how the NBA draft looks through my eyes...

I know, I know, the NBA draft happened nearly two weeks ago. (Is that right? Was it two weeks ago, or three?)

I don't typically watch the NBA draft. Or any draft, for that matter. But I was in Utah on the evening of the draft, and some of my brothers (and their families) got together for a party of sorts. Mostly, I went for the food.

And the babies. 

I care about the Utah Jazz more than I care about any other professional sports team...but I couldn't name three current players. Or the current coach. (I do know that Jerry Sloan is gone, which is quite sad.) 

So. I don't know much about sports (much to the chagrin of my sports-head brothers and father). 

But if you put a bunch of my nieces and nephews in the same room as a sports draft, I can deal with enjoy it quite a lot. 

Because, guys:

Jane and I like each other. A lot.

Aubree is so darling in all her pudgery, hey?

Derek makes me swoon. Is it his gigantic eyes, do you think?

Julie had some fun on the swing set...

Blurry, I know, but I love my Kaylee J.

Marshall and Seth were there, too, but they were busy doing their own thing and I didn't get any pictures.

Anyway. That's it. My version of the NBA draft was pretty awesome because children.

We're ALL Winners...

Welp, folks, last night was our last make-up game for softball. And as it turns out, we ended up playing the only other team that was undefeated in our division. How's that for perfection, huh?

G.O. Speech Therapy (the softball team) went into the game kind of nervous. (We figured it's better to go into the game with a few jitters rather than with big heads and feeling overly confident, right?)

I'm not going to drag this out, play-by-play, inning-by-inning.

I could, but I won't.

The final outcome is that our team remained UNDEFEATED, my friends! 11-2!

We feel like the other team ( I won't mention names) walked into the field, sized us up, and thought they could take us. I feel quite confident that they were a bit too big for their britches. Want to know why I think so? It's because every time we got a good hit or another run, or any time we totally stopped them from gaining any more runs, they got mean and pouty and rude, and the look of incredulity (word?) was apparent across all their faces. We thought they might rally and give us a run for our money there at the end, but no. Their moods just got worse, and that didn't work in their favor. (I won't mention that the other team didn't cheer for us at the end, which is common courtesy. Whatever.)

Anyway, it's a bit of a bummer that the season is over, because...

...because I love softball!

The team (minus Lisa, who couldn't play the last few games):
Skyler, Kara, Jami, Gina, Brendon, Amy
Jeff, Brooke, Todd, Aaron

a few things...

I forgot to mention...a few weeks ago (at Emmett's blessing), a little girl (maybe 10 years old) got up to bear her testimony. She compared dads to chocolate cake. It's true. She said something along the lines of, "I think God gave us chocolate cake so we can have a little taste of heaven on earth. And dads are like chocolate cake: they are awesome!" Then she talked about how stellar her daddy is. It kind of melted my heart a little bit. Also: that girl is witty! (Especially for a 10-year-old!)

Fast forward a little bit: I went to Provo to see Thriller with Lisa on her birthday. It. Was. Awesome.

Fast forward a little bit more: Brookie did my hair for our friend Beffany's birthday dinner. (Yeah...we had time to kill beforehand.)

Can you say Shirley Temple?
(She shook it out and messed it up, no worries!)

My hair does not hold curl; this tells you approximately how much product crap Brookie put in my hair! (I got lots of compliments, and having curly hair was fun for a change!)

I especially liked the back...

Fast forward just a little bit more: last weekend I went to another BYU game (against Wyoming) with some friends. We got there a bit early, and those in my car parked fairly near LaVell Edwards Stadium, but kind of far away from campus (which is where our other carload of friends parked and wanted to have lunch). Normally this wouldn't be a problem, but it was really rainy that day, so we were soaked before we even got to campus. Bummer.

But then the heavens opened and the rain stopped for pretty much the entire game! And BYU won! Hooray, they won!

Here some pictures of what went down that day...

BYU's rainy campus

Skyler, me, Keri, Brooke
(it's technically a self-portrait, so quit judging my double chin!)

Jess, Jeanna, Carl

I met up with Dad and Aaron during half-time

Me and Keri during the game...

"Go Cougs!"

Jess, me and Jeanna (at the Macaroni Grille in SLC after the game)

Keri, Brooke and Kristin

PS At dinner after the game, there was totally a witch birthday party going on at the table behind Brooke and Keri! (We even heard them talking about a coven and whatnot.) Yeah...we don't get much of that up here in North-of-Zion. (Come to think of it, I wouldn't think it's very common in Zion itself either...) That was neat.

olympic-sized thoughts...

Okay, my thoughts aren't exactly Olympic-sized, but I do have some thoughts about the Olympics. First, though, a song dedicated to the Vancouver Olympic Winter Games, 2010:

Isn't it, like, terrific? Oh, I love Vancouver.
(I can say that with authority because I've totally been there.)

I sort of watched the Opening Ceremonies with my Ma and last week. I say sort of because we were flipping between the Opening Ceremonies and My Best Friend's Wedding. And mostly we watched the latter. (Sorry, but the Opening Ceremonies made me feel kind of bored.)

And you know what's sad? I haven't been able to watch the Olympics very much because I've been so busy in the evenings. Lately, though, I've been coming down with some sort of head cold or something, so I've been avoiding the crowds and babying my ailing self; so after taking a hot shower and bundling up into my warm jam-jams on Wed and Thurs, I totally plunked myself down on the couch with a warm blanket, and I watched me some Winter Olympics is what!

Here's my first thought: What the Shaun White?! I swear, what that fella can do, like...defies physics. It looks impossible, what that guy can do! He totally deserved to win, and I didn't even want to like him. (And the reasons are twofold: 1. I kinda don't love that the Olympics are made up primarily of professionals any more. That's one beef I had with Shaun in the beginning. But the real reason I didn't want to like him is this (#2): His hair is prettier than mine. Much, much prettier. And doesn't that just seem wrong to you?) Anyways, when he unearthed that last flippy thing (the last trick on his last run), I was utterly amazed. I stared at the TV, all sorts of amazed, and then I did a little victory dance (from the couch; I'm ill, after all). Shaun White is AMAZING. Just sayin'...

Also, before I forget, you know what's a weird word? Luger. It's like someone is saying "loser" with a Dutch accent. ("Izsn't that veird?" Name that movie!) Seriously, though, anytime I hear anybody talking about "lugers," I am confused for a few seconds. Every. Time.

I feel quite certain that I'd die if I tried Alpine Skiing. (Isn't that what it's called what Lindsey Vonn does? The one where they go insanely fast down a snowy slope on skis?) I watched that Anya what's-her-last-name totally biff it, and I'm convinced Alpine Skiing could be the death of me. And apparently Anya wasn't the only one who ate snow that day on the Alpine run. YIKES!

I'm mystified by men's figure skating. Frankly (now don't hate), if I see a guy in skates, I want him to be in full hockey gear, beating the snot out of every member of the opposing team, you know? Having said that, I'm amazed that men can be so graceful. Maybe it's bitterness talking, because I lack grace in so many ways. Anyway, I watched the long performances on Thursday night, and I was amazed at those dudes. (My heart went out to the cute little Japanese skater whose laces broke and he had no choice but to take a 2 point deduction in order to fix his problem in 3 minutes or less!) I thought Evan Lysocek did well enough to win the gold, even if the Russians disagree. (Go USA!) Also, Lysocek is kind of (really) handsome, and more masculine than the rest. (There. I said it.)

That's all she wrote...

so far...

Just finishing up day 2 of my big fat break from reality. So far, so good. Except...before I left town yesterday, I ran some errands. After one errand in particular, I was getting back into my car and WHAP! totally smacked my noggin on my car. Who does that?! And how old am I? I don't think I've hit my head on the car since I was just a wee lass.

Anyways, I hit it hard enough that I saw stars, and I was slightly stunned that I didn't knock myself out. WOWCH. Later on, I decided to diagnose myself mildly concussed.

Also, I have an invisible bruise on my forehead today.

I got to Brigham yesterday afternoon and I headed straight for Vance's place, because everyone else was at work. And also because baby Jane lives there (with Vance, I mean). I got there just in time to change a nasty diaper (much to Vance's satisfaction). And then I got to hold and cuddle Janie to my heart's content. Happy. Day.

Then...I headed to Layton with my folks to visit with Aaron, Amy & boys. Shoot, I love that family. Jackson was happy as a clam rocking out in the rocking chair, and Seth spent the first 20+ minutes of our visit pretending he was a puppy; he even scratched his ears and rolled over for us. Seth is the cutest puppy ever. When we were all getting ready to head out for dinner, Seth stood up and informed us "I'm not a dog," and then he looked at me, cocked his head to one side, and said, "Niiiiiiiiiiice jacket!" I just love that kid to bits.

I didn't get to see Marshall yesterday, as was my plan. But I saw him this morning for a few minutes before I headed out of town, and Marshall gave me a tight hug and a big (and rather wet) kiss. Oh, he's cute!

Concerning football...
Dad took me to the BYU/AFA game today. It was cold, but fun. According to those who were seated in my vicinity, it surely seems like the referees made some pretty awful calls. Honestly? Twice BYU made a touchdown, and the refs yoinked it away from us. What the what?

Aaron texted me afterwards, and it went something like this:

A-dub: How was the game?
Me: Good. We won so that's good. Dad thinks your game next week will be a good one. The refs made some truly horrible calls but we still won comfortably.
A-dub: Dad has never seen a fairly called game.
Me: Is that just him or do they really call bad games every time?
A-dub: It's him.
Me: In his defense there were 2 calls that I fully understood to be ridiculous. He's still fun to go with. And nice to share his tickets too.
A-dub: Yeah, but you don't even know what a flea flicker is.
Me: When the quarter back and the running back toss it back and forth and then the quarter back throws it down the field, you mean?
A-dub: Did dad tell you that or do you remember from before?
Me: I have the memory of an elephant.
A-dub: An elephant with alzheimer's that has suffered a severe blow to the head, repeatedly?

Me: Something like that. I actually thought you had made up the term flea flicker and had to ask dad if you were yanking my chain:)
A-dub: You had the exact same reaction a couple years ago when me and Vance quizzed you on football!
Me: See? The memory of an elephant...
A-dub: Yeah. I was thinking your answer was way too precise anyway.
Me: Dad had to explain it twice...

He's right, you know. Aaron, I mean. I'm a very sympathetic sports fan. I don't understand enough about most sports--especially football--to get annoyed with certain calls or fouls. Not on my own, at least. But when everyone starts yelling or booing, I just hop right on board and find myself supremely upset if it "feels right." And it always feels right if everyone else is booing. Oh, but if the call is against the team I'm rooting for, I truly mean it when I furrow my brow and shake my fist at those stupid men in the stripey uniforms.

Anyways, I discovered today at the game that my camera is broken. I made this discovery when I pulled it out to capture my memories pictorially. Boy was I one sad little Ginabean! I took a couple of pictures with my phone, since that's all I had. Ready?

This picture gives you an idea of the elements we were up against:
grayish whispy clouds hovering low-ish and hazy and whatnot...
I'm guessing that the weather hovered somewhere near 40 degrees Farenheit.

Me and my Da, bundled up.
(Seriously? We were both wearing thermals,
plus-let me count-5 layers on top for me, plus the quilt.)
Oh yeah, and see that guy in the gray jacket sporting a beard?
He kept looking at me. I think he liked me. Or, at least, my colorful tuke...

recent past and into the future...

It's cold outside where I live, especially in the mornings. I have to remind myself daily to go out and warm up my car several minutes before heading off to work, so as to defrost the windows. All in the name of safety, of course. I usually don't remember in enough time, so I let the windows thaw while scraping the ice off with my handy-dandy window-ice-scraper thingy. (What are those tools called anyway?) Anyway, on my way to work this morning, I watched the the frost melt on the windshield, rather rapidly, as I sat at the red lights. I'm not gonna lie, it was cool. I like watching ice melt. Who knew?

In the mean time, I get to dress in layers without sweating. I love layers. Always. Even in the summertime. It's true.

This past Friday, I did something I had never done before: I went to the theater all by myself. Yes, I did. Michael Jackson's This Is It. It was pretty good, quite honestly. That guy sure cared about every last detail, he did. And dang, the man could dance! Cool movie. Although the theater was practically deserted when I saw my show at 2pm, and no one saw me in all my lonesome glory, I don't think I'll do that again. Just sayin'...

I almost forgot to take my medicine with food this morning. In fact, I was at work when the nausea hit. At this point, I forced an apple down my gullet; against all logic and reason, I ate when nauseous. And it worked. Weird. Pretty sure I'm going to do my darnedest to take said medicine with food from now on. -Let the record show that I'm so glad I didn't have to run out of my office (while with a client) to vomit and stuff, you know?

I learned some stuff about Abraham Lincoln on Saturday. He's at the Museum of Idaho through December 5th. I like Lincoln.

In a perfect world, I'd be able to avoid using public restrooms. Also, in a perfect world, my bladder would be bigger than a walnut.

I'm uber excited for the next few days, plus the entire week beyond. Here's why:

Wednesday: Relief Society recipe exchange. The theme is comfort food.
There will be samples.

Thursday: "Old Turkey" dinner with my branch and some old folks from the stake.
We'll get to hear stories about the old folks. Senior citizens are great though, aren't they?

Friday: Deliver goodies to the Festival of Trees. Payday. Get the heck outta Dodge.
Also, I'm pretty sure I'll get to see every niece and nephew I possess that day,
which makes bad days good, and good days better. Yesssss!

Saturday: A BYU football game with Daddy-O. I might just freeze to my death
(expected high of 36* Farenheit), but I'll have fun in the meantime!
It's all about creating memories, folks!

Sunday-Friday (or maybe Saturday morning): Stay in the land of my inheritance
and just soak it all in! Not to mention, it's the blessed week of Thanksgiving!
I love Zion, my family, and Thanksgiving dinner. A winner of a week, me thinks!

BYU game with dad...

This went down a couple of weeks ago. Woops. Oh well, better late than never, as they say...

A'ight, so my Dad buys a handful of BYU football tickets each and every year...times two, so he can take a loved one with him. It's typically a pretty fun way to chill with the old man. :)

A couple of weeks ago (25 Oct) was my day with Dad. BYU played UNLV. And, from what I hear, it should've been an easier victory for BYU than it ended up being. What can I say? BYU's offense was pretty awesome (mostly) but their defense wasn't terrific. (I do understand the very basics of football, okay?) Anyways, it was a fun time, and the weather was PERFECT!

A beautiful day!

My father, the BYU thug...

BYU did end up winning, but it was down to the last play.

Oh yeah, on our way to "Cougartown" we stopped in Layton to say hello to Aaron, Amy and boys. They recently acquired a little weiner dog called Ike, and Seth likes to have his fun with him. I thought this was hilarious...

I think Seth likes having someone around who's smaller than he is...


This is a game invented by Seth himself...
I thought it was cute.

Sadly, no pictures of Jackson this time around...he was doing his own thing, which involved being away from Auntie Gina and her camera...

Go Jazz, GO!!!

WOW! That was a good game last night! No wait...it wasn't really that great. I could not believe all the turn-overs we gave to Golden State. And what was with us missing 7 free-throws in a row?!? That just mad me sick. However...I still love my team. And it's not just because we came out on top. We got our act together at the very end (like we've been doing lately).

As for GS Warriors; they have pretty much earned my hatred. I'm basically sick of all the flagrant fouls. I'm not saying that the Jazz doesn't foul; on the contrary, we foul lots. And lots. At least we're not pricks about it though. Each and every time GS had a foul called on them, they scowled and ripped into the referees. Baron Davis is a whiner. Any time they showed Barnes' face, he had a furrowed brow and looked about to cry. And I'm pretty sure that my heart sang when Jackson got a flagrant AND a techincal foul in the same call; I've never seen that happen before! Go ahead and keep talking, buddy...and enjoy the rest of the game from the sideline.

Anyways, I think the better team came out on top. So excited for my Utah Jazz!