I GOT TAGGED!

My sister Janette tagged me to post "7 weird things about me."

here goes… in no apparent order...

#1 Any and all things Dietetics related. This includes my obsession with collecting recipes, owning a meat & candy thermometer, counting calories, creating diabetic menus (aka carb counting), doing dietary analysis, making up puree menus, and always having something due the next day and no time to do it.

#2 -I often spout off random anatomy terms. To name a few: tensor fascia latae, extensor carpi radialis longis, fovea centralis, intercondilar eminence, malleas, incus, and stapes (that’s for you Stacey), circumvallate, and azygos vein. I even own a box of Netter’s anatomy flashcards. I took anatomy last year and immediately fell in love with the human body and all its intricacies. Then I became a lab TA and smelled like formaldehyde for a whole semester. My room mate was a sweetheart and dealt with it the whole time. Spring semester I took a human dissection class. I got to use a bone saw and dissect a brain, eye, and various muscles- coolest class ever!

#3 - I am fascinated with human anatomy and physiology. I love the cardiovascular system, the rennin-angiotensin-aldosterone system, erythopoisis, homeostasis, neuroendocrinology, inflammation, and learning about different diseases (their symptoms, diagnosis, and treatment). Whenever I’m studying for a test I usually spread out all my notes on my bed and read my roomy random facts and stats I need to memorize.

#4 – I am a nerd. See above.

#5 – I recently picked up melon garnishing. See my last post. I have even considered asking for a garnishing tool set for Christmas.

#6 – I am obsessed with old movies and musicals, especially if they involve tap dancing. Or any of the following actors/ actresses: Gene Kelly, Cary Grant, Gregory Peck, Audrey Hepburn, Julie Andrews, Frank Sinatra, Fred Astaire, Bing Crosby, Vera-ellen, Ginger Rogers, Rex Harrison, etc.

My lifelong dream is that I will own every good, classic musical on DVD or soundtrack. I want my kids to have something good to watch and listen to, and I wouldn’t mind if they fell as much in love as I have with every kind of music (band, choir, musicals, piano, accapella groups, etc).

And to name a few (okay, a lot) of my favorite movies/ musicals (some I’ve seen and many I haven’t):

Aida, An American in Paris, Annie Get your Gun, Arsenic and Old Lace, Beauty and the Beast, Bit, Bye, Bye Birdie, Camelot, Casablanca, Cats, Charades, Chitty Chitty, Bang Bang, Corpse Bride, Crazy for You, Damn Yankees, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, Doctor Doolittle, Emma, Evita, Fiddler on the Roof, Footloose, Forever Plaid, Funny Face, Funny Girl, Gigi, Guys and Dolls, Hairspray, Hello, Dolly, How to Succeed in Business without Really Trying, I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change, Into the Woods, It’s a Wonderful Life, James Bonds, Jane Eyre, Jekyll & Hyde, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Kiss Me, Kate, Labyrinth, Les Miserables, Little Shop of Horrors, Mamma Mia, Mansfield Park, Mary Poppins, Miss Saigon, My Fair Lady, Newsies, Northanger Abbey, Oklahoma, Oliver!, On the Town, Once Upon a Mattress, Peter Pan, Persuasion, Phantom of the Opera, Pirates of Pensance, Pride and Prejudice, Ragtime, Rear Window, Rent, Roman Holiday, Sabrina, Seussical, Sense and Sensibility, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, Show Boat, Singing in the Rain, South Pacific, Stomp, Summer Stock, Sweeny Todd, Swing Time, The Adventures of Huckleberry Fin, The Happiest Millionaire, The Importance of Being Earnest, The King and I, The Lion King, The Music Man, The Nightmare before Christmas, The Producers, The Scarlet Pimpernel, The Secret Garden, The Slipper and the Rose, The Sound of Music, The Ten Commandments, The Wiz, The Wizard of Oz, Thoroughly Modern Millie, To Catch a Thief, To Kill a Mockingbird, Urinetown, Vertigo, West Side Story, What’s Up, Doc?, White Christmas, Wicked, Wonderful Town, You're a Good Man Charlie Brown

#7 - I often makeup and hum random tunes to myself and then realize that they remind me of a real song and start singing that. My roomy is a witness to this.

#7b- a couple more weird, random things since I didn’t write very much for #4:

I won't eat peanut butter and jelly together, especially not sandwiches. I can eat peanut butter; I can eat jelly, but never together.

I love going to plays, especially during the Shakespearean festival in Cedar City!

I love Romanian music; mostly because my brother introduced me to it, and it’s where he served his mission.

I want to own all the Dramatized Church History and New Testament CDs by Orson Scott Card that I used to listen to all the time when I was younger.

So now I’m going to tag my friends Denise, Lindsey, and Jodi, my sister Brenna, and roomy Brianne.

Feel free to tag yourself!

It's fun to see how many weird things there are about yourself and then try to whittle them down to 7.

p.s. I have an obsession with llamas that has been passed down to me from my older sisters.. Here’s that pic I promised ya Janette!

Melon Garnishing

I work in the Vegetable Prep Kitchen at BYU. We prepare sandwiches, salads, and other cold items for Catering, the Cougareat, and the Skyroom restaurant. I love my job because I get to listen to music, goof around a bit, and have dance parties while working. And last week was the best because we got the catering orders done early and my boss taught us some garnishing skills! We made swans out of apples and flowers out of cantaloupe and honeydew.
Best work day ever!
That weekend me, Grant, and my roomy Katie went on a triple date to see Divine Comedy (hilarious!) and then did some melon garnishing of our own. This time I made a rose out of a watermelon. We also did swans, but unfortunately those didn't turn out too hot because the apples where too grainy and broke apart. All our swans heads were falling off, but it was still fun. We ended up eating them anyways... ;)

showing off my culinary skillz

a WICKED halloween!

Halloween this year was AwEsoME!! I started off the day by dressing up as Elphaba from the musical WickeD and going to my clinical nutrition class. My teacher was a little taken aback by it. I got some funny looks from people on campus who had no idea who I was, but a couple people passing by said, "you're costume is amazing!" That made me happy. Later I dressed up as a nerd for awhile to give myself a break from the green makeup. Then me, my bro Grant, and our friends Jess and Mark got together for dinner at Del Taco! mmmm.... After that i got back into my Elphaba garb and we hit up my ward party and Grant's stake dance. We finished up the night with some Slurpees and a game of Rock Band! (My first time playing and i'm officially addicted!) . Best night EVER!

Me and my friend Denise. aint she cute?!

Meeting up with Grant on campus

Jodi, Lindsey, and Me... in the testing center

"I'd sooner try defying gravity!"

close up of the make up

Bond... James Bond & NERDy

This is one of my fave pix!

Euro trash & Mr. Perfect

According to my calculations... you and me should get together!

hawt stuff!

above: "I'll put a spell on you"
below: me and my friend Jess- elphaba & cheerleader!
below that: me and my friend Alex- elphaba & ipod logo- with Grant dancing it up in the background!

Cheerleader, Rico Suave, and Elphaba aka Jessica, Grant, & Estelle

NERDalicious!

all tuckered out at the end of a long night of partying!

Mountain Biking: first time ever!

Getting geared up

Slowly making our way uphill

That's me heading up the back- I need to work out...

Downhill is so much more fun!

Yah-yuh! Check out that knee.

The Aftermath: What's a biking trip without some good battle wounds to show off?

Hardcore troupe

Tumbling Gym & Paintball!

This weekend I got to go on a group date to a tumbling gym and go paintballing. Friday night I went to the tumbling gym. It was super fun! There was a foam pit that you could jump into so I tried a few spinning "dives." There was also a rope above it that I tried to climb, but failed miserably at. My date on the other hand was very good at it and actually reached the ceiling. We also got frozen hot chocolate from DQ, which I highly recommend. So good!
Saturday I went paintballing for the first time! We rented paintball equiptment from a place nearby and then headed to a course in American Fork. My friend Mike and I had gone out the day before to buy some camo from an army surplus store so we were all decked out. It was pretty sweet. I've got a couple nice bruises from the day. And Grant even got a few good shots at me- including one in the back of the head. Awwwww... now that's what you call brotherly love ;)

the troupe- can you see us? we blend in so well with our camo it's like we've got floating heads!

gun salute

hard core paintballer- check out tht camo!

small and simple things...

Tonight was Ultimate Frisbee night and as usual it was a blast!! Our team didn't win, but boy did we have spirit! Plus I got to hang out with my ward friends and what could be better than that?! We started playing at 9 and ended at about 11pm like we always do. Unfortunately, when we all went to get our stuff one girl couldn't find her keys (2 keys- car and apt- very important stuff). We had a group of about 8 people all scouting the grass in the dark w/ our glow sticks and still could've find it. The memory flashed in my head of a story Lonnie (my sister) had told me about Zane (my nephew- 5yrs) offering a prayer when an object had been lost during a trip to the park with his dad and the young men. They had already scowled the area and not had any luck. But after a simple prayer it was found. I had a very strong thought/ feeling that we should say a prayer. At first I didn't want to suggest it because I was afraid/ embarrassed, but I felt so strong about it I finally suggested it and we were able to say a prayer asking to find her keys. And seriously, about 10 seconds after saying the prayer one of the guys found them. This experience was such a strong testimony to me of just how much our Heavenly Father cares for us and how he is always looking out for us. Even in the smallest and simplest of things. We just have to listen for his voice and exercise our faith. I can't even begin to explain the amazing feeling I received and was blessed with. I am so thankful for the spirit and the guidance it gives us.

11th ward awesomeness!!

(from top to bottom, left to right: becky, julie, chelsea, rachel, shane, jessica, kirk, mike, brad, jeremy, guy, rob, craig, guy, guy)

So this weekend was crazy fun! Instead of buckling down friday and studying for my food science test I ended up going to our wards intermural soccer game, then to our stake's barn dance in Payton, and then ended the night by playing an intense game of kissing rugby. The soccer game was a blast- as u can tell by all the pix. The barn dance was probably the best dance I've ever been to. Everyone actually danced and basically my whole ward was there. I got to drive up with my friends Craig, Rob, and Shane. (Craig & Rob are the two guys wearing the jamaican hats in the picture above- "just two wild and crazy guys!") we got lost on the way up, but eventually found the place. Kissing rugby was so much fun too. Half the ward showed up for it too. The guys were especially excited about it. It got so intense I lost an earring. And one guy learned his lesson and has since decided to wear a belt for next time. Saturday I V.T.ed, went running, got in some studying, and went to bed early because i was so tired from the day before! (above: every soccer game our ward does a human pyramid- Craig and Rob in the jamaican hats are the ones who started it all. they're basically the cheerleaders of the ward.)

The ward got together to crowd surf all our star soccer players. Jim has a broken ankle so he decided to make use of his crutches.

We also got in some tunnel action for those who preferred not to crowd surf

our star team: they might not have won the game, but they've sure won our hearts! (back row:guy, kevin, brian, nate, jeremy-my home teach, brad, hunter, scot- my roomies bf; next row: craig, girl, jes, jordan, ananda, suzanne, rob; bottom: lauren)

four fantastic girls from my ward that i rode home from the barn dance with (maurie, rachel, brittney, katie)

Timpanogos Caves!

I got to hike to timpanogos caves this past weekend with my ward and it was a blast! I think the last time I was there was when I was about 8. So it was fun to go again and get a fresh memory of it. The caves were amazing!! and our tour guide was so funny! The only down side to it all was hiking up the steep grade the last few hundred yards and suffering the consequences of intense soreness the next day. It was so worth it though!

jodi's reception!

This Friday Denise and I were able to go to Jodi's wedding reception. After a short detour of viewing Provo's scenery due to an unforseen incident (getting lost) Denise and I were able to successfully find the house. We got to go through the wedding line and introduce ourselves to the parents. I've decided that's a lot more fun when you actually know the people. ;) And most importantly see Jodi and Justin!! Jodi looked gorgeous! Not to mention so happy! They looked happy before they got married, but now that they've been through the temple together to make their eternal covenants they look even happier! You can see how much they really care for and love each other. Sadly I wasn't able to stay for the whole reception, but did get to see the cake cutting and, more importantly, the first dance. I loved the reception especially because it was so simple and sweet. The house wasn't too big, not a ton of decorations, simple food, and only family and close friends. It made me daydream about when I get married. I can't wait until I meet the right guy, marry him in the right place, at the right time, and end up just as happy as jodi and justin and all the other married couples I've seen this spring. :)