Happy Anniversary!

Day ***

It doesn't matter what day it is! I have officially finished my year-long blogging odyssey.

And I have mixed feelings about it. It seems so anti-climatic. One day I am working on it and suddenly the next day I am done. I think that is the biggest reason (aside from having the opportunity to eat out) why I want to have some sort of celebration.

I think I will miss the daily challenge to come up with something to write about. But after thinking about it, I think I am going to try to stick with a 5-day schedule. No Sundays (unless I really really want too) and I get one floating holiday per week that I can take off. I hope that I don't become lazy and cheat myself out of blogging.

Blogging for the year definitely presented some challenges but I honestly feel that I am a better person for doing it. Since I like lists so much I thought it would be fun to do a List-Mania on what I have learned this past year blogging.

In no particular order:

1) I Learned About Myself
That sounds so cliche' but it is true. One of the biggest benefits that I got out of blogging was posting my goals and New Year's Resolutions online and then being accountable for them. I didn't think I could motivate myself to exercise and run the way I did this past year. In the back of my mind I knew I had people reading my blog and I didn't want to disappoint them. I wanted to prove to them and myself that I can accomplish goals. I look forward to hitting my year mark with my resolutions/goals and then making new ones and blogging about how I am going about to conquer them.

I'll miss you Spaghetti Cat...

2) I Learned Things I Didn't Know About My Family
This was a big one. In preparing some of my blog posts I had to do a little research and found some interesting nuggets of information. But in reading my sister's and cousin's blogs I have been introduced to a bunch of stuff that I didn't know. Take my sister for instance; I had no idea that she was such a big reader. That was news to me! And I thought I knew my cousins before but apparently I don't know them as well as I thought I did. I had no idea how difficult breaking your femurs could be; I had not heard all the stabbing stories. I am happy that my sister and cousins have joined in with the blogging. I feel like I know them so much better and feel closer to them.

3) Meeting New People
The cool thing about meeting new people is being exposed to new ideas. I had met Andrea's family before but I didn't know them. And I was glad to have had the chance to get to know them. I learned to appreciate soccer for example. I also learned different writing styles, I think I changed the way I blogged because of their influence. I also saw a lot of good examples, I saw a lot of qualities that I would like to develop. Because I had other people aside from family taking the challenge, it motivated me to blog my best.

4) A Record of Important Things/Events
I took a quick glance at my blog the other night and found a ton of stuff that I had already forgotten. I am thankful that I took the time to blog about events while they were still fresh. The family get-togethers, the Church events, the little moments with my family. Now I see why it is important to have a diary/journal. Now I can look back on those things and remember them like it was just yesterday.

The Karma Police were integral to my blog.

5) It Surprised Me Who Was Reading My Blog
I knew most of the people that were reading my blog. But it did take me by surprise by some of the e-mails and comments my blog received. Some people in my neighborhood were reading my blog, some old classmates from even elementary school have contacted me. This was fantastic. Remember when I blogged about one of my biggest regrets in school? I have been absolved from that since she took the time to e-mail me after reading that blog. And that incident happened over twenty years ago!

I got much more out of blogging than I thought I would. I still have things that I want to record and I know that I will continue to have experiences that I want to record. So I will definitely continue to blog.

I do urge anyone that has not taken the challenge to get on the blogging bus and do it. It is a sacrifice and you will have to put in some hard work but it is well worth your effort. I hope that my fellow bloggers will continue to blog.

I also want to give a shout-out to my fellow bloggers for accomplishing this mighty goal. And for my fellow bloggers that are in the middle of doing it. I support you completely. Thanks to all those that supported me in blogging. I appreciate your effort.

To anyone that is reading these words... STOP reading and pat yourself on the back.

Thanks Folks!

From the Soap Box: Smacking Lips

Day 114

I am not feeling so hot today. I began to feel a bit ill Saturday night and yesterday I was feeling pretty horrible. I am much better today but I am a little cranky and weak.

So this would be a perfect time to do another column of my pet peeves.

For some reason this one really can set me off. Especially when I am in an already cranky mood. It may seem silly but it drives me nuts.


I absolutely hate it when people smack their lips and chew with their mouth open! Seriously people! I don't want to hear you eat and I certainly do not want to see what you are eating!

Now don't get me wrong. I love food and I love to eat. In fact I took one of those stupid Facebook tests and found out that my worst sin is Gluttony. So I love to eat. But at least while I am pigging out that I have some sort of respect. I don't smack my lips like a cow, I don't salivate like a dog for a bone. And I don't eat like a dog either. Every time I hear your lips smack together makes me want to smack you. Have some self respect and eat politely, like Spaghetti Cat.


I love to eat out with people. There is nothing like a great meal to bring people together and have a good time. But acting like a pig while eating zaps all the fun out of it. And it can do more damage than you think. I used to know a girl named Mabel and she would eat with her mouth open. It was like watching a cement truck or washing machine, she would swirl the food in her mouth before she would swallow it. I only saw her eating ONCE but that was enough for me. Now every time I hear the name Mabel I think of her. That name is dead to me forever!

Enjoy your food but keep it to yourself!

WaffleFest 2009/2010!

Day 62

Happy New Year's Day!

It is hard to believe that we are living in the year 2010! Where is my rocket pack?

Kristy, Logan and I headed down south to spend New Year's Eve with Kristy's family. A couple of years ago we had WaffleFest(tm) and Steven cooked and served breakfast at midnight. This year was the same, we had family over and we all ate breakfast at midnight. Before and after we snacked on an insane amount of food and played games.


We played a couple of fun games (Apple to Apple; Split the Ward) and of course, their were some winners that flaunted their winningness and their were some sore losers. Some of the kids went to bed early while the adults continued to play games and eat food.



I also taught a couple of my nephews a few card games. We played a variation of SlapJack (one that I had made up myself) and unleashed pain on them with my Punishment Slap Rule. Surprisingly they still wanted to play after the New Year was rung in.


Am I wearing a cool shirt or what?

Finally midnight came and we rang in the New Year! Like I said before, it is hard for me to imagine that we are living in the year 2010! We stuffed ourselves like pigs and even those that were cranky (not the young tired kids, the ones that were sore losers) were happy with a full gut. Steven added another chin to his collection of chins. After food we watched a bunch of YouTube videosthat we laughed hard at. My family gets really silly the longer they stay up.


Finally we played some more games and we played the Newlywed Game on DVD. Now this is where things started to get more interesting. Kristy and I have played this game before and we must have been married too long because we absolutely SUCK at this game. But this time was different, we actually scored this time! And not just once, we scored a few times. But we still suck at it.

What was surprising and possibly the most shocking is that Kristy's mom and sister almost won both games! Yes, you heard me right. Colleen and her daughter Lynn were a couple and they were tied at the top for both of the games we played. They beat out THREE other married couples. You know, actually married couples, couples that are married for real. How the heck did a mother and daughter combination win at the Newlywed Game?

Perhaps this explains it.



We finally packed it in for the evening, it was pretty late (or early in the morning) and some of us need our beauty sleep. Some people need sleep more than they think. Colleen looked at the clock and yelped out "It is 3 in the morning! I have stuff I need to prepare for tomorrow!" It took us about fifteen minutes to calm her down, she thought it was Sunday. And then she grabbed her scorecard and asked what the next question was and was surprised when she discovered she had already wrote down the answer. Kristy is just like her mom. Kristy and I giggled for about an hour after we went to bed thinking about doing her Snuggle blog. More on that later.

All in all, we had a great time and I look forward to next year's party already.