Thanksgiving 2009

Sick.

I made it to mom and dad's just before 8:00 PM on November 25 and realized that I didn't feel so well. By Thanksgiving morning I was pretty stuffed up and didn't want to get out of bed. In fact, I didn't. But, that's the perk of having amazing parents. We still had turkey, and potatoes, and yummy veggies, and Thanksgiving at my house is never complete without the pickles and olives. There were even cranberries for dad and pumpkin pie for all. This, still prepared without my help and they let me partake. Wow! I have to say, I was raised in a home where love was freely given, agency was well taught, and everything was provided for. My parent’s take care of me in so many ways and I am very happy to be their daughter.

The rest of the time at home mom tried to talk me into letting her sew WAY TOO MUCH for me. She succeeded a little. She also talked me into playing Chinese Checkers with her and dad. We watched a lot of T.V. and just relaxed. It was so nice.

I got back to Provo today, November 28th. First I went to the library to complete my lesson for Sunday School tomorrow, then I called Margret. This woman is amazing, as is her ENTIRE family. Words cannot express the gratitude I have for this dear family. When I was serving a mission for my church I met them and had the opportunity to teach Margret's children, Keri and Daniel, most of the lessons before their baptism (she was a recent convert). First of all, God could not be more pleased with any people sharing the gospel than He must be with this family. It is just an exalting feeling for me to be a part of their lives. Anyway, Margret and her husband are in town visiting family, including Keri and her husband and there is no way I could resist an opportunity to spend time with them. And, I'm glad I didn't because their faith buoys me up consistently. I am crazy in awe at how amazing they are.

I am excited too because tomorrow I will get to see my Miranda friend and she is also one of those stellar examples in my life and she likes me too.

This world is full of good people. I am thankful that I am privileged to associate with some of them.

Don't be shocked! I am writing on my blog.

I have a million stories I could tell from the past few months, but I'm merely writing to bid my farewell to my Mike friend.

California better appreciate him!

Do I have "insult me" written on my forehead?

I mean that all in good humor, referring back to my sweet nephew's remarks about my single status and "unemployment", and now my next story of a comment from a dear friend who will remain nameless to protect the not so innocent.

I'm enjoying a beautiful Sunday evening with a small group of friends.  We are eating pie and having a grand old time when my friend leans across the counter and says to me, "You know what's strange about your features?"  

WHAT?  Now, I'm single, unemployed, and I look strange?  Great, I have a lot going for me these days.  I'm going to develop a complex.  :)  

I was told I have Northern European cheeks and Southern European eyes, which is apparently unique?  Hmm . . .  he still tells me I'm hot so I guess I don't have to worry too much.

Woah slacker slacker

It's been some time, and while I have good intentions of catching up we all know where the road paved with good intentions leads. :)

So, two quick stories from the Nielsen family reunion this past Saturday.

I rode back to Provo with my sister and her kids. I have taken up a new hobby of knitting, so while we were driving I was knitting a scarf. The conversation as follows:

AJ: Amber, what are you going to do with your scarves?
Me: Oh, I think I might give them as gifts.
AP: You should sell them to make money because you don't have a job or a husband.

*Now, in my mind I'm thinking WHAT?

Me: AP, I have a job.
AP: Well, you don't have a husband. And, you could still sell them so you can have more money to buy stuff.

AP is on this I like having money so I can buy "stuff" kick. It's fab!

That was conversation number one. Number two was pretty great too. Talk about a darling little girl putting me in my place. This one also occurred as we were just enjoying (or something like that) the ride.

Me: AJ, what's going on?
AJ: YOU SHOULD KNOW! We're just sitting in the car being bored.

Ha ha, she is a very observant child.

I left my camera in my sisters car so pictures will be coming (a pie crust promise from an inconsistent blogger).

Until next time.

I really was sick!

December 2008 I got sick. It was just a cold, I thought. But, come January I was still sick. Then February rolled around and I was tired of being sick. I had been around a lot of people with mono so I thought, "Hmm, I guess that is a possibility." I had told my mom some of my symptoms and she said a lot of them were symptoms of MS. Then I started doing research and came up with fibromyalgia, thyroid problems, etc. Every new disease I thought I had I advertised at work. So, of course, everyone thought I was a hypochondriac. But, I was still sick. I even went to the doctor and they did some blood work and neurological test, but everything was fine. I was reflecting on how much my muscles hurt and how I hated that I couldn't breathe when I remembered I had the same muscle pain on my mission. The doctor there told me it was allergies, gave me a prescription and the pain went away. DUH! If I have headaches, can't breathe because my nasal passages feel closed and hurt like I did on my mission then I probably have some sinus issues. I went straight back to the doctor. She looked in my ears and down my throat and prescribed a spray right away. I have been feeling lovely ever since! Anyhow, because of my "research" to find out my illness I received this award from my dear friends at work!

NCAA Bracket 2009

I beat my boss!!! And everyone else in my office, which at BYU means I got a candy bar based on the fact that I beat my boss. There was no gambling involved. :( I could have made bank!!!

Thanks goodness the Daily Universe is going to be vigilent in guarding against errors?

The Daily Universe issued this apology regarding their apostle/apostate error a few days earlier. Too bad they didn't pay very close attention to the caption, again on their front page.It looks like Cosmo has seen some scenes in his life of scenic scenes and cinematographic scenes.

If you can't read the caption it says, "Cosmo lies in the grass, pretending to be unconcious, for a scene in his new short film. Episodes of the film can be scene after each third quarter of BYU football's home games."

I really do love my dear BYU and the students and employees at the Daily Universe. I just have to give them a hard time!

Uhm . . .

Oh, our dear sweet Daily Universe. Really? The paper has been recalled, but the damage done. It's a good thing we know by the power of the spirit that these men are called of God and truly his ordained A-P-O-S-T-L-E-S! Well, at least we all had a good laugh.

By the way, you can now find this on ebay going for over $100!

St. George

What a crazy weekend!!! Andrea, Aubrey, and I decided to head to St. George for the weekend as Spanish Fork High School’s baseball team was participating in a tournament there. The trip started out quite well. In fact, when we very first got there we made our way to In and Out.

It starts . . .
We made a wrong turn and ended up back on the freeway. Ha ha ha! It was only a ten minute detour, so it wasn’t too bad, but it was a precursor to the rest of our crazy trip. After we ate it was time to go to our hotel, only it wasn’t the hotel we thought we had booked. Check this out, you had to go into the laundry room of the hotel to get to the door of our room! WHAT!!!



The place was totally ghetto. Andrea’s parents were staying in another room that smelled and had two doors. The back door had SIX different locks on it! The pool was out of service, and the pool guy kept walking around it and belching a lot.



Needless to say, we weren’t thrilled. But, we couldn’t get a refund so we headed into our room. The first thing Aubrey did was turn on the T.V. and much to our dismay the first thing on the screen was something totally inappropriate. Oh dear!

We took some time there and then headed to the shops. On the way out of the parking lot some dude in another room waved at us. He had a long ponytail, wife beater tank on, and he was balancing a beer can in the hand he wasn’t using to wave. YIKES! After a little shopping we headed to the baseball fields. Lo and behold, we couldn’t find them. We were totally at the wrong school and it took us forever to get to the right place. While we were at the game Andrea decided to put on some sunscreen and it just so happened that she spilled on my back and her black pants. The game was boring because Spanish was totally killing the team they were playing so we left early. On the way back to the hotel we saw some old guy on his balcony, barbequing, in his whitey tighties.

Friday night we met with our friend Kali for dinner. Dinner was pretty normal, but as we were getting in the car to leave there were these men parked next to us trying to get into their truck. One of the guys asked the driver why he wasn’t getting in the truck and in the gruffest, funniest voice ever he said, “I can’t, their getting’ in their car.”



After dinner we went to rent a red box movie and on the way out of the parking lot these boys in a car next to us who had the music blaring and apparently really scared Andrea. I’m not sure on the story there, but I thought I would mention it.

Saturday we spent most of the day shopping for which I was glad. I purchased some fun new stuff. There were a lot of things that happened that day but I can’t remember it all. Here is what I do know. I got sick that night so I missed the championship game. Andrea and Aubrey went and guess what should happen to appear running down centerfield? A streaker! Yeah, I’m glad I was sick! Well, at least Spanish Fork won and we made it back to Provo safely.

Amazing Finds

I was in the shower the other morning and I noticed a piece of my roommates hair on the shower wall. I found Benjamin Franklin in my bathroom! Isn't this picture crazy weird? Ha ha!

My Bucket List

1. Write My Will
2. Write My Own Topical Guide For The Standard Works
3. Write A Letter To Congress
4. Write A Book
5. Win A Poetry Contest
6. Wear A Formal Evening Gown, Eat Junk Food, And Watch Chick Flicks All Day
7. Watch Wicked On Broadway
8. Wallpaper An Entire Room With Post-its
9. Walk On The Great Wall Of China
10. Volunteer Someone For Oprah Or TLC
11. Volunteer At A Soup Kitchen
12. Visit The Holy Land*
13. Visit Stonehenge
14. Visit Auschwitz
15. Visit All Fifty States
16. Visit A Tibetan Monastery
17. Touch A Big Cat
18. Teach Sunday School*
19. Taste A Habanero Pepper
20. Swim With Dolphins
21. Surf
22. Start A Food Fight
23. Squish Grapes In A Vat Between My Toes
24. Spend Valentine’s Day With My Best Friend*
25. Spend A Full Day At The Spa
26. Snow Ski
27. Sleep In A Castle
28. Sky Dive*
29. Sit On A Jury
30. Sew A Jean Quilt
31. Send An Anonymous Love Letter*
32. Send A Care Package to A Soldier
33. See The Pyramids*
34. See the Northern Lights
35. See Rome (Does seeing it from the airport count?)*
36. See Lady Liberty*
37. Run In A Race
38. Ride An Elephant
39. Take the GRE*
40. Remember Family Members Birthdays For The Entire Year
41. Read Thoreau And Eat Fresh Peas On Walden Pond
42. Read the Silmarillion By J.R. Tolkien
43. Read The Book Of Mormon Every Year
44. Read For Children At A Local Library
45. Read Every C.S. Lewis Book
46. Raise Money For Humanitarian Aid
47. Publish Something
48. Post A Video On Youtube*
49. Play The Entire LDS Hymnbook On Piano
50. Plant A Tree
51. Own A Home
52. Own A Bocce Ball Set And Use It*
53. Meet A Member Of The Twelve
54. Make Pickles With Grandmas Recipe
55. Make My Own Jam
56. Make Fried Green Tomatoes
57. Learn To Play Tennis
58. Learn To Cut Men’s Hair*
59. Learn How To Use Photoshop*
60. Learn Again To Drive A Stick
61. Learn A Traditional Indian Dance In India
62. Kiss Under Mistletoe*
63. Kiss The Blarney Stone
64. Kiss Someone On New Year’s Eve*
65. Kiss My Spouse Everyday* (forever in progress)
66. Host A Super Bowl Party
67. Have My Own Booth At A Craft Fair
68. Have Lasik Eye Surgery*
69. Grow A Garden*
70. Go Up In A Hot Air Balloon
71. Go To The Louvre*
72. Go To Pike’s Place In Seattle
73. Go Through My Email Contacts And Contact Them Or Delete Them
74. Go Sailing
75. Go On An Alaskan Cruise
76. Go On A Temple Road Trip
77. Go On A Marathon Date
78. Get Season Tickets To Something Artsy
79. Get Married*
80. Get Acupuncture
81. Formulate An Actual Budget
82. Forgive* (forever in progress)
83. Fall Helplessly And Unconditionally In Love*
84. Exercise My Calligraphy Skills
85. Eat Sushi And Like It
86. Ride A Camel*
87. Eat Alligator
88. Donate Items To A Homeless Shelter
89. Do My Own Taxes*
90. Create My Own Blog Background
91. CPR Certify
92. Compile All Of My Journals
93. Come Up With A Recipe All On My Own
94. See The Eiffel Tower*
95. Catch A Big Fish
96. Bury A Time Capsule With My Future Family
97. Build A Huge Snow Fort
98. Build A Full Year Of Food Storage
99. Be Someone’s Soul Mate*
100. Adopt A Child

*Bucket List Items Accomplished!

Shout Out To Greg . . .

. . . the BYU student who saved me on the freeway Saturday night!

First of all Saturday night was splendid! I was treated to a wonderful evening of fine dining and entertainment by my friend Jon. We went to Ballet West's production of Madame Butterfly. Talk about an amazing dance interpretation of that story! It was gorgeous!

My friend lives in Draper so I met him there and we drove to SLC together. That, of course, meant I had to drive back from Draper.

Hmm, as luck would have it, I got a flat tire. Now, I'm a pretty well rounded girl. I'm all about being prepared. I know how to change a tire, but let's be honest, I AM NOT STRONG ENOUGH TO GET THE BOLTS OFF! Stupid fancy tires that need a special key! Well Greg, came to my rescue. He used to work in a tire store so he had that thing changed in five minutes. I was SO SO SO grateful! Now, I just have to go buy a new tire! That's ok, I needed to go in to check my alignment anyway!

WAY TO GO GREG!

Things that I have enjoyed as of late or will shortly enjoy:

· BYU Young Ambassadors
· Utah Symphony
· Draper Temple Open house
· Taken, Lost, and Lie to Me
· Speaking in Sacrament Meeting
· Finally making my way out of the insanely large crowd at the shade clothing sale
· Ballet West
· BYU Ballet Showcase
· BYU Folk Dancers
· Bajio’s, The Olive Garden, Jason’s Deli, and Sizzler
· Brand new pair of Nike running shoes
· Cougarettes
· Steamed Broccoli

I had this genius idea

That I could come up with a themed blog that would catch everones attention and make me famous. It was to be called, " . . . for a day" and I was going to write about all of these amazing things that I was going to be or that were going on, for a day. I wrote one blog, then got bored. :) Therefore, the happiness of that blog I have decided to share with you below.

McDonald's Offers Free Happy Meals . . .
Have you ever seen that show, Supersize Me? I was going to watch it one-time. I had tickets and everything, but the day before I went to the theatre McDonald's announced that in two days they were offering free Happy Meals for an entire 24 hours. I knew the premise of the movie and I knew that if I watched it the day before I was to gorge myself on delicious hamburgers, chicken nuggetts, and french fries that I would forgo the opportunity for all the free fat I could handle. So, I gave up my tickets (I threw them in the trash) and anxiously awaited the first hour of Happy Meal Heaven. I entered the blissful fast food place and ordered a hamburger, cheeseburger, and two chicken nugget Happy Meals. Much to my dismay the cashier pointed to the sign on the wall that read, "Only one per customer, please." I was near tears when a stroke of genius came to me! I calmly asked for the cheeseburger Happy Meal with fries and root beer. I walked to an empty table, sat down, and enjoyed the lovely meal. I was happy, and that joy didn't leave as I drove to my house and pulled out my Halloween costume collection. What wig would I put on first?Brittany Spears? Hmm . . . Could I get away with that disguise? Oh, you had better believe it! I strutted into the golden arches like I owned the place, but I guess I didn't really look like Brittany because noboby even turned their head. Simple enough, I got Happy Meal number two, ate it to my hearts delight and strutted right back out. As I was getting in my car, however, this guy started chasing after me. I thought, "Yes! Somebody does recognize me!" He said, "Ma'am, you dropped your wallet, here you go." Doh! Well, at least I got my Happy Meal.I went back as Hannah Montana, Justin Timberlake, Denzel Washington, Donald Trump, Nicole Kidman, and Julia Roberts. I really don't do look alikes well because nobody recognized who I was supposed to be, but I didn't care because nobody recognized me as the same girl who had been there hour after hour.It was the final hour of the day, one costume left, one last Happy Meal to enjoy. Steve Buscemi, it was the only option other than Barney the Dinosaur and Rainbow Bright. You know Steve Buscemi, right? He's the supporting actor guy from Armageddon, The Wedding Singer, Big Daddy, etc. Yeah, well I didn't think anyone would recognize me as him either. Boy, was I wrong! I wasn't even out of my car before people started flocking to me for my autograph! Really? I'm a girl dressed as a famous guy who you might recognize if you see, but do any of you really know him by name? I just ducked and ran into McDonald's. (I wasn't comfortable signing autographs for someone else) So, I enter the glorious burger joint and the line dissolves. I guess being famous means I get to go first. The cashier says, "What do you want? It's on the house!" WHAT!!! I told 'em I just came for the free Happy Meal, but they insisted, so I said, "I'll take one of everything." I started eating, and that is how I spent my last night on this lovely place called earth.

Now that it is February . . .

. . . I suppose I should blog about my Christmas.

I took a little trip with mom and dad down to San Antonio to spend Christmas with my brother's family. Let me just say, they have adorable children! We spent a lot of time doing fun things because the weather there was so warm. We went to the Alamo and the zoo, and got some great pics with the kids.



I also got a really good video of C.A. with a billy goat at the zoo.



It was fun to watch them open presents.



My other brother's family was in town just before we left for Texas so I got to see the new baby and the other darling children. Love them! Love my family!!!