it's sparkly

Here it is, folks.Also, here's the dress:
They'll take up the hem and take the waist out a bit so it actually fits me. Yay.

Here's the hairdo that I will probably be sporting on my wedding day:

I'm engaged!!!

Here's the ring!

I don't have it yet, but I'm really excited for when I do! I'm wearing this crazy huge one that makes me feel weird in the mean time:

So here's the real one:P.S. Becca has graciously offered to take engagement pictures for us! I'm so excited! She'll do great! And she's doing it for free for practice--she's starting to create a portfolio!

P.P.S. In case you were wondering, my fiance's name is Monte Mena.

Debbie's thingy...

This is how the game works: Use Google image search to answer each question. Then choose your favorite or most random image.

My Age:
Place I've Traveled:
Place I Want to Travel:

Favorite Place:

Favorite Object:

Favorite Food:

Favorite Animal:

Favorite Color:

Place I was Born:

Place I Live Now:

Pet:

Past Love:

Best Friend's Nickname:

Screen Name:

First Name:

Middle Name:

Last Name:

Bad Habit:

First Job:

Grandmother's Name:

College Degree:

What I'm Doing Right Now:

Honorable mention for best picture that wouldn't fit in a category:

Too lazy and tired to finish right now. I'll do it tomorrow...hopefully.

I can't decide if it's disturbing or cute.

Here's a cat with 4 ears.
If you click on the picture you can read the whole story. I'm glad he has a good home!

Surprise your attacker with a good taze!

If you want to see/read something that I find quite amusing, please go here.

You've probably already all seen this, but I still think it's all humorously true.

you know you live in Utah if:

-your local Dairy Queen is closed from September to May.
-someone in a Home Depot store offers you assistance and they don't work there.
-you've worn shorts and a parka at the same time.
-you've had a lengthy telephone conversation with someone who dialed the wrong number.
-'vacation' means going anywhere south of Salt Lake City for the weekend.
-you measure distance in hours.
-you know several people who have hit a deer more than once.
-you have switched from 'heat' to 'A/C' and back again in the same day.
-you install security lights on your house and garage but leave both unlocked.
-you can drive 75 mph through 2 feet of snow during a raging blizzard without flinching.
-you design your kid's Halloween costume to fit over a snowsuit.
-the speed limit on the highway is 75 mph -- you're going 80, and everyone is still passing you.
-driving is better in the winter because the potholes are filled with snow.
-you know all 4 seasons: almost winter, winter, still winter and road construction.
-you find 10 degrees 'a little chilly'.
-you actually understand these jokes and forward them to all your friends.

What's in a name?

If you know me at all, you know that I have headaches quite frequently, probably due to my back problems. By frequently I mean at least every 2 months. They generally last for about 3 days. Going to the chiropractor helps a little bit, but I mostly just have to wait it out. It bites the big one.

My most recent headache adventure began on Monday morning when I woke up with a pounding headache. Not the most pleasant way to start your day. I often wonder why this happens--you'd think that sleep would prevent a headache. What a conundrum.
Needless to say, I take a lot of Advil. A lot. I think my body is too used to it, in fact, to let it have any affect on me. I take it anyway, though, hoping it will help me somehow. I wasn't helping at all yesterday, however, so I took work off and decided to try a different pain reliever. I even talked to the pharmacist at Wal-Mart. I told him my situation with the Advil and he said "the next step up is Aleve." I was a bit surprised because I thought they were pretty much the same thing, but I followed his advice and bought some Aleve.
I'm still not sure if Aleve if my drug of choice because I don't know if I felt better because of it or because I went to the chiropractor. However, I am quite sure that the makes of Aleve chose the better sounding name for their pill. Think about it: Aleve sounds like relieve. Advil sounds like...? ANVIL! Who in the world would name their pain relieving medication after something that is know for smashing people in cartoons? Bad move, namers.

I will definitely keep giving Aleve a chance, even if it's only because the name sounds better than Advil.

Maybe he's no Romeo but he's my lovin' one man show

Here's a picture of me with Monte. Sorry it's really blurry. This is when we were at Seaport Village in San Diego. He's a winner. It's weird that hardly any of you have met him. In fact, I believe Hayley's the only one who has. Odd. That will have to change. I'm sure you'll see a lot of him when most of us will live together in the Fall. Yay. Another cause for yaying: he cut his hair!!

On another note, Idaho was fantastic! I don't have any pictures from the trip because I didn't bring my camera, but Debbie, Hayley, and Melissa will have many many. You just wait. Here's a list of some awesome things we did:
- boating on the Palisades Reservoir (beautiful!)
- drive-in movie ("Handcock" (yes, that's how people in Driggs spell it) was really dumb)
- bonfire
- chair lift ride at Targhee resort (wonderful view of the Tetons...and Mary's Nipple)
- rodeo in Jackson Hole! (Mutton Busting is one of my new favorite things to watch)
Besides all of the great activities and company we enjoyed, Dani's father made us the best food! Breakfasts of champions and an unbelievable Mexican dinner!

I'm bored...

Two names you go by:
1. Nikkerbocker
2. Sneaky Nikki
Two things you are wearing right now:
1. Khaki skirt that I ripped whilst I was trying to participate in the Pyramid at one of those Manwaring/Juarez dinners.
2. Gold flats
Two things you want very badly at the moment:
1. My new phone to come in the mail
2. Graham Canyon ice cream
Two people who will fill this out:
1. Hayley!
2. Marie
Two things you did last night:
1. Flew home from San Diego
2. Played RAGE!
Two things you ate yesterday:
1. Massive bean and cheese burrito
2. A Cinnabon (both of these were at the airport)
The Last Two people you talked to:
1. Monte (through texting)
2. Hannah, my supervisor at work
Two things you are doing today (or did):
1. Having a filing party at work from 5-7. Woohoo. Not.
2. Post pictures of my trip to California
Two longest car rides:
1. Provo, UT to Ann Arbor, MI
2. Alamogordo, NM to Charleston, SC
Two favorite beverages:
1. Water
2. Pina Colada Slushee

I wish I could go back to sleep...

I'm in Escondido, CA right now. I think I'm the only one in this household who is awake right now so I'm kind of bored. The beach was a good time yesterday until Monte got punctured by a stingray. On a good note, I don't think I got sunburned at all! We've all been really forgetful about taking pictures but I'll try to post some when I get back. Sorry this is so short, I know I'm pathetic.

Some glimpses of my job.

Over here at Women's Services we have a pretty good time. Yes, it was more fun when Naomi worked here, but we're still very silly (thanks to Kristi). The following pictures are some things that I keep at my desk. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do.

This is one of my favorite comic strips--luckily it's in The Daily Universe. I thought this one was bulletin-board-worthy. Sometimes I wish relationships could be like this. Except maybe there would still be kissing. Some of you know my nickname...My boss received about 15 monkeys from this man who was in love with her. Fortunately, she gave me this one. It's really tiny so I can keep it at my desk. The best part is that when you squeeze it's tummy it whistles at you. Woot woo!
We had to clean out a section of our office last week because they're doing construction. It was pretty boring going through all of the old stuff, but it was all worth it because I found this treasure:
Who knew floppy disks were so awesome?

Dang, that hurts.

This is what happened to me when I went on the Boomerang at Seven Peaks.Also, I really wish I had a picture of my face when this occurred. I couldn't see it, but I could feel it and I know that it would have brought you all much joy.

Is it just me or does it look like they're about to kiss?

Very intimate indeed. I saw the first one in the Daily Universe today and had a good chuckle with myself. This is the other thing that made me laugh in the news today:
I guess he won some awesome scholarship to study at a University in China. But just look at this picture! How can anyone take Greg seriously?

Invasion!

Read my review of The Host HERE
It's by the same author as the Twilight series, if you're confused.

Burnt

I've started to take on the responsibility of cooking dinner twice a week for my family. I switch off with my mom and Maecy. This is only the second night I've cooked, but I can tell it's going to be rough.
Yesterday my mom and I were deciding what to make and she requested that I make barbeque chicken pizza (the same kind Deb, Ali, and I made those two times). And, since I'm such an obliging person, the ingredients were written down and purchased to day so I could make it.
Everything started out fine, except that (as usual) I was running low on time. My mom was gracious enough to grill and chop up the chicken (the part I hate doing). She's a winner. Did it in record time. I grated all of the cheeses, measured all of the sauce, put the pizzas all together, and tossed them in the oven. Set the timer for 15 minutes because the recipe said 20 and I thought that was kind of long.
After those suckahs were in the oven I went outside to check out the progress on our halfway newly paved dirt road (I know! Crazy news. I'm not sure what in the heck their thinking, but there's suddenly pavement out there). After a few minutes (I thought) I came back in to hear the buzzer going off, smoke everywhere in the house, and my mother pulling the stupid things out of the oven.
They were completely burnt. As in "you'll get cancer if you eat this" burnt. And this, my friends, is why I hate cooking. You put so much effort into a meal, turn your head for one second, and then....it's ruined. Bites the big one.

Close Proximity

Everyone in my family is gone right now: parents are in Michigan visiting Tyle & Millie, MaecyKenAbby all went to Oregon for a family reunion. The result of them leaving is that I am left all alone at my parents house. I was going to sleep over at Regan apartments last night, but I was so tired that I decided to just sleep at my house by myself. Bad idea. I felt bad for the animals that I was the only one home--I didn't want them to get lonely so I left my bedroom door open. Of course, then the cat jumped on my bed and tried to sleep with me, which I can't stand. It always keeps me awake because I'm afraid of kicking him. Also, my door kept on moving back and forth because of the wind. After about an hour and a half of not sleeping I decided to kick the cat out, close the window, and shut my door. After this was accomplished it only took me about 20 minutes to go to sleep. But by then it was like 12:30 and I had to wake up at 6:45. That's just not enough sleep for me.

Anyway, I only have to be alone for one more night, so I hope I can sleep a little better. Especially since I have to pick up my parents from the airport at 11:30 p.m. on Thursday night. That will be a late night.

Here's some good news: I got another part time job! I'll be the afternoon receptionist MWF at Chrysalis, a company that hires people to take care of/hang out with disabled people. I'm a little bit nervous, which I guess is natural when you start a new job. I have a 5 hour training session tonight and I start working on Friday. Crazy.

I'm excited for the get-together at Becca's this Friday. It will be bizarre to be with all the oldies again. Bec, do you want me to bring anything?

If anyone wants to come, I'm hiking up to Timp Caves on Saturday morning. It's kind of pricey ($7/person) but it's really fun, at least a once-every-two-years kind of experience. It's not a very hard hike, just kind of like hiking the Y. Here are some pictures of what you could be missing if you decide not to attend.

Okay, so it looks kind of creepy, but I promise it's actually really cool. Oh, and I liked Narnia: Prince Caspian. Especially the good looks of High King Peter. And someone told me I look like Susan. I'm not sure how I feel about that.

She done got me!

inanechatter tagged me! Here it is.

The rules of the game: Each player answers the questions about themselves. At the end of the post, the player then tags 3 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know that they have been tagged and asking them to read your blog.

1. What was I doing 10 years ago?
I was 11 years old, in the last month of 6th grade, the last month of elementary school ever. I was excited to move on to bigger and better things: middle school, Young Women's, playing the flute in band. Just kidding about the last one.


2. What was on my to-do list for today?
- Wake up on time
- Go to work and get things done
- Go do baptisms
- Work on my quilt
- Watch 27 Dresses with my mom
- Go to sleep by 10:30


3. What would I do if I suddenly became a billionaire?
Pay off my parents debts, buy two houses (one for me, one for my parents), give my car to a poor college student and buy myself a 2-3 year old reliable vehicle, go visit Meg and Steph on Nantucket, take a few friends with me to Europe, pay for my whole mission. The list goes on...

4. 3 Bad habits
- Leaving my straightener out on the bathroom counter
- Checking Facebook 5 times a day (sometimes more)
- Eating when I'm bored.

5. Places I have lived
Provo. Yeah, that's it.

6. Places I have worked...
JoAnn Fabrics and Crafts, BYU Bookstore, BYU Women's Services & Resources

7. 3 Things people don't know about me.
- I am a huge romantic. I cry and get weak in the knees over just about anything.
- I have two massive warts on the bottom of my right foot (a few people know about this). I am trying to remove them with Compound W Fast-Acting Liquid.
- I like going camping a lot, but I'd really rather just come home and sleep in my bed.

I tag: Micky-d, Naomi, and Missy

Something for everyone...

Well, here are my makeover pictures. My word, are they hideous or what? I'm blown away. For those of you who don't already know, go to this website to have some fun of your own. Go down to Beauty Secrets and click on "Get a makeover".
I call this one Natalia. What a poser.
Purply hair.
Me with black hair and blue eyes. Weird.
Whew! This one's hair is pretty hott.

Duh dada duh dah!

Who knew this building could be so frightening? I'm sure it would be quite pleasant if it were to be used for other purposes. As it is, I have left this building feeling pretty worthless too many times. Today I will take my last final (economics) in the JSB auditorium. I can never decide which is worse, the testing center or that auditorium. I think the testing center is just a box of anxiety, so it's probably worse. But I hate having those mini desks in the JSB. Also, it's pretty dark in there so I have to squint to read the questions. The JSB is nicer because of it's quieter, less urgent atmosphere, however. Anyways, wish me luck! I really need to do well on this exam...

On another note, if anyone is interested in doing some relaxing yoga this spring/summer for FREE, check this out. It's outside, too!

The wonders of money...

I donated plasma for the third time ever yesterday. I have always been a pretty regular blood donor, but when my sister started working at a plasma center I decided I'd give the plasma route a shot. (ha ha "a shot". Get it?). It's turned out to be pretty great because of the following reasons:
- I get to see my sister more often
- It makes me sit down and study
- I get to watch weird movies I would never otherwise view
- I get paid $30 every time I go, and it takes about an hour
All of those reasons are good, but it amazes me how much money $30 is. If I'm getting a needle put into my arm, I might as well be getting paid for it. The money I receive can pay for my phone bill for an entire month! Or it buys me groceries for 2 weeks (or more)! I can feed my show fetish better now, too! All in all, if you're eligible, I'd totally give it a try. It's across the street from DI on Columbia Lane, btw.

Wouldn't that be awful?

Disclaimer: This isn't going to make you feel wonderful inside.
I had the most awful dream last night. I don't remember very much (which is typical for me) but I remember that everyone in my family died. In my dream I woke up one morning and someone showed me a newspaper whose cover story was about my family member's deaths. Apparently they were all up in the mountains somewhere just playing around in the snow. And all the sudden they were dead. I don't remember how they died, but there was a picture with all of their dead bodies lying face-up in the snow. I pretty much went into shock in my dream and started bawling uncontrollably. I woke up during this time and was quite shocked at the things my brain was making me dream. Sometimes I'm so mean to myself. How disturbing! I'm glad nothing horrible has really ever happened in my life, but I also wouldn't mind never having dreams like that again.

New Blog to Check Out!

As some of you know, I work at Women's Services. We've decided to start a blog! The following link will take you to it. I wrote a new post concerning what is happening tomorrow. Read about it! It's going to be scary/fun/exciting/crazy.
Women's Services & Resources Blog

Don't go on that many "dates" in one night. And Happy Easter.

It was a bad experience. You had to yell at each other in order to hear over the noise. Also, two creepy guys called me right after it was over! I have no idea how they got my phone number, but if they wanted it that bad they should have just asked me. And I would have said no. But they still should have asked.

On another note, EASTER was great. I love this holiday because I get to ponder on what the Savior has done for me. The excessive amounts of candy, however, are most unpleasant. I feel like brushing my teeth a million times still. Besides a ton (literally) of candy, we had an egg hunt in my backyard for my niece and nephew, Abby and Ian. It was so hilarious. Abby would freak out every time she found one and Ian was too busy eating the candy inside of his first egg to find any more. We took a lot of pictures, but they're on my parents camera. Perhaps I can get a hold of them to post later...

Here's a random picture to hold you over until then:

Get ready for the most dates of your life!

So, at Women's Services I'm in charge of planning Speed Dating. We did it about a month ago for the first time ever and it was a huge success, in that hundreds of people showed up to participate; however, it was extremely unorganized, as we had planned for about 50 people. We're trying it again this Saturday night and I'm excited! It really is fun to plan and organize events. This time I'm color coding everything to make it user-friendly. You'd be surprised how dumb people are when you give them the simplest instructions. I think everyone will be more calm and have less questions if things are color coded. For instance, each person will be given a nametag with their name and a colored sticker. They have to sit at the group of tables that corresponds with the color of the sticker on their nametag. Genius, eh? That's what I thought. Another reason I'm glad to be planning this event is that I don't actually have to participate in it! Yea! No awkward moments for me; I'll just be running around like a mad woman. Also, I will get to ring the gong for them when their 5 minutes are up (unless someone else really wants to).
Here's the poster:

If I had a million dollars... or even just $50

So, I have hardly any money right now because I just paid the deposit for my apartment for next Fall AND rent for the apartment I live in right now (with the highest utility bill I've ever had). Under the circumstances, I have been contemplating the things I would purchase right now if I had any money to be spent. Here are a few of them. Some of these items don't require money at all, but are things I'm just pining away for:

Pre-order The Host by Stephenie Meyer
Tortilla chips (Debbie, Ali, & Dani- thanks!)
Graham Canyon/Finale ice cream
Oranges (Thanks Deb and Al!)
Many a song on iTunes (Micquel got me a giftcard for my birthday!)
Comfortable & cute black shoes
A black coat
A great hug from a guy I like
A pedicure
A chat with any one of my friends (Thanks to everyone who was at the party!)
A decorative umbrella (Debbie and Ali are my heroes!)
New dress pants
Lower utility bill
More patience
A's on my Economics and Calculus finals
Love, Stargirl (Micquel got this for me, too!)
The ability to run for even just 3 miles w/out dying
Nice teeth
More iron in my blood
A brown swimskirt
More time to spend with friends
Newly Updated:
A longer attention span
The best summer job ever
A chance to watch Nanny Diaries
Motivation to play the piano more often
Less cavities
Photobooth pictures with my girls!


Man, I'm such a selfish, worldly person sometimes. At least I'm not dying to have one of these:

There are no words.

Waiting for fruit to ripen is hard.

You know when you are so excited because you just bought some fruit and you want to eat it because it sounds so good but you can't because it's not ripe yet? (That was a pretty good run-on sentence). Well, last week I was doing the usual grocery shopping at Macey's and just had to purchase some pears and nectarines. What delightsome fruits! I was so anxious to eat them, but just couldn't do it because they weren't ripe yet. With all of the self-control I could exert I told myself that I couldn't eat them until I got back from Idaho, when surely they'd be ripe. Right?

WRONG. They still aren't ripe. And I still want to eat them. Why do they tease me so?

On a good fruitful note, however, remember those tasty orange/tangerine/clementine things that come from Hana's backyard in California? Those were real great in Idaho. Incredible, in fact. I want more.

Here are three funny pictures dealing with animals:

This sign above was in some Asian country (sorry, I don't remember which one) but the English is real good. My favorite parts: "Don't Droppings! You must teachs your dog manners. Then we are dog lovers each other."

This meerkat (I think that's what it is) was at the zoo in Alamogordo, NM, I believe. My sister, Shaylee, took this photo. Apparently he sat like this for over a half hour. What a weirdy.

This one of the cat is not as funny as one I have saved on my computer at work. I'll have to post that beauty at a later date. At least you'll have something to look forward to, eh? Just look at this fella's ample chin.

Read My Mind

My friend asked me today whether I prefer being alone when I'm having a bad/sad day or if I have to feel connected to people and be around others when I'm feeling pooey. I think, looking back on my bad days, I really need to connection with others because I'm usually having a bad day because I feel alone. Talking about my concerns makes me feel a lot better, but even just being in the same room as someone, knowing they want to be in my presence, makes me feel a lot better. I find the people who are most helpful to me in those situations are my bestest friends. I'm kind of surprised it's not my family, but sometimes I just feel like I can open up to my friends better because I feel like they are going through the same situations and can really understand what's happening and why I'm feeling that way (whoa, run on sentence!). I should try to talk to my family more. They're really busy though and probably don't have time to hear about my little problems. And I'm not saying that I have all of these huge issues that I need to talk to someone about- it's just that sometimes we all have bad days and need to vent about the craziness of life.

Something I discovered today: One unfair thing I expect from those around me is that I want them to be able to just look at me and read my feelings at any given moment. I just wish people would look at me and know exactly what I needed, that I needed to be comforted, and know exactly how to do it. I definitely don't possess this extraordinary talent when it comes to any of my friends and their feelings, so I shouldn't expect it of them. But, come on, wouldn't that be amazing? Ah, only in a perfect world.

Just a little plug dealing with the gospel: I'm so thankful that I do have one person who knows exactly what I'm going through, how it makes me feel, and what to do to make me feel better. This knowledge has helped me through a lot and I wish that everyone knew of His comforting power. I know I'd have a lot more sad days if I didn't have Him.