Wild boars and roasted pig

Happy Chinese New Year! We had great fun parading the wild boar dragon around Provo.... ...and eating Chinese food and performing some Chinese fire drills. We even took the dragon to the bowling alley. Good times.

Oh, and here is the piggy dragon tail that Caron made. That is me bringing up the rear. :) This is actually the first year that I was able to attend the annual celebration. Man, I really have been missing out!

It was a busy weekend. We also hosted a luau for about 180 people. I love my church calling. I just get to plan big parties and have lots of fun. Aloha!

So, Sunday is Lent. 40 days ‘til Easter. I know the Lent tradition is to give something up for the 40 day period. I am all about traditions, but what is the point of this? Honestly I have never understood it. I know about sacrifice and all that, and if it’s going to be good for you to give up whatever it is then I’m all for it. But, what is the point of giving something up just for the sake of giving something up?

For example, in the mission, our district leader told us we should sacrifice something every week. Like not reading your mail. What is the point of giving up your mail just for the sake of sacrifice? I can understand giving up something like getting up a half hour earlier so that you could study more or something like that. That makes sense to me. But I just don’t get it. If anyone can shed some light on the subject for me, that would be super.

So my brother who is on a mission in New Orleans had to leave the city for 3 days because of Mardi Gras! Funny huh?!! He said when they came back to the city, there were beads and stuff everywhere. OK, I’ll confess that one of my secret dreams is to see a Mardi Gras parade someday. I just think it would be so cool to see the masks and feathers and floats and all the bright colors.

El Dia de Amor

Happy Valentine's Day everyone! I love this holiday. OK, well I love all holidays, but this one is pretty fun. I mean when else can I get away with wearing things like this... OK, let's be honest. You will probably see me wearing this shirt and the shoes year round, but it's extra fun to wear them on Feb. 14. Over the years, I've learned that Valentine's Day can be just as fun even if you don't have a special someone to celebrate with. I just love celebrating all the wonderful people in my life. Some of my favorite memories are the S.A.D. parties Teri and I used to have in college on Valentine's Day. Our slogan was, 'You can't come with a date, but you just might leave with one!'. We'd even have poetry readings and a killer game of UNO. We had requests months in advance for this annual event.

This year, I had the opportunity to have a different sort of Valentine's Day than I've had in the past. I got surprised at work with a gorgeous bouquet of flowers. That's the first time I've ever gotten flowers brought to my work. And, since my favorite flowers are plumerias, and they are nowhere to be found here in Utah, (or anywhere that ships them to Utah) I was also surprised with a "bouquet" of plumeria-scented lotions. Someone has learned that the way to win me over is by doing things a little bit 'out of the ordinary'. :)

So, this is my 2007 valentine. Everyone, meet Darin. And Nate, the answer to your question is yes. Happy Heart Day! Just so everyone is aware, the upcoming holidays that need to be celebrated are: Fat Tuesday, Chinese New Year, Curling is Cool Day, Dr. Seuss' birthday, and of course--St. Patrick's Day.

Lost and found

The other day I was reunited with some of my friends from high school and the ward where I grew up. I used to carpool to school every day for 2 years with these girls, and we would always have such a fun trip to school. They made me laugh so hard! I remember how dang excited Danielle and I were to turn 16 so we could get our drivers licences. We talked about it for like a year! And not to mention the countless times she talked about her crush Mike and how fabulous and hot he was. And then she ended up marrying him! That was a shocker. Good times man. And they made me laugh so hard again the other day. It was so fun to get together with them and be reminded of how many fabulous people the Lord has put into my life to bless it. I am so thankful for my friends and the ways that they make my life happy. So if you are my friend, thanks for being a part of my life!

So a few months back, I made a comment here about being an elf at heart. Well, this week someone surprised me with an "Elf at Heart" official certificate and some pointy little wooden elf shoes. It totally made my day! Thank you Darin! I hope I can live up to my status of an elf.

Too good to be true?

Can it really be? Mr. Phil Groundhog did NOT see his shadow today, and we all know what that means. AN EARLY SPRING!!!!! I'm so elated I can hardly contain myself. No more of this extreme bitter figidness...Hallelujah! I will be basking once again in the sun soon enough. Happy Groundhog Day to all, and I hope that someday I will be able to join in the festivities in Pennsylvania. Watch Phil's prediction direct from Punxatawney here.

However, with spring quickly approaching, that leaves me with only 10 weeks to finish training for my half marathon, which is in April. I'm definately getting better, but I'm nowhere near up to 13 miles. I was quite proud of myself though for running a total of 40 miles in the month of January. Time to pound the pavement extra hard this month.

And last but not least, I would like to report that I am now an official adult. I have purchased a vacuum. My first large cleaning appliance purchase...it's practically a Kodak moment.