A Stroll Through The Park...

I went to New York City on Friday and came home Saturday afternoon, and here are a few of the pictures I snapped while there. Most were taken at Central Park.

I love You More

(A song about being secretly in love with your best friend...)


Making the most of what I have
That's not what this is
Oh I couldn't have stopped it if I tried
You broke into my heart
And you filled my mind with doubt
But still I'm reaching out
And i'm telling you...

I LOVE YOU MORE...
Could it be that i've found someone?
It's you i adore
You cast your last dime
Now it'll just take some time
And they say she's gonna run
And when she does,
We'll both know it's because...
I LOVE YOU MORE...
I LOVE YOU MORE...

Please don't say that we're the same
All she did was cause you pain.
And when you say
I mean the world to you
Are you sure that this is true?
Oh, you think the world of everyone
You could rise the setting sun.
What if I told you that...

I LOVE YOU MORE
Can it be that I found someone?
It's you I adore
You've cast your last dime
Now it'll just take some time
And they say she's gonna run
And when she does
We'll both know it's because
I LOVE YOU MORE...
I LOVE YOU MORE...

Funny Men Are Fabulous!

What is it about funny men that is SO undeniably sexy?

This is BJ Novak.

BJ Novak is funny.

BJ Novak is sexy.

The end.

As Cliche' As It Sounds....

I wish you could see yourself through my eyes.

There are so many things I wish I could say to you, but I can't.

You raised the bar. You showed me what being a loyal friend was. You taught me that humor can get you through the hardest and most painful situations in life. When I was down, you pulled me up. When I was over the top, you pulled me back down. You were the constant in my life.

You were my compass. You were my map.

I miss you. . .

Holiday Baking

Today I spent several hours in the kitchen baking desserts to bring to Christmas dinner tomorrow. I was invited to a family in the ward's house and I offered to bring dessert. The mother of the household will also be making dessert, so, unsure of what to bring, I decided to make LOTS of things and bring a variety... Here's what I made:


Fudge squares



"Cakies" -- A cookie that Brennan taught me how to make using cake mix. (Thus, Cake + Cookies = Cakies)



Magic Cookie Bars



Turtle Temptations


Hopefully there will be something for everyone to enjoy.

(Oh, in addition to these, I also made another version of the turtle tempations that doesn't have the walnuts on it, and I made a different type crust because one of the missionaries is allergic to nuts and i wanted to accomodate to that. The original crust was made of crushed pecans.)

Baking is a tradition of mine during the holidays. My grandmother and I used to do it every year since as far back as I can remember.

Are there any holiday traditions that YOU do? :)

I Love Jim.

Yep. Just finished watching the 3rd season of "The Office."
It's official.

I love Jim.

(I got bored, so I made a few John Krasinski graphics, ha ha...)

On An Unrelated Note...

Oh right... Like I really needed another reason to shop at the Gap. Now that John Krasinski's adorable face is plastered on Gap windows everywhere it sure doesn't help my 'retail therapy' addiction. :)

LOVE him!

Butterflies In My Tummy!

The new guy makes me feel like this... :)

New York, New York! What a Wonderful Town!

I am finally going to New York City!!! My boss told me today that for my Christmas present she's taking me to New York (we're riding a fancy train up there) next Friday, and we'll come home late Saturday, so we'll basically be spending two days in New York! She knows I love photography and have always wanted to photograph New York in Winter, so she thought this would be a cool present!

And she was right!!! :) I am so excited!

We'll be missing the chaos of New Years Eve by a few days, but that's alright... I am excited to be able to go places without the hassle of the NYE crowd.

Places/Things I want to photograph:

* Rockefeller Center
* Brooklyn Bridge
* Times Square
* Central Park
* Statue of Liberty

I may not get to do all of those things, since it's going to be such a short trip, but the drive to New York isn't all that far, and so I am sure we'll go again. My boss loves New York, too. Plus, my friend Heidi and I are planning to drive up to Palmyra in Spring, and she served her mission in NYC, so I'm sure we'll stop in the city. :)

YAY!!!! Happy Holidays!

Really??

How Matt Damon was ever chosen to be PEOPLE Magazine's "Sexiest Man Alive," is far beyond my comprehension. I mean,...REALLY? THAT GUY???

I mean, no offense to Matt Damon, because he IS good looking, but COME ON.... I think the people who choose "SMA" nominees should look at some of the guys on daytime television before making any final decisions! Days of Our Lives alone has about 30 guys that could EASILY beat out Matt Damon, in my opinion. The "judges" have also CLEARLY overlooked the ever-so-handsome Ryan Reynolds!!!! LOVE him!



Sigh.

Oh well, whaddya' do.

Speaking of good smells...

Tonight I decided that if I get a say about it, my space in Heaven will smell like this. It's the most celestial scent I know. :)

The Smell of Summer

It's December 19th and do you know what I smelled today? Freshly cut grass!

I can honestly say that I don't ever remember smelling that in the middle of December. Granted, I have also never lived in a place that didn't have even a single snowflake on the ground at this point in the year, either.

The smell of freshly cut grass is one of my favorite smells, probably because it reminds me of summer. Nothing beats going for a drive in summer, windows down, music up, and the smell of freshly cut grass filling the air as it gently hits your face.

Happy day, all is well.

Letters

I love writing letters.

I have loved writing letters for as long as I can remember. I always loved it when my friends would go on missions because it gave me yet another person to send a letter to. I had saved every letter I'd ever recieved from my friends on their missions, but unfortunately, they were amongst the items that I couldn't fit into my car when I moved out to Maryland. The family that was "holding" my stuff said it was no problem at all, and they would send my things to me as soon as I sent them some money. All well and good, except they didn't save my things. They threw them away. Bye, bye, years of irreplaceable letters and amazing mission stories....

Luckily, I had another small shoebox that had all the letters from my friend David's mission, and I was able to fit that in my car.

Oh, another thing that got thrown away when they trashed (literally) my stuff was my baptismal certificate...That would have been nice to have...And my old journals, wish I still had those. Oh, and some of the things that my friend Brennan (who died) gave me, yeah, those things would be nice to have back, too...

*sarah takes a few deep breaths to compose herself*

Back to the point... Wait, is there a point?

Anyway. I love letters. I'm currently writing to 5 or 6 people. There's something about recieving actual mail (as opposed to e-mail) that puts a smile on my face. :)

Now that I think about it, I guess this blog really has no point. I just wanted to have a new post up. :)

I Love To See The Temple...

Sorry I keep posting pictures of THE SAME TEMPLE, but I think it's sooo beautiful! I can't help it, I go there several nights a week just to photograph the place and feel that overwhelming peace...

Photography 101

This pic is FAR too over-exposed because my shutter speed was much too slow, but I'm working on it. Ha, ha...

My 8 Year Anniversary

Today marks the day I was baptized a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints eight years ago. Lately I have been reflecting on my life since that blessed event. I am definately not where I thought I would be, in many ways.

Two nights ago, the Elders in my area called to ask if I would like to go with them when they taught a discussion to an investigator. I cleared it with my boss and later met them at the chapel not far from my house.

As I sat there listening to the missionaries speak, reading scriptures with them, I was taken back in my mind to the days when I was the eager investigator discovering the church. What tender memories those are!!

Last night I went with the Elders (in seperate cars, don't panic) to the Washington DC Temple grounds for a concert in the visitors center. Marvin Goldstein, reknowned LDS pianist and convert, was playing a medly of Christmas songs to kick off the "Festival of Lights" held on temple grounds. He played traditional Christmas songs, with a beautiful twist of course, and ended by playing the Primary song, "I Am a Child of God." It was incredible!

After the concert, the Elders and I took some pictures outside. I told them I'd snap a few of them and develop them so they could send them home to their families, etc.

In observance of my baptismal anniversary, I just thought I'd share a picture of the Temple. Enjoy.

Memories...

I really miss Brennan.....

Phrases that make me wonder....

We've all used them. They are used every day by people all over the world. Lately, however, common phrases and figures of speech have made me chuckle when I actually thought about them... Allow me to share a few:

1.) "They have been selling like HOTCAKES!" -- A phrase generally used to describe an item that is selling rapidly and is hard to keep in-stock. Hmmm... I never knew "hotcakes"/pancakes were such a hot commodity... Am I the only person that is apparently missing out on this trend? Are the rest of you frequently rushing out for hotcakes???

2.) "I'm so hungry I could eat a HORSE!" -- While I've never TASTED horse meat, I can be certain in knowing that if I was especially hungry, as the phrase suggests, "horse" would not be my first choice for a meal... siiiick. Why not say something like, "I'm so hungry I could eat an extra-large burger" or "an extra-large chicken salad?" -- WHY would you put "HORSE" in that sentence??? "Horse" just doesn't sound appetitzing to me... Maybe I'm alone on that one.


3.) "Let's be honest for a minute," -- ...I guess I wasn't aware we were LYING before???

4.) "Let's touch base" -- Was this phrase coined by a sports fanatic? I mean really, "TOUCH BASE?" I am not playing baseball, I have no bases. Why does "touch base" mean the same thing as "communicate?" No wonder foreign people have a difficult time learning English. Ha, at that, no wonder half my graduating CLASS had trouble with English!

A Healthy Computer That Makes Me Sick...

So, I apparently had a virus on my computer, causing it to do all kinds of crazy things, such as not allow Internet Explorer or Foxfire to load, programs running slow, etc. I took my laptop to Best Buy to have Geek Squad check it out. They agreed that it was a virus and said it was most likely caused from a firesharing program I had installed. They suggested I buy an external hard drive, save all of my files to it, then bring the computer back in so they could delete the hard drive and reinstall the operating system....

So I did that...

And now I regret it.

I have to reinstall all of my programs (and I didn't realize I had so many!) some of which I can't even find the CD FOR anymore....

For example... Today I took advantage of the blue sky, sunshine and beautiful autumn leaves and went to a nearby trail to take pictures. When I got home, I immediately went over to my computer to upload my pictures (one of my favorite hobbies) so that I could edit them and post them online. Much to my dismay, I had forgotten that neither my camera software NOR my editing software were installed on this newly cleaned and refurbished computer. I went to go look for my camera's software CD so I could get on my way with my photo editing, but had no such luck finding said software. And I looked EVERYWHERE. Twice!

So I called Canon and ordered a new disc. They are $19.95, plus I had to pay for shipping+handling, so total it came to around $27.00.... And it won't be here til next week.

ALL THIS because Geek Squad suggested reinstalling my OS. FYI, if Geek Squad ever tells you, "We will have to delete your hard drive and reinstall your OS" it TRANSLATES TO, "We really have NO CLUE what's wrong, so we'll just delete everything and let you start over."

Take it from me, folks....It's NOT the solution.

Just My Luck

There was one thing I failed to mention in my previous post and wanted to take a minute to jot down now...

Cary played at Mount St. Mary's University, which is a Catholic school. I have never stepped foot onto a Catholic Campus, and what little I know about the Catholic faith is what I have learned from the daytime television soap opera, "Days Of Our Lives." Just a guess, but I'd venture to say that's not the most educational way to learn. ;)

I was unfamiliar with the campus, so I drove up early to find the building where the show would be had later that night. I had to ask directions several different times, because each person's ideas on how to get there were less than helpful. Nice people, but terrible at giving directions.

That is, until I met Thomas. :)

Thomas was standing outside the Seminary building, and I stopped to ask him for directions. He didn't know where the building was, but told me that up front and offered to walk with me until I found it. We stopped and asked a priest, and he was uncertain of where it was, also. We kept walking, and saw another student who was on the phone. Thomas interrupted the student's phone call and the student happily pointed us in the right direction. We walked around back to where Purcell Hall was located and since we had reached my destination, Thomas and I said goodbye and parted ways. He was really cute and had a great smile, very friendly, and I realized later....Will make a great PRIEST! Guys that go to Seminary become PRIESTS...

*sigh*

So much for my run in with the cute Catholic boy who is interested in theology and art! Isn't that just my luck?

Cary Judd - "Sarah"

For those of you who know me, you know that I love music and that it's a big part of my life. I spend a lot of time attending concerts (or at least, I did when I lived in Provo) and supporting the local musicians. Not being able to go to these shows has been one of the hardest things about living out in Maryland.

While in Provo, I became friends with a musician from Wyoming named Cary Judd. On Saturday I had the opportunity to see Cary perform out here at Mount St. Mary's University. He played his new song, "Sarah," and I thought I'd post it. My video doesn't quite capture how incredible the acoustics of that room were, but trust me, it sounded great!

Donny Osmond and Jimmy Kimmel

funniest video I've seen in a LONG TIME :) What would we do without youtube? ha ha...

My adventure as an ER patient that started as a hospital VISITOR.

Yes, you read that right. I went to the hospital today to visit someone and I ended up in the ER.
While I was sitting in the hall while the doctor was talking to my friend, I started having trouble breathing. The simple task of breathing was causing tremendous pain to shoot through my chest and back. That tends to be a problem when it comes to something vital like getting oxygen. ;) I talked to the nurse at the desk near where I was, and she sent me down to the ER.

I walked up to the desk and was admitted immediately. They did an EKG, took some X-Rays and did some blood work. I was freaking out and on the verge of tears, I was so scared.

Then, a male nurse named John came into my curtained off area... I couldn't believe how quickly he got me to calm down. He put his hand on my shoulder, and ... wow... I won't go into tons of detail, but let's just say I was thankful this particular nurse was on staff tonight, because he helped me get through it.

In the end, I am okay. I am back home now, thankfully.

I love you all!

4 Way Stops, Round-abouts and East Coast drivers...Oh my!

People in Maryland simply can NOT drive.
They cannot master the concept of simple things, such as 4 way stops and round-abouts. Personally, I find these two road designs tend to make driving easier and less of a hassle... That is, unless you live in Maryland.
In Utah, generally people do just fine with things like this, but out here people just do not grasp the concept. For example...There are both round-abouts and 4-way-stops near my house, and people will pull up the 4 way, the person in front of them will go (which means it's the perpendicular person's turn to go) and instead of letting the appropriate persons drive through the stop, they just continue to follow the person in front of them, which of course causes mini "traffic jams" in the middle of the stop, and people confused about whose turn it is...Not that anyone follows the rules for "taking turns."

Ugh. Someone needs to teach a class about the rules of driving. And, said class should be mandatory to attend if you've ever driven around me and annoyed me with your poor driving example.

:)

Things that people do that BUG ME...

Lately I've noticed how rude people are and how absolutely inconsiderate they are of others around them.

A few examples:

The other day I was at Target purchasing the box set of season 3 of the NBC television show, "Medium." As I was walking down the aisle of the 2nd floor, the glass wall to the escalator was immediately to my right. Coming towards me were a man and a woman, who appeared to be together. When they got close to me, did they move further to their right (as to avoid running right into me) so that I could still have room to walk (since, clearly, the wall was next to me, and I was not in a position to move any further to the right to be out of their way, unless i had gone to the complete opposite side of the aisle, which was maybe 6 feet away and would have been completely awkward, when all they had to do was move 1 foot.) -- OH NO. They didn't move. I was forced to stand STILL and turn my left shoulder back, almost putting me sideways, so that we wouldn't collide as they walked by. How rude! When I am clearly about to interfere with the path someone is walking, without thinking, I move to the direction that would easily avoid the "collision." After that incident, I paid closer attention to people that I had similar situations with, and it seems as though everyone expected ME to do the moving, even though I was not always in the position to do so. Again, I was walking down the sidewalk, closest to the curb/road, and a few people were walking towards me. When they got close, they didn't move, but continued to take up the whole sidewalk (Jerks.) Therefore, ONCE AGAIN, I was forced to move. This time, I had to step into the street for a few steps to avoid running in to anyone. It is to the point where I'm so annoyed with people like this that I am often tempted to just run into them, as that is clearly what would happen if *I* was one of those people who just expected THEM to move.... Grrr...

Also... It was raining today. In fact, it has been raining for a few days. I love observing the habits of people on these days; especially people who are driving. What irks me is that when a pedestrian is outside standing IN THE RAIN and no cars will stop to let them cross the street, or cross into the parking lot. It's even worse if they are standing there without an umbrella. I know that when *I* am that pedestrian, I get so annoyed with the people who are warm and dry, driving past in their heated cars while I am freezing and getting soaked in the rain. Therefore, when I am the driver, I am always extra aware of the pedestrians, and I slow down/stop to let them get to wherever it is they may be headed. Am I the only one who does that? I guess I know how much it sucks to be a pedestrian sometimes.

Well that's enough of my people-bashing for now. Ha ha... If I think of anything else that people (in general) do that bugs me, I'll be sure to post. :)

Before & After

There are no wrong answers, and this is NOT a loaded question... But which do you prefer? Before or after?

Embarrassing Moments by Sarah

Last night as I was laying in my bed, unable to sleep, my mind pondered all of the embarrassing moments I've had in my life. Of course, at the time these things happened I was mortified, but now I am able to look back and laugh (and blog) about them. These are listed in no particular order.



E.M. #1:

My friend Anna and I were hanging out one day and decided to go to the mall. Me, being the natural flirt that I am, saw an extremely attractive guy walking out of the mall just as we were about to walk in. I told Anna I was gonna say something to him. As we headed towards the double doors, I turned my face toward him and said, "You've got beautiful eyes!" He smiled and said "Thank you," and I'm sure it was at that exact moment when I turned my head back toward the doorway, only to run into the beam in the middle of the double doors, thus causing me to get an immediate black eye. Nice job, self....No style points for you on that one!



E.M. #2:

I used to work at the front desk of a resort in Minnesota. All employees were allowed to go golfing for free and bring one other person with them. I was friends with people at the pro shop, so they would occasionally let me go with two people, or let two people go in place of me and a friend. I wasn't the biggest fan of golf, but I knew the Missionaries (Elders) in the area WERE. Sometimes on preparation day they would take a few hours to go golfing. One evening, the night before they planned to come to the resort for said activity, they called me (while I was working) to verify their tee-time and all that jazz. While I was on the phone with one of the elders, another phone rang. I put the elders on hold and I picked up the other line. My friend Becky had called to chat. I excitedly told her I was talking to the missionary that I had a crush on, and mentioned to her that he was a pro-surfer and really good looking. Becky and I hung up and I went to pick up the line that the Elder was "holding" on.... I am sure you can guess where this story is headed. And you're right. I apparently didn't press the "HOLD" button completely because he had heard everything I just told Becky. He called me out on it to! I was mortified! HA HA HA, but he and I got along GREAT, so thankfully there wasn't too much awkwardness. He even visited me in Utah after his mission was over!



E.M. #3:

This actually happened to me on several occasions, but instead of listing each time individually, I'm going to lump them into one general "moment." Often times I would be texting with a guy I've got a crush on AND one of my best female friends at the same time (telling her about texting with my crush, etc.) Apparently my brain gets jambled because COUNTLESS TIMES I have sent a text ABOUT the guy I'm crushing on TO THE GUY, instead of to my friend! I used to do that with a guy named Jonathan (aka "Hot Jonathan") and my friend Lisa alllll the time! I wanted to DIE each time! Ha ha ha! Oh, even WORSE, one time I was in a room with my friend Lisa and her roommate and this really obnoxious guy Austin. I sent Lisa a text that said, "Oh my gosh, does he EVER shut up?" and then I heard Austin's phone beep.... *OH NO, PLEASE TELL ME I DIDN'T JUST DO THAT!* I quickly checked my phone -- oh YES, I DID just do that! I sent the text to AUSTIN, instead of LISA! I felt about a foot tall.


E.M. #4

This one happened this past January. I was working at the Marriott in Provo and we were having our yearly holiday party. Everyone gets a ticket when they enter the party and they have a drawing for prizes later in the evening. Everyone around me was winning really cool stuff; big TVs, Keyboards, Digital Cameras, Free nights at hotels in Park City, etc. When my number was called, I won a DUFFEL BAG. As spoiled as this sounds, I was a bit disappointed. There aren't enough prizes for everyone every year (which is SO dumb) and the year before I hadn't won anything, so suffice it to say, I was bummed when I only won a duffel bag. When I went up to "claim my prize" I meant to say something like, "Oh great, just what I need! To be able to bring even more of my crap with me to work!" (Because people always teased me about having everything under the SUN in my satchel -- for example, one day someone's shirt was sticking to them and I happened to have Static Guard in my bottomless-pit of a bag...) What actually came out of my mouth was, "Oh great, just what I need... More crap!" I realized what I said had come out completely wrong and tried to fix it, but how do you back peddle out of something like that gracefully? HA HA HA...


E.M. #5

This is a picture of the resort I previously mentioned. The building you see is the convention center, where I worked at the front desk. The sky-walk leads to the recreation center, dining room, and several guest rooms. I remember the first year that the Minnesota Wild hockey team (my favorite NHL team) and their farm team, the Houston Aeros (AHL) stayed at the resort and I got to check in so many of the good looking men I had watched play during the season. The guys were all staying over in the rooms that attach to the sky-walk. Some of the girls and I had been drooling over the hotties previously in the day, and decided to walk over to the Rec Center after we got off work. When we walked in on the ground level, all of them were standing in their boxers on the balcony above us. They all stopped conversation and stared at us. Some of them said "hi!" but it was one of those "OMG, this is embarrassing" moments, so we walked back out and stood outside the door talking. I had said something like, "Willie Mitchell is SO HOT!" and then suddenly, I heard a man's voice from above me say "Well then why don't you come up here and hang out with me?" I looked up at the sky-walk, where the voice had come from...Yeahhh, it was Willie! He was listening to our conversation through the open window. It was hilarious, yet I'm sure I turned bright red! He turned out to be a really cool guy, as did the others we met. I sure do have a bad habit of opening my mouth at the wrong time! Ha, ha!


Well, that's enough embarrassing moments for now. If I think of any other good ones, I'll be sure to post.

A breath of clean, mountain air

I got to visit Utah this weekend, and was able to spend 2 days with some of my best friends! Here are just a few snapshots that bring a smile to my face...


This is me and Crystal. We worked together at the Marriott and become really good friends! We always had so much fun together!



Brock is definitely one of my best guy friends -- there isn't anyone on this earth that can make me laugh like he can! :) And the faces this guy pulls out for photos, LOL, it's fantastic. :)



Awww, Kellie!!! :) Yay for best friends!!!




Rich is such a stud! Last year, either he or Brennan would come with me to "Game Night" at Don's or Dave's every Sunday evening. :) What a sensational guy! :)


This is Miss Beautiful Beth. :) Definitely one of the sweetest girls I've met in my life! :) She's going to change peoples' lives for the better.

The night before I left I stopped over at my "brother" and "sister-in-law's" house -- This is Alan. One of the coolest guys EVER!!! :)


Another brother! Mark and I have been "family" for a long time now :) People tell us they see the family resemblance and we just laugh. :)



Beth and Rich -- I am not sure what it is about this photo, but I totally LOVE IT :) It makes me smile!!!

I was tagged! The ABCs of Sarah!

A- Attached or single: Single
B- Best Friend: I have a few best friends!!!! ... (and my Grandma...cheesy, but true. LOVE HER.)
C-Cake or Pie: pie..PUMPKIN, specifically. :)
D- Day of choice: Saturday -- it's my only day off!
E- Essential Item: Victoria's Secret lipgloss.
F- Favorite Color: Hmmm I gotta work in combos for this one... Either pink and brown, or turquoise and brown.
G- Gummi Bears or Worms: gummi worms, no contest. the sourer, the better!
H- Hometown: Aitkin, Minnesota
I- Indulgence(s): Bubble baths and chocolate.....Literally...Eating chocolate while I'm IN the bubble bath! :)
J- January or July: July! (As long as I have a canyon to retreat to when it gets too hot!)
K- Kids: Sam (9) and Rachel (7) are the two kids that I NANNY for; I FEEL like they're mine, but alas, (thank Heaven) they're not!
L-Life is Incomplete Without: my friends...and of course, my Grandma and my dog, Sushe!
M- Marriage Date: ummm stay tuned
N- Number of Siblings: I have 2 half sisters, but Sam(antha) is the only one that I know...
O- Oranges or Apples: love them both. :) Would probably pick Oranges if I had to, though.
P- Phobias or Fears: creepy-crawlies (especially spiders,) spiders, being stranded somewhere scary (I watch scary movies and Court TV, people...I know what psychos are out there)
Q- Quotes: "I can't shower without BENTON!" -- Kellie (Of course, she meant w/o listening to his CD!)
R- Reason To Smile: Going to be in Utah and free of screaming children in 2 days!!!! "Yesssss!"
S- Season: Autumn, for shizzle.
T- Tag Three +: Brock, Whitney, Don
U- Unknown Fact About Me: Wow, I've got lots of deep, dark secrets that not many people know about....But since this is a little more openly read than the corners of my mind, I'll keep it sweet: I believe that art is a way to brush off the dust from the soul that everyday life leaves behind.
V- Vegetarian or Meat Eater: Meat.... As long as it's chicken, pepperoni, sausage, white turkey or ground beef. :) The other stuff kinda grosses me out.
W- Worst Habit: Over analyzing EVERYTHING....
X- X-Rays or Ultrasounds: This is a strange one... I've never had an ultrasound, but I am sure it will be cool when I'm actually pregnant and have one! :)
Y- Your Favorite Food: BrickOven pizza, holla.
Zodiac: Aries

Guys vs. Girls

One thing I've noticed lately is that when it comes to spending money, guys and girls are VERY different. Also, they are very different in how they TALK about spending money. Of course, this is a generalization and not every guy or every girl fits, but....

For example, ... I recently went out with a guy who couldn't stop talking about how much money he spent on things. "Do you like this shirt, Sarah? It cost $70!" ... "Sarah, do you like this cologne? It's by Calvin Klein; it was very expensive!"

*sarah pukes*

Girls, however, brag about how CHEAP they get things!

Girl 1: "I LOVE your shoes!"
Girl 2: "Thanks! I got 'em on super-sale for $10 bucks!"



In my opinion, when people talk about how much money they spend on things in a bragging sort of way, it is VERY unattractive.

"Shop-a-holic" Part Two: And the closet came tumbling down...

Today, as I was on the main floor of the house, watching "Blades of Glory" in the living room, and my boss was in the computer room adjacent to where I was, we both suddenly heard a crash. Unsure of what it would have been, we both thought it sounded like it came from the basement.

We walked down the steps and saw that the living room was fine, my bathroom was fine, and then.... I looked in my bedroom. The shelf in my closet that held all of my clothes came ripping out of the wall and crashing to the floor.

We stared at the mess in unbelief, neither of us able to speak a word, other than letting out a shocked, "...Uhh, Okay...?"

Clearly this means one thing...

The blog about me being a shop-a-holic is more true than initially assessed.

Shop-a-holic

"Hi, everyone. My name is Sarah and I am a shop-a-holic."

I don't know what it is that I find so appealing about shopping, but I can't seem to stop doing it. Maybe it's sewn into the threads of my gender, or maybe it's a stereotype that I have picked up somewhere along the way (that of, girls love to shop.) Whatever the case may be, I can't remember a time when I didn't love going to the mall to shop.

In fact, it doesn't even need to be the mall. It could be Target. It could be the grocery store. It could even be some random book store. If they sell things, I find myself drawn to the place. I can't explain it.

I always knew I loved to shop, but it never fully "hit me" until a few weeks ago when I was doing laundry. I looked at all of the clothes that I had just taken out of the dryer and was about to hang up when I realized, "I didn't own ANY of these clothes when I lived in Utah a few months ago." I have bought myself a completely new wardrobe. Yet, every time I go to the GAP, I find a new sweater I simply "have to have."

We all have things that make us "feel good." Some people work out, some people write music, some people volunteer with charities or non-profit organizations. Me? I shop.

Maybe it's not the most noble way to feel better, or even the most productive way... But the bottom line is, I'm still "okay" with that. My checking account suffers, but my closet flourishes. And somehow, it seems like a fair trade.

Wow. Talk about fitting a stereotype, huh?

How about you? What stereotype do YOU fit??

Friendship isn't what it used to be...

You know what I'm sick of? People who call you a "friend," yet put absolutely no effort into the supposed "friendship." I didn't think the phrase "out of sight, out of mind" applied to friends. Clearly, I was mistaken.

I don't know, maybe friendship just isn't what it used to be.

I have always been a fan of the smooth and soulful voice of Donny Osmond. I found out that he was going to be performing at the House of Blues in Atlantic City, NJ on September 1st and I decided I "had" to go see him! I had gone to a concert of his once before (when I lived in Minnesota) and that has made for countless funny conversations among friends for reasons that shall remain untold. If you're reading this, you probably know "the story" anyway. ;-)

Well, here is a (rather rough) clip from the show tonight; I love the song "Puppy Love" so I really got a kick out of this! :) Bro' Osmond is definitely entertaining :) I can see where his children get their charm.

Then & Now

I am so homesick for Utah... Someone please remind me why I left...?

L - O - V - E

How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.

I love thee to the depth and breadth and height

My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight

For the ends of Being and ideal Grace.

I love thee to the level of everyday's

Most quiet need, by sun and candle-light.

I love thee freely, as men strive for Right;

I love thee purely, as they turn from Praise.

I love thee with the passion put to use

In my old griefs, and with my childhood's faith.

I love thee with a love I seemed to lose

With my lost saints!---I love thee with the breath,

Smiles, tears, of all my life!---and, if God choose,

I shall but love thee better after death.

~Elizabeth Barrett Browning

A Racial Question...

So I got to thinking about people who are of multiple races and I started wondering something; Maybe one of you can help me solve this...

Why is it that when someone is half one race and half another, people always refer to them as the darker race?

Example... I have a friend that's half Caucasian and half Korean. Yet, when people who don't know her name are referring to her, they would say "you know, the tiny, little cute Asian girl." Or if someone is half Caucasian and half African American, they'd be referred to as "Black."

Why is it that the half CAUCASIAN part always gets overlooked? If someone who was 1/2 Chinese and 1/2 Caucasian was to fill out one of those "check which box best describes your race" or whatever, do you think they would be more inclined to check the "Caucasian" or the "Chinese" box?

Maybe I'm the only one who would even think of something like that... I hope that doesn't seem racist of me, because I'm definitely NOT!!! I am just curious...

One of my guy friends is half Caucasian and half Asian and I always tell him he's my favorite "cocky-asian" :) Another one of my friends is Asian and for the longest time I referred to her as the "lazy asian" and now we condensed it to the "Lasian." :) Gotta love Hollywood for putting the word-meshing thing into everyday play. "Bennifer" "TomKat" "Branjolina" etc...

Annapolis

Call me crazy, but one of my favorite things to do in my spare time is explore! I love going all by myself to a city I've never been to discover it's hidden treasures. Annapolis, MD is about an hour away, so today I plan to go there. I am hoping to get some good photos of the Navy yard and the harbor, etc. Until I have pics of my own to share with you, here's a taste of things to come.

My So-Called "Life."

At various points during the course of a normal day something funny will happen and I'll think to myself, "self, this would make an interesting blog; remember this!" Of course, I never do. Thus, my posts are what they are. So, uhm...Sorry about that! :)

Here's an update on my so-called "life," however:

Saturday was supposed to be the start of a relaxing, quiet, 100% me-time filled week... The family that I nanny for was going to Ocean City, NJ for their yearly family vacation. I was invited to go, but opted to stay home so it would actually FEEL like a "vacation" for me. Day 1 was GREAT! Day 2 was Great! Day 3 was great! Day 4 (*sigh*) it all came to a depressing halt.

You see, I take care of two children; a 7 year old girl and a 9 year old boy. The boy has high-functioning Autism (he doesn't stop talking, bounces a lot and does not understand or pick up on normal social Qs) and mood disorders (he'll go from sweet to wicked in the blink of an eye.) (The girl has no special needs.) Anywho, so on the morning of day 4 (at 7:30 am) I received a phone call from the mother informing me she could not handle her son's non-stop violent behavior and constant cursing and so she didn't know what to do with him other than to (are you ready for this) have him brought home FOR ME to take care of whilst everyone else remained at the beach.

Sure enough, a few hours later the dad (the parents are separated but met the mom half way home to pick up the son) dropped the 9 year old boy off for me to take care of for the remaining 4.5 days. It was at that point that I realized my "week of relaxation" was long gone. We are currently on day 6 of my 'would-have-been' vacation. The first two days of him being home have been very challenging, I'll say that much. Luckily, when it comes to him, I somehow find the strength to keep my "cool" and not scream everything that runs through my head. It's all about "choices." IE: "Okay, well, you can choose to follow the directions I'm giving you, OR you can choose to go to your room and take a time out. It's up to you, doesn't matter to me." His school therapist taught me that one, and I gotta tell ya, it works every time. :) Thank God for small favors!

So anyway... that's pretty much been my life over the last few days. Before hoping online and posting these useless ramblings I was making homemade cards, kinda scrapbooking-style. Yeahhh, I'm soooo Mormon, I know... What can I say? I lived in PROVO for three years. (And I loved every second of it, I must add.)

So anyway... Yeah...That's all for now.

The Benton

One day I plan to own a grand hotel in either New York City, Chicago or Los Angeles and I plan to call it "The Benton." Why? Well, first of all, I think it sounds like an awesome name for a posh hotel, and second, I want to hire Benton Paul to play there. See the picture above? Yeah, that's Benton. He's pretty much amazing.

The above photo is one he sent me to edit (this being the finished product.) Good times. I just wish I could have been there to take it myself. If you haven't heard his new stuff, you're missing out. He is putting out a new album around Christmas, and I plan to be in Utah for the CD release. It's sure to be a rockin' good time. You can catch up on some of his tunes at either of the following sites: http://www.bentonpaul.com or http://www.myspace.com/bentonpaul

And like every great musician, his songs are available for download on itunes. Show the brotha' some love. After all, he IS going to have a hotel named after him one day. ;)

High School Days

** POST HAS BEEN DELETED BY AUTHOR **

I'm so sick of...

I am so sick of guys who play "the game." Argue this all you want, but the game is for guys in high school. That's all I'm saying for now. I'm too upset to write anything else.

Reality TV is in reality, a waste of time!

Sometimes, after a long day of taking care of screaming children, I like to wind down the evening by chatting online with friends, watching tv or taking bubble baths. Recently, I have seen some commercials for new reality TV shows that make.....ha ha....how ironic, one just came on as I was typing this... Anyway, as I was saying.... these shows make me want to puke! Do I REALLY care that Corey Haim and Corey Feldman are reuniting after a zillion years? I can honestly say that I don't. Watching a recovering drug addict disrespecting his old friend's wife isn't my cup of tea. Do I REALLY care that Scott Baio is 45 and single and some network finds it interesting enough to put on the air? Am I going to watch it? NOPE! It's bad enough that they stick a bunch of whining, drop dead gorgeous strangers into a house together and tape their lives in the "real world," -- because, HOW REAL or likely is THAT situation?? Do people getting "voted off the island" or "kicked out of the house" spike interest with any of you? I must say that the quality of shows on television has been rapidly deteriorating, and these new shows are no exception.

Thoughts?

A Quote

"I do my thing and you do your thing. I am not in this world to live up to your expectations and you are not here to live up to mine. You are you and I am I, and if by chance we find each other, it's BEAUTIFUL."

~ Unknown

In the last two weeks I have learned more about myself than I have in the last two years, give or take. I am very grateful for the friends that I have who have helped me in my endeavor to understand myself better. However, they probably have no idea that they have done so.

When I took this job, I was so heartbroken that I was leaving Utah. I was heartbroken because that is where my life had been for the past 3 years, and that's where the majority of my friends were/are. I had become a different person while living there, and I liked who I was becoming. I was surrounded by great people who were incredible influences, had Church headquarters 45 minutes away, LDS resources at my fingertips and the landscape (in my mind,) was beautiful.

Yet, when I was offered this job, I felt compelled to take it. I wasn't sure why, seeing as though I absolutely did NOT want to leave Utah for the above mentioned reasons (and then some.) However, I think I have finally figured out at least a fraction of why I had to come. I am grateful for this opportunity!

Yesterday I was able to spend some time with a friend in Virginia. We went for a drive further south (in Virginia) than I had yet been. I can't fully explain the way I felt when I saw the mountains. It was the first time I had not felt homesick since I moved here. After the drive, we had a long talk about various topics and one of them was the Gospel and different aspects of it. In reality, it was me asking questions and him answering them. It was so nice to be around someone who held the Priesthood and I could talk to about Church (etc) things.

The day before, I got to spend the day with my friend Brock. Brock and I had been in the same ward in Provo and he had come out for the weekend to be in a friend's wedding. We drove all around Maryland, seeing different places he had grown up and talking with people he used to live near, etc. Later, we drove to Alexandria, VA and had dinner at Al's Steak House (we even got to meet Al!) and then went down to the waterfront in old town Alexandria. It was so nice to have yet another friend from home around, even if just for the day.

I guess through all of this I have realized that no matter where you go, your real friends will still be your real friends. It may not be as convenient to see each other, but distance doesn't mean the friendship ends. It just makes it that much sweeter, when you do reconnect with old friends. How does that old saying go?... Far in distance, but close in heart?

I realized that, even though I still miss Utah and the friends I have there, living away from it has helped me to grow and learn so much about myself. What a blessing!

I am starting to understand more fully that the Lord's plan for me isn't SECOND BEST.

[ entry deleted ]

Brock-o-Lee

Since moving out to Maryland, life as I knew it has completely changed.
Change is good though. I think I have started realizing several things about myself that I was blind to before. There are some things I definitely need to be doing differently. I am grateful for the opportunities we have, as members of the church, to become better each day.

I will tell you...I have been so homesick for Utah and all of my friends. Seeing people from home is what gets me through some of the hard days. My friend Antonio lives in Alexandria, VA and he and I have hung out a few times. It's always so wonderful to see a familiar face! Jason and Sara were out here and it was a pleasure seeing them, as well. Two guys in my ward were in one of my previous wards in Provo, also -- one of them was coincidentally my home teacher (back in Provo.) I learned that another friend from a Provo ward is in Antonio's current ward, and another friend from my last ward in Provo is moving into my current ward in September for an internship.

Small world, huh?

As I type this, my friend Brock is on a plane flying out to Washington DC. One of his friends is getting married on Friday, and he came out for the special occasion. I am very much looking forward to hanging out with him on Saturday! Brock is one of the most upstanding guys I know, and he is so much fun to joke around with. Back in the day, he helped me pull a pretty elaborate prank on some people in our ward. :) That was one for the history books, I tell ya!

I really love my friends. All of them. There are so many friends of mine who are more like family, that calling them my "friends" almost doesn't seem to be sufficient. I have a few guy friends who I refer to as "my brothers." Some people even believe that a few of them really ARE my brothers. :) When I used to introduce Mark to people as "my brother Mark," we would often get the response, "Yeah I can totally see the family resemblance." :) We always got a good chuckle out of that.

To all of my friends (old and new) reading this, I hope you know how much I care about you, even if I don't always know the right ways to say it.

With Love from DC...

Sarahlee

picture 1. Sara and I in DC.
picture 2. Me in front of the capitol.
picture 3. Me with the ruby slippers from "The Wizard of Oz' at the Smithsonian.
picture 4. Antonio, Sara & Jason (aka Petey) on a bench next to the Capitol.
picture 5. Jason and Me in DC
picture 6. Antonio. (pretty eyes!)