I Stole This

I recently found a fellow blogger's post highlighting various things that have happened to her in the last decade -since it is now 2010 and all. If you read my last post, you'll know that being a better blogger is something I am striving for. And because this decade post inspired me to write my own, I'm stealing the idea. It may not be very interesting but here goes.

2000 - I was starting my 8th grade year at St. John's. This was a major awkward year as far as looks go. I chose to re-take my school picture, only to have the original one show up in the yearbook. I had braces put on. I was very frustrated not to be able to start wearing make-up (against school rules). Every girl in my class had a certain pair of white and pink vans, I was made fun of for having a different style of vans; which I thought was funny since my intention was to be different anyway. I loved school lunch.

2001 - I switched schools. It was overwhelming at first. I aced my science class, made some cool things in wood shop, and tested out of gym to save myself the embarrassment of, well, being in gym. I was the only one who could do a standing tuck at sophomore cheer tryouts. I had to stop eating avocado. I met Matthew.

2002 - I dyed my hair blue for the first time. I started high school cheer - it took some adapting. I cheered on 3 squads. Matt and I started dating. I took AP history - bad idea. I had my first art class with Mr. Allen, awesome. I shared a locker with Whitney and we decorated the inside with colorful homemade magnets of anime characters and 80's cartoons. I rode the bus. My love for English grew. I got my braces off. First kiss. I learned how to do fulls.

2003 - I became a varsity cheerleader. I sprained my ankle. I didn't have my license, most others did by now.   Matthew drove me home from school every day. I wore glasses. One of my most embarrassing life moments happened. I fell on my head while doing back handsprings during half time at a basketball game. I discovered the wonders of Tylenol Flu.

Homecoming game junior year

2004 - I finally got my license. I car pooled with Whitney to school. I quit cheer and it made me happy. I went to every lacrosse game. I was a TA. I sluffed school for the first time. I chopped my hair. I ate cheese rolls for lunch - gross. I got contacts. I took the ACT's twice. I applied for college.

2005 - I got in my first and only accident. I graduated from high school. I started college automatically assuming I could do as little effort as I did in high school and still pull off good grades. I scraped by with a 3.0 my first semester and realized how wrong that idea was. I discovered the pros and cons of Trax. I got my first job. I declared my major. I finished my freshman year of college on the dean's list - and every semester after. I attended my first concert.

Alta graduation

2006 - I took Asian Civ. One of my favorite classes and professors ever. I quit my job. I went to nail school. I switched my degree from a BS to a BA. I got my first ticket.

2007 - I started taking Spanish. No, I cannot converse in the language. I lived with the Rudy's in a downtown condo for the summer and I loved it very much. I pretty much lived off of salami, cheese and triscuits. I accidentally left my keys in Matt's car one night and he had to drive downtown just to give them to me so I could drive back to my parent's house in Sandy. Somebody rear-ended Matt on the freeway off ramp. I was flown on a surprise trip to Pier 39. Matt proposed. I took photography. I started planning a wedding. I met 311.

Em and I backstage at 311

I'm engaged!

2008 - The best and worst moments of my life occurred in the same couple weeks. Matt and I tied the knot. We had to say goodbye to someone who meant a lot to us. Went to Mexico. We bought Havarti. Squirt was put to sleep. I started doing nails at a salon rather than from home. I watched the Summer Olympics every day. Matt's car was totalled in an accident. We bought a Subaru. We celebrated our first Christmas.

Erik and Matt at our wedding

Mexico

2009 - I started a blog. Surprised Matt with a b-day party. Matt and I went to Vegas for spring break. I graduated from the U. Matt took the DAT and we sent in dental school applications. I adjusted to no longer being a full time college student. I went to Washington for a week. I experienced my first solo plane ride. I had to switch eye doctors. Havarti died. I got front row seats to my very first Keith Urban concert. We got Roxy and Lyla. Attended our good friends' wedding.

Make a wish

Vegas

December's Events in a Nut Shell

Well it's been a few weeks since I blogged last. Sorry about that. A few events have happened since. Of course Christmas being the main one, we'll start with that. Strangely enough, although I was listening to Christmas music pretty early and I was so excited for the holidays, I didn't finish my shopping until the 23rd. I'm the queen of procrastination. - That was just a small side note in case you cared and thought you yourself waited until the last minute to get gifts done.

This year we went to visit the Kaefer's on Christmas Eve and the Toy's on Christmas. It was nice to visit one house per day rather than both on Christmas. That way we got to spread out the festivities a bit. Not to mention we were able to have tasty dinner cooked for us both nights.

On Christmas morning Matt and I slept in a bit and then opened the presents we had gotten for each other. Matt surprised me with a couple of my Christmas gifts, one of them being a new pair of boots - which I have worn almost every day since. He mentioned to me earlier in the month that I had too many shoes already and so I just assumed he wouldn't be buying those. But I was so happy to get them and the other things he picked out for me.

So Christmas came and went, both Matt and I worked all day on the 26th and then on Sunday the birthday festivities started. I woke up to find that Matt had cleaned the kitchen and added a new addition. He bought me a kitchen cart, which was a total surprise and I was pretty excited for. (If you've seen my lack of counter space you'd understand.) On top of the kitchen cart, were a few more presents but I had to wait for those. We then headed to breakfast with my family where we had some good laughs and I had to be embarrassed by the waitresses singing to me. Then we headed home to open my other presents and see what to do for the day.

This is where I found out exactly what the kitchen cart was intended for. Matt bought me a Keurig coffee machine and it is amazing! Sorry for all you non-coffee drinkers, I guess you just don't understand... But, you don't have to just use it for coffee, it will do hot chocolate or herb tea as well, depending on what you buy for it. It makes a cup in 60 seconds! But that isn't the only reason that it is so super awesome compared to other coffee machines. There is no mess in clean-up. No icky filters to deal with. It's simply these little cups of ground coffee that you put in the machine and then discard when it has made the coffee. I L.O.V.E IT! After drinking some hot chocolate from our trial run, we headed out to exchange some items from Christmas and check out the sales going on. We ended the night with dinner at Tepanyaki which is very tasty. I highly recommend it for those of you who haven't been. Just be warned, it is pricey.

And to bring the events and 2009 to an end, we went to a hockey game on new years eve. It was a pretty intense game which went all the way to overtime and a shoot out. Now since it is 2:15 am on Friday, January 1st 2010, I figure I am already on track for my new years resolution - to update my blog more often.

And of course, this lengthy post could not be complete without pictures!

Getting something exciting

Super cool boots

I really needed one of these. I'm always spilling!

New can opener that doesn't leave a sharp edge

Breakfast

The new kitchen cart and coffee maker! 

Oh, and now I can actually turn my spice rack. 

The area I had it before was so tight I didn't have room to spin it around.

Happy New Year 

from the Grizzlies game!

Look What We Got!

If any of you read a previous post, you'll know that our little rat Havarti passed away a little over a month ago. We were so sad to see her go that soon. Ever since her cage was empty, we were looking forward to some new rats. About a week after she passed away, we found two little girls from a litter that had just been born. Since they were so new, we had to wait 5 weeks to get them so they could spend the right amount of time with their mom and be fully weened. This last Thursday we finally got to bring them home! We were very excited. The 5 week wait seemed much longer than we anticipated. It is nice to have them so young. When we got Havarti she was already a few months old and she took a lot of working with to get her better socialized. Since these two girls are from a breeder, they've pretty much been handled since birth and are very used to human hands and people around them. They are so soft to pet and so tiny! Their fur feels like velvet. It's only been a couple days but we are already having so much fun with them and can really see their different personalities.

This is Roxy

She is such a crazy, energetic girl. She's a little daredevil. She runs all over the place and jumps off things and climbs on everything. She loves to play "tag" with your hand and she likes it when Matt flips her over and tickles her belly. She has a lot of Havarti personality.

This is Lyla

She is our shy girl. She's much more calm than her sister and a little hesitant of new things. Unlike Roxy, Lyla is a little more content to just sit in your hands or walk around on your lap. Sometimes she gets jumped on or run over by her sister, but I don't think she minds too much.

Thanksgiving is officially over...

So bring on the Christmas cheer!

Usually I don't get all that excited for Christmas. Generally I just feel like it ruins my birthday :P But this year I was ready for Christmas well before usual. I started listening to Christmas music about a week and half before Thanksgiving. Awful I know, but it cheered me up on one of those days where I was a little down, so I kept it up. Now that Thanksgiving is over, I'm free to flaunt my Christmas listening self. So please enjoy the current playlist of holiday songs I have now added to the blog.

I have also changed the normal pictures in my frames around the apartment to Christmas ones, and Matt put up some lights on our balcony and he also put our wreath on the door. Now all we have left is to buy and decorate our Christmas tree. I was also able to hang my most recent craft on the wall the other day.

I'm so crafty

Last week I made a present for an engagement party we attended recently. I liked how it turned out, so I'm dedicating a short blog about it. I started with a wooden plaque I found at a craft store. I then bought some black paint, mod podge, scrapbook paper, and some ribbon to match. Since my mom had a silhouette machine that she let me use, I was able to (with the help of Matt) create my own vinyl lettering. This made for a fun little craft and I think it turned out pretty spiffy. I mean, I'd use it in my apartment anyway. I think I'll definitely make others and play with more colors and sayings.

You can't see it very well in the picture, but the tan background actually has a light pattern to it. I think it added some nice texture and dimension. I completed the gift with a yummy spice candle.