Picture Taking

I haven't really had the time to get out and practice my picture taking skills, luckily Cody & Amy (my brother and his wife) asked me if I would take some family pics of them and their dog Twig so that they could send them out with their Christmas cards.

We had a great time, we went to Murray Park to take the pics. The ones posted are my favorites.

How we Met

I am sitting here in the library up at the U and I read someone's blog where they tell how they met their spouse. Granted, I am not married yet, but I think dating Derek for as long as I have pretty much makes him my spouse! So here is my side of the story of how we met:

I met Derek during fall semester of our senior year in high school. I had just broken up with my ex and I was really depressed and so I had changed my schedule around so that I could be Mrs. Duncan'[s T.A. for her Lit. through Movies class. I also had signed up for Mrs. Neilson's Food's Class, just because it sounded like fun. It was in Mrs. Duncan's class where Derek and I were introduced by a guy named Billy Yang. I instantly thought that he was super cute. He had spikey blonde highlighted hair and wore a leather jacket and had the most gorgeous eyes and smile that I had ever seen. I instantly had a crush and in food's class I started flirting with him and stuff. I probably looked like nerd, but I didn't really care! One of my favorite moments was in food's and Mrs. Neilson had Derek and another guy transfer crisco from a box to a bucket and Derek thought that it would be funny to try to get some of it on me. He also tried to throw me into the garbage can's in the locker banks. But my absolute most favorite thing was that he stood up for me when someone was being a jerk. It was at that moment that I really wanted to date the guy.

I waited for Derek to ask me out, but he didn't, so I took the initiative and asked him to the Sweethearts Dance. I have to admit that the date kind of sucked. My friend was having troubles with her boyfriend and spent the time crying in the bathroom. So we didn't really even dance or hang out or anything, it was kind of lame. Luckily, Derek asked me to Prom a month later and we had a great time, and I think our first kiss was when we were at the after activity at a Gymnastics gym in one of the foam pits.

Derek is a wonderful guy and has stood by me in good times and bad, and I love him and appreciate him more and more each day and I can't wait until the day that we are married and will spend the rest of our lives together.

(The picture is of me and Derek in 2006 when I took him to see Pearl Jam in Vegas for his 1/2 Birthday.)

I'm Stuffed!

Thanksgiving was pretty good this year. I spent the day with Derek and his family which was pretty cool. I slept a lot and ate a lot, then slept some more! All in all it was a pretty good day. Now it's time to start planning for Christmas. I don't have any ideas on what to get Derek, if you have any ideas on what to get a baseball, cartoon, x-box 360, music loving guy, please let me know!

I didn't take any pictures of Thanksgiving but I did promise to post a picture of my Giant Cupcake. It was pretty fun to make, and Derek was awesome and helped me frost it. I made the cake for my friend at work and it turned out to be a hit.

Some other fun things that have happened since I last posted was that the Utes beat BYU! It was an awesome game and now my wonderful Utes are going to a BCS game again. We didn't get tickets to this game, instead we had a get together with Derek's family and watched the game at his house. It was a lot of fun, we had yummy food and spent a lot of time together, which I love. Below is a funny video that we found on YouTube. Check it out, it's pretty funny.


I went and saw Australian Pink Floyd again. Thanks to Derek, I absolutely love Pink Floyd, and since they are no longer together we go see their cover band who is awesome. They did the complete "Wall" album which was really good, but I prefer "Dark Side of the Moon" because it isn't so dark and depressing to me. Derek is the opposite and prefers the "Wall".

I also went and saw Twilight. I jumped on the bandwagon thanks to my sis who gave me the books for my Birthday and after some hesitation (the books sounded lame to me) I started reading them and got addicted. I went to the movie with my friend Kim. The great thing was that we went in the morning and got the matinee price. I'm glad for this because I didn't think the movie was all that great. It was okay, but it could have been better, so hopefully when they do the other books the effects won't be so lame.

I have a lot on my plate this week. You have to love the final push of the semester where teachers decide to pile on the work and give you huge papers to write and final exams and stuff, so needless to say, I'm going to be really busy!

It's Thursday Again

Many of you may have noticed that I pretty much only blog on Thursdays, the reason that I do this is because I have a wonderfully long day at school that has 2 hour breaks in between classes, so it's pretty much the only free time I have during the week.

I currently have a lot on my plate, I have 2 huge tests next week as well as a couple of term papers, on top of that I have to write and essay and get letter of recommendations so that I can apply for a scholarship and also apply for my entrance into the Elementary Ed. department. (those of you who went to elem. school with me, Mrs. Schmitt is a teacher up here and I will have classes with her starting next fall)

On top of the wonderful school stuff, I decided that I am feeling really crafty and that wanted to make a quilt for Derek's grandma and for my favorite uncle that so kindly let's me live in his house! Derek's mom helped me pick out great fabric and I can't wait to start making them. They are fairly simple quilts, so it shouldn't take me too long to make them.

I also decided that today I am going to make a giant cupcake for a girl that I work with. Target has awesome cake molds and one of them happened to be a giant cupcake. I also plan on buying pastry tips and bags to make the cupcake look pretty cool. Hopefully it turns out cute so that I can take a picture of it and post it for you all to see.

Things have been going pretty well. I went to the TCU-Utah game last Thursday and I had so much fun. We ate dinner at the PI that is at the bottom of Pres. Circle and then walked up to the stadium. The game was a lot of fun and I am really happy that my Utes are 10-0. I can't wait until the BYU-Utah game it will be awesome when the Utes beat the Y and go onto a BCS bowl game!

The New Pres.

I just wanted to say that I am really excited to have Obama be the next president. I think that he will do a great job and hopefully will be able to fix our economy and get us out of this lame war that nobody wants, or wanted in the first place.

I Got Tagged

So, My Aunt Karen tagged me, so here are 7 random/weird things about me.
1.) When ever I eat Skittles, M&M's and such, I have to sort them by color, then amount.
2.) I enjoy reading, I can't put a book down until it is finished....I don't eat, drink, or do anything pretty much until the book is done.
3.) I love being creative, but I don't have much time to do crafts and things. I love making blankets the most. I would like to learn how to quilt, but I don't have much time.
4.) I love baking things. I wish that I had my own place with my own utensils and such so that I can do it more.
5.) I love the news. I check news websites daily, probably 3 or 4 sources. Let's just say that I like to be informed!
6.) I love watching sports. I love watching Sports Center and listening to local sports radio shows.
7.) I am completely musically challenged. I am super tone deaf and I can't hold a beat if my life depended it!

So, I guess I'm supposed to tag people, but I won't. If you feel like doing this, then have fun!

The Ray LaMontagne Concert

I went to the Ray LaMontagne Concert on Tuesday with Derek and his family. It was awesome. For those of you who don't know who he is, he is kind of an underground(unknown) folk type singer. He is really good and I love listening to his voice. He is a wonderful singer/songwriter, and he just released a new album called "Gossip in the Grain." I'll post a YouTube video, but you should check out his music on either FaceBook or on Myspace, because he kicks butt!

This is him performing "You Are The Best Thing" from his new album. It's not really a video, so just take a listen to it.




This is him performing "Forever My Friend" from his 1st album 'Trouble."

Halloween Festivities

Derek and I are not really into holidays and such, but I try to do something for each major one to help us get into the spirit. So, every Halloween, I make him carve pumpkins with me. We usually do 2 each, but Derek is awesome at carving and does the harder ones that take a lot of time, so now he just does 1. This year, we went a little political with our pumpkins, so don't be offended if our views are different from yours. Derek did the George Bush "Worst President" pumpkin. It honestly took him about 4+ hours to do. I did the Obama 2008 pumpkin as well as the University of Utah "U" (I have to show my school spirit)!

The Praxis

So, it's been a while since I have last blogged, but I have been really busy lately, and since last week was fall break, I didn't have time to update my blog at school like I usually do.
The past weeks have been pretty chaotic with tests and papers to turn in, but good news, I did well on all of them!
Last week I spent my fall break studying for the Praxis Exam, which is a huge test that has 3 parts (reading, writing, and math) that you have to take in order to apply for admission into the education department.
This test is a pretty serious test, it costs $130 to take and the score you get is part of determining whether or not you get admitted. So, naturally I was freaking out! I had a lot of people tell me that it's super easy, and then I had some that told me that they have taken it several times, and still haven't passed it. So, after spending my fall break studying for it, I went in and spent almost 4 hours taking all three parts without taking a break. The good thing was, was that it was a computer based test, so I got some of my results that day. I scored a 172 on the math, which is on the second tear of scoring, so I consider it at about a B average, and I scored 180 on the reading, which is on the top tier, so I think that it is about an A or A- average. I didn't get the writing score back because they actually have to read it and assess myg skills, but overall, I feel pretty confident in the results.
Next up is writing my entrance essay, getting a background check, and getting 3 letters of recommendation.

Weekend at the Cabin

I spent last weekend at Derek's cabin, and can I just say that it was really cold! We headed up on Friday night and spent the weekend inside the cabin, because it rained pretty much the whole time! We did go out so that the dog's could go to the bathroom, and of course get burr's stuck to them. The great thing about Sumo is that they just fall of off him, so I don't have to brush him every 5 minutes to get the burr's out.
Sumo was pretty funny on this trip, he kind of reminded me of a monkey. Derek's dog Tucker who is a Keeshond, has really poofy hair and it is a magnet for the burr's. Sumo was so cute, and he would go sit next to Tucker and pull the burr's out of his hair for him! We were all shocked that not only did Tucker let him do it, but that he knew how to pull them out with his teeth without hurting him.

On Sunday, there was a break in the rain, so we decided to head to the lake. The roads were really muddy, but the lake was gorgeous.
It was definitely a great trip, I wish I was going again soon, but I guess I'll have to wait until next spring to go.
Below are some of my favorite pictures from the trip. I took them with my Nikon Cool Pix point and shoot, and I didn't have a change to Photoshop them yet, but they are still pretty cool...

Pretty Funny

My friend, Kim, sent me this and I honestly thought it was hilarious!

After watching Palin at the debate last night, I can't help but laugh, because this is so true!

Water Aerobics

So, recently I took up going to a water aerobics class. I have been unhappy with my weight for some time now, so I decided to be proactive and try something new. Running and working out on treadmills and ellipticals is very unmotivating for me, and I am not coordinated enough to take a kickboxing class or a regular aerobics class, so I thought that I would try doing the water aerobics thing. I know that it has the stereotype of being for older people, but I have noticed a lot of people my age taking it up.
I started doing it about a month ago and I find it really motivating, and it definately kicks your butt, plus nobody can tell how uncoordinated you are underwater! Derek thinks that I am funny because after I get done and head to his house I'm super happy and excited. He's really proud of me for sticking to a schedule and actually trying hard to be healthy, and honestly, I'm proud of myself for keeping it up. I have a really short attention span, so if I'm not interested, I just quit!
I started off going by myself to the Murray Rec. Center, because it was close to my work ,but I decided to switch and go to Gene Fullmer because it is closer to Derek's house and because the class are at better times and work well for my schedule. I even got some old friend's from the old neighborhood going with me. It's been great catching up with them while getting a great work out!
If anybody is interesting in going, I go to the 7:30 class on Monday, Tuesday's, and if I don't have too much homework, I go on Wednesdays.

Studying Does Pay Off!

It has definitely been a chaotic week, not only at school, but at work as well. This week, not only did I have a 6 page term paper due, but I also had 2 huge tests. Ahh, gotta love stress! The good news is, I took the advice from my previous Procrastination is Bad post, and I actually studied a head of time, and I finished my paper on Monday, when it was due today. The tests that I took were fairly easy, and I think that I probably got an A or B on both of them. There is nothing like the sense of relief when you get the first round of tests and projects completed!

An e-mail from an old friend

So, my best friend and next door neighbor growing up, Jennifer Frandsen, left me this wonderful e-mail about my dad that I wanted to share.
"Hey Mysti,
Just thought that I would share something with you. I want you to know how grateful I am that we lived next door to each other and that we where able to share our family's. I guess I never knew the extent of how your dad touched my brother until last night. Kevin and his wife got a house back at the beginning of the year, He has spent all summer fixing up the yard like he wants it. Putting in a coy fish pond, flower beds, trees, and bushes. I went over to his house last night to look at all the work that he has done, the whole time he was showing me his yard he kept saying "this is how mark had his yard, this is the way that mark planted his lilacs and bushes." He is designing his yard in the way that he felt your dad had his or would have it. Your dad was such a positive male role model for my brother when no one else was. He touched my brother in more ways then I think any of us realize.
Your dad will not be easily forgotten, we all have too many great memories with him.
Thank you
luv jen"

This e-mail totally made my day! It make's me really happy to know that my dad had such a positive influence on Kevin. He's such a great kid, and to know that he is carrying on the tradition of my dad's beautiful gardens make me feel great.

Procrastination is BAD!

So I am known for being a procrastinator, especially if it is something that deals with writing. I honestly don't know how I get the grades that I do, because I wait until the absolute last minute to write my papers for school. I don't do revisions or anything, I just hurry and type it and then print it out. I don't even read them after I print them, so usually I don't even know what I handed in to my professors! I must be fairly good a winging it, because I pretty much have straight A's.

Well, I did my procrastination thing again last night. I had a 3 page paper to do and I waited until 11:30 last night to start it. The problem was, I just didn't know what to write it on. My professor told us to just pick a random article and write a 3 page paper on what we learned. I need more specifics than that, I know that writing a 3 page paper is super easy, but when the assignment is random, it is really unmotivating for me! So as usual I procrastinated. I was up until 1:00 getting it done. So I got to my first class this morning and my professor told us to hand in our responses (this is for a different class by the way). I about died, I knew that I had a paper due in that class, but I forgot to write down the due date on my calendar, so needless to say, the paper didn't get done. I talked to my professor after class, and luckily he is a pretty nice guy, because he told me that it was okay and that I could e-mail it to him today after class.

So, here I am at the wonderful library on campus finished with my paper, (it was only 2 pages and completely opinion based so it only took me about a 1/2 hour to do) wishing that if I wouldn't have procrastinated, then I wouldn't have had to deal with all of that stress!

Well, I guessed I learned my lesson, I should get my work done sooner, and I should pay better attention to my calendar!

Go UTES!

Derek and I went to the Utah/UNLV game last Saturday and watch the Utes clobber the Rebels. What a great game. We are kind of bummed that we can't go up to Utah State and watch our team dominate Utah State, but at least it will be televised.

This is a picture of U mountain

This is a picture of me at the game

These are pictures of the lights changing colors because we won. (Sorry about the poor quality, I was walking and taking the pic. at the same time.)

I created a poor quality highlight of the game using my Window's Video Editor for the first time and it wouldn't import my Utah Fight song that I downloaded, so you if you watch it you get to listen to a song that gets somewhat irritating after a while!

Twilight Series

So. those of you who read my blog know that I am a huge fan of the Stephanie Meyer's Twilight Book series. I recently checked out her website on the advice of one of my co-workers who is also a fan and I was surprised to find that she has put up playlists that correspond with each of her books. The songs correspond to certain parts of the book and it is amazing to me how well they fit. So if you are a music lover, as I am, and also a fan of these books, I recommend checking out the site. I don't know how to add a hyperlink so just Google Stephanie Meyer! I also learned that the Twilight movie that was due to be out in December has moved to a Thanksgiving opening, so if anybody wants to go see it with me, just give me a call!

New Shoes

Last night Derek's parents surprised me and bought me 3 pairs of new shoes! They went to J.C. Penny's and saw that they were having a really good sale on shoes and they decided to buy me a couple pairs. I honestly haven't had a new pair of nice shoes in ages, it just isn't in my budget to by them anymore, and having them do this for me makes me feel so good, wanted & loved. I didn't take any pictures of them, but I promise that they are all super cute and super comfy! I'm surprised that they could find any shoes (let alone 3 pairs) in my size (midget feet run in my family!)

Antelope Island

Derek, our friend Ryan, and I all decided last minute on Saturday to head out and go camping.
We decided to head out to Antelope Island and hit the camping grounds and in the morning head to the Ranch house where Derek's Grandpa Max grew up (if you want more info, just let me know, it's a pretty cool story).

We had an adventerous evening involving jumpstarting 4-Runners, broken flashlights, mosquito's and camp fires, or the lack-there-of! Let's just say, that next time, we need to prepare better!

We had a great time and it was awesome to have Ryan back from Texas, and home to stay. Below are some random pictures that I took.

New Hair Cut

This is a week late, but I got a new haircut last Wednesday from my usual guy Yancey at Hairwaves. He is super talented and has won several awards and is an instructor at SLCC on the side. I have been going to him since he started and I have to say that he kicks butt! Posted are some pics that Derek took of me and my new hairdo.

Thank You!

I just want to thank you all for reading my last blog and making me feel better. Thank you for your encouragement and the great words of wisdom that you passed along to me.

Lack of Pride

On the previous post, I blogged about being on the Dean's List at the U. For those of you who don't know, the Dean's List is kind of like being on the honor roll. I have more than 2 Semesters (at total of 14 - 18 credit hours) where I received a 3.5 grade point average. It took a lot of hard work and constant studying, plus working full time on top of it for me to do this well in school.

It's funny how you can be so proud of your accomplishments and it only takes one person to bring you down and make you feel worthless and that what you have accomplished doesn't mean crap.

It's hard to believe that with everyone that I have talked to is proud of me, like Derek and his family and Uncle Daren, Aunt Terry & Aunt Karen (to name a few), but the one person that I continually try to have be proud of me, never is. You would think that I would be used to it by now and that it doesn't really matter, or shouldn't matter, what this person thinks of me, but it's hard to push those feelings away when you care about that person.

I'm sorry about this really depressing post. I'm sure my future ones will be more positive!

School

Ahh, school. It seems like I will never finish! It has become my personal goal to be the first in my family (on my mom's side) to get a Bachelors Degree. I'm not only doing this for me, but I'm doing it to prove to my family that it can be done, and that I'm not stupid for following my dream. I recently found out that I am only 8 classes away from entering the Elementary Education Program and starting the co-hort and my student teaching. I also found out that I am on the Dean's List for having had 2 Semesters, so far, of having a 3.5 GPA at the U! This just motivations more and who knows, maybe I'll graduate with honors!

Summer Reading

I am one of those people who absolutely loves to read and just doesn't have the time to do it as much as I would like to. I had almost a whole week off of work, so I decided that I would spend it doing what I like best and that was read. I read a total of 4 1/2 books in one week. I know, that's pretty pathetic! Once I start reading, I can't stop! Here is the list of the following books that I have read:
Twilight - Stephanie Meyer (this took me about 1 day to read)



New Moon - Stephanie Meyer (this also took me about 1 day to read)



Eclipse - Stephanie Meyer (yeah, 1 day again)


Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte (this was a hard read for me, it is about 1/2 the length of the Twilight books, because of the way it was written).

Into Thin Air - Jon Krakauer I started reading this one because Derek keeps on bugging me about it. I think that it is one of the only books that he has willingly read, and so he started giving me crap about it. So I'm reading it so that he will let me read whatever I want from now on! So far it is okay, I'm told it gets more exciting the more you read.)

Books that I plan on reading next:
Breaking Dawn - Stephanie Meyer

Northanger Abbey - Jane Austin


Persuasion - Jane Austin

Weekend Fun

On Saturday we had a Barbecue at Uncle Daren's and Aunt Terry's house (I guess it's my house, too). We had delicious barbecued lamb, elk, and pork. We also had yummy salads and pies to eat. After we finished eating, the guys decided to put up the Tee-pee. 8 guys and 2 tries and the tee-pee still isn't up! It was quite the entertaining event!

Memories

Everybody is doing this so I thought that I would jump on the bandwagon!

Here are the rules:
1. As a comment on my blog, leave a memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you knew me a little or a lot, anything you remember! If you don't have a google ID you can post a comment and click anonymous as your identity -- just make sure to sign your name so I know who you are!
2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you.It should be funny to see the responses. If you leave a memory about me, I'll assume you're playing the game and I'll come to your blog and leave one about you (or if you don't have a blog I will e-mail you my memory!).I've done this on a couple of my friends blogs and it is fun to see everyone's memories! Please, take the time to comment and write a memory of us!

SUMO!

I have noticed that almost everybody writes about their kids on their blog. Well, I don't have any kids, but I have my wonderful little doggy, Sumo.
I took over caring for little Sumo when my brother wouldn't/couldn't about 4 years ago. He rescued him from some guy, and decided to name him Sumo. When my brother stopped taking care of him, my mom wanted to take him to the pound. I didn't want that to happen to the poor little dog. It seemed like nobody wanted him, which is probably why he acted up a lot. I took pity on the little guy and decided that he was mine. I took him to the vet and got him his shots and got him fixed, and then I went through the pain of getting him trained.

The things that I have gone through or that have happened to my little dog:
1- he has chewed up numerous amounts of shoes, hats, wall corners, and even 2 leather couches... I'm really glad that he got over that and doesn't do it any more!
2- he has been hit by a car. The meter reader didn't shut the gate and Sumo got out and ran out onto the street and got hit by a car. This all happened while I was at work, but the neighbor kids let me know what happened, thankfully he didn't get hurt.
3- he has been weed whacked. I took him to Derek's house to play with Tucker & Cash, and Derek's dad was in the back yard trimming the lawn edges with the weed whacker, Sumo got curious and got a little close and got a cut on his little leg. I also was a work when this happened, but Derek's parents took good care of him and got him fixed up.
4- he has been rat poisoned. This also happened at Derek's house. They were having a mouse problem a couple of years ago and his dad decided to put some rat poison under the deck. Not even 5 minutes after he put it out, Sumo decided to get under the deck and see what it tasted like. He came in the house chewing something, and we instantly knew what happened. We had to take him to the doggy emergency room and get his stomach pumped. He ended up being okay. I felt pretty bad for Derek's mom & dad, they felt really bad, and were really nice and wouldn't let me pay for the vet bill.

I have been through a lot of good and bad things with Sumo. I love him more and more every day. He helped me through my dad dying, and my mom kicking me out, and he is always there for me, no matter what. He may shed a lot and sometimes bark a lot, but he has turned out to be the best dog a girl could ask for.

Done until Fall

Today started of pretty bad. I got pretty much no sleep last night, because it was really hot and because I was stressing over my final that I had today. I got some lunch and headed to Derek's house and had my hands really full of stuff and I reached up to close his garage and Derek's Lemonade spilled all the way down my white shirt, my jeans, my flip-flops, and of course, all over the inside of my purse. I was so mad! Some how I managed to open the door to the kitchen and I yelled for Derek to come and help me. Seriously, I haven't been so mad in a while! He just looked at me and could tell that I was really upset and he was so sweet! He got me one of his shirts to throw on and threw my shirt in the dryer, and he helped me clean out my purse and get un-sticky! He cracked a little joke, and of course it made me smile and get out of my mood! We ran to Smith's Market Place and got me a couple of cute new shirts (my soaked one ended up stained) to wear, so I wouldn't look retarded wearing a Pearl Jam shirt that was way to big for me! He ended up making the day even better by buying me a Snowshack, knowing that sugar makes me happy and that I absolutely love Snowshack!

After that I headed up to campus and got a good 4 hours of extra quiet studying in for my final. I think I did pretty well on it. There were only a couple of questions that I had to guess on, so I'll probably end up with an A- or a B. I'll find out in a couple of weeks exactly how well I did this semester. Hopefully, I will still be on the Dean's List.

The best part of the day is that I am officially done with school until fall semester! I actually get most of the summer off to enjoy and have fun!

I Finally Figured It Out!

So, I've been looking at other people's blogs and noticed how cute they were & I wanted a cute background like theres. So a couple of weeks ago, I tried it out and it didn't work. I don't know why, I just think I'm retarded! So, tonight I checked out a different place and came up with this one. I think it is super cute and it has my favorite colors on it, so I'm happy!

Salt Lake Bee's

Derek and I made a last minute decision on Saturday to go the the Salt Lake Bee's game. It was so much fun. I don't think I have seen so many people at a Bee's game that didn't have fireworks afterward, so it was pretty neat that a lot of people were out at the game supporting their team.

At every game they have some sort of promotion going on such as Weinershnitzel Wednesday and Thirsty Thursdays, but on Saturday they had the Famous Chicken. For the most part, the Famous Chicken was pretty lame, but after the third inning he did this cute little chicken follow the leader thing with these little kids that were dressed up as baby chickens, it was so cute!

The game was pretty exciting. We played the River Cats and ended up winning the game 12 to 5. We had 16 hits total to win this game. It was pretty cool to see the team dominate the River Cats.

Father's Day

Ahh, Father's Day, I have to admit it's not one of my favorite holidays anymore. It get's me thinking about my Dad and how much I miss him. I have found that really random things get me thinking about him so this post is dedicated to some of those things.

1. Handi-Snacks Cheese and Crackers- My dad would always bring me home random treats from the grocery store and one of them were Cheese and Crackers. A couple of months after he died, Derek & I were walking down the Isle at Smith's and I saw the Cheese & Crackers and I started crying, Derek was sweet and cheered me up by telling me some random joke to get me to laugh.

2. Country Music - I only listen to Country Music at about 11 o'clock at night when I am missing my dad. I love the Country Classic station because it plays random songs like that 'You & Me Fishing in the Dark' song.

3. Harmon's Grocery Store - I find my self frequenting the stores that he used to be a Store Director of, usually the 7th street store, just because I miss him. I used to go see him once a week or so at work just to leave him cute notes on his desk telling him that I love him.

4. The saying 'Life is Good' - My dad used to always say that to us kids & I think that it was his life's slogan.

5. Tulips & Lilies - My dad had the most gorgeous tulips & lilies in the neighborhood. He had a way with making them last a lot longer than they should have. I love the spring because of the Tulips, they make me feel a little bit closer to my dad.


6. Carmel Apples - My Dad was a committee member of the Granite Education Foundations "Invest In Futures" board. He would donate time and money to the schools and won Business Cheerleader of the Year at the Foundations annual Partner Solute. My Dad had me come along to the "Apple Wrap" and help tie bows on delicious Carmel apples to put on the tables at the Partner Solute. He also took me to several banquets, and I honestly felt like a princess when he introduced me to important business and school leaders in the community.

7. Beer - My dad would always kick back with 1 beer every night after he got off of work. He would grab a beer out of the fridge and go sit on the couch and relax for a minute.


8. Ties - Very rarely did you see my dad without a tie. He loved ties, he like the nice expensive one's, he liked the cheap silly one's. He had a different tie for every holiday. He honestly had around 100 ties that he accumulated over the years from me, my brother, my sister and my mom. I miss going to the store and picking out a cool tie that I know he would like.

9. Perry, Utah - Every time I head up north, I have to stop by in Perry to see the fruit stand that was were his first job was. He was so proud of that job and living in Perry. He would take me up there on random trips and we would check out his old house and the fruit stand and he would tell me fun stories about growing up. We would stop off at this antique store every time and take some cool random thing home and put it with the rest of the treasures.

10. Bowling - My dad would bowl every Friday Night on a bowling league. My dad was always in charge of Strike it Rich and would go around gathering tickets and money from the people who wanted to participate and then before the 3rd game started he would draw the tickets out and call the names. What I loved the most was that he would let me help him pull off tickets, count the money and also draw the tickets.

I have so many great memories of my dad most happy and some sad and this post doesn't really do them any justice, but it feels great getting them out and sharing them with people.