glenn Beck has it all. We see eye to eye on a lot of issues concerning the presidential election, the economy, oil, McCain not being a true conservative, polygamy raids, and cats (Glenn thinks that people who have more than 3 cats should be committed).

I first knew I was in love with Glenn when I saw his program right after President Hinckley died. I was already a Beck fan but my love jumped to a whole new level. You should check out his tribute to President Hinckley on youtube. Also look at his website and the wikipedia article (copy and paste the links because I am too lazy to hyperlink them). He came from drug addict to Mormon, what a champ you are Glenn! Please let me be on your show!!!


President Hinckley tribute:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z58eHBnEHhk

Mitt Romney on Glenn Beck = dream team:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jN36O_l9xGg&feature=related

Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glenn_Beck

Glenn Beck website
http://www.glennbeck.com/index.php

TAKE THE MEN AWAY

No, the title is not in regards to the men in my life, it is actually about the stupid Eldorado, TX polygamists. Just freaking take the men away. This is my theory and I don't think its an uneducated one (I took an entire class on Polygamy here at the BYU). Granted, my idea is only possible in a perfect world where there would be enough man power and no loop holes in the law. So I think authorities need to go in and arrest those who perpetuate of the whole polygamy issue, the men. Start with all bigamists 18 and older. They are clearly breaking the laws of plural marriage and I'm sure most of them are married to freaking 12 year olds too. If the men are taken away, who are all the crazy women going to marry? Well no one. Perfect.

There are a few problems like what do you do with the hundreds of women and children left on every polygamist colony. Hopefully the women can get really high paying jobs at butter churners or something. I just cannot understand how men in Polygamists groups can walk around free. There is a large polygamist colony just 20 or 30 miles south of Provo. Everybody knows about yet nobody does anything about it. How can that be? If police knew there was a meth lab at a particular house they wouldn't let it just sit there, they would put a stop to it and arrest them.

Also, this is just a side note. The Eldorado FLDS group broke away from the Church over one issue: the revelation to end polygamy. They didn't believe that it really came from God but from a people who just wanted to be accepted by the rest of America. Well how can you believe that one prophet can have a revelation to start doing something and not believe that another prophet can have a revelation to stop doing something? Weird-o's.

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

Or should I say thoughtful food? Yes, thats exactly it. My dear sweet Lani who is busier than any person I know brought me a get-ready-for-finals-I-dont-have-food-I-need-food-Lani-is-so-thoughtful bag of goodies with a note as well. The best part is, if she hadn't brought that bag-o-fun then I wouldn't have had dinner, seriously. The even better part is that there was a banana and bottled water, two things I was really needing at the time! But the sweetness doesn't stop there because I wasn't the only recipient of the goodie bag. I feel like a douche.

I know this is way random but I need to send a shout out to Sarah Crane. Sarah, I "heart" you. I was just looking through my pictures when I saw this one and it made me so happy.

IS THIS FOR SHIZZLE?

You all know that I am a fan of celebrity gossip and I am a fan of the church but when the two mix it just doesn't fit. Can this be for real? According to the following CNN LINK it is. Is it just an April Fool's gone crazy far? I have no comment because I am so shocked/confused/baffled/curious/unsure. Decide for yourself.

NEW: check out this link from People on the same freaking story!

SHOUT OUT

Dear Socky Sockerson,

I was really impressed by you today. Strutting your stuff all around campus without a care in the world, wow. Anyone who can wear shorts, ankle socks, and flip flops deserves a shout out in my opinion. Good luck with the rest of life because I think you'll need it.

Love, Judgey Judgerson

EVIDENCE OF FUN HAD @ D-LAND

Adventureland

Honey I Shrunk the Kids 3D

The castle that I absolutely thought was all white but I was very wrong

Josh again with his man crush Corey but this time its a little more incriminating

Waiting in line for our first ride - the Matterhorn

One of my favorite parts was playing in this huge jungle tree house

Tea cups with Lani

Really happy to find a bathroom and no we didn't plan to match

Disneyland is hard, sometimes you just need a little help getting to the next ride

DISNEYLAND '08

Well I just had the most whirlwind trip of my life and let me tell you what a great idea it was. We - Leslie, Alisha, Heather, Lani, Jessica, Josh, Corey, and I - drove down to Vegas and got there late Friday night. After everyone got 3 hours of sleep (except for me and Lani who didn't sleep at all) we got up to start our drive to the happiest place on earth. We drove from 4 am - 9 am and finally arrived in Disneyland.

We spent a magical day there in the SUN! Thats right folks it was warm and I can't even explain to you how much I deserved the sunshine. After the last 5 months of walking to school everyday in freezing cold and usually snow, I DESERVED THE SUNSHINE! At one point Leslie, Corey, and I ended up standing by a line (no, not in the line, by the line because we decided it was too long) sweating to death in the hot sun. But we were all okay with it because we knew we had to appreciate it while we could.

I hadn't been to Disneyland in well over 15 years and I only had 3 previous memories

1. eating a churro that tasted delicious
2. a train rollercoaster
3. Honey I Shrunk the Kids

Now I have tons of funny, happy, and tiring memories of my trip and Disneyland.

Because of my limited knowledge of the park I didn't realize that lines were long and rides were short. But I am still sticking to the fact that it was so worth it! My favorite ride of all was my previous memory # 2, Thunder Mountain. I loved it because I love Western history. We rode through a red rock mountain, saw prospectors and miners, and we were on a train (which being a conductor is my dream job). The funniest part was Josh getting absolutely drenched on Splash Mountain. I mean water was drippig off of him. Fortunately it was our last ride but unfortunately it was at night so he was freezing and angry.

There are just a million stories and memories that if you ever see me laughing alone at nothing in particular, I am laughing about those. Leslie and I have only been home a couple of hours and have found each other in laughing fits many times. Some of those memories include an asolutely awful 5 hour drive back to Vegas after a full day of play and no sleep the night before, hand puppets, getting lost in the car, Heather's shirt, little kids being terrified of Corey, losing Lani, being with my brother, Corey driving the Jeep, Alisha's fantastic and kind family, and just having a weekend away!

Momma, I will post some pictures tomorrow for you! Oh and happy Easter everyone!

TEACHING FAIR LUNCH

Another fair, another lunch. Today was the teacher fair at BYU and while it was actually really important for my future, one of the best parts was free lunch. By lunch I mean mini candy bars, water, fruit, and cookies.

But the swag at the teacher fair totally trumped the housing fair. I got a gazillion pens, 7 markers, 1 frisbee, 3 calenders, 2 post-it pads, and 0 jobs. Before you all go out feeling bad and awkward that I didn't get a job, its okay. I still have another year before they can hire me as as a solo teacher, not a BYU contracted teacher.

I also got to see a lot of my school friends that are out doing student teaching right now. They looked like they had aged and been through a war. That is their analogy, not mine. Yes, thats what one of them referred to student teaching as. The short release they got for the teacher fair was well earned. Oh, I just can't wait to get all teacher haggered and come home with pencils and paper in my hair. Yeah, its gonna be great.

CURRENT EVENT: JOSH

We had a fun weekend celebrating Josh's birthday but of course he was typical Josh and didn't really want to do anything or tell anyone. After a lot of coercing, he let me take a few photos. I had to pull the "mom is so far away and so upset that she couldn't see you" trick to get these pictures. So momma, you better appreciate what I did for you.

At dinner the night of Joshie's birthday. We had a ward etiquette dinner that he insisted on going to. Doesn't his tan line look great?

This is Joshie's dapper look. The girl is his date, Brittany.

I made Joshie some cupcakes for his birthday. After an awkward rendition of Happy Birthday he blew out the candles beautifully. Doesn't he look like Grandpa Larry here?

I am sorry to have to be the one to tell you this mom but Josh likes boys. Corey is one of his man crushes. This was taken after we all ate our weight at Chuck-A-Rama for yet another birthday celebration.

Josh I hope you had an okay birthday. I would never wish for you to have a great one because you don't care anyway. I would like to send a shout out to our brother Stephen. Happy birthday on Tuesday!

I WAS SORRY

Dear Leslie,

I ate all the strawberries.

Love, Ashley

I'M A BIG KID NOW

I am a panicky, nauseous, nervous, vexed, sick to my stomach, insomniac who can't eat because of the nervous nelly butterflies. This is how I have been feeling lately due to my new circumstances in life: adulthood. Man isn't growning up great? I have been on the interviewing circuit for a teaching job at juniors highs and I have to say that it wasn't as bad as I thought. I went into my first interview wishing I was back in junior high as a student and that is an awful thought. Luckily I am not a teenager again, I am just fighting tooth and nail with other contenders to be their fearless leader. I have three more interviews to go and there are about 12 people battling for each job so I am not feeling too confident. Hopefully the principles and interviewing panels will just pick me because I am absolutely always the cutest dressed candidate. Wish me luck people because I really need a job and teaching is all I want in this world.

Dont ever become "that guy"

This afternoon I was quietly studying for my midterm in a quiet nook of the JFSB. No one is talking around me, there is just the beautiful silence of minds hard at work all studying for the test that might push them over the edge. I was getting some really good study time in and was actually quite focused until "that guy" came walking up and plopped himself in the chair next to me.

He was on his phone so I already wanted to kill him. I gave him the death stare of, "duh, can't you tell this is a place where no one is talking but you and we can all hear what you are saying to Steve on the other line." So not only is he talking but he wasn't even doing the I-am-at-school-on-the-phone-whisper. Once he finally figured out the schedule for his scuba diving class he pulled it out of his back pack: a nasty A meal in gross tupperware - and a plastic fork.

But I also forgot to mention that my dear friend has a breathing problem, meaning he was just breathing. But his breathing is special because he sounded like a freaking lion in heat. It was insane but he wasn't even sick, I know that was just his regular breathing regimine. Well his meal smelled like a junior high boys locker room and apparently the breathing gets worse when he's trying to eat. I grabbed what I could in 3 seconds, didn't even bother backing up, just carried everything I own and took off speed walking down the hall to get away from the loud Breather/Talker/UglyHair/SmellyFood/Tupperware dude.

Grape Diet Coke

Last night was the first Sonic Run of the year. Well at least it was going to be until we got there at approximately 12:07 a.m. and they were closed! WTF? Since when do they close that early? Anyway I really needed a Grape Diet Coke but I guess that will have to wait. For those of you who just read Grape and Diet Coke together, yes its true. It is the best combination that man has created. If you have never had one, even if you dont like DC because I dont normally either, you will love this. It is mostly attributed to the fact that grape is the best flavor on earth. Go RIGHT NOW and get one. You will be thanking me for years to come.

Hefty Month of Birthdays

February, a month I used to loathe. Now I have a beam of happiness shining in this crappy month to brighten my life. This is tied to the birth of the greats: Josh Groban and Lucy (my beach cruiser). Corey's birthday is also in this month but he just one of my greats, not everyone else's. Josh and Lucy actually share the same Birthday, February 27th. This is also Josh's golden birthday so we are going to celebrate hard core. Leslie and I are going to throw a little party - and by little I mean just the two of us watching Josh in concert DVDs with our Josh T-shirts on - for our angelic singing boyfriend. Lucy is turning 2, so now that she is getting older and might remember her birthdays, we have to start making them special. I have been hunting on ebay for some new Pom Poms but haven't had any luck yet. I just wanted to send a shout out to my peeps Josh, Lucy, Corey, and we should probably include LaVar Burton whose birthday is also this month (Feb. 16). Reading Rainbow was the shiz so he can't go unnoticed.

Housing Fair Lunch

I know I am not conservative when it comes to spending money but I really hate buying food, especially when I am on campus. Three days a week I am on campus from 9am - 7pm. These days I am forced to purchase food (aka vending crap) and I get so mad that I am wasting money when I could be saving all that for the new "A" pocket Sevens.

Anyway, I was roaming campus today and found the best substitute for buying lunch: the housing fair. I was on the phone with my sister Lindsay when I told her about my brilliant plan to gather the free treats from the fair for my lunch. I thought she was going to cry, imagining that I am some street beggar. Well guys, it was a great idea. I had popcorn, cotton candy, a banana, few strawberries, water, and a lot of little candy bars. I could have even had a hot dog but I would rather starve than eat one of those. I also came away with 6 pens, 1 free tanning pass (that I already threw away because I am not a fag), 1 tote, 3 magnets, and 1 full tummy. I am going to search out fairs every time I have to spend all day on campus. I would suggest this to anyone.

The Game

A couple months ago Jessica, Heather, and I started our own game. It doesn't have a name but it has an amazing outcome. Let me explain a little. When we are feeling down or that the world is just too hard on people we play this game. We each say 3 things we love about each other. So I would say 3 things I love about Jessica then 3 things I love about Heather. Then its Jessica's turn and she does the same and then Heather says her things. I think everyone should play this game. Not often though, don't ruin it. We have played it enough that it has gotten down to pretty specific things and details about each other but when we first started it was pretty general stuff like, "I love that Heather is into music."

Well we played a round of said game last night and it was pretty funny because there was a new mix added in: Corey. Yes, a boy. How did that throw the game off you ask, well it didn't (he's assimilated to the girls quite well). I think he was a little uncomfortable for a while but then he got over it.

Next time you feel like the people around you need some positive, self-affirmation kind of chit chat you should play this game. It really helps and I feel a lot closer to the people around me. I love my girls for coming up with this game!

Lady Lumps

My neighbor Alisha gave me the best gift ever (sorry to anyone who has ever given me anything but its true). She gave me breast cancer, literally. Ok, well not so literally. Her mother suffered with stage 4 breast cancer for many years and became a teacher for breast cancer awareness. Alisha told her mom about my obsession and her mother sent her this gift to give me. I got a breast model with two lumps in it. One lump can easily be felt and another lump represents one that could only be found with a mammogram. It is amazing. I am going to keep it in my purse all the time and whip it out to show everyone what a lump would feel like. I can't wait to show my mom and my sisters. I think this just finishes off the breast cancer paraphernalia drawer. Thats no joke either. I really do have a drawer in the kitchen dedicated to all my breast cancer stuff. I should take a picture of that too. Ladies, look forward to seeing me next because you will get a little lesson on breast lumps!

Blacklisted

I love what I like and I hate what I don't like. When someone, something, or someplace bothers or offends me in anyway, they are blacklisted. I literally will not visit again. For instance, I LOVE Noodles and Co. and I hate Zupas. Some other places that are part of said status include: Krispy Kreme, Tomassos Italian Ice, T-Mobile operator 172, Dairy Queen in Provo, Elementary school, and Costa Vida.

My biggest hatred however, is with Zupas. You could not pay me to go in there. They have horrible service, a stupid name, and they wont sell you what you want to eat. I would call them douche bags but my mom would get mad. And whats with Tomassos upping their prices. A delicious ice cream cone used to be $2.00 exactly, with tax. It was perfect and easy. Now its 39 cents more. Man I hate greedy lame-o people.

I guess you guys all know what topics not to bring up anymore. I dont want to talk about these places almost as much as I will never go to again. I could use a steak though if anyone wants to bring up where I should go to get one.

Left Out

I dont want my family to feel left out of the love loop so here is a quick thought about the people that have to love me forever

Jaimee: she took me everywhere with her when I was a baby doll and carried me out of my baptism

Jen: its amazing how she can make me tell her stuff - I guess thats why she gets paid for that kind of stuff

Heidi: one word - heidilicoius. yeah I just made that up but I think it explains it all from always knowing what new and hip to her fantastic dancing abilities

Lindsay: she made me an aunt. I used to not talk to her because I was so afraid of her not liking me but now I think she is the shiz and she does like me!

Joshy: takes my garbage out, drives me around, always offers to make me broccoli, and did not marry skinny B

Dad: whenever he answers the phone he always acts like I am a solicitor and says I will have to call again later

Momma: she still tucks me in at night and I'm 22 years old. She makes me whatever I am craving and I think she even likes doing it. I might be wrong about that but she certainly acts like doting on me is the best thing in the world

ode to The Blogger and others

I dont know if any of you noticed that my blog was wack last week but that was definitely my doing. However, dear Kyle (my BFF Laura's husband) fixed it for me... again! If you guys dont know Laura and Kyle, you should. They are blogging experts and they can make anything and it will always be delicious. Plus I have known Laura since 4th grade so she has all the dirt on me if you need it.

I do have other friends too and I would like to take a moment to talk about them. I think its mostly my fam that reads this junk so here are some highlights about some other people I love and why I love them - because I'm sure you're sitting on the edge of your seats waiting to read this.

Ashton: all that needs to be said is fffffffffffffff (no one will understand that)

Jessica: we can read each others thoughts and she is the most discrete and pretty nerd I know

Heather: we kind of live parallel love lives and she loves dipping sauces

Leslie: she listents to me and she gets me but the best part is that I dont freak her out with my voyeuristic tendancies

Lani: knows everything and is the youngest grown up out there

Sarah: is Josie Geller but without the unfortunate appearance. what I mean by that is she is a phenomenal writer and works for the newspaper

Corey: he walks with his left shoulder slightly lower than his right and out of all these people he might know me the best

Rich: is newly married but promises to still like me even though I am now a "single friend"

2008: Year of the....

What will this year bring? I dont know but I could really use a good time. The last year really sucked. Well basically summer of 06 and Dec. 06-Sept. 07. I can't even begin to explain how bad it was. I would rather cut off my favorite finger (the left hand pinky) than re-live some of those days. But somehow I got through it alive and sane. How that happened, I dont know. I am just really feeling a good year coming on. I mean I am starting it out with Tylenol PM, cough medicine, and lots of blankets. Guess I can't ask for more than a good nights sleep.

I better get at least one new baby in my life (sisters, that means you!) and one sibling married. I dont think that is too much to ask for people. As for me and what I want, well that is for me to know and no one to find out. A friend inspired me to make a list of predictions. I think I am goint to try that for the first time. My first prediction is that I forget all my predictions come March. Happy New Year!