Tagged....and finally responding!

10 Years Ago...

...I was 16. Wow. I was a sophomore in high school. Had just earned my driver's license. Somehow suckered ma and paps into letting me drive to Portland with Lindsay Shumaker (now Hart) to go to my first concert - Reba McEntire and Brooks & Dunn. It was a dream. I believe it was also my favorite year of high school basketball. We made the state tournament for the first time in school history - lost our 2nd game in on a horrid call by some ref that turns out to be a sub from the other team's school (stupid LaGrande). It was a decade ago that I was also okay with wearing my hair entirely too long. I believe it fell to just above my rear end - my braid could give me a black eye during basketball or volleyball games. Oh, and I think I discovered hair dye back then too.



5 things on my to-do list today...

1. Cross off anything I've accomplished on my to-do list - that's the best part of to-do lists.


2. Likely start a new to-do list that falls under a different category of my life like - home decorating to-do list, or a books I want to read to-do list, or development of new talents to-do list, etc.


3. Finish picking-up/cleaning the house before we take off for CA.


4. Make some final calculations on the probability I have to win my work's March Madness pool.


5. Tell Trevor somethings he needs to add to his to-do list:)


6. A bonus #6 - Finishing up our surprise for Ev and Whit.

What I would do if I were suddenly a billionaire...

I'd start by giving a chunk of it to BYU, so they can have competitive coaching salaries for their sporting programs. Then I'd buy a professional sports team and include just one stipulation in my contract with the general manager - that being, my husband is on the team and is guaranteed 1 minute of playing time each game. Then I'd pay off any debt we have.....and what the heck, any debt my entire family has, create a small fund of excess cash for Trevor to invest in his weird ideas so I am relieved of the stress that causes me, and use the rest to make this world a better place!!! Oh, maybe I'd give or buy myself a book deal too- I've always wanted to write a book.

Places I've lived...

In the heart of my husband for the past 20 years (he told me to put that).

Albany, Oregon

Provo, Utah,

Cedar Hills, Oregon

Salt Lake City, Utah

Draper Utah

Things most people don't know about me...

That I have an amazing husband (he told me to put that). I really dislike things that have a bad texture - dust, bananas, orange juice with pulp. I have one bowling and two go-cart trophies. I can't spell well. Once I beat Evan four times in a row in ping pong. I don't ever get surprised, although Trevor has done it many times on a very large scale (he told me to put that - the second part).

Blogger Newbs

So all my male college friends with the exception of one (Adam) had been very anti-blog for a very long time. They all ripped on me and Adam for getting sucked into a "woman's world of blogging." I say to all of you right here, right now.......Blogging is an equal opportunity experience. Men can, and should participate (Bajork I'm looking your way here). With that said, I've noticed a change over the last while. The guys read BYU Cougar Crazies during football season. They continue to read Adam's Sports Blog (just hit its 100th post by the way). And from time to time, they'd check out mine and Lesley's personal blog, or Adam and Becky's. With time they were looking at Life Through the Lens and even Project Domestication (don't act like you haven't guys).

And then, one by one, it started to happen................they started their own blogs. I'm proud of you guys for realizing the errors of your ways and joining us in the blogosphere. There's nothing to be ashamed of. Write with passion and precision and your readers will thank you.

Some of these are a little belated, but let me be the first to welcome..................
-Russ & Katie Nelson - kudos to Russ, he was the first non-Adam/Trevor to join. They've been around a while now, but are needing a new post.
-Dan Nelson - A single man's journey through BYU.
-Ross "Rock" Mitchell - by far the most anti-blog person I knew. Good local recommendations.
-Even Brett revived a previously dead blog. Check out the piece on Justin Lee.
-And the newest member to join (yesterday)......... Jeris & Suzanna Hobbs - who knew Jeris even knew how to write? Just kidding buddy. You alliterate with the best of them.

I just felt that someone had to welcome all these wonderful people to the world of blogging. If you only knew how much these guys were against blogs then you could understand what a landmark occasion this is. Think Saul to Paul here people. Gentlemen, I commend you for swallowing your pride, busting out the laptop, and going where bold men have gone before.

Eagerly awaiting the Bjorkman's. . .

To Fong's, Thanks For Everything

So Lesley and I have found the Draper jackpot of Chinese restaurants. Sure, that's a narrow category to start with, but we love this dump. It's not in line with the Biggest Loser competition, but what the heck, sometimes you gotta live a little. One of Lesley co-workers said he likes this place, so we thought we'd give it a try. We arrived and asked some random person leaving with takeout if it was good. He said yeah, and that they'd take good care of us since there was no one else in there. We thought he was joking. He wasn't.
We were the ONLY customers in the restaurant. I'm not exaggerating. It was just us and the Fong boys. We took a picture to prove it. This was around 8 p.m. on a Thursday night. We walked in and were greeted immediately by one of the hosts. They sat us down and brought us these chips. It's some sort of fried won ton type stuff served with sweet and sour sauce. It's Chinese chips and salsa essentially. Very good. Then our awkward waiter came. His English wasn't the best and he was amused/offended (I couldn't tell which) when I asked him if he was Mr. Fong. He wasn't. And he really didn't get what we were asking when we wanted him to recommend something, but that's what gives Fong's its character. Poor English, awkward service, and GREAT food.

We went with the sweet and sour pork and their walnut shrimp. It got to us about 4 minutes later (the chefs weren't too busy). The walnut shrimp is the best shrimp dish I have ever had in my entire life. I couldn't get over how good it was. Really. It floored me.

This may be a random/boring post, but we thought we'd share our recommendation with you. Think of it as another installment in our Travel Tips. So if you're ever in Draper and get the craving for some Chinese food, or just need a good family doctor (see sign), just swing by Fong's. You're guaranteed to have a short wait, great recommendations from the staff ("pork good"), and amazing food. It may be a hole in the wall and the lack of customers may scare you, but take our word for it, Fong's is worth every awkward moment.Satisfaction guaranteed.

Dear Joshua Stark,

(This blog post is in response to this post )

As BYU's acting secondary approval committee, Trevor and I would like to give you your totally official acceptance to Brigham Young University.


The reasons to accept this acceptance are many, but the facts are few. Actually just one, Trevor has decided that we can have a baby if you come to Utah. Your wife is always so great with her not so inconspicuous encouragement to jump the baby wagon, so if you do indeed decide to come to Utah, we will honor your arrival with destiny - offspring that can play with your offspring.

There you have it. You know all of the other excellent reasons to take a couple year excursion to Utah.

We look forward to having a back-to-school barbecue with you guys come fall!

Rise and shout!

(ps. for anyone that might possibly take what I just wrote above as truth, may this be the disclaimer that it is not. It is returned sarcasm for my dear cousin.)
(pps. we would die to get the Stark's out here, that is not sarcasm. That would be heaven on earth.)

The Photography Blog

So, the sole purpose of this blog post is to tell everyone that we, meaning mainly Trevor and our friend Jason, have a blog dedicated to their new hobby of photography - Life Through the Lens.

I'd like to take a moment to not only encourage readership of this blog, but also call out a few folks whose work we would like to highlight as a guest post. Yes, that's right folks. This photography blog is a forum for all we know to highlight their work whether they're an aspiring photographer, professional, or nothing really (which would be where I fall).

Here are the first 3 folks we are "calling out" to give us photography posts that cover a day-in-the-life of-whatever-their-life-is, or just any pictures:) The first 2 have already been commissioned, the last has not.

1. Eliot.


2. Whitney.


3. Marci.


We look forward to seeing and sharing your work.

Eminem Fans

I just found this little gem while cleaning out some old folders. This is from when Les and I were driving home from Oregon after our wedding and honeymoon. I found it quite entertaining.