Question #33

Q: What do I think of myself?

A: I kind of dislike these vain questions... but I guess for posterity, they are good questions. I just feel awkward talking about how awesome I am. ha ha. Back in Jr. High, I'm not sure what I have written about myself. I really didn't know who I was yet. I knew that I loved my friends and my friends loved me. I just loved to play, that is all I know.

Now... I know who I am. I know my strengths and I am very aware of my weaknesses. I like who I am. I am strong, I have gone through a lot. I have had my share of trials and I feel like I have come out on top. I have many talents and continue to learn new things. I love how much I care for people even though sometimes it leaves me very hurt that people don't care for me as much in return. I love that I am hard working and good at what I do. I love that I have lots of hobbies. I love that I am a kid at heart and am always looking to dress up and have fun. I love being young at heart. I know that I will be an amazing wife and mother. I just love to take care of people. I love that I have been living life to the fullest, traveling the world and experiencing what life has to offer... even when it scares me a little bit. I am living my life with no regrets and I look foward to the day that I talk to my Grandchildren and they ask me about my life and I can tell them of how I backpacked Costa Rica for two months without ever knowing where I was going to sleep. Or how I hiked to the ruins in Guatemala, or how I went scuba diving all over the world, swam with sea turtles and great white sharks. I can tell them about my African Safari in South Africa or how I rode an elephant in India.  Not only what I have done, but the people I have influenced. I hope that for the most part, people have good things to say about me. I also think I have a good sense of humor. I think I'm a happy person that likes to make the best out of all the situations given in life (I try really hard to do that). I want to always be knows for being the favorite Aunt and known for having a great relationship with my family. I think I can do anything that I put my mind to. I love that I can learn from my mistakes and that I am always trying to be a better person. I think I'm pretty fun to be around and I think I am a giving person that loves to serve others.

All in all.... ya, I think that I am a pretty awesome person. Is that vain? Maybe... but the great part about this is that I have not always thought that. I have really come to be comfortable in my own skin... the way I look, my personality, my talents and abilities and personality. Yeah, I love who I am and glad that I have finally gotten to that point... even though it might have taken me a while to get there. I think it is important that at some point everyone should get to that point.

Question #32

Q: Do I enjoy my everyday life? What's it like?

A: Yes, I enjoy my everyday life. I think I make the best out of life. I keep busy, I continue to learn new things, learn new talents and skills, I'm responsible, I am social and fun and I create a lot of fun activities for myself and others around me. I am the fun one that creates groups to dress up as Mario characters and race go carts, I have fort week, I dress up any excuse I get. I have the peter pan syndrome... which means I never want to go grow up, I just want to have fun and enjoy life. I am always traveling to new places to experience new things and meeting new people. I try to make the best out of situations and learn what I need to learn from what life throws at me. Bad situations or awkward ones... I try to turn into a funny story to tell. If you can't laugh at life... it would be a lot harder I think. So yes, I enjoy life.

As much as I love to have fun and travel the world and do fun activities... my everyday life is not ALWAYS exciting. But I keep busy. I have always been this way. I work full time. I have my calling, FHE, Institute, and plans with people that I constantly have. I like being busy. I would rather be busy than bored. A year ago I was also volunteering as a tutor for under privaledged kids. I did that once a week for a year and a half... and now I am trying to find another way that I can serve in the community.

Question #31

Q: Tell your favorite joke, or about something that makes you laugh.

A: I'm not one that tells a lot of jokes. If someone asks me to tell a joke I say... "I have a good one. It's a knock knock joke. You start it."

Then they say "knock knock"
and I say "Who's there"
and then they just sit there really confused. Actually everyone's reaction to it is pretty different which is what makes it so funny. That's all I got.

Something that makes me laugh though. Well... that is a different story. I love to laugh so hard that I cry. It is one of the best feelings. One story that makes me laugh this hard almost everytime I tell it, or talk about it or even think about it has to do with my good friend Monica. Boy did that girl have a sense of humor. One weekend we ran away into the mountains to go camping and we didn't tell anyone. When we came back from our camping trip, we had found a little snake and brought it back with us and Monica kept it as a pet (which her roommates were thrilled about). Another time we were thinking of ways to get people back that bothered us or had done something mean to us and Monica invented Tuna Bombs. What is a tuna bomb you ask? Well... you get a balloon, and fill it with tuna, and water and a little bit of syrup for good measure and you tie them up and you let them sit somewhere... for days. Then they really start to smell. Then when you are ready... you throw them at someone's door or whatever so that it smells really bad. I tell these two stories because they have to do with the story that I'm going to tell that is so funny. Well... for FHE in our ward at the Riviera, we had a white elephant gift exchange for Christmas. Monica forgot to go out and buy a gift... so she put the tuna bombs in a box and wrapped it up and then she put the snake in a box and wrapped it up. When it came time for the gift exchange... this really funny guy in our group got her gift. He opened up the first one and it was the snake. I wish you could have been there for the look on his face when he opened the box. All he could say was that he hated snakes and Monica took him back. Then he opened up the next box and people asked what it was.... he said he had no idea but it smelled really bad. Monica and I just laughed and laughed. Needless to say, Monica ended up taking both of her gifts home with her which I think she was secretly happy about. HA HA HA. Oh man. Maybe it is just me, but I find that hilarious!

Question #30

Q: What is the weirdest dream I've ever had?

A: That is hard to answer because I feel like I have had a lot of weird dreams. One of them I was in an animated nintendo game... and I actually got shot in the game and in my dream and then it said "Game Over" before I woke up. Weird.

In another dream, I went out to the wilderness and it had a very Lord of the Rings feel to it.

One of the dreams that really stands out to me as being super weird... is when I dremt that I went swimming, but then all of the sudden I could breath under water and I was talking to fish and I went with dolphins to the movies (under the sea movie theater I guess) and we went out to ice cream after.

Is there something wrong with me? Ha ha. Obviously many of my dreams have to do with what I have been watching a lot of.

Question #29

Q: Have I ever stood up for what I believe, even when it was very hard? Tell about it?

A: Growing up in Santa Barbara, where you are a minority being a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, I stood up for what I believed in all the time. It wasn't super hard for me, but it also wasn't easy. I said no to drugs, drinking and smoking all of the time. I think what was even harder for me to say no to though was rated R movies when I would be at a friends house. One time at a sleep over I just hung out in a different room while everyone else watched. Or one time we had a discussion in English class in high school about swearing and if you thought it was bad. It was pretty much me against the class... but I still said what I thought, because it was the right thing to do. I also had a girl follow me, yelling at me after class because I spoke up in class saying I thought abortion was wrong.

Although living in Utah now.... being surrounded by other LDS people, I don't run into these situations as often, but even in the same faith... I find that I still need to stand up for what I believe in. Especially with same sex marriage. Even within the church it is very divided even though our values and beliefs have not changed. I think that is something we will all have to continue to do our whole lives. Fight for the right. Choose the right. It is a good thing they teach us at such a young age. I felt very prepared when I started being faced with it.

Question #28

Q: How is your sense of humor? Do you like to tell funny stories? Do you like to play practical jokes? Have you ever had one played on you?

A: I think that I have a great sense of humor. I also love to be around people that have a great sense of humor. I love to laugh. I sometimes wish I was funnier than I am... but I think I am pretty funny. I like to make awkward or bad situations into funny stories and tell them on my blog. People usually get a big kick out of it.

Do I play practical jokes? Sometimes... espcially on April Fools Day. I have played many practical jokes... like I tied someone's door shut so they couldn't get out. I have put jello in someone's bathtub, I have done secret love notes to people, I have put candy bars in people's toilets to look like poop. I put snow on someone's door and it froze over night.... so when they opened the door, it looked like an ice wall that they didn't know how thick it was. Oh and lots of things have been done to me. prank wars can be fun if it doesn't go too far. :)

What fun is life if you can't laugh?

Question #27

Q: How do you like being the older, middle, or youngest child? Does it have any particular advantages or disadvantages?

A: I am the middle child. Do I like being the middle child? Yes. I like having older sister's that I look up to and I liked having a little brother to play with and look up to me. I kind of wished that I had an older brother.. but I have never cared about having a younger sister. There are for sure disadvantages to being a middle child. Sometimes I felt like nobody paid attention to me. I didn't feel like I shined like my other siblings. That was probably my biggest complaint as the middle child. Although I mostly felt that way when I was growing up.... in my younger years, sometimes I still feel that way. That I'm the child that doesn't get paid attention to. But it is probably me just thinking that and not really what is happening.

Question #26

Q: Am I pleased with what I look like? If I could change any part of myself, what would it be?

A: Back in Jr. High when I would have said no probably. I remember back then I didn't like my body at all, I didn't like my nose and I hated my teeth. I never really got too much attention from guys and I was always insecure and compared myself to my sisters... which was easy for me to do since they were all so much thinner than I was an smart and talented and so on and so forth.

NOW I look at myself differently. Of course there are still things I wish I could change, but I have learned to like my body and the curves that I have. I wish I were thinner, but I am always working on that... it is a constant struggle. I have great skin and great hair and beautiful eyes and I have learned to like my nose as well. I have learned to dress my body type... which I struggled with before. Anyway, the answer is, I think I am beautiful, the only thing I would change is that I wish I was thinner and it was easier for me to lose weight. Hopefully I find someone that loves me exactly the way that I am. Struggles and all.

Question #25

Q: Write about having to apologize to someone and patch things up.

A: I can think of SEVERAL times where I have done this. Things happen. Relationships of all kinds are complicated. Miscommunications happen and people say and do things they don't mean. What people have a hard time doing however is apologizing... being the bigger person and trying to fix the situation even when you don't feel like you are to blame. This is something that I am good at.  I am the type of person that doesn't think there is anything worth ending a friendship over. Even guys that I have dated... I am still friends with them after because I feel like even though it didn't work out with me, doesn't mean I don't wish the best for them and want it to work out with someone else. I don't like hard feelings and contention. So I am usually the one to apologize... even when it isn't my fault. Just because I would rather say sorry and take the blame then have it turn into a bigger deal.

I can think of 3 different examples off the top of my head with girls that had stopped talking to me over misunderstandings or whatever. I never liked it... but with each one, I let some time pass (with one it was more than a year later) and then I wrote them a letter saying sorry and that I missed their friendship and I should have done things differently. Even though I felt in the right with the situation of why they stopped talking to me... that doesn't mean I didn't do anything wrong. In each situation I could have acted differently and handled the situation in a better way. Therefore, I had reason to apologize. You know what happened with each one? They all wrote back saying they were also sorry and that it was all stupid and that we should be friends again. And we are. I could be prideful and leave it the way it was... but this is so much better. If I have to be the one to apologize first in every situation.... so be it. I would rather be friends than not.

Question #24

Q: Do you have a nickname? Who gave you that nickname?

A: I have always had a lot of nicknames. Let me see if I can remember them all and who gave them to me.

Trace - a lot of people call me that. Easy way to shorten Tracy

Giggles - My wannabe gangsta friends in grade school

She-ra - My Jr High friends in our phase of we all had superhero nicknames

Prune-da-lune - Katie Houston (I get super pruney if I stay in the water too long)

Goggles - Brett Holbrook (when I had to wear swimming goggles to the lab where we worked because I was having an allergic reaction to the chemicals at work)

Scubamonkey - Brett Holbrook (combine the goggles story with I got asked to dress up as a monkey and play with kids at a Tarzan birthday party)

T-Rac - Brad Guynn ( I was calling him B-Rad so he decided to start calling me T-Rac)

T-Ray - Blythe Bourgeous (now Duncomb) liked T-Ray better than T-Rac

Z - Trent Brimhall (because of my zebra print dress I wore at Lake Powell when he first met me)

Z Momma - Ashley Hawman (because she liked the sound of that more than just Z)

T-Mills - Josh Boulding

Tracy Face - Vicki Shelly

I'm sure there are lots more... but that is what I can think of off the top of my head.

Question #23

Q: What colors would you choose for your reception?

A: Well, when I was engaged and planning my wedding, I was planning on purple and brown. I figured it was warm and elegant and could be used in any season and it was timeless. Funny... in Jr High when I would have been answering these questions the first time, I wanted purple too. When I finally get married... will I choose purple and brown? I don't know. I am pretty sure I will stick with purple though, just not sure what colors will go with that. 

Question #22

Q: Are you right-handed or left handed?

A: Right Handed. VERY right-handed. 

Question # 21

Q: Describe getting and decorating a Christmas tree with your family. How was it decorated and when did you put it up?

A: I only remember maybe one or two times when I was really young when we would actually go to a tree farm to pick out a tree. Most of the time my parents picked one up at a lot and brought it home. I always loved the smell. I remember the year they bought a fake tree... I was so sad because I missed the smell. We usually put up Christmas in the first week of December. I was always so excited... my dad would put the colored big bulbed Christmas lights up outside the house and I loved falling asleep look at them outside my bedroom window. Back to the tree.... I would get so excited to put Christmas up, I would want to help my mom decorate the tree. She would let me help, but my mom is particular about the way things look and would move everything that I put up. I learned at a young age that there was no use helping my mom decorate the tree. I always looked forward to see my favorite ornaments on the tree. We had an angel on top

Now I only have a little tree.... but being single over the years I have started to collect decorations... and I myself put up a fake tree in my town house. :)

Question #20

Q: What is my favorite sport or activity to do at recess?

A: This is an interesting question because I am pretty sure when I was given this journal jar, I was in Jr. High and we didn't have recess. When I did have recess I went through different stages of what I liked to do at recess. Of course I was on the All Stars softball team, so I played that a lot, I went through a swing phase, a jump rope stage (loved double dutch), a hop scotch stage, playing marbles phase, playing cards phase.... etc... However, in Jr High I played 2 after school sports. Softball and Volleyball. The only two sports that I am good at. To this day, my answer would still be the same. I played a lot of volleyball in the beginning of college. I played a lot of indoor volleyball with friends at church and I took a beach volleyball class at school. Now I play volleyball here and there at work when I get invited and have played a lot more softball on work teams in city leagues or ward teams against other wards in the stake. Funny how some things don't really change.

Question #19

Q: How many minutes a day do you spend on the phone?

A: I am trying to think what the answer would have been in high school. I want to say not much since I didn't have a cell phone back then. Maybe 15 minutes-half hour.... maybe.

And now? Umm.... I do have a cell phone so it differs from day to day. Most people text these days... but some days I just need/want to catch up with good friends or need a pep talk. If I have these types of conversations... I could easily spend an hour & 1/2 - 2 hours a day on the phone... but I think average, phone calls are all business and straight to the point, so I am going to stick with my average a day is 15 minutes to a half hour on the phone.

Question #18

Q: What are my relationships like with my brothers and sisters?

A: When I was in High School, I am sure that I would have said that I was closest with Jamie. We even hung out together while we were in High School. Not a ton... but a little. Over the years I have been closer to one sibling more than another. Lori and I will always have Costa Rica bond together. Chad and I were in school together the longest... so we bonded. Once I moved to Utah and it was just me and Kristy here... I was really close to her. No matter who I was closest to at the time... I have always had a great relationship with my siblings. I mean... we fought a lot growing up as kids. That is normal. As we grew to be adults though... we just have become better and better friends as the years go by. I see and talk to my brother the least, but still have a great relationship with him. I have a really close relationship with my sisters and try to visit them all and be a good aunt to their kids. I love my family a lot and love that everyone has a great love and respect for each other. I know that my siblings are always going to be loving toward me and be supportive no matter what I'm going through. We don't talk on the phone much.... but we are good at keeping in touch with each other and knowing what is going on through our family website, facebook and blogs. I'm really thankful that I have a great relationship with everyone in my family. Could not ask for a better family. No, we are not perfect.... but I really don't have anything to complain about either. They are great.

Question #17

Q: Am I a good listener? How can I improve this?

A: I think that I am. I think that I have always been a good listener. I believe that is why a lot of people like to come talk to me. I feel like I have always taken the therapist role... even when I was younger. I genuinely care about people and listen to what is going on with them and try and give the best advice that I can. I enjoy being there for people and trying to help them. On the flip side, I need people to do that for me as well... and it can sometimes be frustrating when people are not good listeners when you need them. I feel the need to be validated and understood.

How can I improve on my listening skills? I don't know because I feel like I have always been a good listener. I guess maybe the one thing I will say is that sometimes I have a hard time listening when I don't care about the person or don't care about the situation... or if I am jealous or have strong emotions involved.... so I am trying to improve by taking my emotions out of situations and just trying to be there for the person I am listening to.

Question #16

Q: What profession do you hope your future husband will work in? Why?

A: I believe that my answer back in high school would be the same as it is now. I don't care... as long as he is hard working and can provide for me and our family. I think that now more than ever. I can tell you though what professions I find more attractive and the types of guys that attracts. I am attracted to guys that are good with their hands. Can fix things, build things.... even if it is just a hobby. So I have dated a few guys that have worked in construction. I am also attracted to guys that are good business men.... and more recently... I have been attracted to the therapist, because it means they are caring, service oriented and good communicators (but I don't think I would have ever thought that has a high schooler). What type of job the guy has is not a deal breaker.... just as long as he has one, and it makes him happy and it can pay the bills.... I will be happy just to have a man. :)

Question #15

Q: What is my favorite Young Women Value? Why?

A: I think my answer is the same now as it was when I was in High School. Individual Worth.

I think the reason why this value has always been my favorite is because it was the one I struggled with the most. I went through phases of realization where I really understood my worth. The first big learning experience I had with this was in High School. I had grown up being a very happy person that had a lot of friends. In High School I went through a period of time where all my friends were kind of giving me the cold shoulder and I got depressed because I had measured my worth and happiness on how many friends I had and what I was doing with my friends in our free time. This period of time where my friends were cutting them out of their lives for reasons I didn't understand gave me an opportunity to reach out and become friends with the new girls in the ward that were not included in the group. It gave me an opportunity to spend more time with my family and appreciate them and most importantly it gave me an opportunity to learn who I was without friends. I learned how much I care for people, and discovered and developed talents and learned that it was okay to not be hanging out with friends in all of my spare time. It was okay to have a lone time too. What started out as a really depressing time for me... turned into a great learning experience and self discovery of my worth.

Since High school... I have definitely continued to struggle with this off and on. I am still super social and don't like to be a lone all of the time. I still get hurt by friends and by guys and have a hard time not taking the blame and taking it really personally. I can say this though... over the years I have come to really know how I am, my strengths and weaknesses.... and am not only okay with who I am but really like who I am. I think that I am beautiful, talented, caring, fun, smart, and I have so much to offer to those around me and one day my spouse. I am so thankful for all of my experiences that have helped me with individual worth.

Question #14

Question #14- Describe your perfect Spring day. What do you like to do outside?

A: That is a tuff question. I LOVE Spring. Especially since I have moved to Utah. I say that because until I moved to Utah I never really appreciated the seasons. It was pretty nice weather all year round. In Utah, not only is it a beautiful time of year with everything starting to turn green again and blossom, but it FINALLY starting to warm up again after a long cold Winter, so everyone is outside enjoying the sunshine. It is also when people are starting to get done with school and starting to make fun summer plans. It is a great time of year.

My perfect Spring day, I would not be at work (or at school if I were answering this in high school) and I would be outside in the perfect weather with my friends... either at the beach or playing at the park... washing the car while listening to fun music and shorts and flip flops on with my sunglasses. I don't think I have a certain activity that would make my day perfect... just being outside enjoying the weather with good company. Wow... I am so glad that it is Spring right now. :)

Question #13

Question #13: Do you want to serve a mission? Where do you want to go? Why?

A: At this point the answer is no. I'm 29 years old. I want to get married. However, I would love to serve a mission with my husband one day. I won't care where. It would be fun to go to a different country, but only because I love to experience new places and new cultures. As long as I am with my husband, I won't care where I go though.

When I was in high school though, I was not sure if I wanted to serve a mission or not. I wasn't against it, but I didn't know for sure that I wanted to go either. I just told myself, when I came of the right age to go, if I had the desire to go then I would. If not, then I wouldn't go. As I got closer to the age of 21, we had sister missionaries in our ward and they were always wanting me to go with them places and telling me they were training me to go on a mission. Then when I turned 21 and I was not married and not dating anyone, I had a lot of people telling me I should go and asking me if I was going to go. I felt like it was so pushed on me that I didn't want to go because of it. I wish people had not put so much pressure on me about it. The desire was not there, therefore I didn't feel like I should go. I didn't think much about it until later. Everyone thought that I went on a mission. They just told me I acted like I went on a mission... which I guess is a compliment although I'm not quite sure what that means. Then I had a lot of people question me of why I didn't go and people telling me that I still should go even though I was older than most girls are when they go. I don't understand why people put so much pressure on me about it. Although I do know that even though a mission is a great thing no matter what... that you shouldn't go for the wrong reasons. I didn't want to go because I wasn't married and that is what people expected of me, I didn't want to go because I thought it would fix my problems, I didn't want to go because everyone else was doing it. If I was going to go I wanted it to be because I had a strong desire to do so and that I knew it was right for me. I always heard that sister missionaries either made the best missionaries or the worst. I think that it depends on the reason why they went.... even though I don't think a mission was bad for any of them. I just think your heart should be in the right place and obviously mine never was. Anyway.... it is still a little bit of a sensitive subject, but I don't regret my past. I always have felt that I have made the best decisions for me and not based on anything or anyone else. I feel like I have been a missionary in other ways and like I said I do hope to serve a couple mission one day.

Question #12

Question #12: Describe your favorite clothes?

A: In high school I kind of dressed like a tom boy. I was very insecure about my weight and was not really sure how to dress my body type... so I usually went for looser fitting clothes. But I also started to be a little trendy.... Ugg boots, jeans, I went for the Roxy brand clothes and shoes and it was the girls sportsy look.

Now, I am pretty up on the trends I would say. Right now... I love to wear jeggings (jean leggings) with cute boots and a longer top and cardigan. Flattering, comfortable and cute. I am absolutely in love with boots. I just think they are so cute... so I am hoping they don't get out of style anytime soon... and even if they did, I would still probably wear them. :) I love shopping. I have changed SO much when it comes to the way I dress and style myself since I was in high school. If I knew then what I know now... I probably would have dated more in High School.

Question #11

Question #11: What is your favorite Primary Song?

A: I think that it was the same then as it is now. I have always loved the Primary song "I Wonder When He Comes Again". I just think the music is so beautiful. It also reminds me of singing with my family. I really love the Primary music.

Question #10

Question #10 - What qualities do I want in a husband?

A: In high school, I think my answer to this question would have tall, handsome, nice, has a testimony. Although I still want those things... over my many years of dating... things that I thought were so important sometimes are not and the things that I thought were not important at all are kind of a big deal. I learned that with my broken engagement. Although that was the hardest thing that I have ever gone through, I wouldn't change what happened at all. Through all of that pain, I learned a lot about myself and what I want in a marriage. I need someone who is honest and a good communicator. I need someone that not only has a testimony... but does the little things everyday that keep him grounded in the gospel. I need someone with a good work ethic and someone who is willing to make a relationship work no matter how hard it gets. I also think if we are both doing all the little things we are supposed to everyday, it makes your relationship a little easier to work through things. I need someone who is affectionate and appreciates me. I need someone that is sympathetic and genuine and kind... not just to me but everyone. I need someone that is fun and outgoing and makes me laugh. I realize that there is not a perfect guy out there, but I need to also understand that I am not perfect either and to love me for exactly who I am, imperfections and all because I expect to do the same. These are the qualities that are important to me. I need to work on these same things for myself if I expect to attract this kind of person. I realize this. I'm working on it. 

Question #9

Question #9 - Tell about going shopping with your mother. Do you have a favorite store?

A. My mom and I didn't really shop together a lot. If we did go shopping together it was to crafty stores together when I was decorating a room or wanting to do a craft project. In fact... that is still how it is. I can't say we have a favorite store... just anything craft or home decor related. We had that kind of shopping in common. :)

Question #8

Question #8 - Tell about a trip your family took that you particularly enjoyed. Where did you go? What did you see?

A: We have a lot of great memories at Dinkey Creek because we went there every summer since I was two years old, but the family vacation that I will always remember the most is when we went to Hawaii. It was awesome because it was the only BIG vacation that we ever took together and it was the last vacation that we ever took ALL together as a family before people started getting married. We went for my sister Lori's graduation. Because she graduated in December... we were also there for my birthday. My golden birthday in fact. I turned 18 on the 18th of December in Hawaii! Pretty awesome golden birthday if you ask me. :) There was fighting on that trip, but there were also many highlights. Besides Lori, it was all of our first time to Hawaii. Since we were there in the Winter, we got to see the Surf competition on the North Shore, we went to the Polynesian cultural center, we saw Pearl Harbor, we went to the temple, went snorkeling and to the Dole Plantation and even went on a submarine ride (a yellow submarine). Above all of that what I will never forget was what happened in the airport on our way back to Cali. My dad said it was the best vacation he had ever taken because we were all there together and that it would be the last time we would ever take a vacation with just us. He started to cry and told us how thankful he was for our family. It was a great moment and I am glad we were able to take that last trip has a whole family. Hopefully one day we will be able to take another trip... but with all the spouses and kids as well. 

Question #7

Question #7: Am I a forgiving person? Is there anyone that I need to forgive and what's the game plan?

A: I am not sure what other people would say about me... but I think I am a very forgiving person. I admit my feelings are hurt very easily and I get mad or disappointed in people easily, but I am very quick to forgive because I don't like being mad at people. I don't like having bad feelings towards people. If I ever run into someone I know randomly around town... I want to be able to smile and say hi instead of hiding and pretending like we don't see each other. A person can really do wrong to me and all they would have to say is sorry and I would forgive them. Even sometimes when they don't say sorry I reach out to them and say sorry even if I didn't do anything just to make it better because it is not worth being right or mad over things. I even forgave my ex fiance for cheating on me.  Not because it was okay, I told him it wasn't ok... but I forgave him because I don't want to hate him forever. That is my take on it.

Is there anyone that I need to forgive right now? Not that I can think of. I really try to take care of it right away.

Question #6

Question #6 Tell about your neighborhood and your neighbors.

A: My neighborhood growing up was awesome. We lived in Rancho Embarcadero in Santa Barbara California and we lived up on this hill that overlooked the neighborhood and you could even see the ocean. I would walk or bike to my friend's houses in the neighborhood. Most would come to my house because we had everything. We had a two story playhouse that my dad built, we had a basketball / handball court, we could Rollerblade around the outside of the house, we could play with the many animals that I had, we could jump on the trampoline... better yet we could jump off the platform my dad built unto the trampoline. And so on... our house was awesome. I also would catch lizards outside, walk to the creek to catch tad poles and frogs... we ran into snakes a lot in our backyard... let's see what else. It was a great childhood. Our neighbors were friends of ours. Robin loved us like her own kids. She had little dogs that we would go play with sometimes. Our other neighbors had a dog, Ashes that they never took care of so he pretty much lived at our house. He followed us around the neighborhood, if we slept out in the backyard in the tent he would sleep outside our tent... he was always there no matter where we were. I don't think I ever even talked to the neighbors that owned Ashes... I felt like Ashes was our dog. In fact... those neighbors up and moved one day and they left Ashes behind. When Ashes got too old and sick... we were the ones that ended up taking him to be put to sleep. That was sad day. He was a great dog. They people that took his place were interesting neighbors. They were Ghost Hunters. You probably didn't know Ghost Hunters were a real thing outside the movie Ghost Busters. Well... I guess they are because that is what they did. They had all these crazy things with numbers and that was why they moved into the house next door... or something like that. The next place we lived was on Calle Real. It wasn't really a neighborhood. We lived next to a busy street... in fact sometimes I would hear people honk and scream my name as they drove by the house. We were known for our house because it was made of steel. Our one neighbor was an Egyptian family... one of their daughters was my friend in my grade at school. So that was pretty cool. We hung out sometimes Rana and I. Anyway... best story from those neighbors was that they had intercom's in there house to communicate with each other in different parts of their house. Well... so did we because Jamie and I were in the attic above the garage and it was handy when we had a phone call or  were being called to dinner. A few times we noticed other voices on the intercom that was not coming from our house. It was our neighbors yelling at each other in Egyptian. They were calling  for someone and getting our house instead. I talked to Rana about it and went over there to try and figure out how it was happening. I talked to my brother over the intercom from their house and it was the funniest thing. It kind of became our joke and we would say hi. I think they ended up getting new intercoms or something.

My neighborhood now... Well I live in Deer Haven in Provo, Utah. The neighborhood is about 50% families and 50% single adults ranging 25 and up. The housing was built for graduates originally. A lot of us are just working... almost everyone is LDS (welcome to Utah) and I like it. The townhouses are nice, I live SUPER close to this beautiful park and I am about 5 minutes from where I work (Novell). I am about 10 minutes to my parents house in Mapleton (now that they have moved to Utah) and about the same distance or less from my sister and her family who live in Springville. I have great friends that live near by and we are about 5 minutes from BYU campus, where we meet for church (really wished we met in a real church). Not sure what else to say about the neighborhood. I have made a lot of great friends here and I really like it. As for my neighbors... I live right next to many of my friends which is awesome. The houses that are RIGHT next to me... well, one is empty right now but our good guys friends (Jason who we hang out with all of the time) are going to move right next door. On the other side we have a crazy Latin family that constantly has fiesta's going on at their house. They have an annoying dog that I tell to shut up almost on a daily basis, they have too many cars and do a crappy parking job and they make a TON of noise. My old roommate Ashley referred to the noises coming from their house as "The Creature" because we were not sure what could really make that noise... but I think it is a combination of the dog and the kids. If only we could get some of our good friends to move in there. Oh well. We have it pretty good. 

Question #5

Question #5 The Lord gave everyone talents, what are some of my talents?

A: Ummm.... I think that I am one of those people that am not really good at any one thing but I am kind of good at a lot of things. For example, I would say that I am kind of good at piano, guitar, singing, decorating, cooking, party planning, photography, crafts, blogging, massages and fashion.

Some things that I consider talents that I did not have to necessarily learn because it was something I wanted to do... are things like being a people person, making people feel welcome, complimenting people, being goal oriented, being loyal, and being easy going....

There you go. I think that is good. I'm ok with that list. I think I can work on some more talents... but I am always trying to develop new talents and that is the important thing right?

Question #4

Question #4 What do you think is the best invention so far?

A: Best invention so far? I don't know... we live in a time where there have been SO many great inventions. I think I would have to say the smart phone. I mean... think about it. Smart phones can really do anything. Just on my smart phone a lone... I have of course everything that a normal phone does... keeps all your contacts and text messages. It also has a GPS in the phone. This is SO handy!! I use it all the time because I am so bad at directions. It also makes it so you always have a camera and video camera always on hand. Access to the Internet anywhere you go. My phone automatically sinks up with my gmail account so I can get my emails, and my calendar and so I am reminded of my schedule and I also have access to my docs. Then there is pretty much an app for anything. Games to be entertained, a shopping list so I don't have to carry around lists when I go to the store, I have the Stake Directory and the scriptures and hymns, I am always updated on the weather. I can even have my phone listen to a song on the radio and it will tell me the song and artist so I can go home and download it. It is also an mp3 player so you can listen to music on the go.. the list goes on and on... a smart phone can do just about anything. The app I have been using the most is "My fitness Pal". I can look up food that I eat and it will tell me how many calories it is. I tell it how much weight I want to lose and it tell me how many calories that I can eat a day. Every time I input something I eat it tells me how many calories I have left to eat in the day. You can also keep track of your workouts and how much water your drink. It is pretty awesome. I don't know... can you think of a better invention than that? Back when I was in high school... the best invention was probably the ipod. :)

Question #3

Question #3 What was my favorite Young Women's Mutual Night Activity?

A: I think that is a hard one. It was so long ago that I was in Young Women's... let's see what sticks out to me from 10+ years ago. ha ha.  Some that I can remember and loved... I put on an activity for one of my Laurels projects. I put on a modesty fashion show. I had my fellow Laurels dress up in modest outfits for different categories. We had beach wear, casual, formal. I had one of the leaders be the announcer and we set up a runway with lights and I even made a fun play list to go along with it. I also loved when we did lip sinking shows. Another one I loved is when we went to the nursing home and we were set up with different people to talk to, we put on a talent show for them and we watched the show with them too. I remember really loving the lady that we were partnered up with and I remember the dance that Jessica and I made up to perform in that talent show. I think my favorite activity was when we had BBQ's on the beach and kayaked in the ocean. Oh how lucky I was to grow up next to the beach. :) My childhood and teenage years were pretty great.

Question #2

Question #2 Do you collect anything? (Bugs, baseball cards, marbles, etc..)

A.  Do I collect anything? Are you kidding? What don't I collect? Growing up I went through a lot of different phases of what I collected. Maybe I should just list everything that I can remember that I used to collect.

1. Trolls (remember those weird troll dolls with the rad hair?
2. Baseball cards (I still have them)
3. Coins
4. Stickers
5. Designed pencils
6. Marbles
7. Legos
8. Barbies
9. Anything Superman
10.  Root Beer Cans (probably the weirdest collection)

Well... that was back then. What am I collecting now that I am older? My collections have changed for sure. Now I collect...

1. Hats
2. Scarves
3. Perfume
4. Guys (my friends will know what that means)
5. Nail Polish
6. Necklaces
7. Music
8. Movies
9. Make Up
10. Boots

Amazing how things change as you get older. :)

Question #1

Question #1- Do you have a bicycle? What is it like?

A: Unfortunately I do not have a bicycle. I wish I did. However,  I can tell you what the bike I had as a kid was like. :) My first bike that I can remember was a tricycle. It was purple and and a Poppel on the front where when you honked the horn... the poppel would pop out. I used to love Poppels. I remember I had a couple Poppel stuffed animals, one which rolled up and turned into a soccer ball. Anyone remember these?

When I graduated to the bicycle I think I remember it was yellow. I don't remember if the tassels were coming out of the handle bars or if I had a basket... or both. However, I DO remember that it had a rockin banana seat. It looked kind of like this one.

Man... makes me want to ride a bike right now. "I want to ride my bicycle I want to ride my bike..."

Starting The Journal Jar Blog

Back when I was in High School we had a lesson in church about the importance of keeping a journal. To encourage our journal writing, the leaders helped us make Journal Jars. What is a Journal Jar? Well, it is a jar full of questions for you to answer about your life and feelings you have to help you know what to write about in your Journal.

I think I had started it back then. I didn't get very far though. While going through my stuff recently, I found the Journal Jar. I couldn't believe I had kept it all of these years and never did anything with it... so I decided to start this blog and go through each question in that jar. That may seem like it won't take me long to do... but you would be amazed with how many questions are in there. I am pretty excited to find out actually.

I would make this blog private, however... I have never been one to care (hence my other blog is not private) and I thought it would maybe benefit other people too. People can copy the questions and do this for themselves. Journaling is always a good idea.

So the Journal Jar begins...