St. Patrick's Day Miracle!!

The title is copying Seinfeld's quote: "It's a Festivus Miracle!"

So last night, I get a call from Spencer at ten minutes to seven. He tells me to hurry and get ready because we were going to a party at Dan and Jordan's house that started at seven. I was like "Thanks, Spence, for the advanced warning." We had talked about a St. Patrick's party on Sunday when we had our get together for March Madness, but Dan had tickets to the Jazz game, so I didn't think that it would happen. I think that perhaps he could tell my disappointment.

Well, Dan is so cute and sweet, that he gave up his Jazz tickets to his dad and grandpa. And he cooked a real Irish meal for his friends and put together a last minute St. Patrick's Day Party. It was awesome!! I had so much fun.

I got there late because Spencer didn't tell me sooner or text me or leave me a message. I felt really bad. But I got there as fast as possible. So Dan, Jordan, Spencer, and I sat down for a home-cooked Irish meal. It was really good! We had corned beef and colcannon, which is mashed potatoes with cabbage in it. It was really good. We also had bread and cream soda and root beer in bottles. We topped it all off with mint chocolate chip ice cream (it's green).

We played poker (Texas-Hold-Em) and watched the Jazz game on their big HD tv. Then we watched a movie called No Country For Old Men. It was good, but the bad guy was really freaky. I didn't completely get the point of it, but it was exciting.

Our friends Dave and Brooke couldn't make it, and they were missed. I hope that they still had a great holiday, though.

All in all, I had a great St. Patty's. I even won in Poker! I never win, especially with Spencer playing. He wins everything. Thank you Dan and Jordan for helping us to celebrate. It was really great. On my way home last night, I was really sad about not being able to hang out with you guys anymore. I was really depressed. I have just loved hanging out with you guys and getting to know you. I even wish that we lived closer so that it was easier to hang out. I will desperately miss you guys. I think that we should try to hang out a lot before we all move away. And thanks, Jordan, for the book. It was sweet of you to remember our conversation and to offer that to me. You are too thoughtful!! Love you guys!

These are pictures from the movie.

March Madness

On Sunday, we went to our friends' parents' house in West Valley. Mark and Lisa. They have become like pseudo-parents to us. They throw the best parties ever. They have a huge HD television and Lisa makes a feast every time we go over there. This year we decided to have a party the day that the brackets for March Madness comes out. We fill in our brackets. The guys also take turns picking teams, and then you get points for each game that they win. So it's just a couple of fun games that we play each year. It's funny because every year a girl wins the bracketology contest. And the boys won't let us play the other game (probably because they don't want us to win it too!).

So we had a really good time on Sunday. Dave and Brooke, Dan and Jordan, Me and Spence, and Mark and Lisa. We played pool and ping-pong. We watched the brackets come out. We filled in our brackets. The boys did their Fantasy Baseball draft. We played cards and games. Lisa made us a turkey dinner to die for and stuffed us like a good mother always does. We talked and joked and had a great time.

It made me really, really sad, though. This coming year Dave and Brooke and Spence and I will be leaving the area to go to school. It is really depressing to me. I have really loved being near our friends. I hope that we stay close and that we can all still come together for the Super Bowl and other important activities in our lives. I am really grateful to them all and have enjoyed their friendship.

So Mark, Lisa, Jordan, Dan, Brooke, and Dave. I love you all. And thank you for everything. Let's stay good friends and not let physical distance change our friendship. Okay?





Here is an article that I found funny about March Madness:

You’ll hear this time of year referred to by many different names — Bracketology 101, The Big Dance and more commonly as March Madness. But if you’re a college basketball fan, the rest of this month amounts to three weeks of basketball bliss.
However, the annual basketball tournament is apparently taking a negative toll on workplace production.
Last year, Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc., the nation’s oldest consulting firm, projected the cost to employers in lost productivity over the three weeks of the NCAA men’s basketball tournament exceeded $1.2 billion.
The first two days alone of the 2006 NCAA men’s basketball tournament cost employers around $260 mil-lion in wages paid to unproductive workers, according to the Chicago-based firm.
Add that to the $86 million lost each day due to workers spending an average of 13.5 minutes surfing sports Web sites and the lost profits add up quickly.
“It’s become the workplace tradition of our era,” said Chief executive officer of CGC Inc. John Challenger. “Unlike the Super Bowl or the World Series, you have the NCAA men’s basketball tournament that has 65 teams, so just about everyone in the office can find a team that represents where they’re from and track their progress.”
The fact that many of the games during the first two weeks of the tournament take place during the work-day doesn’t help out workplace productivity either, according to Challenger.
While employees will visit sports Web sites like ESPN.com to download and print their basketball tournament brackets, the added element of streaming content and following games in real-time via the Internet can add to lost workplace productivity according to Challenger.
“In December 2007, Internet users watched more than 10 billion videos online; and these weren’t low quality video feeds either,” Challenger said.
In response to the annual college basketball tournament, some employers have blocked their office’s computers access to sports-related Web sites. But according to a Challenger survey of 100 resource executives, only six percent of companies plan to go that route.
Other companies, however, are taking a different approach to the matter, according to Challenger.
“If you can’t beat them, join them,” Challenger said.
And that’s exactly what some employers are doing, capitalizing on the atmosphere in the office that the NCAA basketball tournament creates to build a little corporate camaraderie.
Some employers even encouraged their employees to wear their favorite college basketball team’s gear to work during the tournament, despite the obvious loss of workplace productivity.
“Employers ultimately have to make a decision on whether they will measure employees in terms of the quality of the work they do or solely on their productivity,” Challenger said.

Getting to Know You, 2008

1. WHAT TIME DID YOU GET UP THIS MORNING? 7:11, like the convenient store! I have another day off, and it is so needed, but Spence woke me up on his way out. He also needed me to order his cap and gown. He graduates in a little over a month!!

2. DIAMONDS OR PEARLS? Diamonds. They really are beautiful and they draw me in with their sparkles.

3. WHAT WAS THE LAST FILM YOU SAW AT THE CINEMA? Vantage Point. It was really good. I recommend seeing it. I hesitated to see it because I thought that it would be boring to see the same thing over and over, but they do it really well and it kept me interested the whole time.

4. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE TV SHOW? The Office. It is so freakin' funny.

5. WHAT DO YOU USUALLY HAVE FOR BREAKFAST? Nothing. A soda at best.

6. WHAT IS YOUR MIDDLE NAME? Joan

7. WHAT FOOD DO YOU DISLIKE? Fish. I like shellfish fine, but I hate fish.

8. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE CD.? Right now...probably Spill Canvas or Fall Out Boy or Plain White Tees.

9. WHAT KIND OF CAR DO YOU DRIVE? A Honda Civic, Bruce.

10. FAVORITE SANDWICH? Turkey with lettuce and ranch dressing. Although, I have really been into Italian style sandwiches since I've been married to Spencer. I really like Panini style.

11. WHAT CHARACTERISTIC DO YOU DESPISE? Ingratitude. Pride. Judegmentalism.

12. FAVORITE ITEM OF CLOTHING? Jammie bottoms or robes. I like being comfortable.

13. IF YOU COULD GO ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD ON VACATION,WHERE WOULD YOU GO? I'd like to go to Hawaii again, but I think that I'd really like to go toItaly with my sweetheart or on an African safari. I'd also like to go to Bora Bora, Fiji, and Moorea.

14. WHAT COLOR IS YOUR BATHROOM? One is cream and yellow. One is white and blue. One is white, black, and dark green.

15 FAVORITE BRAND OF CLOTHING? I like Dickies scrubs. I also like Silver jeans. They are the only jeans that really fit me well.

16. WHERE WOULD YOU RETIRE TO? I'd like to have multiple retirement homes. But realistically, I'm not sure. I guess somewhere that I could still be close enough to visit my family and have them visit me.

17. WHAT WAS YOUR MOST MEMORABLE BIRTHDAY? I think last year, number 24. Spencer did something really sweet for me. He had a whole elaborate thing planned out and got me a beautiful necklace. It was really romantic and thoughtful.

18. WHO DO YOU LEAST EXPECT TO DO THIS ON THEIR BLOG? I bet no one will.

where did 19 and 20 go??

21. PERSON YOU EXPECT TO PUT THIS ON THEIR BLOG? Maybe Nat or even Pete??

22. FAVORITE SAYING? "Rad." It's kind of nostalgic or something. Oh...the early 90's.

23. WHEN IS YOUR BIRTHDAY? January 9.

24. ARE YOU A MORNING OR NIGHT PERSON? I guess over all I am a night person, although I enjoy early mornings as well and I don't usually get grumpy.

25. WHAT IS YOUR SHOE SIZE: 7-7.5. Although I like to buy my shoes really, really big, especially Crocs.

26. PETS? Brady and Mia. Two samoyed dogs that I love dearly, but also drive me crazy. It is particularly hard at this time because Mia is in heat. Yeah, I think we have less than a week left, though.

27. ANY NEW AND EXCITING NEWS YOU WOULD LIKE TO SHAREWITH US? Spencer graduates in a little over a month. And then we are going to move somewhere, except we have no idea where. Spencer has been accepted to all of the schools that he applied to. The possibilities are Miami, San Francisco, Spokane, Louisville, or Buffalo.

28. WHAT DID YOU WANT TO BE WHEN YOU WERE LITTLE? A ballet teacher and then later a horse riding instructor/horse trainer.

29. WHAT ARE YOU TODAY? A registered nurse specialized in trauma.

30. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE CANDY? It varies depending on my mood. I like Symphony with the blue title, it has toffee and almonds. I also like the Starburst that comes in the green package, tropical flavors. I also have like Nibs recently.

31. YOUR FAVORITE FLOWER? Lilacs, May tree flowers, orchids, gardenias.

32. WHAT IS A DAY ON THE CALENDAR YOU ARE LOOKING FORWARD TO? Any day that I have off of work. And the Fourth of July. I guess that Easter is coming up...

33. WHAT ARE YOU LISTENING TO RIGHT NOW? Brady freak out in the cage.

34. WHAT WAS THE LAST THING YOU ATE? Corned beef and Colcannon and bread and mint chocolate chip ice cream. My super cool friends made Spencer and I a real Irish meal for St. Patrick's Day. They are the best!!

35. DO YOU WISH ON STARS? Yes. I am a dreamer and believer. I do it more than I should admit to. I have endless hope.

36. IF YOU WERE A CRAYON, WHAT COLOR WOULD YOU BE? Probably a green shade??

37. HOW IS THE WEATHER RIGHT NOW? Cold and cloudy. The sun is trying to come out.

38. FAVORITE SOFT DRINK? Coke or Root Beer/Cream Soda.

39. FAVORITE RESTAURANT? Los Hermanos or Maceroni Grill or Benihana or Texas Roadhouse or Ruby River or the Claim Jumper or Hungry Howies. It really depends on what kind of food.

40. SIBLINGS? Three cute sisters. Two older, one younger.

41. FAVORITE DAY OF THE YEAR? Maybe my anniversary. I'm a big time romantic.

42. WHAT WAS YOUR FAVORITE TOY AS A CHILD? I had a collectors doll that I was proud of, Samantha. I played Barbies a lot. But I think that my favorite was a yellow purse that I turned into a spy kit. I would spy on my sisters and sneak around the house and scare them.

43. SUMMER OR WINTER? Summer. I have always been a fan. I love being outside and barefoot. Yeah, there is nothing better. I just wish that I could have the summer off like I used to when I was little.

44. HUGS OR KISSES? Hugs, for sure. There is something so comforting in a hug. It's like a safe, warm feeling. Like you belong there. Like it's home.

45. COFFEE OR TEA? Gross. If it really came down to it...I guess coffee with tons and tons of flavoring to cover up the taste.

46. CHOCOLATE OR VANILLA? Chocolate.

47. DO YOU WANT YOUR FRIENDS TO PUT THIS ON THEIR BLOGS? Sure. It helps you to get to know people better.

48. WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU CRIED? I don't really remember. It probably wasn't that long ago. I cry a lot at night. I wait for Spence to go to bed and then I cry about a lot of silly things.

49. WHAT IS UNDER YOUR BED? Wow. A couple of bags, a blanket, and Karlenn's leap pad toy thing that she has asked me to find. I just found it.

50. WHO IS THE FRIEND YOU HAVE HAD THE LONGEST? Whitney. My best friend forever.

51. WHAT DID YOU DO LAST NIGHT? I went to our friends' house for a St. Patrick's Day Party. It was at the last minute, but it was so much fun. See the next post cuz I'm gonna talk about it.

52. FAVORITE SMELL? Spencer. I also really like A&F Fierce cologne and lilacs and yummy food cooking. But there is nothing better than cuddling with my sweetie and smelling his mix of cologne, body spray, body wash, and just him...

53. WHAT ARE YOU AFRAID OF? Something happening to my loved ones.

54. SALTY OR SWEET? Sweet.

55. HOW MANY KEYS ON YOUR RING? I think that I have four.

56. HOW MANY YEARS AT YOUR CURRENT JOB? Wow. Almost two! I can't believe that I have survived!

57. FAVORITE DAY OF THE WEEK? Any day that I have off. I especially like Sundays, because Spencer is off, too. We really enjoy being together and relaxing and hanging out. This semester has been really great for that.

58. HOW MANY TOWNS HAVE YOU LIVED IN? Five, I think.

59. DO YOU MAKE FRIENDS EASILY? No.

60. HOW MANY PEOPLE WILL READ THIS? I bet that a lot of people skim it over. I'm boring and they probably got this info. when I did my 100 things about me post.

61. HOW MANY WILL COMMENT? I average about two. So maybe three??

HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY

Today is St. Patrick's Day. For some crazy reason this is one of my favorite holidays. I think that it was more fun back when I was in public school, but I still like it. When I was little, my grandpa babysat me the night before. He told me all of the traditions of St. Patrick's Day and the folklore of the Irish people in general. He made it sound really magical. And I'm into that stuff.

Facts about St. Patrick's Day Holiday
St. Patrick’s Day is observed on March 17 because that is the feast day of St. Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland. It is believed that he died on March 17 in the year 461 AD. It is also a worldwide celebration of Irish culture and history. St. Patrick’s Day is a national holiday in Ireland, and a provincial holiday in the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador.
In Ireland on St. Patrick’s Day, people traditionally wear a small bunch of shamrocks on their jackets or caps. Children wear orange, white and green badges, and women and girls wear green ribbons in their hair.
Many cities have a St. Patrick’s Day parade. Dublin, the capital of Ireland, has a huge St. Patrick’s Day festival from March 15-19, that features a parade, family carnivals, treasure hunt, dance, theatre and more. In North American, parades are often held on the Sunday before March 17. Some paint the yellow street lines green for the day! In Chicago, the Chicago River is dyed green with a special dye that only lasts a few hours. There has been a St. Patrick’s Day parade in Boston, Massachusetts since 1737. Montreal is home to Canada’s longest running St. Patrick’s Day parade, which began in 1824.

Facts about Saint Patrick
St. Patrick was born in 385 AD somewhere along the west coast of Britain, possibly in the Welsh town of Banwen. At age 16, he was captured and sold into slavery to a sheep farmer. He escaped when he was 22 and spent the next 12 years in a monastery. In his 30s he returned to Ireland as a Christian missionary. He died at Saul in 461 AD and is buried at Downpatrick.

Facts about the Irish
34 million Americans have Irish ancestry, according to the 2003 US Census. That’s almost nine times the population of Ireland, which has 4.1 million people.
Some American towns have “Irish” names. You could visit: Mount Gay-Shamrock, West Virginia; Shamrock Lakes, Indiana; Shamrock, Oklahoma; Shamrock, Texas; Dublin, California and Dublin, Ohio.
The harp is the symbol of Ireland. The color green is also commonly associated with Ireland, also known as “the Emerald Isle.”
The Irish flag is green, white and orange. The green symbolizes the people of the south, and orange, the people of the north. White represents the peace that brings them together as a nation.
The name “lephrechaun” has several origins. It could be from the Irish Gaelic word “leipreachan,” which means “a kind of aqueous sprite.” Or, it could be from “leath bhrogan,” which means “shoemaker.”

Facts about Clovers
According to the Guinness Book of World Records, the highest number of leaves found on a clover is 14!
One estimate suggests that there are about 10 000 regular three-leaf clovers for every lucky four-leaf clover.
Legend says that each leaf of the clover means something: the first is for hope, the second for faith, the third for love and the fourth for luck.

In the US, Americans celebrate the holiday by wearing green clothing. Many people, regardless of ethnic background, wear green-colored clothing and items. Traditionally, those who are caught not wearing green are pinched. Alcohol is the center of many American celebrations.Some cities paint the traffic stripe of their parade routes green. Chicago even dyes its river green. Savannah dyes its downtown city fountains green. Indianapolis dyes its Central Canal green. University of Missouri Rolla - St. Pat's Board Alumni paint 12 city blocks Kelly green with mops before the annual parade.

In the United States, many people have also made the holiday a celebration of the color green. These people, besides wearing green on that day, may also stage dinner parties featuring all green foods. An example of such a menu would be chicken with rice and lima beans with sliced green maraschino cherries in coconut sauce colored with green food coloring, a green salad including greens, avocados and sliced green apples, split pea soup, green tinted bread spiced with sage, Lime Jell-O, iced limeade and/or a green-beer, and lime pudding, key lime pie, or lime sherbet for dessert. Corned beef and cabbage is the most common meal eaten in the United States for St. Patrick's Day, even though historically, corned beef and cabbage is an American (rather than a traditionally Irish) meal.

Kissing the Blarney Stone

Kissing the Blarney Stone is supposed to remove shyness and give you the "gift of gab." It is now in a castle and people really do go and kiss it.

So you lay down on your back and arch backwards to kiss that. Those three bars and some one holding your feet are really all that keep you from falling through to the ground.

Fun Facts

The very first St. Patrick's Day parade was not in Ireland. It was in Boston in 1737.

St. Patrick was actually of Scottish descent, not Irish, and contrary to popular folklore he never chased any snakes out of Ireland.

Nine of the people who signed our Declaration Of Independence were of Irish origin, and nineteen Presidents of the United States proudly claim Irish heritage -- including our first President, George Washington.

Green is associated with St. Patrick's Day because it is the color of Spring.

The shamrock is the traditional symbol because St. Patrick used it to explain the connection between the father, the son, and the holy spirit in the Christian religion.

The city with the largest population of Americans of Irish descent is Boston (23%).

On average, every American consumes 22 gallons of beer per year.

The moon shining liquor that was outlawed in the late 1700s for its extreme potency is called Poteen and has recently been reintroduced to the market.

At one time, there were more Irish living in New York City, than in Dublin, Ireland.

Corned beef is strictly an American invention, the Irish don't actually eat it to celebrate the day.

St. Patrick’s isn’t a big drinking holiday in Ireland. In fact, many of the local pubs are closed for the day.

Leprechauns are the official shoe makers of the fairy kingdom.

Shamrocks are the national flower of Ireland and are picked on St. Patrick's Day and worn on the shoulder.

The ancient Irish used to wear green to show their love for the harvest gods.

34.5 million U.S residents claim Irish ancestry, that is 9 times the current population of Ireland.

It is considered lucky to find a four leaf clover on St. Patrick's Day.

Over 41.5 billion pounds of beef are produced each year for St. Patrick's Day, with the majority of it coming from Texas and over 2.5 billion pounds of cabbage are produced with the majority grown in California.

Over 8 million St. Patrick's Day cards are exchanged in America making today the ninth-largest card selling occasion in the US.

Over 94 million people plan to wear green on St. Patrick's Day.

The original Guinness Brewery in Dublin has a 9,000 year lease.

The Oscar was handcrafted by an Irishman, Cedric Gibbons, who was born in Dublin in 1823.

Bailey's Irish Cream which was launched in Ireland in the early seventies, is now the most popular liqueur in the world.

The phrase, "Drowning The Shamrock" is from the custom of floating the shamrock on the top of whiskey before drinking it. The Irish believe that if you keep the custom, then you will have a prosperous year.

Erin go Braugh means "Ireland Forever!"

Leprechauns are actually shoemakers. They wear green to blend in with nature. And they really, really freak me out!

SO....

It's time to paint the town green

drink beer with friends

crack jokes in an Irish accent

gorge on lip-smaking Irish delicacies

pin shamrocks on hats and shoulders

kiss the Blarney Stone

join the parade and do an Irish jig with the Irish bands

hunt for Paddy the Leprechaun and get your pot of gold

cry out Erin Go Braugh! every so often and wish good luck to all

let your hair down and enjoy yourself because everyone is Irish on St. Patrick's Day

Happy Birthday Brock

On March 12, it was also Brock's birthday. I was too busy to blog the past couple of weeks, so I didn't have time to make a post. You can look at Nat's blog to get more about his birthday.

Brock is the cutest kid in the world. He's got the cutest eyes and the funniest personality. I hope that he had a wonderful 3rd birthday. I wish that I could have been there... It's hard being far away from my family.

Here he is with his cake.

He is really into Superman. I think that he wears his Halloween costume almost everyday. He might even think that he IS superman. His brother, Jake, is convinced that he is Spiderman. He has convinced his little brothers of this, too. He even wears his costume under his normal clothes as if he were Peter Parker.

This is him and me last summer at Lake Tahoe.

P.S. Nat, I forgot to send his present up with mom and dad. I'm gonna send it in the mail today or tomorrow. Sorry again!!

Happy Birthday Jonah!!

Yesterday we went to Jonah's birthday party. You can read about it on Jenny's blog. Here are a couple of pictures that we took.

Here's Jonah surrounded by his brothers while he opens his presents:

Here's Jonah hitting the pinata:

Even Ruby got a chance to hit it:

Here's Jo practicing his swing with one of his new presents:

Here's Jonah eating a cup cake. He kind of looks like one of those garden gnomes:

Happy Birthday Jo!

Monkey Island 4

On Sunday, me and my little sister, Alexis, played Monkey Island together. If you don't know this game, it is possibly the best game ever invented! Ever!

I just love it. Mostly I like the sense of humor. It really makes me laugh. This is the original. We played it when we were little on the computer.



You had to read everything that they said. Our favorite parts were Insult Sword-Fighting where you had to say the right comeback to a line that the other pirate said.



We also enjoyed the romantic scenes with the governor. They had really funny nick-names for each other.



This is the game that we played. It's on Playstation. Now you can hear them talking and read it at the same time. It is really, really hard to figure out. But it's so much fun. I recommend it to everyone!



And thanks, Lex, for the awesome weekend. I really enjoyed hanging out with you.