My friend Luisa sent this to me in an e-mail today. I thought it was too good to share it with only my e-mail list. Enjoy!

1. My Rock Star Name: Squeakie Tracer (first pet and current car)
2. My Gangsta Name: Bubblegum Oatmeal (favorite ice cream flavor and favorite cookie)
3. My “Fly Guy/Girl” Name: J-Bla (first initial of first name and first 3 letters of last name)
4. My Detective Name: Lavender Cat (favorite color and favorite animal)
5. My Soap Opera Name: Elyse Ogden (middle name and city where you were born)
6. My Star Wars Name: Blaje Pet (first 3 letters of your last name, first 2 letters of your first name, and first 3 letters of your mother’s maiden name)
7. My Superhero Name: The Green Horchata (“The” plus second favorite color and favorite drink)
8. My Nascar Name: Carl Ole (first names of your grandfathers)
9. My Stripper Name: Exclamation Nerds (favorite perfume/cologne/scent and favorite candy)
10. My Witness Protection Name: Ruth Eugene (mother’s and father’s middle names)
11. My TV Weather Anchor Name: Kirk Knoxville (6th grade teacher’s last name and a major city that starts with the same letter)
12. My Spy Name: Spring Lilac (favorite season/holiday and favorite flower)
13. My Cartoon Name: Pineapple Shoesie (favorite fruit and article of clothing you’re wearing right now plus “ie”)
14. My Hippy Name: Oatmeal Sequoia (what you ate for breakfast and favorite tree)
15. My Rock Star Tour Name: The Reading Snow Tour (“The” plus favorite hobby/craft and favorite weather element plus “tour”)
16. My Celebrity Couple Name: Corifer (half of your name and half of your significant other’s name mixed together in whichever order sounds best)

PS–I made a few mistakes in my e-mail response, so that’s why some of the answers are different.

Happy birthday, Ben!

Last night, my friends and I got together for our June party. The theme was regarding The Host. We figured that since we’ve had several Twilight-themed parties, it was time to embrace Stephenie’s new book.

The first thing people saw when they entered the party was the entrance to the cave. (If you haven’t read The Host, that won’t make sense.)

After that, we just had fun being in each other’s company. We ate yummy food, played a couple of Host-themed games, and had fun conversations.

I always enjoy their company and I’m so glad I’ve found such a wonderful group of friends!

Happy belated birthday, Mom! Happy belated anniversary, Mom and Dad! Happy birthday, Cami!

Each year, my work has a theme day. There are games and contests and overall good fun. We’re also encouraged to dress up in that theme for the costume contest. The winner usually receives a cash prize of some kind.

Last Thursday (the 19th not the 26th) was this year’s theme day, which was cartoons. Normally, I don’t dress up for the theme days because I don’t have anything to dress up in. This year was going to be the same, but I decided that I had everything to dress up as Meg Griffin from Family Guy, except the fuschia beanie. Then, I remembered I had a leftover pink baby beanie from one that Corey and I bought for our friends’ daughter, Sheridan. Success!

Other than the fact that I have short hair and the beanie isn’t quite the right color, I think I look pretty good as Meg Griffin. I will admit that I look like a dork ( ) in the baby beanie, but I only thought about dressing up as Meg the day before. On such short notice, I think I did really well.

Gentry dressed up as Inspector Gadget. He used PVC pipe and cardboard to make a “Gadget Copter.” He also used a slinky to simulate the, “Go go Gadget Arms!” He looked awesome! Rightfully so, Gentry won the contest and received the grand prize of $100. A few more of my team members dressed up as well. Becky dressed up as Elisa from Gargoyles. (She didn’t get her picture taken because she felt inferior to Gentry. Who wouldn’t? ) My boss dressed up as the stupid boss from the Dilbert comic strip, which I thought was quite appropriate. Just kidding, Matt! Lauren dressed up as Daphne from Scooby Doo and Dave dressed up as Shaggy. Someone else in the building dressed up as Scooby, so it was kind of cool to have an “almost” complete set.

Happy birthday, Brett!

It all began in the computer lab at Snow College 12 years ago. Kimberly, an old friend from Snow College, was working on her website and I decided I wanted one too. It started out very rocky with table borders showing everywhere and a different look for every page. But, eventually, my website turned into something I could be proud of, even though no one, except me, really ever looked at it. Back then, the Internet was still in the days of dial up, so everyone’s connection was slow, except for corporations and at public facilities.

My webpage gushed about my obsessions. (I guess some things never change. ) Back then, my obsessions included music, movies, and actors. I also had a page dedicated to each of my family members and a list of my family’s birthdays, which they didn’t like because they were on the “dreaded” Internet.

As the years went on, my website progressed until I used CSS to create a uniform look on all the pages. My website flourished until I updated it less and less due to time constraints. By 2007, I hadn’t updated my website for three years! It was pitiful!

Corey kept telling me about blogs during the three years of no updates. I was intrigued by the idea. I even frequented a semi-blog every now and then, but the thought of having my own blog never took hold because I didn’t think I’d have that much to say. Ha!

Finally, on June 23, 2007, I posted my first blog entry about the upcoming release of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. 367 days, 188 posts (including this one), and two color themes later, my blog’s still running strong and I enjoy updating it more than ever!

Even though I love to talk and share things about myself, I really didn’t think I’d have that much to say. It’s not like I have kids to gush about and I can only post so much about my cats. But, as you’ve seen, I’ve had plenty to talk about and people still come to my blog and post comments. So, obviously, I haven’t scared anyone away … yet. Thanks to everyone for your comments and views! I’m glad you find me interesting.

Happy birthday, Christian!

If you haven’t read my previous post or comment about my family’s trip to Promontory Point, then you don’t know I was given my first speeding ticket. You also don’t know I was caught going 80 mph in a 55 mph/construction zone. Because fines are doubled in a construction zone in the state of Utah and because I was going 25 mph over the speed limit, the fine for my ticket was $432!

Today, Corey and I went to court to see if anything could be done about my ticket. I wanted to do traffic school if I could, but the county where I was pulled over doesn’t do traffic school. I was a little worried, but everything worked out nicely. Because I had no priors, the judge stayed my conviction. This means that as long as I don’t get any tickets for traffic violations in the next 12 months, then this ticket won’t go on my record. And, I only had to pay a $152 fine.

I’m so glad I decided to go to court and not just pay the ticket. Now, I just need to be on my best behavior for the next 12 months. As I drove today, I went no more than 7 mph over the speed limit and even though everyone was passing me, it was the most relaxing drive I’ve had in a long time because I wasn’t getting mad at the driver in front of me for not moving over or going faster.

Here are some final highlights from my week with LeAnn and her family. It was really fun and great to spend time with LeAnn and the boys. I miss them lots because I don’t get to the see them very often. I especially enjoyed my time with Matt since, as I’ve said before, I hadn’t seen him since he was 3 years old. Hopefully, now that he’s older, we won’t be strangers!

When the group dropped me off at home last Tuesday, the kitties got really scared because there were so many people in our place all at once. Dax stayed under our bed while Cassie and Tigger ran downstairs. Cassie realized this wasn’t the place to go, so he headed back upstairs and under the bed at top speed, almost running into Christopher. Luckily, Christopher jumped out of the way just in the knick of time. Tigger, on the other hand, found a place to hide.

On Friday afternoon, the group (LeAnn and Caryn’s entourage and my mom) went to Antelope Island to swim in the Great Salt Lake. I almost joined them after work, but I’m glad I didn’t for two very good reasons: the water’s nasty and there are bugs everywhere. LeAnn captured this video of a seagull “hoovering” some bugs. Near the end, you can really see how many bugs there are. Most of the family came home with several bug bites. *shudders*

While everyone was at Antelope Island, Matt and Christopher decided to swim to Egg Island, an island where the seagulls lay eggs and hatch their young. Matt decided he wanted a keepsake and stole, yes I said stole, a baby seagull from its mother. The mother was frantic and tried to scare them away, but in the end, Matt and Christopher won. They swam back to the main island with the baby seagull. The adults were quite upset when they found out what they’d done. But, instead of having the boys swim the baby back to its mother, they left the baby on a grassy part of the shore, hoping it’ll survive. (I’m upset by this because it’s inevitable that the baby’s going to die. ) On the way home, LeAnn started to call the boys, “bird killers.” I was doodling on a napkin during dinner and it ended up as a nice picture for Matt and Christopher. I think it’s quite appropriate, don’t you?

I think the neatest part about this entire experience is that LeAnn got to have all three of her boys together for the first time in six years. Before LeAnn and Matt left (Wyatt and Dustin are staying with Caryn for a few weeks), LeAnn wanted to get a picture of all of them together. I know it must’ve been a neat experience for her.

Cloe’s life has been upset for the last two weeks due to so many people being around all the time. While everyone was there, she only came out to visit at night when things had calmed down a bit. Once the coast was clear, she decided to hang out with the family again. I miss her a lot, but I’m glad she’s as happy as she is.  And, I’m glad my parents enjoy having her around.

Happy birthday, Wyatt!

Today, my parents, LeAnn, John, Mary Ann, and Dustin went to Temple Square. LeAnn hadn’t been there in at least 10 years, probably longer, so she wanted to go. She also wanted to take John, Mary Ann, and Matt there as well. Matt wasn’t up for it, so I stayed home with him and Wyatt. Since I “watched” them at my parents’ all day, she brought me back something cool!

Aren’t they awesome? I absolutely love them! They’re made by Nintendo and they’re candy holders. They came with mushroom-shaped, Sweet-Tarts-style candy. They’re a royal pain to open ( ), but I think they’re awesome. I like putting their “hats” on sideways to make them look like gangsters. Right now, they’re on my desk at work.