These Are a Few of My Favorite Things...

I was all prepared to apologize for my lack of posts this month, but - I really have no excuse. I haven't been at work since mid-December, and I don't go back until the first week in January. Truthfully - I've just REALLY been enjoying my time off! (A little TOO much, I'm afraid; I've gained back 3 or 4 of the 40 pounds I lost!! ACK!!) I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas, and is getting ready to welcome a new year!

This past month has been a time of reflection for me. A time when I really thought about what truly makes me happy. With all sorts of turmoil churning around us in this day and age, and this incredible country, it's so easy to get discouraged. SO easy.

So, in an effort to be more positive (especially around this time of year), I've made a list of things that make me feel happy and grateful.

Who cares about warring news stations and reality T.V.?? I could watch Mark Harmon and Michael Weatherly and Sean Murray for hours! (And I DO watch them for hours. My brother gave me seasons 3, 4 and 5 of NCIS for Christmas. Woo-Hoo!!!) Don't get me wrong, I'm all about keeping up with current events; but let's be honest, NCIS makes me happy.

AAHHHH. The beach. The beach makes me happy. Especially if the sun is high and the sand is warm. This shot was taken almost 5 years ago in Laie, on Oahu, Hawaii. We truly live in an amazing country - I feel incredibly blessed to be able to experience a few things that the world has to offer, like sun, sand and water - and shave ice from Matsumotos. MMMMMM.

Coke with lime. Preferably from the Blue Iguana in Downtown SLC. Now, I could drink it all day every day and die happy. Of course, if that's all I ate or drank, I'd die young. But OH, I'd be happy! If it were medically safe (and sanitary), I'd drag an IV full of this stuff around with me.

Chocolate. Chocolate milkshakes, Ghirardelli Chocolate, Ritter Sport chocolate, chocolate macadamias, hot chocolate, chocolate cake, chocolate milk, chocolate cream pies, chocolate oranges, chocolate cherries. Just thinking about chocolate makes me happy!

My family makes me happy. My parents, wacky brothers, incredible sisters, wonderful uncles and aunts, and the most awesome cousins ever. I LOVE my family, more than I could ever express! And I really shouldn't play favorites, but - I guess I can say that I have a favorite niece! She puts a big smile on my face and melts my heart whenever I see her. I would do anything for this kid.

The temple makes me happy. I feel so incredibly blessed to be able to go to the temple and serve every week. The gratitude I feel every time I walk in the doors is overwhelming. It makes me so happy to know that families can be together forever, thanks to temples, and I am so thankful for the Gospel in my life. I wish I could adequately express how much I love the temple, the Gospel, and the Book of Mormon.

What makes me happiest of all, is my Savior, Jesus Christ. My whole life, I've been taught about His birth, His life and ministry, the Atonement, and His crucifixion. But the older I get, the more it means to me. The more I study the Book of Mormon, the more I learn about Him. I was listening to some of the words to "O Holy Night" and they really got to me: "Truly He taught us to love one another; His law is love, and the gospel is peace. Chains shall He break, for the slave is our brother; and in His name, all oppression shall cease." Indeed, His law IS love, and the Gospel is peace. And I've found that THAT is where true happiness lies. :)

Happy New Year, everyone!!!

Camera-less

Happy December! I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving. My weekend was... well, pretty perfect, actually! Very relaxing and low-key. Unfortunately, I have no pictures of the feast to post, as my camera has fritzed out... I am camera-less right now, and it is SO frustrating. Tonight I was driving home from work, and caught a glimpse of an incredible yellow moon rising over the Mount Olympus, and my first reflex was to grab my camera and get a shot of it; but alas... my camera is sitting on my desk collecting dust. ARGH.

In the meantime, I stole this shot from my brother Mike.

MMMMMMMM.... My mom's apple pie. One of the best things about Thanksgiving - AND Christmas - in my family. I'd peel an orchard full of apples for this stuff!

I Feel Like a Traitor.

When I read the Twilight books, I was ALL about Edward. I know, pretty much everyone was - with a few exceptions. I have a friend at work who liked Jacob better in the books. I wondered how ANYONE could EVER prefer obnoxious Jacob over beautiful Edward.

Now I know.

Seriously, can I switch my 'Team Edward' shirt for a 'Team Jacob' shirt??

Obviously I saw New Moon over the weekend, and while it was over-the-top cheesy and dramatic, I came away with a (dirty-old-lady, as Mug puts it) crush on Taylor Lautner. He's all I hear about when I hear people talk about the movie, and OH MAN - so worth it. But, as my sister Kate reminded me, I am 15 years older than the kid. (Thanks for the reality check, Kate.) He's still fun to look at, though. In the books he was whiny and obnoxious and Edward was selfless and beautiful. They kinda swapped roles in the movie, I thought - Edward was whiny and dramatic, and Jacob was... *drool* I almost want them to change the movies so Bella picks Jacob instead of Edward.

Almost.

So Over It

Good grief, is it the middle of November ALREADY??!? It's Thanksgiving next week, I can't believe it!! Guess I better get busy making apple pie filling!

I have SUCKED at life today. No, I take that back, I'm just really annoyed. And there is good reason for it - the Panguitch police are out to get me. (Or it's just PMS.) While travelling home from Phoenix last month, I got a speeding ticket going through Panguitch. My speedometer said I was going 38 in a 35, but the stupid cop said he clocked me at 45 in a 35. Well duh, the speed limit was 45 coming into town! When I saw the sign that said 35mph, I began to slow down; apparently not quick enough, though. So he gave me a ticket, not even listening to my reasoning, and I sat and bawled for ten minutes after he left. (My poor parents didn't know what to do, I was a wreck.) I decided to call Prepaid Legal (BEST SERVICE EVER, if you're interested let me know), and an attorney there went to bat for me at the Panguitch Court. She called and tried to file a Plea & Abeyance (which means I'd pay $50 extra, and not get any traffic citations for 3 months, then they'd wipe the offense off my record); but I found out today that the judge denied my request, saying that I had to have a clean record for three years before he'd consider a plea, and I'd gotten a speeding ticket in SLC about 6 weeks before (which I deserved, I admit). The attorney reasoned that before that, I hadn't gotten a speeding ticket in over NINE years. But the judge still said no, he "saw a speeding pattern emerging" and wanted nothing to do with me. Damn you, you money-grubbing Panguitch bast - uh, jerks! (Pardon my language, I was really upset.) So, I'm stuck with another $90 ticket and more points marked on my record, and zero respect for Panguitch Police and Courts.

SO OVER IT. I'll follow the wise advice of my brother Mike, and not waste any more mental energy on it, and just hope that all that happened for a reason.

ANYWAY, I thought I'd post a couple of pictures of my Halloween costume from this year - one of the best yet!

PIRATE! Not bad, huh? This was compliments of my good friend Holly, who is an amazing seamstress with an awesome imagination - and a VERY good friend to lend me this amazing costume. So much fun. Mar, Muti and Dan came for the festivities at my office, and they brought Addie with them. She is such a character. I baby-sat Addie for a few hours last Saturday night, and she seriously cracks me up. She combed my hair, watched Surf's Up with me, and played hide-and-seek with me. Apparently, one of her favorite places to hang out is under the end-table by the couch:

I told her to say "cheese" and that's the shot I got. She melts my heart! I'm such a sucker for this kid, seriously. She makes me forget all about the Panguitch nut jobs and feel all warm and fuzzy inside. Aawwww...

This Calls For a Celebration!

WARNING: Long rant ahead!!

Not too long ago, I was having a conversation with an old acquaintance from when I was growing up. She asked where I was working these days, and I told her that I worked as a Case Assistant for a law firm in Downtown SLC. She asked the usual questions - what was the firm called, where is it located, do you know so-and-so, and then she asked how long I'd worked there. I've been thinking about my reply ever since.

7 years. 7! SEVEN! S-E-V-E-N.

This is a big deal to me, because I've never worked ANYWHERE longer than 3 or 4 years. In high school I worked at a Chinese fast-food place in the mall for all of 3 months, and then at a dry cleaner for about 6-8 months. I worked at a Deseret Book retail store for 3 1/2 years, and at their corporate office for 6 months. I worked for Franklin Covey as a receptionist for 2 years, and then as a Certification Coordinator for two years. Then I came here, to my current job at a law firm, and... I'm still here! And I have no intention of leaving anytime soon. Partly because of the current job market, and partly because... well, the more I look elsewhere for jobs, the more I realize how good I have it where I am. I've had my ups and downs - anyone that knows me knows that I've looked for other jobs the past few years because I was feeling kinda "stuck" in my current job. So I went out looking for greener pastures. But the closest I came was a field with a few green weeds. Nothing could really compare to my current job's benefits and compensation programs. Not to mention the fact that I ADORE the people I work with (I don't know what I would do without my Emily friends at work), and my current supervisor is WONDERFUL.

So - I think I will stay here, until they decide to kick me out, or until a miracle happens and I get married and my spouse moves us out of state.

Another reason I'm celebrating is because, FINALLY, I am a few short days away from finishing my (extremely restrictive) diet program. I know the last post I mentioned my weight loss on, I told you I'd lost around 22 pounds. Well, the grand total (depending on the type of scale I'm on) is... *drum roll*

38-40 pounds. GONE. Adios. Buh-bye. And GOOD RIDDANCE.

I feel no awkwardness in telling you all (well, those of you who don't already know) now that my diet program is the HCG Injection diet. If you want to read about it, click here. I went through a clinic, and met with a physician and nutritionist. I went in for weekly weigh-ins and vitamin shots, and made sure I wasn't losing structural fat or muscle. Now, in a few short days, I will re-introduce cheese and a little bit of bread into my diet. (Pictures of me to come soon, I promise.)

I learned SO many things on this program. Firstly, I was not eating as well as I thought I was; I took a good look at the "nutritional" value in most things I ate, and - no wonder I was chunky, I love junk food. (Who doesn't?!?) Granola bars, diet soda, 100-calorie snacks, and oatmeal are not as healthy as the vendors want you to believe. Secondly, I learned that I drank WAAAAYY too much of soda. I've not had any in over two months, and guess what? I don't miss it. At all. I may let myself have it two or three times a year (special treat on my birthday, Christmas, and maybe once in the summer), but that's it. I witnessed what I let it do to my body, and it will never happen again. Third, I learned that I have self-control - a LOT of it - buried under my cravings for food. I just have to let it out. I also learned that the things I thought tasted so good don't actually taste that great. After months of eating only fresh and natural foods, I cheated a little on Halloween and had one fun-size Snickers bar. Oh, I enjoyed every little bite. Then, the aftertaste took me by surprise... it was GROSS. The candy tasted so processed and chemical-ish... I don't think candy will be that huge of a problem anymore. (I hope.) I think my taste buds have changed.

SO - after all that, my reward was a Cafe Rio salad. Of course, I've only eaten the lettuce, chicken and pico - and not even so much as a little nibble of the tortilla - but it is still delicious. Such a great way to celebrate.

MMMM. Cafe Rio.