Speaking of phases...

I was thinking about my rural phase today and reminiscing about some of my past ridiculous phases. I decided the best one was when I decided I should buy an Airstream trailer and live in an RV park. This is because I figured I could live in Oregon in the summers, and Idaho/Utah during the school year. It was just non-committal enough to sound good to me! The best part?? I'm still getting emails from the RV dealership...ha ha ha ha. How funny is that?? I really thought it was brilliant at the time.

On the other hand...come to think of it...perhaps it was kind of a good idea afterall. I could live somewhere rural in my trailer...best of both worlds! Why did I ditch it?? Perhaps I should bring it back?? Oh yeah, I remember...they are RIDICULOUSLY expensive. I forgot. Oh, and I am not really the livin' in a campground kinda girl, am I?? Well, maybe I could change???

My newest "phase"

In one of the books I read recently there was a little boy who went through "stages" every few months. Whenever he had a new stage, his parents (who had won the lottery) would redecorate his room with a theme of his new stage as well as buy him all sorts of stuff to go with it. For instance, during his space stage they redecorated his room with all sorts of space stuff and bought him an astronaut costume. He would pretend to be an astronaut ALL THE TIME. He had a police stage and a doctor stage as well, just to name a few. Anyway, he was a minor character in the story, but I can really relate to the little guy because I too go through stages...which is cool, I own it. In fact, I find it makes life more "fun". I personally like this ridiculous bit of my personality.

Some of these stages end up lasting indefinitely. For instance, what I thought was just a country music stage has lasted for several years. It's actually my favorite genre of music and not just a stage. Only time will tell which things are stages or actually loves for me.

So about my newest phase...let's call it my "rural" phase. I've had fun lately finding new routes home from work. This is not hard because I work a full hour from home. I have thoroughly enjoyed driving through all the small towns in the valley. Well, I've now decided that my "city" days are over and it's time to move somewhere rural.

Now I need to note that I'm not actually moving at the moment because the economy is, well, it's having a bad hair day and I am currently living for free and you can't beat that. So...I will stay here for the time being and work on eliminating my student loan debt from grad school. However, when I do move I think I might have to buy/build a house surrounded by beautiful farm land. I found a cute little town that I'm currently obsessed with about halfway between work and home. LOVE IT! Now let's be honest, this stage might wear off by the time I actually move...but it's always fun to think about anyway. It makes life exciting! I am constantly planning to move to Oregon, near the coast, and change my name and identity...nah, just kidding. Really I just want to live there because it's BEAUTIFUL! But in all likelihood, that'll probably never happen because my family is my world and they all live here. But, it's always nice to dream. More realistically, I'd like to move to Idaho near my job. I like it there and could live out my "rural dream" while still being but a few miles from work. That's a more serious consideration that I've thought a lot about and might actually do. I do love that little town and lots of people that live there!

Anyhow...I now have this dream of living out in the country far enough from neighbors that I don't need curtains. Of course I'll still have curtains because they are cute and I'd be afraid a psycho killer was outside and could see me and...well, you get the idea. Also I could be a proper spinster with cats! I hate cats, but outdoor ones would be essential to ward off mice. I would probably have to buy a 4-wheeler (with a plow to push the snow from my huge dirt driveway) and maybe a horse. Oh, and I could put a rocking chair on my HUGE porch and sit outside on summer evenings and talk to Mable, my neighbor down the road. I'd probably have to buy a truck...but that'd be okay too. Then I could blare my country music with the windows down on my way into town to buy some feed for the chickens.

He's nine!

My oldest nephew turns 9 today! Last night we went to dinner at one of his favorite restaurants, just him and the "grown-ups". It was so fun to spend time with him! He was really surprised when they brought him a free dessert and sang to him in Portuguese. You can tell by the shocked expression on his face in the picture!

He is really smart, does well in school, and loves to read. He wants to be a scientist (specifically a paleontologist or entomologist) when he grows up.

I love you buddy, and am very proud of the wonderful young man you are becoming. I am so thankful to have you as my nephew! I hope you have a fabulous birthday!

Welcome to the world, little guy!

I have a new nephew! He was born today at 12:28 a.m. He was 7 pounds 4 ounces and 20 inches long. He is such a handsome boy! He had a long first day, but is doing well.

I am so glad to have you here safe and well, little buddy. Aunt Juli loves you bunches!

Happy Birthday Daisy!!

My Daisy dog is two today! I can hardly believe it. She is hands down the best birthday present I have ever had. She is the gift that just keeps on giving (thanks again Mom and Dad). I used to get a little lonely being single and all...but now I have Daisy. She's always there to cheer me up and keep me company. She is always making me laugh. She may be "just a dog", but she's my little family and a girl's best friend and I'm thankful for her!

I just love you little puppy! Happy Birthday!

She's five and happy to be alive!

My niece turns five today! She is an absolute delight! The stuff she says absolutely cracks me up. She is just as sweet and innocent as they come. I can't get enough of hearing her talk because she has the sweetest little voice I've ever heard. And boy, can she sing...AMAZING! She's absolutely beautiful inside and out.

I am so lucky to have you as my niece. I love you to pieces! Have a VERY happy birthday!!

A trip down memory lane

Well, if it weren't for the fact that it's "birthday month" in my family, I'd have nothing to blog about these days, it seems. The fact is, I'm just spending time doing a whole lot of whatever (which is super fun, but not really blogtastic) and trying to figure out my life. Now that I'm back at work, I'm trying to settle back to some sort of "normal", whatever that means, and figure out my "next steps".

So I thought it was time for a trip down memory lane, to spice up the blog a bit. For this, I'm going to visit my photos and find a random photo.

And the winner is...

Oh, this one will be good. So it's a cemetery, obviously. I LOVE cemeteries! I think they are peaceful and represent so many stories. Every person has such a unique story to tell, and I love wondering what their lives were like, what circumstances led them here, what and who they left behind, etc. It's fascinating. Well, this particular cemetery is just down the street from my friend Leisa's unit (well, the unit she lived in the first time I went to Australia, many years ago). I walked over there a few times just to walk through the cemetery. I actually took this photo to show my mom what the cemetary in Australia looked like, because this obviously looks much different than ours here in America.

Should we do one more? Yes!

Ahh, that's a good one! This is another one from several years ago. This nephew is now almost seven. Anyway, my favorite band, The Corrs, was doing a U.S. tour, but of course not in SLC, so some of my family was kind enough to plan their summer vacation so they could accompany me to San Diego so I could go to their concert. This is at a condo in Vegas we stayed at on our way down. I believe he is telling us that his eggs go in his mouth. :)

Seven...are you kidding me?

My beautiful niece is seven today! I can hardly believe it! She is so amazing. I have never met anyone who is so thoughtful. She will give up something she is having fun playing with to one of her cousins if she thinks they might like it. She's always willing to help. She does really well in school, sings beautifully, and excels in athletics (especially gymnastics).

I am so thankful to have a niece as special as you. I hope you have a great birthday. I just love you!

One year older and still older than me! ;)

I just wanted to wish my OLDER brother a very happy birthday!

Thanks for being such a strength in my life. You are always willing to help me out...and without complaining. You are supportive, even when I do stupid things.

I love you and hope you have a great birthday!

#1 - Check

I am just crossing things off the list, left and right!

So today I went to a movie by myself. I have wanted to do that for so long, I honestly can't remember when and why I decided that was an experience I needed. Well...it was everything I could have hoped for and much much more. I am totally a fan of the solo movie experience. So much so that I think I'll do it semi regularly. It was so much easier to get lost in the movie (and I love being completely lost in a movie, TV series, or book). I love the escape that getting caught up in a story gives you. I have also learned to enjoy my own company (if that makes sense) during the several years I lived alone...and frankly, I'm good company, what can I say?
I saw Confessions of Shopaholic...which, by the way, I loved.

I enjoyed myself so much that I decided to go eat in a restaurant alone too. It was not bad, I'd do it again. I didn't love it as much as going to a movie alone, so I wouldn't set out to do it again, but if I wanted to go eat and no one was around, I'd go.

So there you have it...

going to a movie alone = my new favorite activity

going out to eat alone = wouldn't avoid it, but wouldn't go out of my way to do it either

Payson, Utah...more exciting than you'd expect

For Spring Break 2009, I opted to take a mini road trip to Payson to see my friends Hailey and Tracy (and Hailey's cute family). Now don't get me wrong, I have nothing against Payson. In fact I rather enjoyed my stay there last summer for their wedding. However, I had no idea it had so much to offer a tourist such as myself.

So...here are some highlights from my trip.

Hailey is TERRIFIED of windmills (I know, I laughed too). I made her drive close (it's closer than it looks in the picture...plus they are hard to see because they are white and blend into the snow on the mountain) to these huge windmills and stand there for a photo...am I a super nice friend or what?
Hailey teaches 6th grade...here she is in her classroom looking all teacher-y.
Speaking of Hailey's school...they were on the news Friday night.

Video Courtesy of KSL.com

Hailey missed the crazy hair business because she took the day off to hang out with me. Don't worry though, her kids get to color her hair next week. She is super excited about doing it alone, as you can imagine.

Here is Tracy, just chillin' in the back of the car. He is one of Daisy's favorite people (so is Hailey). I think seeing them was the highlight of the trip for her!
We ate dinner at Diamond Grill in Salem one night...it was super tasty! Then we headed to Spanish Fork for some penny candy. They weigh the candy rather than counting it and Hailey guessed the price of the bag of candy to the penny. She's creepy. We crashed her parent's house (they were camping) to play games with her sister and her family. I also saw Twilight for the first time (I know, I am way behind the times). Hailey had a fabulous Scentsy party. It was an open house, but most of the guests stayed from beginning to end. That's success right there, Hailey! We also went shopping in Provo at one of my favorite malls. After shopping, we met Tracy for lunch at Winger's (Tracy took one for the team and got us a free dessert...Go Tracy!).

Thanks Hailey, Tracy, and Hailey's family for making Spring Break 2009 a success. And thank you Payson for being Payson.

#10 - Check

Again, I had to get working on my list since 29 is creeping up.
I wanted to attend a different denominations church service. Now I have done this many times in my life...but it's been awhile since I have, so I wanted to do it again. Well, I went to the Hare Krishna temple in Spanish Fork today. What did I learn? Let me answer that question with a question. What smells worse than a llama? Give up? Lots of llamas!

#8 - Check

Well, being as my 29th birthday is just around the corner, I figured I'd better hustle on my "list of things to do before I turn 29". I wanted to escape for a day, just Daisy and me. So...we took a little spring break road trip to see some friends. Yes, I realize that going to see friends is not just escaping me and the dog...but we took many hours to get here because we were just playing around...so I think it counts. Not to mention the fact that we will have to get home too...so again, just her and I.

I put her dog bed on the floor of the car with a few of her favorite toys. She would switch between there and the seat, unless we hit a bump and it scared her, then she'd go to the back of the car. Who knew the back of the car was less scary than the front?
We took the Legacy Highway, and went for a walk on the trail. We stopped in Draper to play on the grass (or in Daisy's case, go to the bathroom on it).
We also went to Petco in Draper, and Daisy got a new toy. A squeaky sock monkey...good stuff!
It was fun to just hang out with Daisy. I love that little puppy.