Christmas Letter

My Silly Habits, Quirks and Facts!

So Heidi Hiller and Alycia Nelson both tagged me a while ago, and I still haven't done it...until now! The rules are:
A. List seven habits/quirks/facts about yourself.
B. Tag seven people to do the same.
C. Do not tag the person who tagged you or say that you tag "whoever wants to do it".

1. I hate Cold - if any of you have gone out to eat with me you know that I ask for no ice in my water. Drinking water is best when it is room temperature (unless you've been out working really hard or running then ice cold water is good). I get cold really easy too. When I came home from my mission to the Philippines it was in July and I sat in front a little heater for two days because I was so cold. I love it when houses are nice and warm too, I hate bundling up to be warm in a house - i feel like the house should just be warm. And last of all, I cannot fall asleep if it is cold. Some people like it really cold, some people like it to be warm when they sleep - but I think it would be best to just have it be a normal temperature when you sleep. The worst is being so cold when you are sleeping that you have to put socks on - i can't wear socks to bed because they annoy me - if I put them on, I usually wake up with them on the other side of the room. So good thing we have lots of blankets in the house - the fuzzy ones are the best because they are so warm.

2. I really LOVE food - I love eating it, cooking/baking it, and taking pictures of it. I love cooking, lately I'm into making up my own dishes and get frustrated using a recipe, I just make stuff up with what I have around. It's like a contest with myself to see how creative I can get. Sometimes I suprise myself and make something pretty good. I also love baking desserts - not your normal desserts like cake or cookies, but the desserts that people usually don't think of making. My favorite is a Molten Chocolate Cake you have to bake in a Ramekin. I have intentions of making a food blog soon - I have the background picked out for it already, and I finally have a camera now, so I should be starting it soon if I can just remember to fit it into my plans!

3. Other drivers scare me! I love my car and I love me driving it. But other things on the road scare me so much I start imaging a lot of crazy things in my mind and make it worse! The worst thing you can do is put me on a road with water on both sides. I can't handle passing semis either, I stay as far away as I can. I also feel like every time I pass a gravel truck I will get a dent in my windshield (you are guaranteed to pass at least two each commute here in utah). Curvy mountain roads also make me really nervous. I think the worst drive I've ever been on was my visit to California last year. Jesse and I went for New Years and had to drive through the Bonneville Salt Flats. There were only Semi's to pass you (#1bad thing), salt on both sides of the road (which looked like quicksand, which is comparable to driving with water on both sides of you #2bad thing) and VERY high winds. Every time you passed a truck you really would have blown right off the road, my steering wheel was shaking (#3bad thing). So after that was over and we had a place to pull over my knuckles were so white I made Jesse drive. He had to drive home too because we went through the mountains by Lake Tahoe - nothing between the road and the cliff to stop you from going over the edge, it was icy and we were so high up, it felt like the top of the world. I really thought I was going to die.

4. I can be pretty meticulous about certain projects sometimes. I stayed up till 2:00 am tuesday night carving a pumpkin so I could win $50.00 - but it was worth it since I won. I wish I could be this way with important things though, like homework. But it's more with unimportant tasks like the pumpkin or even cleaning is hard for me because if I start I will be doing it for hours - because I have to not only clean what I intended to clean, but everything has to be clean, down to the floorboards and grit in the corner. It's not that i'm OCD - I can handle dirty things, I just like to be meticulous when I do things.

5. Touching is a great thing. I love to be cuddly with people - if I'm sitting next to you and start to snuggle up to you (girl or boy) i'm sorry, I probably don't even know that I am doing it. Take it as a compliment though, because I usually only do it to people I feel very comfortable around. I also love to touch things that are really interesting to look at, like nice materials, or pins or jewlery - I usually always ask to touch peoples neclaces and I LOVE to press buttons and touch plants - they are the best!

6. Memory - I will not even claim to having a great memory - I just have an odd mind. I will forget really important things, like peoples birthdays or that I have to take a bathroom break, but I can remember conversations and can recite almost word for word what was said and remember the non-verbal parts as well like facial expressions, connotations and the ambiance of the situation.

7. People - i think i'm obsessed with them! I love learning about people: why each person is the way they are, their reasons for doing things, how they handle life, what they wear, how they are shaped, their quirks, their feelings and their thoughts on life and most importantly, if I find someone I think is really admirable I write down how they have affected me and why I would like to become like them, and i'll find a scripture or quote related to it. I think the greatest thing from this is that I learn from people what is really important in like by their values. I love their uniqueness and that everybody has something good in them - my favorite is when I find a soft spot in someone that is not a very soft kind of person - it makes me like them even more. It's like an adventure for me.

I tag:
1. Sally Cook
2. Nathan Sellers
3. Erica Zaine
4. Megan Shakespeare
5. Marci Ward
6. Laura McIntyre
7. Shauna Dennis and Sherie Echols

It's my favorite time of the year!!!!!

Here are a few of the things that have been going on in the Serena world. If you can't tell from the pictures Halloween is my favorite holiday!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Don't worry, there will be more pictures to come.I saw a picture of this on an email I got and had to do it. The only problem is that it's getting pretty ugly looking now that I carved it so early, so more "fresh" pumpkins will be carved tomorrow.

This is from Heidi's birthday - I took her shopping that morning and we ended up in the Hat section for a minute and had some fun.
My roommate Sherie Echols is HI-larious!!!!!!! I'm learning that we have a lot of different costumes for halloween laying around and are having fun trying them on. I guess I do it so often that when Sherie took a recent trip to Washington, the gift she brought back for me was a whole set of six fake teeth - it really made my day! (you know your life is really boring when you get excited about fake nerd teeth :)
Here is another pumpkin idea I found. I got a screw driver and poked holes for the christmas lights!
This is my favorite pumpkin so far though, you cut a hole in the center for the tea candle
So all you kids out there have a great Halloween and enjoy yourselves!! Hope to see you all at Heidi's Halloween party on Saturday night!

These are a few of my favorite things......

This summer ending has helped me remember a few of the things that I have been able to do and spend time with those I love most. I am so thankful for the blessing it is to have my family close to me and dear friends. When I first moved to Bountiful, I was unsure about making new friends and sad to leave my friends in Provo behind. The blessing of having an amazing Bishop like Bishop Plaizier is to be able to gain inspiration on life, such as, "Strangers are only friends that you haven't met yet". I'm thankful for the advice I've received from you guys. Some of it has been life changing, leading me to find my major. Some of it helped to change bad habits and form good ones. Some of it was just to learn more about what life is really all about and remember what is really important.
In General Conference, members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints were reminded by President Henry B. Eyring to remember! Remember and ponder on the things that the Lord has given to us during our lives. In doing so, you will feel in your life the spirit more and have the opportunity to learn more from life. I know that when I actually take the time to review what the Lord has done for me each day, I find things that I didn't recognize as works of the Lord until I sit down and think about it. It makes me appreciate more the knowledge that I do have a Father in Heaven, and he does have a plan for me and is watching over us each day, showing us his love in so many different ways. Thank you friends and family for so often showing me and others his love through your thoughtfulness and kindness and most of all your friendship!

Bear Lake - 07-27-07 to 07-29-07

The last weekend my roommate Rachel was here she invited a big group of friends to go to Camping at her house in Montepelier, Idaho, right next to Bear Lake. Our friend Ben brought his boat and we had lots of fun boating, sleeping in tents, eating the famous bear lake Raspberry Shake. We made breakfast outside, went swimming in the pool (well Rachels mom and I did) and spent a lot of time just talking and enjoying the company.

10k on 07-24-07 and Swimming on the Great Salk Lake

My roommate Rachel and I decided to go for a bigger challenge than 5k's and aim for the 10k world! So we signed ourselves up for the Deseret News 10k. Our time was 1 hour and 9 minutes - we ran all of it at a nice pace except for about a 1/2 mile - my knee started hurting and I ended up having a limp for a week after - i guess my leg decided it didn't want to cooperate with me. But it was a lot of fun and I look forward to the next one. Afterward we went with my family (Alycia, Tyson, and Jesse) and my roommate Tammy to go swimming at the Great Salt Lake. I loved it!!! I can't believe I have waited so long to go. True it does not smell good but if any of you have gone swimming in Cherry Lake in Tuttle, North Dakota you realize that the Great Salk Lake is not the worst lake to go swimming in. In fact, it was more fun that any other lake since you didn't really have to put a lot of effort in staying afloat. Out contest was to see who could keep their legs straight under them for the longest (like a balancing act) before our legs popped up out of the water. It was pretty funny. If you haven't tried it - you are missing out!

Mom's Visit

Mom came to visit - here are some fun pictures we took while at the Mirror lake Highway and

Provo Falls

My Birthday

For my birthday this year my friend Jen and I had our birthday celebrations together at her house on the 13th of July. The next day (on my real birthday) my friends, sister, and roommates suprised me by taking me out to i-hop for breakfast. It was a lot of fun. My favorite present was having my family around, especially my neices who came down with Theresa and spent the night!

4th of July - Centerville Freedom Run

My roommate Rachel Bomsta and I ran a 5k on the 4th of July in Centerville. It was a lot of fun - I usually like to be a slacker as much as possible when I run, but thanks to Rachel and Dave we finished in 34 minutes. We didn't practice at all for this one so I was feeling a bit out of shape. Dave and Rachel wanted to run the whole thing and they did - if I had to walk they would run up and then run back to where I was until I was ready to run - so they are awesome (and ran way more than the required 3.1 miles from the circles they ran). It was a lot of fun. I had Alycia and Tyson Nelson, Rhonda and Ron Christenson and their girls and a few other friends over for a 4th of July lunch. It was nice to see everyone. Later that afternoon Jesse, Rachel and I went to Provo to be with Jason, Sally and Sammy Cook. We got to see Sammy's cast and have a fun time with our friends.

I just wanted everyone to be able to meet my new boyfriend - he's so hot!

Running with Angels 5K

On May 19th I ran my first 5K - it was awesome. I ran it in 32 minutes - so I did better than I though I would. My only goal was to finish :) but now that I've accomplished it I'd like to try it again. Heidi and I are planning on doing one together once they move down here. This is something that I definitely recommend trying at least once - it was a lot of fun. These are some pictures from it, I am actually in most of them - it's just that I'm probably the only one that can find where I am in them - so if you see me, you've got a good eye.

California Fun

I was able to take a week off of work this month and go to California with some friends. It was a lot of fun, although I will have to explain most of it rather than show it through pictures as I dropped my camera in water and wasn't able to do much picture taking after that. While there, I was able to meet up with my sister Heidi, who just happened to be there at the same time visiting a friend of hers. We went to Disneyland, SeaWorld, and Universal Studios. It was a great way to overcome my fear of Rollercoasters!! I loved it. My only other time riding a rollercoaster was the NewYork NewYork in Las Vegas - I did not like that at all. But now I am happy to say I enjoy riding them. If any of you are going to Disneyland anytime soon ride the rollercoaster in the California Adventure park.
Above are some pictures I was able to take before I drowned my Camera in the water (the picture of the fish is right before it happened) And then an after picture of the shots my camera takes now :(
It was a fun trip though and I enjoyed having some time off before starting my summer classes and returning to work.

Announcement!!!!!!!

Soo, i've been dating this guy and we are eng......umm, wait - that's not it, sorry to get your hopes up. What has really happened is that I was accepted into the University of Utahs Health Promotion and Education Program. The best news is that I actually decided what I want to do and am very excited about it. I will be done in two years. Starting this fall will be the first time I will be going to school full-time since 2001 - so it's been a while, but I've been going part-time long enough I think I will not need to worry.
Also more good news is that Mom is coming into town tonight so I will be able to spend some time with her. Jesse will probably come for the weekend, Cooleys on thursday, Alycia is always here, and I will see Heidi on Saturday in California, and on our way to Sea World we will be passing through Stuart's Mission. So basically I will be near all of my family members this next week except for my dad - :( I wish I could see him more often, but hopefully soon that will happen as well.

Las Vegas

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Cannon Beach, Oregon

Alycia, Tyson and I were able to go on a trip to Oregon for work. We had meetings on monday and were able to spend time sunday touring around with Kirk and Linda Arnell. These pictures are from Cannon Beach. The rock you see in the pictures is call Haystack Rock - which may look familiar to any who have watched the movie "Goonies". Even with the fog and overcast day, it was beautiful.