To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment. - Ralph Waldo Emerson

Thursday, May 28, 2009

"Deiter F. Duke-dorf" and the 13th Article of Faith

Ok, so I KNOW I am biased, but this child is SO beyond words cute!

My niece Izzy is 3! She is crazy! She is fun! She is so animated! And, I am pretty sure she could get ANYTHING she wanted out of me at anytime!

She's also pretty stinkin' smart for a 3-year-old. Or at least really good at memorizing! She knows all 13 Articles of Faith for the Mormon church ... and also the First Presidency of the Church... kind of... well, sometimes.

Please forgive the fact that I suck as a camera woman AND I can't figure out how to rotate a movie clip!

Wednesday, May 27, 2009

New York! New York!

Actually, I guess a more accurate title would be Connecticut! Connecticut! I spent the most of the last week there, and a little time in New York! New York!

My brother Adam's oldest child turned 8! So, my parents brought my two nieces from Texas and we all celebrated because my sweet neice Haley got baptized. And, I had a blast.

On Sunday Haley told me to wear my prettiest dress so that maybe I would meet someone at church that would marry me. Ha ha ha... I wish I was kidding. I asked her if there were any guys in her ward to date. She said there were two (2) missionaries and she was pretty sure neither of them were married. I told her missionaries couldn't date. She told me one of them was about to be done. Ha ha ha! Can you imagine!?! Bless her heart!

My sister-in-law made the cutest cake, a funfetti cake with polka dots. And, there were party hats. It was legit! My niece got a Wii game called Sing It! And, I am pretty sure I would rather die than listen to Aly and AJ sing "Like Whoa" again, Or ANYTHING from High School Musical or Cheetah Girls.

We had a lot of fun. There was swimming, a lot of swimming! And, we had a "fashion show", if it could be called that!
I love my family! I absolutely love them. The whole bunch of them make me smile! They are by far the best part of me!

And, I love New York! The Spring weather was perfect!

What a fabulous weekend! I am already ready to go back!

Monday, May 18, 2009

Oh HAPPY day!

Dear Kyle, Morgan and Ashlee - thanks for making this the best day of my entire year!

http://www.qsrmagazine.com/articles/news/story.phtml?id=8674

We are gonna party like it's 1999! (And, we'll need you to be here for it Ashlee!)

I should just start buying my clothes in a larger size right now! This might be disasterous!

Wednesday, May 6, 2009

Swine Cold!

I have become a very very lazy blogger.

But, part of it is not my fault (of course).

I have the Swine Cold... it's slowly draining me of all my energy.

Today my eyes keep watering and are itching so bad! So, I left the comfort of my own office in the ghetto and ventured to CVS, in an effort to save my eyes! Because, I am about to remove them with a spoon, they are driving me crazy!

Anyway, as I am driving to CVS (which is like 3 blocks from my office, mind you), I see 6 or 7 SUVs that are K-9 explosive vehicles. They are all parked outside the Hometown Buffet.

Now, this is Santa Ana, so anything goes, I think I finally get that. But, seriously, why would anyone bomb a Hometown Buffet? I mean all their patrons are between the ages of 105 and 120! Right?!? They are already on their way out!

Whatever!

P.S. I DID find my camera this morning... so hopefully, I will actually update this blog with some of the more interesting and fun parts of my life... but, don't hold your breath, it might be a while still.

Tuesday, May 5, 2009

Hustle Hoff!

Have any of you ever heard of a Ragnar Relay?!?

Well, I am pretty sure it's for crazy people! Seriously crazy people.

Because, here's what happens. You get 11 people who are as nuts as you are to run a total of 186.6 miles (well, kind of - who knows how long it actually ended up being, there were closures, Helaman, Lisa and Brad got a little lost and ran in off course... for who knows how many miles)... but anyway, the bottom line is that we ran from Santa Barbara, CA to Dana Point, CA which is 186.6 miles... roughly!


April headed up our team and did a great job. We were the Hustle Hoff team. Our entire theme revolved around David Hastlehoff... scary. We had masks, and goody bags, and CDs... did any of you know that David Hastlehoff sang?!? He did/does... and, it's bad. While we were waiting at one of the leg exchanges, we overheard a few people talking about our team theme.... this is what they said "I don't get it." Enough said.


Here's how it went. We started the race at 9 AM on Friday. I got to start off the race... 6 miles through my hometown and into Montecito, starting right down by Los Banos (the swimming pool that I sold my soul to during my childhood)! I think I may have run by Oprah's house! But, I can't be certain... which basically means I am making that part up! But, these houses were nice and palatial!

We took turns running until about 5ish or so. And, we tried to sleep in a park in Camarillo, but that was unsuccessful! How do homeless people do it!?! It's so noisy! And, bright. And, highly uncomfortable!


Then we had to drive past all the closures and we got to get dinner at Swingers and rest momentarily at my dear sweet friend Stacey's house. She's a Saint! There were 11 of us and we all smelled horrible, but we crashed on her floor and it was perfect for a nap. Unfortunately I couldn't sleep. Oh well.

I ran again through Marina Del Rey... which I presume would be beautiful had it not been 11:45 PM. I was all alone! I couldn't see anyone except the one guy that whizzed by me about half way through.

Then I took a 2-hour nap in the Hoffmobile (mini-van 1)... until it was my turn to run AGAIN... (you see, each person was suppose to run 3 legs of this race, but some guy threw up, and one girl didn't really feel like running and one guy totally missed his leg, and anyhoo... I ended up running 5 legs). So, after my ONLY 2-hour nap, I was forced to run another leg. Let me tell you all what this felt like. It was 3:10 in the morning. I was in Long Beach (I think). You know when you are about to have your turn at hitting the piñata, so they spin you around a dozen times and point you to it? And, you are all disoriented and such. Well, it felt like that, except there was no piñata, instead there was a very long road, and I was told to run along it as fast as I could... that was the rough leg for me! I could barely follow the signs! I am surprised I didn't get lost!

By 7 AM the following day (Saturday) I was in HB, where I spent years running. I loved it. Along the boardwalk, flat as all get out, great view of the beach. I ran 3 miles in 21 minutes! Which, for me, is amazing and totally out of character.

After my last stint in Costa Mesa, Van 1 went to IHOP for breakfast! The best part was that there was a "no shower" rule. No member of our team was allowed to shower until the last person crossed the finish line. And, I cannot express adequately how horrible the stench was from the group of us. I asked our team dad, Bryan, if we were allowed to eat breakfast of if there was a moratorium on that too (mocking the "no shower" rule). He said that we were allowed to eat, but nothing that made us smell better, like bacon... which for some reason really made me laugh... that WOULD have been an improvement for sure.
We didn't beat the other team of runners we knew (most from HB). But, we came close. And, in the end we were all too tired to care! And, totally mesmerized by the fact that Kelly Kapowski (of Saved by the Bell fame) was also a Ragnar runner! I have only seen Morgs that happy one other time, and it involved Baliadas!


P.S. I took no photos of my own, except this one lowly photo of the sumo suit I saw drying in a tree. I stared at it, my eyes totally transfixed by its beauty! I know, I am dork! I really need to get over my obsession with the sumo suits... I just couldn't believe it was right there, dangling in front of me! So, I have to thank April and Megan for letting me post their photos on my blog.