Update on Elder Brent O...

So Brent has been on his mission in Belem, Brazil, for roughly 13 months...that's right, folks, he's on the downward slide! He's been really good to keep us posted on his happenings through email, and he sends his daily journal home (almost) faithfully. He's doing really well and is tearin' it up down there in the Amazon. His current area (can't remember the name of the town for the life of me) is exactly on the equator. For reals. There is actually a line running through the town, and that line is the EQUATOR! Brent is nearly albino, so I'm sure he's miserably hot...but he's a good boy and keeps on trucking. :)

Anyway...as I don't live with my folks, I don't get to read up on the old journal entries, and I haven't really seen (any) pictures of him since the one his mission president sent shortly after he arrived in Belem. So...this last Monday, Elder O., my baby brother, actually sent pictures in the family email. Yeehaw! I'll post his pix with the descriptions he attached.

"The Cavalry"
No idea of the shorter boys names, but the big boy on the right is my Brenter!

"Walking the Plank"

In front of the Amazon!
(Looks perdy DIRTY, no?)

Zona Macapá

"Battlefield Fortaleza"

Fortaleza...
Brent practicing his "grizzled war veteran" look, so he says...


Lanchonete "encontra dos Amigos"

Honestly, I have no idea what most of these pictures are even of...so I wrote down what Brent wrote. I'm mostly just really excited to see pix of the brother that I miss so much! He looks a bit trimmer, and quite pink. (I've often wondered if the boy who's never been a shade of brown in his life would be capable of tanning on the equator. Me thinks he looks pinker and whiter than the rest of 'em. I'm excited to see if he tans at all in the next 11 months...)

Love vs...Not Love

So my cute little friend Sara recently found me through blogspot...it's been a few years, and I'm so thrilled to be in contact with her once again! Anyway, I was looking through her blog and saw a post about the things she loves and doesn't love in her life. I thought it was a fun idea, so here's my own version. (Thanks for the fun idea, Sara!)

I LOVE
*The Gospel. (I don't want to think where I'd be without it!)
*My family. They're the BEST
*Slow cookers. They are basically like magic
*My friends, both old and new
*Mild temperatures. Too bad it's COLD most of the time in ID...
*HIKING! I cannot wait till it's warm and dry enough to start hiking!
*Good conversation and good company
*Laughing and making others laugh
*My nephews! Jackson and Seth are the loves of my life!
*Cuddling with my nephews (when they let it happen)
*Watching hockey games LIVE. (I especially love the brawls!)
*Picnics in the shade in the summer
*Daydreaming
*Fun fonts on the computer
*Babies. I heart babies
*Blogging! I'm basically addicted...
*Taking pictures of family, friends and my adventures
*Playing games with family/friends
*Music! I love my iPod a LOT
*Going on walks with loved ones (especially one-on-one)
*Planning and going on road trips
*youtube
*The Office, House, 3rd Rock from the Sun and Whose Line is it Anyway
*Jackets and sweaters!
*Clean Flicks
*Memory foam (like sleepin on a cloud!)
*Playing softball
*Brothers!
*New York Cheesecake
*Fajitas (and other tasty Mexican food)
*Family traditions
*Making lists and answering questions
*3 day weekends EVERY WEEK
*Pixar short films (For the Birds and Geri's Game)
*Love Actually, Phantom of the Opera, and Dear Frankie (fav. movies)
*Homemade apple pie!

I DO NOT LOVE
*Bananas, seafood and coconut (I feel very strongly about these foods)
*Holier-than-thou attitudes
*Naughty clients
*The entire month of January (strong feelings here too)
*Rap, R&B, and that sort of "music"
*Junk mail, and spam email
*Road rage (I get frustrated, but I'm never mean to other drivers)
*Being forgotten
*Feeling hungry
*Running. Seriously, I have to be tricked into doing it
*Being sick, especially when it ruins already-established plans!
*When people talk down to others
*When people talk badly about their family
*Stubbing my toe (strong feelings, once again)
*When being stubborn doesn't pay off and I'm proven wrong
*That seemingly all of the "good ones" are taken
*People who demand an excuse for anything and everything

Who knows ginabean best?!

It's test time again! I made up a new test for my buddies who check out my blog. Go on, give it a try! (You KNOW you want to!)


Create your own Friend Quiz here

Thanksgiving in February...

Nope, I didn't prepare some gigantic feast to celebrate all the abundant blessings in my life. In fact, I've been a bit of a "Debbie Downer" or "Negative Nancy" as of late. Folks, I have caught that dreaded disease they call Influenza. Okay, disease isn't the right word. At all. But I surely did NOT feel well. However, when I was "down and out" there were a number of things (and/or people) that I am incredibly grateful for. Here goes (in no particular order):

*My momma (this really is #1!) I called her for sympathy, and she gave it to me!
*Memory foam/my beddy-bye. Wow, it's like sleeping on a cloud!
=>Under this "category" I must say I'm grateful for my own room!
*Canned soup. Can we say Campbell's? Mm-mm GOOD!
*A variety of juices to keep me hydrated. Out with the bad, in with the good.
*Lisa and Brooke. They sympathized and watched out for me and made me see the dr.
*The doctor. He gave me medicine and bed rest. (Hooray for hydrocodone cough syrup!)
*Puffs PLUS Lotion. (It really does make a difference!)
*Reading materials. When I wasn't knocked out on meds, reading helped to pass the time.
*Sweats/comfy clothing.
*My loverly humidifier.
*The Priesthood and my hometeachers for giving me a blessing on Monday night!
*Clean Flicks. Friday and Saturday I watched "Old School" and "Road to Perdition," both quite different, but both excellent. But both rated R. Sad. However, Clean Flicks takes care of that for me; great plots, minus the nastiness that makes it rated R. Tonight, me and the roommates are gonna watch "3:10 to Yuma."

That's all I can think of off the top of my head. But looky here, I have tons to be grateful for, even when I'm on my sickbed! God Bless America!

late-night entertainment in idaho falls...

So I'm trying to remember exactly what night it was that we did this...maybe last Wednesday? Anyway...I was up one night, chatting with my roommates, and we were about to say goodnight, when Brooke (once again) walked into my room and came out wearing a wig. (The very same wig that I have not yet returned to Jamie...how can I, when it provides us with such amusing entertainment?!) Anyway...she decided to change it up a bit; she wanted to look homeless.

Let me warn you: the following images are not pretty. At all. But we laughed pretty hard. Maybe it's because we were tired and should've been asleep. Perhaps these pictures won't be so funny to anyone else. I'm posting them anyway, just for fun. -Just remember, you have been warned.

Brooke; the homeless version.

That's me and my brown paper sack.
Nothing too toxic in that sack, I swear...

Lisa switched things up even more.
I've never seen anything like it...
since, say, the 80s?

Lisa again.
Kinda...grunge...wouldn't you say?

Then we abandoned the wig and had fun with our own hair.

My own version of "Grunge."
Sad that I can pull it off with such ease...

Who can forget the high ponytails of the 90s?
Brookey actually pulls it off quite well...

"No, Lisa! The pigtails and teddy bear
make you look older."

What did I tell you? I warned you that this last post may just be a waste of your time, didn't I? Anyway...here's another disclaimer: this is not a common occurrence in our lives, HONESTLY! (Maybe if we actually owned wigs, this would be as natural to us as, say, drinking milk, etc.) But still, I daresay we're normal gals. We just know how to make a good time! (And all this fun without alcohol! Could you imagine what we'd be capable of if we indulged in that sort of thing?!)

The Book Thief

In her recent blogs, my friend Hillary has made recommendations for books to read. I think this is a fantastic idea, as I love to read and I'm always looking for another great book.

I just finished reading "The Book Theif" by Markus Zusak about 5 minutes ago, and it is so good! My friend Charity recommended this one to me. In fact, when I saw her at the beginning of the new year, she had me read through the first few pages of the book.

Immediately I was intrigued. The book is about a young girl in Nazi Germany and the power of words, and its narrator is Death. I bought it the next day, but didn't start reading it till last week. I lent it to my roommate, Brooke, who was looking for something good to read; I lent it to her before I had even read it (with the threat that if she ruined it for me, there would be consequences). Brooke read through the first several pages and then gave it back; she didn't like the writing style and could not get into it.

I, on the other hand, was hooked. I'm not going to do a mini book-report; I don't want to give the story away, and I can't do the book justice. All I can say is, "Read it." It's a completely different view on the Holocaust, and it's a gem.

I will warn you. Pay attention. WARNING: This book swears more than I might prefer. But I'd recommend it anyway. I'm glad I read it. If you're ultra-sensitive to swearing, then skip this book, I suppose.

Mom, I'll get you this book as soon as I can. You'll love it.

P.S. It made me cry. This confession may make some of you sprint away from this recommendation. Or maybe not. Either way, I've made my recommendation.

Wiggin' Out!

On Sunday, a few of us gathered at my apartment to help our friend Heidi celebrate her birthday with dinner and homemade apple pie. (Yum-o!) For some reason, Brooke went into my bedroom and emerged wearing a wig that I had borrowed from our friend Jamie. I thought it was pretty funny, so I took a picture. We all tried the wig on, and fun times ensued. It's amazing how a different cut/color can make someone look totally unrecognizable. Here are the pix:

Brookey in the wig.
She kinda looks like a news reporter, yes?

Moi. (That's French for "me").
Simply stunning...or not.

Lisa. DON'T tell her she looks 12 in the wig.
She already knows!

And here we have Linda.
It probably looks best on her.
No, it definitely does.

The birthday girl, Heidi.
She looks so happy!

And here we have the "sexy vixen" Briant.
Um, really, he's not a bad lookin' fella.
We're certainly glad he keeps his hair short!

And this ain't no wig.
Brooke let her hair down and fluffed it.
I think she could pull off an afro, yes?!

Go Jazz!

So on Saturday I headed down to UT with a few friends (it started out as a fairly large group, but shrunk in numbers by the time Saturday rolled around). We picked up my little brother Goose in Brigham City and then made our way to SLC...stopped off at REI for a look-see, then went to TEPENYAKI (yum-o!) where we met up with Janell! And then it was off to the Energy Solutions Arena to watch the Utah Jazz beat the Chicago Bulls. Here are some pictures of our fun day in UT...

Here we have Goose modeling
my new backpack I purchased at REI.
It fits me better, I swear!

Gina, Lisa and JANELL at Tepenyaki.

Jeremy and Tara

Jeff and Tracie

Goose. Big, tough Goose.

Our chef (Hing was his name) at Tepenyaki was EXCELLENT and a lot of fun. He happened to be wearing a black chef's hat and neck thingy (can't think of the right word for the life of me!). Anyway, we looked around and noticed that the other chefs weren't nearly as fun as ours, so we decided that his black hat is like a black belt in Karate. AWESOME! Yay, Hing!

Goose and me.
He was whistling, I think...

Me and Lisa!

Part of the half-time show, or some sort of break...
this guy was bending in unnatural positions. EW!
Click on the image to get a closer view...

Jeremy and Tracie's reactions to the bendy man.
It was so SICK, yet we couldn't look away!

After the game, I wanted to play tough and carry Goose on my back. We got as far as taking pictures...I couldn't walk very far. I guess I'm a wimp or something...

I love feeling so teeny!

(It happens so rarely...)

This picture was taken after he'd been there for several seconds.
Also, the grimace on my face is fake. Not real.

It was a fun time! I feel bad I didn't get any pictures of Paul (aka "MacAdoo") who also went with us. Woops. Anyway, we got back late, but had ourselves some good clean fun. Yee-haw! Oh yeah, and P.S. the Jazz won by 10.

Silly Boys...

I got a couple of pictures from Amy this past week of my sweet little nephews, Seth and Jackson. They are, in fact, so adorable, that I want to give them their own little post. So here's to them:

So Jackson was sick a couple of weeks ago
and stayed home from preschool.
This is how Amy found him sleeping one afternoon.

And here we have Seth doing his favorite activity:
HELPING WITH THE DISHES!
Kinda cute, kinda mischievous.
They have to put a chair in front of the dishwasher,
as he has learned to open it.

So there you have it; my nephews are the CUTEST!

ThiS waS KinDa FuN!

I saw this on my friend's web page and totally wanted to play...

1. Age on next birthday: (argh!)


2. Your favorite place in the world: Edinburgh, Scotland!!!


3. Favorite object: Love listening to those iTunes!


4. Your favorite food: hard to choose just one...but I LOVE fajitas!


5. Favorite artist/ band: (*sigh*)


6. Favorite color: (I also love blue and green)


7. Where you were born: Logan, Utah...













8. Hair color: (for fake. For real, it's "blah" brown)


9. Cellular Carrier:


10. Single or Taken?


11. Famous celebrity with your name:


12. Your Cell phone:


13. Favorite smell: Yum-o!


14. Biggest fear:


15. Bad Habit: (I'm really trying to do better...)


16. Addiction:


17. Favorite Article of Clothing: obviously these aren't mine, but I love my wool socks! My feet freeze in the winter...


18. Fill in the blank with one word, "I AM A ..."


19. A place you wanna visit: (among others!)


20. Where you work:


So I'm tagging some more people...here goes: Rachael, Emily, Jill, Jules, and Heather D. Here are the rules:

1) COPY & PASTE all the questions only!
2) Take each answer and type it into Photobucket
3) Take a picture from the FIRST page of results copy the html code.
4) You cant copy the persons answers who posted this before you
5) TAG your friends!