Christmas Eve Booger style

Booger is my cat. This is his second Christmas in the family and we have decided it is his favorite holiday. Its like he can feel the anticipation and excitement and just loses his mind!

I have been wrapping every ones presents but my own for about 3 days straight why does it take so long??? this is why

They are terrible, Woody seen here comes running in every second and scratches everything up and jumps on all the wrapped gifts which then opens all the wrapped gifts, which is not his job. Booger as you can see hides in partially wrapped gifts and wont get out making wrapping that much harder and attacks my hands when I am using ribbon. And this whole time Fessy the daddy dog who should be watching these two is doing this...sleeping.

he's slept like that since he was a puppy..not sure why...

Anyways in the spirit of Christmas Eve we had our traditional family dinner with my parents friends who don't have family they can go to. This involved eating Delicious prime-rib and spinach dip as well as other scrumptious morsels.

We then went to the bishop's house and had a nice night acting out the nativity scene and singing carols. I got the privilege of being Mary sadly as the story began we all forgot we needed a Joseph and baby to complete the nativity so we went on a mad dash to find me my two most important others. My baby ended up being a 3 year old that ran out of his blanket and that could talk. He even greeted the wise men for us when they came to visit.

All in all it was just wonderful and brought back the real meaning of Christmas besides just presents, as well as great times with friends and family.

Now its time for Santa to come and me to go to bed. (only the other way around we all know Santa only comes once your asleep)

Merry Christmas!!!!

Time

Lately I have been pondering on a lot of circumstances that have come up and realized that time is never in my favor, ever.

I have realized though that the harder I try to fight my issue with timing and attempt to make my goals work the way I want them to I get these hints and reminders that the lord knows what he wants for me and even though I may not want certain circumstances to happen they usually do, and in the end I need to realize that they always end up for the better.

Yesterday, as I was meandering about on my computer a came across this quote I had saved that really pertained to my life and an issue that has been on my mind lately with timing and life plans.

"You have your plans and your life has its own plans and sometimes you may get lucky and those plans match up and other times you may get lucky and not even know it." -Ishmeal Beah

Another topic about timing came up recently when my good friend bore her testimony in church about timing and how the lord will open doors for us and sometimes we may think its not the right time but then later as we look back we discover it was perfect timing and the lord knew it and we just didn't. These are usually the moments in our life that have the biggest impact.

I can vouch for this many times over. When we moved so much in high school none of that timing I thought felt right at all I just wanted to stay in one High school with one group of friends and I would fight it every time yet, looking back I gained so many excellent learning experiences from all the places I've been. The move I tried to fight the most to Vegas was the one that taught me the most and I loved the most. Lately more than a few circumstances have arisen where time is just not working how I had planned (not all of them are bad in any way its just still at an awkward time), one of these including liking Logan, Ut and wanting to stay there for school. None of these were in my little checklist of things to do but, Ive decided that's ok. I have faith that no matter what it will work out, the lord has really proven that he has a better future perspective then I do, and I am going to stop fighting my whole big life long issue with timing and have faith that it will work out how it is supposed to.

Sooo... conclusion bring it on time defying problems I am ready to take you head on and forget how bad of a time you are coming at.

Have you ever had an issue where all the timing felt wrong but, it still happened and it ended up being right as you looked back in life? OR A time when you tried to fight the timing and in the end either regretted not going for it or let it happen and realized it was one of the best decisions you have ever made? I would love to hear about it.

(I fought being at Utah State with all my might last year and this year I love it I love the school, I love the student involvement, I love Aggie basketball, I love my best friend Lori as well as all my other friends there, I DONT love the snow..don't even miss it, I love Old Main. I just needed to change my attitude and how I looked at my situation, Ive experience this problem a lot but I don't think I have talked about applying my knowledge until now.)

Snuggies

I feel like there is a lot of harbored hatred for the Snuggie.
This is a good example of the issue at hand:


I am personally a snuggie lover. I own one it is pink....and I aspire to own a zebra print one..or an Aggie one sometime before my life is over.

While being sick my snuggie and I have become quite the pair. I utilize the arm holes to drink my water, and sicknast medicine, that supposedly is making me better although I am not seeing any signs of that.

Anyways, if I were to use an ordinary blanket during this time it would make everyday tasks a lot harder and since I seem to be freezing all the time being able to keep a blanket on me at all times while still utilizing my hands is very handy indeed.

So all you snuggie haters what is it that is so wrong with this lovely invention? I am curious to know.


p.s. as a snuggie lover I still find the "wtf blanket" video very funny.

Recipe for Disaster

A slight cough

+

A bucket full of snow

+

Being snowed into Logan,Ut

+

A swimsuit

=

snow angels outside in the snow with a swimsuit on

=

a good amount of time sick in bed..rockin a 103 fever, a heap of body aches like nobodies business, a cough like I've been a smoker for 50 good long years. & now part of an epidemic (yay swine flu!) oh and yes an upper respiratory infection to top it off.

=

I have learned my lesson and will now wear more clothing when playing in the snow, as well as never playing in the snow when the first symptoms of sickness appear.

On a happier note:

Fact of the day:

-Elephants paint their toes red so they can hide in cherry trees without being seen.

-Have you ever really seen an elephant in a cherry tree?

........................................................................................................................

-me either

IT MUST BE WORKING THEN!

Willow Baby

Today was a very sad day and I feel like Willow needs a blog tribute.



This is willow (a.k.a weobe, willow baby, weo, etc..) She is beautiful and I love her. She had to be put to sleep today she is very old and suffered from a seizure the day before. Enough sadness though here is why I love the Willow baby:
1. Willow can snore like nobodies business.
2. I love hugging her "fat furr" and puffiness.
3. I love the adrenaline rush you get right before she tried to bite your hand off when you had food you were trying to feed to her. (ok actually really scary but still love her) This girl can eat.
4. I loved when Willow would hobble onto the couch and lay her head on my lap and snore I will miss this the most.
5. I loved when ever you would see her for the first time she would get excited and do a little prance and wag her tail.
6. She was a good fake mommy to the kitty cat Taz.


Bye Willow you will be missed and loved. Stagner family you are in my prayers and I send my love and hugs.

Winning Team Losing Team!

Utah State 71 BYU 61

need I say more......

nope. Why? becuase sports illustrated said it all.

Video of the day baby!
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/extramustard/hotclicks/12/03/katy-perry-oregon-oregon-state-apparel-experiment/index.html?eref=shareFB
OR
just watch it on youtube yo!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kptNUcZ_uA0&feature=player_embedded

Proud to be an Aggie & in case you missed it so much better in person

"The best view of Provo is from the rearview mirror."

What I learned

I love Hawaii, love love love it!

Here are some cool little facts I learned while on this lovely vacation.
(her flower is on the right she is also the one that told us the first 2 facts on this list @ the luau)

#1: These flowers (as shown above) are not just stylish for your hair they resemble your relationship status. How does this work you might ask, well let me tell you.

If your flower is worn on the right side of your head it means you are single.

If your flower is worn on the left side of your head it means you are married or steadily seeing someone.

The bigger the flower the more desperate you are.

#2: If you see a couple and they are not tan or sun burnt they are honeymooners...genius!(hahaha get it?)

#3: Tiger sharks can grow to be up to 22ft tall....that's one big shark!

#4: When deep sea fishing after you hook your fish (if he/she is large in stature) you reel him in, this could take hours, and once you do they beat it over the head with a bludger looking thing to stun it.

(its the small bat underneath that white stand Casey is holding)

#5: Rainbows are a constant presence.... I saw more rainbows in one week then I have in my whole entire life.

#6: Mahalo means thanks you. Aloha means a lot of terms but mainly hello. (I prefer the Hawaiian language its very pretty)

#7: How we say Hawaii on the mainland is not how they pronounce it in Hawaii... it is pronounced Ha-vwi-y (or something similar)

#8: Pineapple fields/orchid things have trees in them. Leading to the conclusion that pineapples can grow on trees if they really wanted to. Thank you Dr. Aten.

#9: Hawaiian food is...amazing!

#10: Fish can have colds check out this poor guy....

#11: I am braver than I every thought possible (for more reasons then one)

Foot, Foot, Feet

Hawaii day 4....

Sorry this is late i was sorta dieing last night and stuck in bed not allowed to move but, that story comes later. Yesterday was a rainy day and the waves were huge! Some of the biggest I have seen so far surfers were going crazy and there was a beautiful rainbow.

So yesterday was chosen as a beach day. We drove to a beach that had really good snorkeling and hung out there all day. I got to see a Gecko... well 2 Geckos. and and and I GOT TO TOUCH AND SWIM WITH A SEA TURTLE! He was cute I wanted to take him home. We bought and underwater camera but its the old school film kind so those pics wont make it up but they are awesome I saw Fin again but no Dory or Nemo and also a pink and blue fish (I wonder why they did not have that kind of fish in Finding Nemo). We got food for the fish and they would come right up to you but I was to scared to touch the fish but they were close.

Next came the cliff jumping.... Ej, Pierce, and Casey decided to go first while I sat below to take pictures. As I was sitting contemplating life I thought: "I will regret it later if I do not get up there and jump off and I made a promise, cant break a promise... I am soo going to hate this"

Good news... I did not hate it. Although I hated the whole climb up there barefoot in a swimsuit with crabs scuttling around and sharp jagged rocks stabbing into me and huge waves almost knocking me back in, I made it to the top. I looked over the edge at my impending doom and........... sat down. I made Pierce go first after he went I was alone.. they tried coaxing me from below but lo and behold I held my ground. Next Ej and Pierce climbed up. I cannot tell you how many timed they counted to 3 and I wouldn't go (good news: we know they can count to 3). So once the whole beach was watching me ( I don't know why there are planet sized sea turtles swimming next to them and they all choose to watch me) I decided I better jump, oh and because Casey was complaining about treading water for a whole 10 minutes and was going to die if I didn't jump. So I jumped into the jagged rocks and waves and....survived. Yes, I survived and actually liked everything after the freaking out. Sadly, I wish I would have jumped off a 70 ft cliff now vs. like 15 ft. so that my freak out would be more justified. If it helps I hate heights and diving boards. Here is a bit of documentation of my struggle with this jump.

(Ej & Pierce peer pressuring me.) (the jump I know it looks small there but I promise it wasnt that pathetic)

After this eventful ten minutes of my life we all did some body surfing and boogie boarding. I even tried to jump over a wave... it did not work it grabbed my ankles and I face planted. I'm getting a tally now of how many bruises I can get before the end of the trip. Well, once we got home and got all cleaned up I was laying on the couch and my foot started to itch and itch and itch and itch and itch! I took my sock off and it was a scary sight my foot was all swollen and covered in red bumps and hurt like no other, oh and did I mention it itched as well. We concluded it was either I got attacked by a sea urchin or hit something in the ocean that I was allergic to. So after a lot of Benadryl (my options apparently where: have someone pee on it which I denied, stab it with a needle which i also rejected, or pour vinegar on it.. the safer of the two but we had no vinegar) and a lot of ice which i have basically taped to my foot I was not healed but you can't feel anything when your foot is numb, it was great. This morning it is a little better the swelling went down and not all the red bumps but still itch and painful and hot. Yay for benadryl!!

The best part I ate fish and actually liked it we had Mahi (sp?) and Akau Tuna it was all Delicious and I ate it all. Today for thanksgiving we are going to be going to a Luau with hula and fire dancers and it will be amazing I cannot wait for now relaxing and more icing of my foot.

Roasted Bannas

Hawaii Day 3....

Yep I love roasted bananas! love love love them. I also love Hawaiian pineapple, strawberries, and Hawaiian sun dried chips. Yes, Yummy all of this is good Hawaiian food basically everything and I have had to eat and see has been so amazing so far. Here just take a look at the Hawaiian sweet bread french toast I got this morning with roasted bananas and strawberries. It was the BOMB!

Today was a day of relaxation we got to sleep in and then got ready to lay out on the beach. After laying out for about 20 minutes we all got bored and decided to go snorkeling. This little activity is much harder than it looks. I have been swimming competitively since I was 5 and snorkeling kicked my butt. It was fun though and I got to see a Dory, Nemo, and a Fin (all from Finding Nemo), I also saw an anemone which was soo cool. I drank about 5 gallons of salt water before I finally learned how to work the dumb snorkeler thing-a-magig. I also do not like the whole idea of walking backwards with fins on I can walk perfectly find frontwards, and the last time I tried it backwards I got laid out by a wave. So, I chose to walk like a duck the whole way into the ocean.

(the little dots that you cant even see, those are us snorkeling, yep we swam that far out it was crazy!!)

Next we went boogie boarding...sorta. It rocked! I was loving it, although by the end I had basically the whole beach in my swimsuit it was worth it. Once my board slipped out from under me and I went rolling head first into the water and got all scraped up. Then... 10 minutes later I completely face planted in the elevator. Needless to say today left me bruised and beaten, but every single fall was worth it.

Once we got in we all got showered up then everyone fell asleep but the girls so we watched a movie on t.v. called Outbreak it was sweet because it was all medical terminology which... I love. After the movie we went and hung out in Lahina. Looked in the shops and ate at Crazy Cat. I got a list of all the stuff I am getting for friends and also learned what Maui wowie is. Trust me you don't want it, luckily I was told before agreeing. It was a beautiful day. Tomorrows plans are up in the air but I'm sure it will be a blast.

Aloha!

Day 2 In Hawaii....

Today started out bright and early (a.k.a. the butt crack of dawn, way to early for people to be awake, 4:30 AM). We got ready and made way to the deep sea fishing boat. I would like to mention how lovely it is to wake up that early walk outside in shorts and not be cold, not even chilly. It's an amazing feeling compared to Logan, Utah. So we loaded up and started heading to the deep sea.

On our way out guess what I saw......keep guessing.... A WHALE! yes, a real live swimming, eating, water blowing whale. it was amazing. I also saw dolphins, they swam right by our boat for awhile, as well as flying fish, and an eagle ray that was huge! Sadly, ocean wildlife is very difficult to take pictures of but I have good memories of it.

We were out at sea for about 8 hours and I loved every second of it. I was probably supposed to be a fish but instead I'm human and love the water, it took a lot of self control not to just jump in and start swimming around. We had 5 to 6 poles out at all times and all together caught 7 fish, tuna to be exact. For me they were huge! But according to Casey the fish come in much larger sizes than that but I was content with what we had. We all got to real in a fish which was really cool. If you are doing it wrong it is the craziest arm work out ever but if you are doing it right.. its still the craziest arm work out ever but a lot more fun!

(pierce bringing in his first fish.. but it got away)

The ocean is so beautiful and big..and blue. being on the boat was awesome. We were all a little worried about getting sea sick but none of us did. The only problem... the waves put me to sleep. I am not a nap taker but I literally took 5 naps today each about an hour long, and then came home and took another 2 and a half hour nap.. it was beautiful. and I also plan on going to bed right after this. Yay! for catching up on lost sleep.

After getting back we went down and got some free food the resort had and watched a hula hoop contest then.. yep you guessed it, I took a nap and it was amazing! After my nap we went down to the resorts restaurant and I had Kahali ( I most likely spelt that word wrong I hope I am not cussing in another language if I did) pork with cabbage... I love Hawaiian food. I also strongly dislike fish but these past 2 weeks I am really trying to accept it so I had a bit of a fish taco and tomorrow will be eating some of the fish we caught today. We will also be sleeping in and going to the aquarium I cannot wait :)

p.s. I got good news, I just got an email and I get to be a TA next semester for public speaking.. yayyyyayayayay!

The wave won that fight...

Day 1 in Hawaii.....
It all started out at 2:30 AM when our plane took off from Vegas. It was a 5 hour and 50 minute flight and I attempted to sleep through all of it, and after some blanket stealing pretty much succeeded. Then we got to Honolulu and waited an hour to get on a connector flight to Maui. On this flight I discovered the Island experience in a plastic cup
This juice is delectable if I were on an island I would drink it.. O wait I did!



After this lovely flying experience we got to the condo and got settled in, the view from the top is wonderful! You walk out the balcony and this is what you see everyday. The lord definitely knows how to make this world beautiful.







After getting settled in we made the drive to Lahaina to eat at Cheeseburger Paradise, eating a cheeseburger at cheeseburger paradise would be well..original, so I ate a grilled cheese sandwich. Not just your ordinary grilled cheese but an AMAZING grilled cheese on Hawaiian sweet bread. Yes sir/ma'am if you were ever curious on how that would taste it is wonderful and you should try it.



Next we walked around Lahaina looking in the shops and out at the ocean. I discovered that I love art galleries and that when I get young and rich (@ least that's what I hope for) I will cover my house with beautiful art and it will be beautiful..duh (particularly photography I wish I could have bought ever picture I saw there). O, I also realized art is insane amounts of money and would be a very good investment. I met a lot of crabs on the rocks, they were cool, my first real crab experience but I did not touch them no way, no way, they have pincher's.
(can you find Mr. crab in this picture? I promise he is there)


Next, we took a gander at the largest tree in the world... this tree looks like 50 trees but really it is 1 tree stemming from the same root, basically it would eat all other normal trees alive but I found it very beautiful and prime real estate for a dream tree house.



After the lovely little tree we drove back to the condo and decided it was prime time to go play on the beach. Well, I have never actually been in a real ocean I have dipped my feet into Huntington beach but it was sooo cold. Also, Washington and Oregon don't count ...apparently. I thought they did but other people tend to disprove this belief so with that in mind this was my first real ocean experience. My goal... just get my feet wet then go play tomorrow. The ocean had a different plan for me, standing there enjoying my nice foot soak when BAM WHAM! attack of the wave.

(the approaching wave is the culprit, luckily I am a swimmer since birth and did not freak out when I got laid out by a stinking wave)


So my plan over I decided I would just enjoy my play time in the ocean and swim around and it was amazing!!! I almost prefer it over the pool minus the looming idea of sharks. Now we are relaxing back at the condo after a really long day of play. So far Hawaii has done me justice & I am loving it. Here are some more pictures of the day and the sunset on the beach. Tomorrow will be deep sea fishing at 4:30 AM! and then hopefully cliff jumping (nothing to crazy just a promise to a certain someone that I feel obligated yet, excited to keep) Love you all xoxo





(The sunset on our beach) (me on the pier) (the pier)

(a look from the plane) (I liked this whole area) (bananas!! my goal.. to eat one)