Tagged--Eight Things

People keep talking about getting tagged. I don't really know what this means. If I were tagged, would I know it? I'm enough of a nerd that I have actually been searching for an official definition of being tagged, but to no avail. I am also enough of a nerd to really want to be tagged even though I don't know what it is. But my friend Rachelle was tagged and suggested that readers fill out the profile thing, so does that mean I am tagged? I don't know if it's official, but I'll fill it out anyway:

8 Things I am passionate about

1. The Gospel

2. My sweet boy, Dane
   

3. Joel

4. The rest of my family

5. I think I enjoy cooking
   

6. The Biggest Loser
   

7. Um...running out...here's the problem. I've always worried that I'm not a particularly passionate person. I mean, I like lots of things, but would I go crazy without them? I don't know. Oh, okay: music.
   

8. Pugsley & Puppet
   

8 Things I want to do before I die

1. Buy a house somewhere in the world I've never lived
   

2. Get a doctorate
   

3. Visit Europe
   

4. Visit Hawaii
   

5. Go on a mission
   

6. Go on another cruise. Hopefully many more.
   

7. Have a happy, righteous family
   

8. Speak Japanese significantly better
   

8 Books I have read recently

1. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
2. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
3. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
   
4. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (you get the idea)
   
5. The Hundred Secret Senses by Amy Tan (I really loved it)
6. Persuasion by Jane Austen (except I returned it to the library before I was done because I'd already renewed it several times. Is that sacrilege?)
7. Obsession by Jonathan Kellerman (not recommended)
8. Eclipse by Stephenie Meyer

8 Things I often say

1. Hi, sweet boy!
   

2. Time for milk!
   

3. Daddy's home!
   

4. Joel, it's time for bed.
   

5. Our Netflix is here!
   

6. Sorry dinner's not ready yet. (This is an apology I make because I always want to have dinner ready when Joel gets home but I rarely do. Joel really doesn't care and is in no way pressuring me, lest you think he's being a jerk or something.)
   

7. Hi, Bishop. (He's been calling me all the time asking me questions about the Christmas sacrament meeting music. All the time.)

8. It's okay, Mommy's here. It was just a sneeze. (Dane starts crying when Joel sneezes, usually.)
   

8 Things that attract me to friends

1. Kindness

2. Humor

3. Openness

4. Easy to talk to
   

5. Slightly sarcastic

6. Compassionate, but not in a cheesy way
   

7. Proximity; I usually don't really go out of my way to get to know people I don't see often. That's probably bad.
   

8. Common interests
   

8 Songs and Albums I could listen to over and over again

1. I listen to recordings of my orchestra concerts a lot. Not because I'm on it but because I put effort into knowing, understanding, and appreciating the music.
   

2. There's this one Pachelbel and Fasch album I used to listen when I was studying or writing a paper.
   

3. There aren't very many things I can listen to over and over. I get tired of things pretty quickly. Plus I've been out of the music scene for a while. I really like Georgia by John Mayer.
   

4. The Way I Am by Ingrid Michaelson
   

5. The Getupkids' Something to Write Home About and

6. Weezer's Pinkerton take me back to high school and college fun
   

7. Historically, I listened to Hanson's Middle of Nowhere over and over again for a long time
   

8. Currently, I'm listening to the Vienna Choir Boys Christmas album. You can't really get tired of choir boys.
   

8 Things I learned this year

1. I get really huge while pregnant
   

2. There are a lot of things people never tell you about childbirth/the ensuing recovery
   

3. The worrying of a parent never goes away
   

4. How to not be upset when a baby projectile vomits all over you. For the fourth time. In one day.
   

5. That the Harry Potter books really are quite good
   

6. That getting out of the house at least once a day takes effort but is worth it
   

7. That friends are really important
   

8. That I can survive without going out to eat once a week
   

8 Random things about me

1. I'm good at timing the different courses of dinner so they're all ready at the same time.
   

2. I can't whistle.
   

3. I grow immune to deodorants, so I never buy the same kind twice in a row, and I have two different kinds that I use on alternate days.
   

4. I feel really bad after I win something on eBay, thinking "What if the people I beat needed it more?"
   

5. I love Chinese food. A lot.
   

6. I sometimes cheat and read a good chunk of books on the Amazon previews.
   

7. I don't vacuum very often. That will probably have to change once Dane is more mobile. Dang.
   

8. I will go out of my way to step on little ice crunchies on the sidewalk.
   

8 People I tag

Again, not sure what it means to tag. So I got out of this one. Swish! (I'm borrowing that expression from Rika, who borrowed it from Homer Simpson.)

And here is a picture of Dane for your enjoyment:

Wintriness

If that's a word.
For FHE on Monday, we went with a bunch of Joel's cousins to This Is The Place Heritage Park. It was really cool, and I wish we had had more time to spend there to really experience all they had to offer. I think we might go back before they close for the year.
They have both authentic houses and replicas of old pioneer houses, complete with no electricity. This will explain the poor quality of my pictures. That and the fact that I was really paranoid about Dane freezing. Nevertheless, here is what we got:
Dane met Father Christmas. And although his beard was not real, he was a lot friendlier than the mall Santa.

Here are Daddy and Dane playing as we wait for others to talk to Father Christmas

Here we are aboard the Candlelight Express

Then we stopped at the Anderson House to have hot chocolate and sing Christmas Carols (none of my pictures there turned out at all--no lights). Then the train took us to the live Nativity, complete with real sheep, cows, Joseph, and Mary (no real baby. Except Dane, who did not understand the "no crying he makes" concept in the cold). I had never really thought about how the stable in which Christ was born would have stunk. It really brought home just how humble His beginnings were. Then, we went to Brigham Young's house, where we heard him tell the tale of the first pioneer Christmas in the West. At that point, things were closing down so there wasn't another train coming by. We walked about a quarter mile in the cold. People kept asking me if they should hold Dane for me, and I refused. I wanted to experience a tiny little part of what it would have been like as a pioneer to trek across the plains in the winter. It would have been miserable. I would not have made it. Which is probably why I wasn't born then.
Again, it was a great time, and I want to go back.
In other news, the ice storms across the midwest hit Oklahoma hard. Both of my sisters have been without power since Sunday night. Luckily, Kenta and Kendall's apartment has power, so Rika, Brady, and Mika have been hanging out there a lot. Here are some pictures of around Norman (where OU is) that Kenta sent me:


Apparently, people with nowhere else to go are sleeping on OU campus because it is one of the few places with power. A tree fell over in my parents' yard, too, but they never lost power. I guess it's the worst in Norman. It's pretty crazy. Hopefully they will have power again soon.

It's Beginning to Look...

...a lot like Christmas, finally.
It took me longer than normal to get the tree up this year, but I finally finished putting it together yesterday, complete with the hand-strung popcorn and cranberry strings. Here it is in all it's glory:

We now officially have no space left in our living room. But that's okay. Notice the lack of tree skirt; that's my project for tomorrow. I actually bought the fabric last year but was never able to get to it. Here's hoping it comes together this year.
Joel can attest to the fact that I get pretty particular about decorating the tree. I'll stand back and adjust things so there's a good distribution of color and what not. Our tree is even more full this year because my mom gave me all these pretty Santa ornaments last year. I think they added very well to the overall theme.

We also had a white, Christmasy Saturday. We woke up to about eight inches of snow, and I spent the next few hours debating about how to introduce a two-month-old to the snow appropriately. In the end, I just bundled him up as much as I could and kept him out there for just a couple minutes.

Luckily we had this snuggly fleece outfit, a great hand-me-down from Dane's cousin Alena.
Here's Daddy, brushing the snow off:



My hair wasn't looking so great that day, but whatever.
Later that day, Dane met Santa! I was way more excited than Dane was, but I really enjoyed taking his picture.

Apparently, Santa doesn't look at the camera unless you're buying their portrait packages. Stupid. But Dane behaved very well with Santa, as I knew he would.