Bucket List

This is a list of things I want to do before I die. At least the ones I can think of. I'm sure there are more. :)

1. Visit the Galapagos Islands
2. Learn to play the piano
3. Learn to play the guitar
4. Write a book
5. Publish my book
6. Go through the Temple
7. Get married in the Temple
8. Have a family
9. Adopt children
10. Create a large oil painting
11. Get paid to scrapbook
12. Teach scrapbooking
13. Tour the East Coast
14. Go on a Church History Tour
15. Go skydiving
16. See the Northern Lights
17. Go to Austrailia / New Zealand
18. Tour Europe
19. Visit Prince Edward Island
20. Go to ancestral homes in Ireland, Scotland, England, and France
21. Run a half-marathon
22. See the pyramids in Egypt
23. Climb to Macchu Picchu
24. See the Louve
25. Ride an Elephant, in South-East Asia
26. Ride a Camel
27. Go on a Safari--see a Lion in the wild
28. Stand on the Equator
29. Go above the Artic Circle
30. Learn to Scuba Dive
31. Dive the Great Barrier Reef
32. Ride in a Hot Air Balloon
33. Walk along the Great Wall of China
34. Buy/Build my own house
35. Go to the Olympics (to watch)
36. Have my own personal library in my house
37. Watch Nutcracker Ballet
38. See Wicked on Broadway
39. Learn another language
40. Fly First Class somewhere
41. Stay in a fancy hotel, even if for just one night
42. Go to Antartica (yes, seriously!)
43. Visit Temples everywhere I go
44. Learn to fly an airplane
45. Have my scrapbook pages published in a book/magazine
46. Work on a Scrapbook Design Team
47. Build my own furniture
48. Go big game hunting
49. Be debt free
50. Finish my Grandpa's autobiography

Those are just a few of the things I want to do in my life. :)

Things that Made Me Laugh

I like laughing. Like, a lot. It's my favorite past-time. Here are some things that make me laugh recently:

My co-worker transferred a call to me and said that one of my new female clients was on the phone. She was laughing. I asked her why. She said that she had the following conversation with my client:

      Client: "Hi, I'm calling Megan back for a date."
      Co-worker: "Ummm..."         **Awkward silence**
      Client: "Oh my gosh! No! I don't mean that kind of date! Ahhhh! I'm so sorry! I mean I
                  need to get her a date. Uhh, I'm not making this better."
      Co-worker: "Uh, I'll transfer you, just a moment please."

It was cute because she was still laughing at herself when I picked up the phone. I think I'm going to like this new client.

And that, my friends, is a true story.

A laughy taffy joke (or two):

      What kind of shorts do clouds wear?     
      Thunderwear!

      What did the book say to the page?
      "Don't turn away from me."

Here is a joke I recently read in this amazing book. It made me actually laugh out loud. Probably because I wasn't expecting it in such an emotional book. (By the way, I definitely recommend it. Its the second in a series. I loved them both, especially the first one. And there are more jokes in the book, but this is the only one I can remember at the moment.)

"Two muffins are sitting in an oven and the first says, "Man, it's getting hot in here!" The second says, "Holy cow!! A talking muffin!!"

You can't tell me that you didn't laugh at that. Moving on...

Another true story:

When my mom was in town, we were all hanging out at my sister's house and my brother asked my mom what medicine he should take for his headache. Here is how the conversation went down:

Steven: "My head hurts. What should I take?"
Mom: "I'm not a nurse or doctor, I cannot give you medical advice." (she just finished her Certified Nursing Assistant program.)
Steven rolls his eyes: "Fine, Cait, what should I take?"
Cait (a pharmacy tech) was too happy to say: "I'm not a pharmacist. I can't give advise about medication."
Steven turns to me and starts to open his mouth, and I cut him off saying, "I'm not a lawyer, I can't give legal advice."
So Steven turns to Nick, and Nick says, "Motrin."
Steven in an iritated voice: "Finally! Thank you!"

We had a good laugh about that. And it's kinda pathetic that technically it was all true.

So I hope that you had a good laugh reading this ridiculously awesome post.

My Break-versary

This is the story of a girl (me), a birthday (my roommate's), and a garage door.

Today marks a very special anniversary today. Today is the one year mark of when I crushed my finger. And since, apparently, it is such a hilarious (and a bit graphic) story, I will share it. :)

Once upon a time, in the not-so-far-away-land of Lincoln, it was my roommate Brittney's birthday. The big 25! Ooooooo! We decided that as roommates we would take Brittney out to dinner to celebrate. Well we celebrated, but not in the typical fashion--we ended up in the ER. Okay, I ended up in the ER. (I seem to end up there a lot...hmmm...I think I need to revise my health insurance plan...)

My brother wanted to borrow a movie and I didn't want to wait around for him to come pick it up so I told him that I would put it on the ground just inside the garage door (it wasn't automatic and it didn't lock--good thing people didn't know that!) and leave it there for him. I quickly pushed the door up, tossed the moved on the ground, and thenI grabbed the door between two sections (there was no handle) and pulled down. Then everything happened in slow motion. ...are you cringing yet??...

I knew as soon as I put my fingers there, it was a bad idea. But I can distinctly remember thinking, "This isn't good. I need to move my fingers. I should probably move them now. Ok, I really need to move them." I didn't move them. Actually I tried, but I was too slow. Case in point of sometimes I think too much.

As I was spending what precious miliseconds I had to move my fingers, I could hear my roommates (who were all sitting in the car waiting for me to hurry up) yelling for me to move my fingers. All four of them. I'm pretty sure even a neighbor who was in her yard was yalso yelling at me to move my hand. Obviously I ignored them. "I am so smart. S.M.R.T."

The fortunate part is that I was able to get two of the three fingers out before it closed. My middle finger on my right hand was crushed in the door. It shut so hard that there was a dent in the door where my finger was. I pulled out my hand and instantly it started throbbing. I'd never felt pain like that before. And it was bleeding everywhere. I felt bad because I got blood all over Brittney's car. My roommates instantly rushed to my side and walked me inside. I was sobbing. I tried to wash my hand off to see how bad it was but in the 45 seconds since I had crushed it, it had swelled up really huge. There was a crack along the entire nail and it wouldn't stop bleeding. My finger is aching right now as I think about it. Blech!

My roommates instantly started trying to convince me to go to the ER. I figured it was pointless because even if it was broken (which I highly doubted), there wasn't anything they could do about it. I got really nauseous and dizzy and thought I was going to pass out. I was pushed to the couch and instantly had a towel and ice on my hand. It was seemingly like magic. :)

My roommates were so sweet and tried calling practically every guy in the ward to come over and give me a blessing. Nobody was home or available. My brother showed up to get his movie, saw that we were still home and came in. And saw me on the couch with my middle finger in the air (with an ice pack on it) and was so sweet and went to the store to get me a splint and peppermint (I was in shock and very nauseous still). And once Dessert, er, Jared got to the house, Steven gave me a blessing. It was sweet and his first one! :)

Anyway to make a long story only slightly shorter, at about 11pm, my finger still hadn't stopped bleeding and so Birthday Girl Brittney and Kelly took me to the ER. I was only there for a couple of hours and found out that I indeed had broken the very tip of my finger and that yes, there was not really anything they could do about it. I didn't even get a cast for the effort. Such a waste. :) Though, they did give me vicodin so I could sleep. We finally got home about 2am. I'm such a thoughtful person, I gave my roommate an adventure for her birthday. :) Look at me go. :)

I was going to post some pictures, but I figured that might be too gross.

So I had to keep the splint on for about a month and now my finger is slightly twisted and deformed. I love it. It has character.

And that, my friends, is a true story.

Weekend Recap: Random Pictures

Here are some random pictures from my weekend in Monterey with Monica.

 Monica and Kiona made this cute little cupcake for me for my birthday.  Below is a hair flower that Kiona embroidered on her fancy embroidery machine. So adorable!

 Baizen and Sierra watching a movie.

Sierra, Becca, and Hailey playing Sunday morning.



Baizen and Sierra's eye. We were having sword fights with my finger and a play dinner knife that Baizen takes EVERYWHERE. So adorable.

 Pretty roses at the Mission we visited.

Conveniently on the way home, I passed the cemetery where my grandpa is buried. So I stopped and hung out there for awhile. The wind was horrible though. Bad enough that my dress completely flew up and I was awkwardly exposed! I put on pants right then and there--in the parking lot. Fortunately no one else was there. :)

This is the view West standing right next to my grandpa's plot. It was really pretty, despite the wind that was gusting 60-70mph (seriously!).

So that was my freakin' awesome trip. I absolutely loved every minute! And I already want to go back!

Weekend Recap: 17 Mile Drive/Carmel/Big Sur

All day Friday I kept trying to decide if I wanted to go to the Santa Cruz Boardwalk (I've never been there) or to Carmel/Big Sur (I'd never been there). The weather hadn't been very clear so I didn't know what I wanted to do. That night I prayed that the weather would clear, even just for a couple of hours so I could see the ocean in all it's glory. I woke up on Saturday and it was clear! And soooo beautiful!! It was a little tender mercy that reminded me that no matter how petty my wants are, Heavenly Father listens and loves me. It was a fantastic way to start the day. Monica and I decided that the drive down the coast would be better than Santa Cruz.

It was sooooooo freakin' gorgeous on Saturday when we went for a mini roadtrip. I had wanted to take 17 Mile drive through Pebble Beach and go to Carmel/Big Sur. And the $10 fee to get into Pebble Beach is soooo worth it. See the pictures below to prove it! :) Oh, and the golf courses seemed nice enough. :)

Pretty sure that Monica and I took over an hour and half just to drive like 8 miles. Just about every time there was a turn out, we pulled over to admire the view. (Just as a side note, I did not retouch any of these photos. The color is accurate and that is really how blue it was!!)

We came across two very cute older couples who were doing the same thing as us and we traded taking group pictures. We got to chat with them a little and saw them multiple times throughout the morning. They were so cute. They are the ones that took the picture above for us. Oh, and I'm not sure why I chose to wear a "I Heart NY" t-shirt. I didn't even think about it. ha ha ha.

 Me writing my name in the perfect white beach in Pebble Beach. Yes, I was Here! And now everyone knows it. :)

I discovered that my phone takes very cool panoramic pictures--which was VERY exciting and a perfect trip to try it out on. :) The above pics are of the Lone Cypress, the symbol of Pebble Beach. It is over 250 years old and sticks out on a lone piece of rock.

Carmel Beach. We didn't get to go. There was no parking there because as it turns out, there was a wedding just about to start as we drove up. It was cool. The water was amazingly blue. Again, I didn't retouch the photo. :)

I didn't get to many pictures of walking around Carmel, I was too distracted to think about it! There were so many shops and art galleries and things to look at. We ate lunch at an adorable little Swiss restraurant that was off the main roads. I had a club sandwhich which was fantastic. After lunch we headed back to the car to check out the San Carlos Mission in Carmel. It was so beautiful!

There was another wedding going on, so we didn't get to see the chapel, but the grounds and outbuildings were beautiful. I'd never been to a mission before so I found it quite interesting. After walking through the little museums, and seeing the depictions of Christ, I was very grateful for my testimony and knowledge. Despite the building being of a different faith, it was still a moving experience for me. I'm really glad we took awhile to stop and visit.

After the Mission, we drove down to Big Sur and enjoyed the ocean and sunshine. Once we got to Big Sur, we turned around and drove back. About half way back, clouds started rolling in. It was perfect timing. It's like Heavenly Father was watching us and letting me enjoy His creations as much as possible! :) Yeah! And I did. :)
I'll post some more pictures tomorrow. I figure this post is long enough. :)

Weekend Recap: Monterey

I decided that for my birthday I wanted to to go on a little trip--which I'm trying to make a tradition. Last year I went to Alaska, another year I went to Seattle, and I've been to San Francisco to see Wicked (AMAZING!) too.

So since Monica has been staying with her sister, Kiona, in Monterey (that is where Kiona's husband, Adam, is stationed right now), I thought I would go visit!!

My honest opinion about the trip?

P.E.R.F.E.C.T.I.O.N.!!

So Thursday I left early from work and finally left Rocklin at 3pm (my goal was 2pm). And then hit traffic almost immediately in Sacramento. I finally got to Kiona's house in Seaside about 7pm. The drive was beautiful and uneventful once I got out of traffic. (Note to self: Don't take I-99 South...Ever.) Once I got about an hour away, I kept expecting to the the ocean after I got to the top of every hill, but I was disappointed. Finally I came into Marina & Seaside and there were sand dunes everywhere, but no ocean. Then there it was. I caught a glimpse in between dunes. But normal weather down there consists of fog, clouds, and cold, so it wasn't super fabulous looking. But that is okay. I was expecting that, so it was fine with me. Which is a good thing, because, let's be honest, there is nothing I can do to change the weather. :)

Friday consisted of Monica and I hanging around Monterey. Monica had found someone that was willing to loan us passes to the Aquarium and so we got in for free. Yippie!!! Which turned out to be a very good thing because when we eventually got back to the car, I had a parking ticket that was the same cost as the aquarium ticket. (Apparently they don't like it for you to try to get around paying for parking. We parked in a shopping center and walked to Cannery Row to avoid paying for it. So now I have to pay 5 times as much as I would have paid if I had parked in the paid parking.)

Okay, so enough jibber-jabber. Here are some of my favorite pics of the aquarium. (As a side note, between Monica and I, we took about 300 pictures on my phone this weekend. I'll highlight my favorites.) We got to the aquarium a little before it opened so we walked around Cannery Row for about 45 minutes. The history was very interesting and I loved the feel of it.

 From the pier the Aquarium is on.

Cannery Row.

Fortunately we didn't have to pay for the aquarium (Monica got guest passes from a neighbor) and so we walked right in. It was amazing. There weren't too many people there, so we were able to walk through the entire aquarium in about three hours. And I didn't feel rushed at all. Here are some pics. Some of these have been retouched, but most haven't. The colors of the fish are accurate. Pretty amazing, eh?

 Feeding the fishies in the Kelp tank.

NEMO! As soon as I saw this tank with the Finding Nemo fish in it, I said, "Nemo!" a little too loud. I think I embarrassed Monica. Ha ha ha. It was cute then that night I was showing Monica's nieces the pictures and we came to this one and they said, "Nemo!!" in unison. Monica and both started laughing.

I have TONS of other pictures from the aquarium, but I'll spare you. :) After the aquarium, Monica REALLY, really wanted Clam Chowder from the Wharf, so we headed over there for lunch. There were lots of little restaurants offering samples and we picked our favorite (who was also giving out free calamari appetizers! yummy!) and ate. SO AMAZING! Even days later, I am still dreaming of that clam chowder and right now I am salivating thinking about it. I wish I knew which restaurant it was so I could give them a shout out, but I know they have a sister restaurants on Cannery Row.

Monica was talking, not reacting to the little octopus I was about to put in my mouth. I just really like this picture. :)

Our Clam Chowder. The stuff dreams literally are made of.

Since not much could top our late lunch, we headed back to Kiona's house to help with a dinner party Kiona was throwing for some friends of theirs that were moving.

I'll post some more pictures of our mini roadtrip through Carmel tomorrow.



More Pages

Here are some more pages I made for Caitlin's Wedding Scrapbook. I'm quite proud of myself. I've been busting them out. And so far, I'm pretty happy with them. :) Yeah! Me!

Birthday Recap

Here are some pictures from my birthday. And I have no idea how or why the pictures rotated. When I have more time, I'll try to fix it. And please forgive some of the coloring. The photo-editing program did it and wouldn't let me undo. Anyway...here you go!

 My boss got me flowers and a card, and this cake:

 Yes, that cake says, "Happy Birthday Magan." My boss was so embarrassed. He kept saying, "I swear I know how to spell your name!! The lady couldn't get it right--I told her three times!" I thought it was awesome!

 This is what the cake looked like in the inside. Layers and layers of chocolate goodness and caramel!

 Bekah is trying to make a Tornado in her water. Where she comes up with this stuff, I have no idea. But she was really excited about it. Christiana is in the background.



Apparently Cheesecake factory doesn't give you free cheesecake on your birthday anymore. But I did get a little ice cream sundae. I really wanted to keep the cute glass it came in. But I didn't.

Anyway, my birthday was fun and chill. I liked it this year. And now this weekend I get to go to MONTEREY to see Monica!! Happy Birthday to ME!

27 Memories Part 2

Here is the second half of my 27 memories:

14. Probably the biggest thing that happened when I was fourteen was I got really sick and almost needed a blood transfusion. That wasn't really very fun. Oh, and I started High School. I like to think that once I got to high school, I started to come out of my shell a little. I finally found friends that I was comfortable with and didn't give me a hard time about my standards or my clothes, or anything really. Lauren became one of my best friends. I'm so glad that we're still in touch.

15. When I was 15, I herniated a disc in my neck. No, it wasn't from a car accident or anything cool like that. Honestly, no one is quite sure how it happened, but it was possibly from turning my neck suddenly and quickly. My BFF Monica (this is when we started our epic friendship with Lauren :) ) and I made up a story about how I was on the roof of my house and trying to save my dog or something and I fell off. See? Isn't that a MUCH cooler story that turning my head? We thought so at the time.

16. I got my driver's license about a month after I turned 16. When we got back from my dad's house at the end of the summer, my mom told me that she had bought a truck for me to drive to school and work (because now I needed to get a job) and to take my siblings around. We drove to her office where it was waiting. This couldn't have been better if she had planned it. I had begged and begged her not to get a nasty, ugly, two-toned truck like she had threatened. Well we pulled into her office parking lot and there stood the ugliest truck imaginable. I was devastated. My mom laughed. We pulled up to the truck and next to it was another truck, beautiful and white. I was so sad I couldn't have that one. My mom handed me the keys to the truck and I got out and went to get in. The keys didn't work. Then my mom said, "Try the other one." "The other what?" I asked. "The other truck," she laughed. I tried the keys in the other truck, the big beautiful white new looking truck. And the door opened! It was like magic! So I took it for a spin. It was heaven. I won't tell you that I then drove the truck all over Roseville before I realized that the E-brake was on. After about 15 minutes the truck started smelling like burnt rubber. But that part doesn't matter. All that mattered was that I wouldn't have to drive to school in a beater. YEAH!!!

17. I loved my Senior Year of High School. My friends and I had the most awesome time ever. One of my favorites is when we kept pranking Brad, a kid in our class at Church. The first thing we did was completely saran-wrap his car. With like 1,000 feet of seran-wrap (I'm not exagerating!). The thing was, we had put little notes in between each layer so in order to get them all, he had to unwrap each layer. I happen to be at the school to pick up my brother when he got our "present" so I watched him. But then he knew it was me and Monica so he caught me and got "mad" at me. So then to get him back, Monica and I attacked his bedroom with yellow ribbon curls. We put them in everything (suit coat pockets, pants, his plane collection, laundry basket, bed, even his unmentionables drawer (we made his brother do that)). And we made him a candy lay (out of seran-wrap) and strung it all over his bedroom. Only problem was that in between the two pranks, he got hit at football practice badly and shattered his leg. So he didn't see his "presents" for a month or so because he stayed on the couch. But it all worked out and we became really good friends. :) And yes, several years later (even after his mission) he was still finding yellow curls in his stuff. He vowed never to use yellow curling ribbon on anything ever again. :) Bwahahaha.

18. The biggest event, by far, was starting college at Brigham Young University-Idaho! I absolutely love, love, loved college. There are so many memories associated with each year of college. My roommates were Ruth, Lisa, Bridgette, Rosalina, and Lois. We all came from vastly different backgrounds, but we all got along very well.

19. I finally started hitting my stride in college. I decided who I wanted to be and the type of life I wanted to live. And I discovered that I can actually be funny (on purpose!). Much to the shock of my family. :) I lived with Nicole, Lois (again), Jennifer, and Desirae.

20. I'm not sure if this a favorite memory or not, but it is kinda cool--sorta. I worked as an early morning janitor on campus. From 4am to 7am in the Hart (P.E.) Building. I was quite proud of myself that in the three months I worked there, I didn't once miss work or clock in late. And considering that mornings and I don't agree, that was quite a feat! :) This was my Junior year of college and definitely my favorite roommates. I lived with Nicole (again), Jennifer (again), Lisa, Rachel, Amy, and Natasha moved in when Nicole went off track. Early on we established the RPA Club. This was probably the most difficult roommate situation too. We were all very, very close friends and one girl went through some pretty difficult things that affected the rest of us. I think that because of my roommates trials (and thus they becoming ours) we became the best of friends. I still keep in touch with each of them and probably will for the rest of my life.

21. Monica threw a surprise party for me and I was actually surprised. It was fabulous. The guy that I had a crush on drove over an hour on a weeknight just to come. It was really special and I had so much fun. Oh, and that summer, Monica got her mission call to Temple Square. There is a great picture of me and her sitting together as she read the letter and she is grinning at me and I was laughing hysterically. Just that morning she had told me that she KNEW she was going to Temple Square--the one mission that she didn't want to go to. Turns out she was right, and she loved it. :) I lived with Monica for that Summer and then in the Fall/Winter I lived with Lisa (again), Natasha (again), Brooklyn, Candice, and Kara. Brooklyn went home for the winter and Amy (a different one) moved in and became my bedneighbor (because we shared a room and beds were neighbors! ha ha ha!!)

22.  I had the best summer of my life so far and at the end of it, I graduated from College! Woohoo! I only had to take one class that semester and so I got to spend plenty of time being with my friends and I did study. In fact I got an A+ in the class. And it was a hard class too. Anyway. My roommates (Marissa, Carrie, Andrea, Hannah, and bedneighbor Amy) were awesome and our friends were amazing. Fourth of July was epic. I was "kidnapped" for lunch by my best friend that summer and then we met up with the rest of our group for swimming at the Lake and then a BBQ in Idaho Falls, followed by hours of hanging out, playing games, eating, and watching the "Best Fireworks west of the Mississippi." They really are that spectacular. :)

23. I got my job I have now. It was offered to me twice and the first time I said no because it had nothing to do with what I wanted to do. But the second time (it was about a week and a half later) I finally accepted. I was the receptionist in the main office. After doing that about a week--I was told that the next week I would start doing my current position. I was terrified! I knew nothing about law. But fortunately, I have very, very patient supervisors and they've taught me a lot. That was definitely a growing experience.

24. My family went on an EPIC trip to Disneyland! It was so fabulous!!! We went Memorial Day weekend and had a wonderful time! We flew down and basically laughed the entire time. Seriously, we pretended we were like 5 years old and had never been there before--Well, in the case of Erin that was actually true. We ran all over the place. We did everything we could. We rode the rides and stayed ALL DAY in the parks. From open to close. It was seriously magical. Just the way it is supposed to be.

25. One big highlight of 25 was that I got to go to Alaska! And I loved it! It is so spectacularly beautiful. I couldn't get enough pictures of the mountains. My BFF was living there are the time so I went to visit. I was there for 5 days and part of the time was spent in Seward, a tiny village on the edge of Resurrection Bay. We went on a "Whale Watching" cruise--except there were no whales. It was kind of a bummer, but it was still cool to cruise around the bay, see the Pacific Ocean, have it snow on us, and see mountain goats and Killer Whales, among some other animals. Despite the weather being terrible, I still had a great time and the scenery was AMAZING!

26. I officially broke my first bone. My middle finger on my right hand. I crushed it in our garage door. I'll have to do a post about the story because it is pretty funny (now, anyway). It was my roommates birthday, and I ruined it. She thought it was awesome. I think she is crazy. :) Now my finger is slight deformed and sometimes it still hurts, almost a year later. Good times.

27. It will be interesting to see what this year brings! I'm pretty excited!

27 Memories Part 1

Since my 27th Birthday is tomorrow, I thought I would come up with a list of 27 memories, one from each year I've been alive. Obviously I don't remember the very early years, but I do know stories, so that will have to work. :) Feel free to skip if you don't want to read. :)


1. Apparently I knew my grandparents were my grandparents before I met them. :) The first time I saw them was at the airport when they got home from their mission to the Philippines. I ran up to my Nana and greeted her with a big hug like I knew her. Without prompting from my mom.

2. My first memory is apparently from when I was about 18 months old. I thought I was older, but my mom said I wasn't. I remember my grandparents goofing around and Nana sat on Grandpa's lap and the gold chair they were in fell backwards and I remember them falling over and laughing. I remember laughing too.

3. This was the year my little sister, Caitlin was born. I was two when Steven was born and I don't remember it. But I do vaguely remember sitting in the hospital holding Caitlin.

4. Apparently I don't remember anything from when I was four. I keep coming up blank. If I remember anything, I'll update this post.

5. In 1989 I started Kindergarten. And I loved it. I have lots of memories from then. My teacher was Mrs. Rutledge and she was obsessed with Holstein cows. They were everywhere in the classroom. I also got Scarlet Fever this year at Christmas. I don't remember much of Christmas, I basically slept the entire time, but I do remember a little bit of Disneyland (we went that Christmas) and I remember Steven praying that the rain would stop and it did as soon as we opened the car doors. And once we were done for the day, and closed the car doors to leave, it started raining again. It was so cool.

6. I can't remember how old I was, but I think it was around when I was six. There was a really, really bad storm in Dallas and the missionaries came over and we watched the basketball game and then the basketball game got smaller and smaller on the screen as the storm warning watch Doppler map kept getting bigger and bigger. We had to get all our stuff by the back door, just in case we had to get in our cellar. There were 6 tornadoes in our city at the same time. It was really scary, but I knew we would be okay because there were a bunch of missionaries at our house. And it turns out we were okay, and didn't even need to go in the cellar. I also got Chicken Pox a couple of days before Christmas. I was the "Chicken Pox Santa Claus" that year and passed out presents. My brother and sister teased me about all time growing up.

7. My sister, Erin, was born. I definitely remember this. It was quite traumatic to our family since my mom and Erin both almost died. Fortunately, both ended up being okay. I remember when Erin came home from the hospital, she had to sleep in a little tiny bed that had lights shining on her all the time (an incubator) and that it was so cool that we could have it at home for her. I also remember sitting on the chair in the family room watching cartoons while holding her. She was sooo tiny. And cute. :) And I remember being mad that she was too little to play with us. I wanted her to grow up so we could play.

8. I remember my baptism vaguely. I remember that my primary teacher at the time didn't come and I was so sad. I also remember having my interview with the Bishop and that I sat on the floor in the hallway outside his office while I waited for my dad while he had his interview with the Bishop.

9.  This was the year we moved back to California and started 4th Grade. While quite traumatic for me, I still have a few good memories of school. My favorite part was when we took on the names and personas of the people in the Donner Party and stayed the night at Sutter's Fort in Sacramento. It was so much fun! We spent the whole day there pretending to be pioneers and stayed the night to "protect the fort." I was Mary Ann Graves, one of the few survivors of the trek and, no, she didn't eat anybody. Thankfully. :)

10. I remember on my 10th birthday thinking that I was a decade old and how mature I must be because I was so old. Yeah, I don't think that anymore. :)

11. I believe this was the year of the really bad floods. Our creek, normally maybe 10 feet wide at the widest spot, became a river--seriously--the creek approached the tree line away from the creek. It was amazing. Almost magical. Ok, it wasn't really--the flooding had destroyed the bridges we had worked really hard to build. After the storms stopped, Grandpa took us down to see the damage. I remember being in awed at the power of nature. The creek had changed directions, created a beach at our favorite swimming spot, and moved boulders that weighed tons. And we saw a creepy opossum. It was such a cool walk with Grandpa.

12. My first Sunday in Young Women's I was really nervous. I'd never been in a church class that had so many older girls in it. I was in awe. I remember Sally Cook and my BFF, Monica's (we weren't BFFs yet) sister, Kiona telling me that I would have to give a 10 minute talk that day, on the spot. I was petrified. I probably looked like I was going to cry because they burst out laughing and then told me that "Gullible is written on the ceiling!" I didn't know what that word was so I looked up totally confused. Then they laughed more. Fortunately it wasn't mean spirited, but I had been bullied a lot as a kid and so for awhile it was a bit traumtizing. Both girls ended up being good friends of mine. :)

13. My mom gave me my first scrapbooking kit with pretty paper and scissors as something to do. Little did she know what she was starting me on... mwhahahahaha ha ha ha... She created a monster....

Since this is getting a little long, I'll wrap it up tomorrow...

Hail? Yeah! & Omelet Party!

Today was an adventure. At least weather wise. It was really strange. We actually had a thunderstorm. Those are very rare in the Sacramento Valley. It rained really hard and then it hailed! Okay, coming from a background of living in Dallas for many years, and spending summers there growing up--I know what real hail is. I've seen soft-ball size hail. Really. And what we got was certainly nothing compared to that. But still, by NorCal standards, it was significant enough to look like it had snowed.

My favorite Rosebush got quite a beating from the rain and hail today. :(

Fortunately we survived. :)

After Church we invited a few friends over for an "Omelet & Scone Party" where we had a bunch of filings and made omelets and scones. Soooo delicious! Afterwards we watched Kung Fu Panda. "I'm not dead you idiot!" We had tons of fun and I think we should do it again.

The guys squished on to the little couch and watched the movie like that the entire time. It was hilarious. They were all cuddled up with each other. So precious.

 Christiana, Rob, Tyson, and Peter.

Briana, Marie, and Rochelle.

We had a fun time and definitely enjoyed the food! Hopefully we can do more stuff like this soon--before Bekah leaves. :)