Mystery solved

I have discovered the identity of my secret admirer. Thanks to everyone who assisted in the detective work. Although the flowers are beautiful, it is kind of creepy to get flowers from some unknown person, and then have him constantly sending you messages from various phone numbers--especially when you have dealt with scary stalker situations in the past. That is how it started last time, which is why I was so paranoid about it.

And to Mr. J Golden, I have no idea what your intentions by all of this are, but just for the record...I think you are a very nice boy and a good friend, but just so you know, my intentions are nothing more than friendship. Anyway, I doubt he even reads this blog.

I signed up for a triathlon last night! It is in September so that gives me almost 3 months to train. Mostly I just need to learn how to swim. I did get some lucky swimming goggles for my birthday, so maybe that will be just what I need to get myself in gear.

So guess what my dad said the other day? He said there is only one couple in their ward who is older than them who doesn't have grandkids yet. Then both he and my mom looked at me like it was my fault. All I have to say is...All in due time. All in due time.

Detective work needed

I've got a mystery to solve. Today these got delivered to my house for me...

There was a card on them that said this...

(I know it's a bad photo, but it says Happy Belated Birthday! From: J Golden) I'm confused. Who would know my phone number and address and that it was my birthday last week, and who would care enough to send me flowers a week later? And why would they put a fake name on the card? (I don't know anyone with that name.) It's flattering, but it's also kind of creepy--especially considering that I had a stalker last year named Jay. If he found out where I live now, I am going to be so mad. Normally I love surprises, but when there is a possible stalker return involved, I'm a little wary. Please help me solve the mystery.

The flowers are pretty though. Thank you to whoever sent them to me! (as long as it wasn't a crazy stalker.)

Prince Charming

So last night after my fabulous birthday BBQ party, I came home to find this sitting on my doorstep...
They are salt and pepper shakers! How cool is that? There was a note from Caron on them saying that since she couldn’t find Prince Charming for me, Dopey would have to do until he decides to show up.

I absolutely LOVE it. And until my prince comes along, here’s to Dopey and the other dwarfs! Thank you Caron, you are the best. What a great ending to my birthday! And thanks to everyone who helped me celebrate yesterday. I will have to have a fondue party soon with my super cool new fondue set. Let’s hear it for 27!

Stays in Mexico

So the 2007 Shepherd family vacation was a wild success. We started by driving down to Long Beach. We had to stop in Vegas on the way to pick up Scott, who was at the cadaver festival. (Sick!) Anyway, he wasn't quite finished when we got there, so we went to go see the cool fountain show at the Bellagio. Then we got to Long Beach and went to the Cheesecake factory for dinner. Mmmm. I got the most amazing cheesecake with Happy Birthday written in chocolate on the plate. It was most delicious. Then we went to church in the morning and got on the boat. The first day it was kind of cold and windy, so we went to tea in the cherub room.

I love herbal tea, but everyone else hated it. And the scrumpets were tasty except for the raw salmon ones. Bleh...

Gotta love those towel animals! And the free bathrobes and room service.

Ahhh...the sunshine! That was my favorite part of the vacation was being out in the sun. Me, Allison and Laurie had a contest to see who could get the best tan. They just got extremely burnt so I won! They refused to wear sunscreen. Laurie brought 7 1/2 bathing suits! Why would you ever need that many swimsuits? She wore about 5 of them. I don't understand why people like to parade around practically naked in bikinis. We tried to convince Laurie of that, but she wouldn't hear of it. It was so fun hanging out with my sisters...I haven't gotten to do that for awhile.

Check out these cool sand sculptures in Puerta Vallarta!

They had all these crazy sculptures along the boardwalk. And some stunt people swinging from a really high pole.

We can't go to Mexico without going to Senor Frogs and getting the yard. Mazatlan was where the original Senor Frogs began. And they had the most amazing chicken quesadilla I've ever had.

I went parasailing! It was so cool! That is me up there! And we went horseback riding on the beach.

Allison got sick and slept all day. And Kyle just stayed in his room and ordered chocolate milk by the gallon from room service and played Nintendo. He did emerge once to go and play shuffleboard.

And what would a Shepherd family get together be without Trivial Pursuit and Disney songs? We saw some dolphins jumping around in the water and we went snorkeling and kayaking. It was way fun. I haven't been able to spend a week like that with my family in a long time. It was really nice hanging out with them without them being on their phones all day. I'm glad we were able to go and all have a good time together. Oh, and I have a fun video to post as soon as I get it edited. Anyway, now it's back to reality. Yick...so not looking forward to reality. And this is my last day of being 26. Only one more year until I have to say I'm in my upper 20s. Well, to quote one of my favorite movies...I have a few more years until I can say I'm "thirty, flirty, and thriving."

PDA

I was reading on Caron's blog today about a funny post on someone else's blog about funny things that happen in church. Anyway, the lady was talking about how the couple in front of her kissed a total of 41 times just during sacrament meeting. Hello people....there is a time and a place for everything!

I have issues with excessive PDA. No one wants to see you kissing every 5 seconds or rubbing each other's backs and legs or making googly puppy eyes at each other or other equally disturbing things. Now don't get me wrong...I think hand holding and putting your arm around someone and stuff like that is perfectly fine in public. But I do feel like there is a time and a place to be all snuggly and it just makes everyone uncomfortable if you are being excessive about it. And I know I'm not the only one who feels this way.

4 more hours I'll be on my way to some beach somewhere. Viva Mexico!

Jumped on the IKEA bandwagon

Yesterday my boss announces that we should have our team meeting at IKEA. Now, the IKEA buzz has been quite prevalent at my office ever since it started being built since it’s right across the street from our building. Anyway, she decided we needed some “creative inspiration” and some Swedish food, so off to IKEA we went. (I will admit that there are some great perks to my job!)

I’ve been to IKEA once before, and I must admit that it is pretty darn cool. (But not worth camping out on opening day for like these crazy people.) Anyway, we were there for 2 ½ hours and only made it through about half of the store. Seeing all the cool stuff gave me tons of fun ideas…I love it when I get inspired again after a creative drought. And I love that everything is sooo reasonably priced.

And of course I had to experience the Swedish meatballs. Pretty good stuff—but not nearly as good as this…

Swedish Daim chocolate cake. Mmmmm…. Oh, and I went to Coldstone the other day, and while they did not have the oatmeal cookie flavor that I thought was coming back, they had a new Cinnamon Roll flavor that was pretty tasty. OK, so enough about treats.

Last weekend, I went to one of those laser shows at the Planetarium and as we were walking out, there were a bunch of planetarium employees on the corner with this huge telescope. I asked them what they were looking at, and they said they were looking at Jupiter and some of its moons. So we asked if we could look, and it was pretty cool. It’s pretty incredible when you can actually look at stuff like that. What an amazing universe we live in!

Over the past few weeks, I’ve had several learning experiences. Don’t you just LOVE those? Ha! Anyway, as I’ve spent time with different people in different situations, I have come to realize what I really want in life—and it’s still what I’ve ultimately wanted all along, but I realized that some of the other things that I thought I wanted aren’t worth holding onto if they interfere with what I really do want. I’ve realized that I just can’t do or have it all—and that’s OK. Maybe I do have to give up some of those things that don’t really matter in the long run in order to facilitate the things that really are important. And maybe I had what I really wanted all along…I just have a hard time recognizing that until it’s gone.

But I guess that’s what life is all about, right? Learning and growing and improving based on what you learn. So here’s to growth!

Swim. Bike. Run

Yesterday I went and watched the Salem Triathlon. My dad and Scott both finished the race! Way to go! Scott got lost on the bike portion though and lost some serious time. Oh well. I also saw Craig there. It made me want to do a triathlon. I'm thinking the first weekend of August if I can learn to swim by then. They said the swim was the hardest part. It was fun to watch though...it was the first race I've watched instead of participated in. Well, besides the track meets at BYU. But that was before I was into running and stuff so its much more exciting now.

After the race, it was time for our annual Provo River Trail bike ride. We had a couple of mishaps like when Caron almost crashed into me because her front brakes were undone and her tire almost blew. But we successfully made it all the way to the end of the trail.

It was my new bike's christening journey on the river trail, and she did quite well. Much better performance than my old bike. Well, maybe that has something to do with the fact that I am in better shape now too. :)

I LOVE Provo Canyon. It's so gorgeous!

Happy Birthday to Me!

Happy month of June! This year I’m celebrating all month long—not just on my birthday, so let the festivities begin! Today I’m celebrating by sharing 27 random facts about me—one for each year of my life. I think everyone should do so in their birth month. So Tim, Blake, Emily, Jill, Maurianne, Shawn and anyone else who has a birthday this month I’m looking forward to your random facts.

1. I started my “professional” writing career at the age of 8 when I got published in the Friend magazine. Since then, I have written articles for several different magazines.

2. I took a hula dancing class at BYU and performed in their annual luau for 3 years.

3. I don’t like root beer.

4. I watched the Star Wars movies in order from 1 to 6. I didn’t see the original 3 movies until after Episode 3 came out.

5. I love summertime and one of my favorite things to do is bask in the sun.

6. My favorite flowers are plumerias.

7. Yo hablo espanol.

8. My favorite restaurants are the Cheesecake Factory, Bridgetown Grill and Bahama Breeze. (none of which are located within 400 miles of where I live.)

9. I swear by my Reefs. (For those of you who are unfamiliar with Reefs, they are only the greatest brand of flip-flops EVER!)

10. One of my favorite places I have visited in the world is Akaroa, New Zealand.

11. I play a mean game of croquet.

12. I have a secret dream to one day kiss the real Blarney stone in Ireland on St. Patricks Day.

13. I have never broken a bone or been stung by a bee. (knock on wood)

14. I own 28 pairs of shoes.

15. I love anything that has to do with dressing up in a costume.

16. I took a marine biology class at BYU-Hawaii and got chased by an octopus on one of our snorkeling trips. I also ate fresh sea urchin straight from the ocean on another field trip—NASTY!

17. I don’t like pets—especially dogs.

18. One of my greatest memories is watching my cute little Tello family get sealed in the Buenos Aires temple at the end of my mission in Argentina.

19.I have lived in 7 different states and 2 countries.

20. I have a secret fantasy of being famous and well-known.

21. My favorite ice cream flavor is oatmeal cookie from Coldstone. (I hear they’re bringing this back!!!)

22. I have a fear of not being good enough or living up to my potential and doing what I was sent here to do.

23. I enjoy watching team sports but I’m not a big fan of playing them.

24. When I graduated from college, I wanted to go off and have an adventure. I had 3 criteria in choosing where to live. The location had to have: 1) a major airport within an hour. 2) an LDS temple within an hour. 3) a professional sports team. And Atlanta, Georgia was the winner. The year I lived there was definitely an adventure.

25. I love anything that has a theme, and I love getting into the details of things.

26. When I was younger I wanted to be the Secretary of Education in the White House when I grew up.

27. I was named Christy after my great-grandmother, and Lee after my grandpa.