Wisdom that only a 28 yr old can appreciate ;-)

Happy Birthday to me!

Well yesterday I turned another year older and though I still look like I'm 16, I'm much wiser! Here are a 28 things I've accomplished during my precious time on earth:

1. Graduated from College

2. Found a career, that I'm passionate about and LOVE!

3. Got my driver's license

4. Broke out of my shell, I'm no longer the quiet, shy girl from high school.

5. Raised a cute crazy puppy into a well-behaved lazy dog.

6. Developed mature, healthy relationships with my step/parents

7. Made my sisters my BEST friends

8. Got rid of the not so good friends and made really awesome new ones!

9. Bought a truck

10. Lived on my own and then didn't live on my own and now trying to live on my own again.

11. Learned how to cook.

12. Discovered my talents: party planning, making ppl laugh and relationship advisor

13. Went bungee jumping

14. Re-gained my testimony of the true gospel ;-)

15. Read the book of Mormon

16. Moved to southern California

17. Built a reputation with all my nieces and nephews for being the favorite aunt!

18. Had blond hair

19. Traveled, but not enough

20. Recovered from a broken heart more than once

21. Discovered my weaknesses and overcame them

22. Saw the movie Crossroads featuring Britney Spears

23. Went to the NKOTB reunion concert.

24. Was a maid of honor...more than once ;-)

25. Decided that love does and will conquer all

26. Won supreme grand champion in 1998...10 yr anniversary.

27. Got my young women's medallion (that was huge when I was 17)

28. Forgave

and now the fun part, here are 28 more things that need i plan to accomplish throughout my life.

1. find a place to live in southern cali

2. get my MBA

3. grow my hair, really, really long

4. marry the man of my dreams and live happily ever after

5. become VP of marketing at a skincare company and eventually CEO or just own my own company.

6. Travel international (Mexico doesn't count)

7. have babies and have fun making babies

8. get a 97 on Therese's karaoke machine

9. own a house and decorate

10. save lots and lots of money

11. stay an active member of the church always and forever

12. bike ride around lake Tahoe

13. continue to laugh

14. see glacier national park

15. visit the tulip garden in Washington

16. visit every single temple with my husband, i think there are like 137 so far

17. go to Greece or Italy or somewhere with Beth

18. face all my conflicts head on

19. read the bible cover to cover

20. continue to be true to myself and love others

21. attend a party on a yacht...i prefer P-diddys, but that might be pushing it

22. become less argumentative

23. continue to laugh

24. become a better daughter and sister

25. go skydiving

26. sight lots of celebrities

27. learn more about politics and keep up with the news

28. meet arnold swartzneggar

Gratitude Thursday

I am grateful for...

LAUGHTER...it really is the best medicine.

Late night ideas like "Hey Beth let's go get dessert at La Scala and pick up your youngster while we're at it ;-)"

Sisters that can be inside my mind and figure out my problems, so I don't have to ;-)

Southwest for being the low cost provider.

My family, for letting me be my crazy imperfect self.

Decorating parties and friends that help.

Going to dinner with Marcie and having a grand ole' time.

My Aunt who had a safe surgery.

Cuss words...sometimes you just need to express yourself in a not so very nice way.

Beth who will not be going rafting on Saturday because she is helping me instead ;-)

Yummy artichoke and jalapeno dip.

The Hills premiere...Mondays, now have a whole new light.

Choices...should i take the job?...should i not take the job? maybe i'll just counter his offer;-)

Happy endings

Sunni who is going to grace the bay area with her presence and see Mama Mia with me tomorrow!!!

Fred who gave me a $1 off coupon for Togo's.

Cooking day because it ellicits the domestic goddess within ;-)

Nate Adams for making the yard look pretty so we can party Madd Hatter style.

Summer fruit...i love the variety.

My dog would make the best husband ever…

He is 100% loyal.
He keeps his eyes on me and only me when I’m home.
He desperately misses me when I’m gone.
He listens to everything I say.
He doesn’t mind watching chick flicks as long as he can lie by my feet.
He never strays while I’m away.
He thinks anything I cook is delicious.
He doesn’t have to say “I love you” because I know he does.
He’s constantly trying to make me happy.
He waits to eat his dinner until I’m home.
He’s always sad when I leave and happy when I come home.
He eats spiders and insects that occasionally appear in my room.
At night, he is the first one to go check out the “funny noises,” awww, I feel so safe.
He’s the first to notice if I’m sad and immediately offers his support.
He loves to go on adventures and is down for anything as long as I’m by his side.
At restaurants he lets me take the seat and he takes the floor.
He always walks on the outside with a lady.
He never stinks up the bathroom.
He lets me talk about whatever I want and always seems interested in what I’m saying.
If I spill food, he’s the first to clean it up.
He scares away the rodents.
He never complains.
He loves to “clean” the dishes.
He digs holes so I can plant flowers.
And lastly, he’ll do anything I tell him ;-)
Yep, that’s my dog.

Gratitude Thursday

This is going to be more of a Gratitude story because so much has happened this week and thankfully I have lots of pictures ;-)

First and foremost I'm thankful for men that look outstandingly sexy in uniform...okay maybe just my man...ooh baby ;-)

Second I'm thankful for places like ViceRoy and girl talk

My introduction to pinkberry

The spa..I died and went to 4 hours of heaven with one of my greatest friends, Therese.

My dog, who hates the smell of stinky shoes but appreciates a nice smelling perfume and who always makes me stop to smell the roses.

The dollar store and the little treasures hidden there.

My trip to DQ and the fun outfits.

Million dollar ideas

Oh hail the outlet stores....and this is where the story begins.

I ended up buying the dress in red for a bargain price of $30...not bad for Kenneth Cole.
The two best words a woman could ever ask for ;-)

And on the way home I saw these amazing ships but I could only take a picture of the sign...

The coolest dance moves since Michael Jackson

Gratitude Thursday

I am grateful for...

1. Friends that act silly at a Thai food restaurant.

2. AIRPLANES.

3. Little boys faces when they get a present they enjoy.

4. Family Time!

5. LOREAL coulour juice lip gloss.

6. Words that make me smile like "Schaetzle'" and "Guten Tag"

7. Paper mate pens because I never feel guilty when I lose them.

8. Sunni, because she's more obsessed with celebrities than I am...k maybe not but pretty close.

9. Make-up because it does wonders for my face.

10. Rachel, because she is the cutest pregnant lady ever!

11. Face book's super poke application.

12. Webster's New World Dictionary.

13. The color pink.

14. Tomorrow because I get see my pumpkin.

15. Feet that are uglier than mine

Badge # 440

My dad...

Graduated No. 1 in his class in the police academy, raced motorcycles, has arrested more bad guys than John McClain in Die Hard and is cooler than Mr. Freeze in Batman #4.

Is responsible for my obsession with presents. He gives the best presents! For Christmas one year my sister and I got a horse and the next year we got a goat...a goat! Who does that...my dad! I will never forget my birthday when I got the oh-so-coveted Teddy Ruxpin, he took me to Toys R Us and told me to pick out anything I wanted except for the talking bear, I figured the reason being it was too expensive but later that night I discovered it was because he had already purchased the beloved gift. I can tell he loves giving more than getting and he likes to compete with the other gift givers...he usually wins when it comes to giving the best presents. Sebastyan, my nephew put another "present-winning" notch on my dads belt this weekend.

Can fix things!!! Not just necessities, like water heaters and power outages. I'm talkin' the cool stuff like golf carts, dirt bikes, boats, cars and Teddy Ruxpin. One year he bought seven golf carts that were all broken and fixed four of them for his three daughters and himself. Unfortunately, a few golf cart accidents occurred but for the most part we had soooo much fun driving them everywhere on his property. He let me be the first one to ride the dirt bike, what a mistake... I drove it right into a 10 foot ditch, but he was also the first one there to see if I was okay and with a mouthful of mud, I nodded yes. He use to buy cars for 5 dollars at a junk yard and fix them up so we could drive them around. Some of them were pretty hilarious: The bobcat's passenger seat consisted of a lounge chair and the Nissan had a cardboard hatchback which was the reason why the passengers were intoxicated with Co2. One summer and every summer after that we had a boat and it came with water ski's that were just my size, along with a knee board and a really cool orange flag that I got to wave when my sisters biffed it.

Loves to scare people. He really gets into it too...one time he dressed all in black and put on black leather gloves so he could "pretend kidnap" my step mom....hmmm, maybe I shouldn't be posting this one.

Taught us how to be "hide n' seek" masters! #1 rule for hide n' seek: always play in the dark. #2: play on your turf. #3 wear all black, don't be afraid to hide where the spiders are and be QUIET.

Is always the number one pick on a paintball team. One time he shot my Uncle Scott in the neck, unintentionally in that particular spot, so he says, but he's never had bad aim...Uncle Scott never played paintball again.

Always had the coolest fireworks for 4th of July and would never tell us where he got them.

Has killed lots of animals: boar, elk, deer, rabbit, and one time he shot a rattle snake while we were camping, he was going to make us eat it but luckily it spoiled first.

Tested all the toys before he gave them to us to ensure that they worked of course. The good thing that came out of this was that we got really cool toys like a giant trampoline, Nintendo and the really big video games like Asteroids and air hockey.

Knows everything! He knew when we took the truck out for a joy ride even though we parked it in the exact spot where we got it (we even placed wood blocks where the tires were suppose to go.) Ask him a question, he has an answer.

So here's to you, you crazy nut that goes on hide speed chases while your daughters are in the car! Happy birthday, with much love.

Miss M
(Now I have to be your favorite, Frannie and Michelle have never written a blog about you ;)