Quirky Me...(tag #2)

Tagged by Elise...

The Rules:
Link the Person who Tagged you.
Mention rules on your blog.
Tell about 6 quirks of yours.
Tag 6 fellow bloggers to do the same.
Leave a comment to let them know.

NuMbeR 1. I am both stubborn and passionate. I think that stubborn and passionate go hand-in-hand somehow...does that seem right to anyone else?

nUmbEr 2. Back in the days of, I don't know, high school and junior high, I loved shopping. It was such a fun way to waste so much time and money. Such is not the case any more. I can kill a lot of time in book stores, but that's it. -I would say I enjoy shoe shopping too, but even that gets old after 30 minutes or so. Shopping just does not thrill me like it used to once upon a time.

NumBEr 3. I used to think blogging was silly and unnecessary. But then my friend signed me up for a blog...got me started and showed me the ropes. Nowadays, if a week goes by without a post, I wonder what's wrong with my life and you better believe I'll find something to blog about.

NUmBeR 4. I have become an apple pie snob. Not really, but technically. A few years ago my mom and I came across this deluxe apple pie recipe, and now I don't really have the stomach (or taste bud tolerance) for any apple pie that isn't really up there. That's not to say I'm not willing to try other apple pies. But if it ain't spectacular, I usually have a few more bites (out of courtesy) or give the rest to a friend or family member whose tastes aren't so snooty. (This quirk almost seems evil! Especially written here for all to see...)

nuMBeR 5. I can't drink milk all alone, but I LOVE milk with certain foods. For example, a peanut butter (and raspberry jam) sandwich cannot be consumed without a glass of cold milk. (The milk must always be very cold. That's a given.) I also really enjoy a glass of milk when I eat pizza or spaghetti. Milk is an essential part of an oatmeal-with-craisins-brown-sugar-and-toasted-almond breakfast. Among other things...

NuMbEr 6. If I'm annoyed and/or on the verge of getting angry about something, it's best to just let me be for a few minutes. My anger does not last long at all...as my brother Aaron has said, "It's fast and furious." But if someone tells me "don't be mad" or something similar to it, my anger is less fast and more furious, and sometimes misdirected at the person who has made it seem like my feelings aren't valid. It's not like I'm a threat to humanity or anything; I'm not gonna hit someone for telling me not to be angry while I'm angry...but it sure does make things feel worse and the feelings definitely last longer and are more intense. I hate being angry, so it's best to just let me be. (Even if it's something I'm stubborn and wrong about-don't tell me about it until the moment of anger has passed! :)

Wow...this is one ginabean who is full of quirks!

I tag Hillary (yes you, Hil...you better get thinking!), Julia, "patmie", Jamie H, Amy O, and Coretta.

Reminisce THIS...

I was unofficially tagged by a friend...here goes!

20 Years Ago Today:
The year was 1988 and...
1. I was 6 years old and had just started the 1st grade at Central Elementary School in Brigham City (which no longer exists, by the by). My teacher was Miss Morrell and I liked school.
2. I spent my days between school, home, and Mandy's house. (Mandy was my best friend and my next door neighbor. How lucky was I?!)
3. I'm sure it was about this time that I came up with the idea to dress up my younger brothers in my extra leotards...maybe that was only 19 years ago though; Brent would've only been like 8 or9 months old at this point in time...
4. I think it was also right around this time that New Kids on the Block were totally...ah...hip. And I loved them. (Back then, I mean.) I also really enjoyed playing with my Barbie dolls, Cabbage Patch kids, my brothers' GI Joes, and watching such classic shows as MacGyver, Perfect Strangers and A.L.F. (Side note: isn't it kinda sad for the New Kids on the Block that the "people" who loved their music were actually children? Curious...)

10 Years Ago Today:
It was 1998...the 21st century was well on its way and...
1. I was 16. Hot DANG, I had recently gotten my drivers license and experienced a bad date (already--so early on in the game!). I had just started my junior year at Box Elder High School (Go Bees!) and was taking things as they came.
2. I think it was about this time that I applied to work at Taco Time and I got the job! It really wasn't a bad job, and it was the first one I had ever applied for, so...hey, that's cool. (I've never enjoyed job-hunting, see. Although back then I never knew how awful it could be.)
3. Umm...I was best friends with Heather Hurd, goofing off and being not mature. :)

5 Years Ago Today:
Mm-kay it was 2003; Y2K came and went without a glitch and...
1. I had transferred from BYU-Idaho to Utah State University the year before and was thinking about where to apply for grad school. (Holy crow, I was a senior in college 5 years ago!)
2. As a full-fledged USU student (but not a "true Aggie" just fyi) I was living in Logan. My roommates were 3 gals I knew from high school-Charity Allen, Jamie Miles and Julia Munns. Oh, those were the days...
3. I worked at the Hub food court. By this point in time, I was done actually touching and working with the food as I had been "promoted" to work as a cashier...
4-It was at this time that I had become good friends with Carrie Delgado. She was my next-door neighbor at Forest Gate and she sure helped some of the slower days pass by much more quickly! I also hung out with Bryan, Bryan and Andy a lot that year. Good times ensued...

3 Years Ago Today:
'Twas 2005 and...
1. I had finished up my first year of grad school and was starting the "downhill slide." (For the record, fall 2005 was the worst semester in the history of man. Well, at least in my own life, it was the semester from hell.)
2. Jamie had just gotten married, and I ventured to live in a place I called The Curry Palace. I lived in the upstairs of an old home with an Indian girl who was never there when I was, but I knew she lived there because it smelled like Indian food. Curry, if you will...
3. I had recently taken a job at the Crystal Inn in Logan and the first two weeks of school they had me working 40-hours/week. (Way to start the school year off with a bang, hey?!)

1 Year Ago Today:
2007, baby...the Year of Scotland! 365 days ago...
1. I was in Scotland! Carrie and I had thoroughly enjoyed London by this time and we were getting to know Scottish life in the beautiful city of Edinburgh. We drank it all up and enjoyed ourselves immensely! (I could go on FOREVER about this trip, so I'll end this segment right here...)
2. I had recently turned 25; I had been dreading it clear up until the day it happened. It ended up being, like, the best year of my life. (So far.)
3. I had been in Idaho Falls for just over a year and I was loving life!
4. Family: Dad had been bishop for about a year and a half (I think?), Mom was heading back to teach her all-day Kindergarten class, Aaron and Amy were in Farmington and had just added Seth to the family (Jackson was 3), Vance and Abby had celebrated 2 years of marriage, Goose had been home from his mission for a year and he was already done with school (jealousy!), and Brent had been on his mission for 6 or 7 months.

So far this year:
2008...a recap...not necessarily in order...
1. I took up skiing and liked it. Then I twisted my knee (no permanent damage done) and gave it up. (Sorry "Jameron!")
2. I moved. I thought, after I moved into my last apartment and the wonderful world known as the Idaho Falls 1st branch, that I wouldn't move until either I bought a house or until got married. I was wrong, eh? (So much for my iron will...) It's been a good change though.
3. I had another birthday. And I realized I just really like birthdays. They're fun. Life just seems to get better with age!
4. It's the Summer Olympic Games in Beijing, and although I love the summer Olympics, I haven't been able to watch anything besides a few of the swimming and female gymnastics events...
5. I've born my testimony at church every Fast Sunday so far. I think I'll try to keep this one up...

Yesterday...
1. I had a fair day at work.
2. I got a new cell phone. Not really a big deal, but it is at the same time because my old one was giving me such grief!
3. I went to the Temple with my branch and the Foothills branch. Baptisms. It had been a while and I'm glad I went!
4. I was invited to attend two different "Girls Night" parties for Friday. (How popular am I?!)

Today...
1. I had a fair day at work.
2. I am planning to visiting my prior branch pres and his lovely wifey with my roommates.
3. I am so grateful for my extra long weekend directly ahead of me!!!

Tomorrow...
1. I will mow the lawn and clean up a bit around the house.
2. I will get some stuff in the mail that really needs to be on its way to somewhere else...
3. I will chill with Jamie and Brooke and have a delightful Girls Night!

Next year...
1. I have no idea...
2. Que' sera' sera'...(I can't figure out how to do the accents, mm-kay?)

I Miss It...

Scotland, I mean.

And London too.

Look at what I was doing a year ago today. It was a delightful trip that rocked my world. I miss my Scotland. The lovely accent. The kilted men. The castles. Loch Ness and Uruqhart ruins. Filthy McNasty's pub (and the heavily-accented waiter/bar-tender there!). And, yes, even the bagpipes. (There was ALWAYS someone playing the pipes in Edinburgh by Princes Street Gardens...)

Ah, so much to miss!

This summer has been good too, but I wonder if anything can beat the summer of Scotland. 2007 is a year that will go down (in my books, at least) as one of the greatest years EVER.

Enough reminiscing for now...

Just wanted to give a shout-out to my biggest (well...eldest) brother, Aaron.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY to YOU!

Better...

Things have definitely gone better since Wednesday morning. I had to buy 4 new tires yesterday, and the price tag on that makes my $75 ticket look like pittance...but life is good. I'm blessed to have such wonderful friends around to help lift me and my spirits. And I'm super glad for the weekends to re-charge.

I am happy.

I just wanted you to know. :)

Oh, and in the name of the Olympic Spirit...with a twist...here's a little gem my roommate showed me yesterday. Nothing can prepare you for what you're about to see...

Seriously...?

I started off the morning with car problems. Mostly resolved, but still...car issues cause me such stress!

Driving home, not exactly feeling thrilled with my car situation, I got pulled over. I was only going 20-25, so I couldn't figure it out. The officer told me I failed to stop at the stop sign over by the train tracks. -I always wondered why they even had that stop sign there...but I always stop anyway. Except for today, 'cause my mind's on other things. The cop asked me where I was going, where I had come from, blah, blah, blah. I gave him my license and registration, etc., trying to be calm. Surely he won't give me a ticket, right? He'll see my clean record and let me off with a warning, right?

WRONG.

Do you know how expensive that ticket is? Care to venture a guess?

I'll let you think about it.

Do you give up?

$75.00. For reals.

I hate today, and it's not even noon!

Now I'm going to eat some lunch and bust open the scriptures, because, let's face it, I need a pick-me-up...

And typically, feasting on food and the word of the Lord...well it just works.

A poke in the eye...

This past weekend we had a Relief Society Retreat with the Foothills branch at Camp Cumorah, and it was a good time. We went up Friday night and had tinfoil dinners, sat around the campfire singing, stayed up talking (and most certainly not sleeping) in the lodge, and so on and so forth...

Just a few of us...
Lisa, me, Taletha, Jeanna, Brooke, Melissa & Ashley...

"Pretend like you just won an Olympic Gold!"
Apparently only a few of us were excited about this
let's play pretend game...

Taletha is amazing at making her own fun...

Welp, on Saturday morning, the Elders joined us for breakfast and a hike. It was a beautiful day...the sun was shining and mother nature was lookin' fine. So we got to the top of a hill and posed by a cairn and then headed back to camp.

Lisa J makin' breakfast...

The cairn...

The whole group (minus a few)...

It's the return trip that I want to focus on. We took a different route on the return trip, and we had ourselves a fun time following Keri (who was slightly unsure of the exact direction we should take...heh heh heh!). But it was lovely and it's not like we were really nervous or scared of getting lost.

Anyway...there was a fence or two we had to maneuver over/under/around/between (choose your favorite preposition). No big dealio, really. I decided to go under, mostly because that's what everyone ahead of me was doing without a hitch. So, tell me please...what are the odds that I would get poked in the eye with a large and pointy weed as I scrambled under the log fence? Does anyone care to venture a guess? Apparently on Saturday, the odds were against me. It hurt. Really bad, actually. My eye wouldn't stop watering for the next 40 minutes or so, and then it kinda ached for a few more hours beyond that. Ri-dang-diculous.

It was my left eyeball, and it felt much worse than it looked...

Anyway...I'm not trying to focus on the negative here. Now that I know my eye is still intact and functioning properly, I think the story is rather amusing.

Dear Alice...

Some of you, my BLAUDIENCE, might assume I'm writing a letter to one Alice Cullen. Such is not the case. I've read all the Twilight books and find them...interesting. But this blog is for another Alice.

I give you...

The following is a letter I've written to him. A letter, I daresay, he'll never read...

Dear Alice,

Sorry if "Alice" seems a bit too familiar; we've never met, after all. However...I figure that when you chose to go by Alice you weren't really planning on any formalities. I'm right, aren't I?

Anyhoo...Alice. This, technically, is "fan mail." But it ain't all good news and flattery, I'm sorry to say. (There will be some of that, but not entirely...)

Because you'll never read this, I'll be blunt. Your latest CD Along Came a Spider...well, it's just not good. At least I didn't like it. Fortunately for you, most of the critics love it. So...there you have it; my apparently worthless opinion. Not your best stuff on this album, Alice.

Having said that (and it hurt to to say it, Alice), I have to tell ya...even after listening to your less-than-stellar CD, it didn't really undo my excitement for your concert here in Idaho Falls. Oh NO, Alice! I know (and appreciate) enough of your other music to keep me excited. VERY excited! -A couple of my brothers have seen you in concert a number of times, and they told me you are an AMAZING performer. And when my friend Cameron told me (weeks ago) that you were coming to Idaho Falls (of all places!) I was DANG excited to see your show. I daresay I was one of the first to purchase tickets. Alice Cooper ROCKS!

So anyway, Alice, I went to your concert tonight. And it has to be said...you did NOT disappoint! Your concert was SPECTACULAR! It's almost like you were born to perform, Alice! You ROCKED the audience and I'm SUPER GLAD you came to IF! You were AWESOME! And I'm not saying you were awesome for a 60 year old grampa; you were FANTASTIC for a musician in general. BRILLIANT for a ROCKER! I'm not even embarrassed to tell everyone that I went to see an old man strut his stuff on stage. (You are quite agile and full of energy for a senior citizen!)

Oh yeah, I also wanted to let you know I'm so GRATEFUL you're such a tough old fart--continuing to perform your heart out through the pain of broken ribs, etc. Kudos, baby. KUDOS!

Nuttin' but love (from your realistic fan)...

~ginabean~

I took a TON of pictures at the concert. Here are a few...(by the by, the concert date was actually 13 Aug 2008; I'm not sure why my camera is a day ahead--I need to fix that.)

Part of the act...

The real deal...Alice Cooper!

Alice and his band. They all rocked! Amazing!

Me in front of the stage. I so looked like I didn't belong...
Most of his audience were 40+ years old
and wearing OLD Cooper tees and had tattoos, etc...

And here's Cameron.
We decided we might've been the only Mormons at the concert.
We were definitely the only non-smokers...

Yep, Cameron and I kinda stood out; me in my respectable jeans and tee shirt (most of the other gals were scantily clad) and my conservative bob cut; Cameron wearing his tee shirt that actually had sleeves. Oh yeah, and we weren't nursing beers or blowing smoke in people's faces either. (There was a guy behind me who blew all his smoke directly on me; I did not appreciate it.) AND we aren't nearly as close to senior citizenship as most of the rest of the crowd. (We weren't the youngest, but we so weren't the oldest.)

Anyway, Alice Cooper is an AMAZING showman! I was glad that I got to see him perform!!! -My favorite part was Poison (it has always been my fave Alice Cooper song; I recorded it on video, but do not have the time to upload it now.)

PS I heard, initially, that Alice Cooper broke his ribs at a supermarket, tripping over a box or something like that. But when I went to find the article online, all the articles said it happened during a show. Curious...

i...

I got this one from Coretta...

I am...unique. And honest. What you see is what you get.
I think...too much, at times. It's really annoying, and I blame it on the extra X chromosome.
I know...a little bit about a lot of things, and a little bit more about a few things. (I was going to say "a lot about a little" but I'm much too honest for that!)
I want...success and happiness according to my standards, not the world's.
I wish...peace and contentment for my family and friends.
I hate...most fruits, for real (especially the banana). And I hate it when people are all snooty and holier-than-thou. And stubbing my toe (that's the worst!)
I miss...my brother BRENT who is serving a mission in Brazil!
I fear...failure. And falling from great heights.
I feel...between moods right now, actually. I'm coming to terms with a few things in my mind, trying to figure out some stuff here and there...
I hear...poorly when there's any sort of background noise. For reals, it's a documented hearing loss. But...I hear above average when there's no other noise to distract me. Now you know.
I smell...good almost all the time. I refuse to stink, and I'm a fan of perfume. (But not, like, a ton. Just the right amount, ya know? Faint and pretty.)
I search...for humor in crappy/less than ideal situations.
I wonder...what the future holds.
I regret... eating ice cream. It feels like a knife stabbing around in my guts every time...although sometimes Coldstone is worth it.
I love...my family and friends. I love feeling loved. I love Hawaiian pizza, pulled pork, hiking and enjoying nature, nice cologne, star-gazing, mild temperatures, and babies.
I care...about people. Genuinely.
I always...shut down (and am on the verge of ornery) if I go without food for too long.
I am not...someone to be trifled with. I'm not easy to anger, but I won't let people walk all over me or those I love.
I believe...in myself, although doubt sometimes rears its ugly head. I also believe that, no matter how bad life gets, one day the fear, horror and insecurities of those moments fade and you'll forget how bad even your worst moments were...so I believe you should look for the good in every situation.
I dance...like a moron. It's like Elaine Benes; people lose respect for me when they see me dance. So not very many people get to see that!
I sing...like a rockstar...when I'm alone in my car.
I don't always...practice the patience I so wish I possessed...
I write...silly poetry; it's something I've discovered in the past year and a half. It's rarely serious; mostly it's about telling a story through rhyme, and I love it.
I win...when I can make people (be it friend or stranger) laugh.
I lose...my apetite when people eat big and loud.
I never...watch Fear Factor because the "eating contest" part really triggers my gag reflex.
I listen...to my heart. And to a rather broad range of music.
I'm scared of...physical pain.
I read...for leisure. And I'm all about children's lit, to be honest. Among other things. I love to read.
I am happy about...my life in general.

I tag...YOU if you wanna play!

My own personal mechanic...

Over the past few, I dunno, months I suppose, I've had a certain issue with my car. That...ah...issue has become more and more annoying as time goes on; getting worse, if you will.

Before I tell you what's so annoying, I'll let you have a gander at the following pictures to let you try and figure it out for yourself:

Notice anything...I don't know...a bit off?
(And I'm not talking about all the dust and water spots...)

How 'bout now?
(Classy, isn't it?)

It's my fuel door. It's been getting kinda jammed...hard to open, even after I pull on the lever thingy to open it up. And lately it's been next to impossible to open. I typically like to keep my fuel up above the 3/4 empty mark, but I've been close to running on fumes the last couple of times because I simply cannot open the fuel door by myself. (Yeah, I'm car-retarded, but hear this: it really does take two to open it. One to pull on the lever, and another to cram something in the slit of the fuel door to pry it open the rest of the way. I may have long limbs, but I can't stretch that far...)

Annoying, right?

Welp, my dear brother Goose is a mechanic. And I think it really annoyed him that his sister was driving around on fumes, ignoring the problem as much as possible, when he is more than willing and able to help me out. So after (miraculously) getting the fuel door open all by myself about a month ago (which took, by the way, about 5 minutes...with much weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth I might add), I finally went to the Nissan dealership in IF and ordered myself a new fuel door. Oh wait, I forgot about it for a couple more weeks until I was about to run on fumes once again. I took it to the dealership to get them to open it for me, and ordered the part while I was there. I couldn't order the part in the right color either. Oh, no...I have to pay someone extra to match Nissan's "pewter" color, above and beyond what it cost for the fuel door...

Anyway...

The part came in less than a week, and I just had to bide my time until I could get down to Brigham City to get Goose to remedy the problem. (Brooke only had to come help me open the fuel door once, thank you very much.)

This morning Goose fixed the problem in NO TIME AT ALL. Seriously. Easy as pie.

My mechanic brother/boy genius: Goose

Working on the car with the greatest of ease...

Well...easy for him at least.

I'd rather bake a pie from scratch...

THANK YOU, GOOSE!!!

I heart Lindsay!

So I got my hair cut yesterday. And I rather like it. I knew I would. Lindsay's got magic hands. I told her kinda what I wanted (because I suck at putting into words what I want my hair to look like; Jamie can attest. Rather interesting that I'm a Speech-Language Pathologist, helping others to express themselves better, when I myself can't do something as simple as telling any hair dresser what I want done with my hair, right? Ironic, really. And rather shocking that I haven't walked away from more haircuts crying...)

Anyway, I like my hair. Lindsay cut off 2 inches from the back (which is considerable when you take into account that my hair didn't even hit my shoulders...) Then she did some other stuff to make it cute.

My new 'do and the girl with the magic hands...

Thanks, Lindsay! You rock my world!

Privacy, eh?

So...I've been considering GOING PRIVATE for a while now, and I guess there's no reason not to. Somehow the thought give me peace of mind; the less that strangers know about me, the better, yeah? So I'm doin' it!

HOWEVER...

I don't have y'alls email addies. And since I rather enjoy having a blog audience (in those I know and love), I want whoever is interested in being one of my readers to PLEASE send me your email address so I can invite you to view my blog at your leisure.

SWEET. I'll give y'all a couple of weeks to get my your address. Yeah, 2 weeks sounds good. 14 days from this, the 6th of August, I'm going PRIVATE!

Ready. Set. GO!

black-tie affair...

So my friend Missy just posted some of her pictures from her reception on facebook, and I thought I'd snag a few, because I didn't get any pictures of me lookin' all primped and pretty. (Brooke spent more than an hour on my hair; I don't typically primp, so when it actually happens, it really is blog-worthy.)

Looking respectable:
Moi, Missy, Briant, Spencer

The REAL DEAL...
Shocking, isn't it?

I really do like the dress, and Brookey did a wonderful job with my hair. (Speaking of HAIR, read my previous post!)