Cupcakes, Camping & More

Warning: This post is LOOOOONG.

Oooooh hey!

Remember me? I've posted a few random things and some pictures, but I haven't actually spoken (er, typed?) to you in a while.

So here I am. With my new hairdo! I'm lovin it.

So, apparently, is a random woman in the grocery store who stopped my intent banana-picking to tell me so, and then asked where I got it cut and who did it, and then proceeded to tell her (10-ish year old) daughter that she should "do that" to her hair. . . . Complement? Or not? You decide.

Thursday night I baked 2 dozen dark-chocolate chocolate chip cupcakes with pink creamcheese frosting and sugary sprinkles. For myself. Yum.

It was my birthday eve! I can do what I want.

I also got to skype with my Dad! Whilst making homemade pizzas for dinner. Yum. (Don't worry Dad, the other one was more "Italian": Fresh basil, tomato slices and mozzarella cheese on a garlic-oregano hand rolled crust!)

Yes, its an odd year for us. It is getting close to our 3rd wedding anniversary, Jonny is 27 and I will be 23 in less than 24 hours! (ok, too many numbers there...)

Now for the actual post.

I was once told (by a 5 point likert scale-d test which I filled out while applying for restaurant jobs last summer) that I had no personality.

!

This was because I was "too neutral" on most of the issues.

I consider myself to be a very reasonable person.

I can see both sides of most arguments.

I believe that there are some fundamental truths, but after that, there is a whole lot of gray area in how those truths are applied. There are also things that just plain don't matter and aren't worth fighting over.

So, that being said...I have been trying to be more opinionated, in light of this recent discovery (appalled at my utter lack of a personality).

Thus, today's post will come to you in a series of current likes and dislikes. (mostly likes, though, because I try to stay positive over here.)

Likes:

Growth. This beautiful sunflower plant is now 8 feet tall. When we got it back in June, it was a mere 3 inches. With a little care and constant nourishment, it has grown into something strong and beautiful. I have also found this to be true with faith, hope, and love.

My hair cut.

Cycling. Jonny's new hobby/love. I borrowed a roadbike from a friend and we've enjoyed a few rides together out here in the harvest fields with vast skies. I can actually (semi) keep up with him. ;)

Bagels. The free bread lady is making my life heavenly. This creamcheese and cucumber sandwich was so fresh and tasty.

Our callings. We spend a lot of time doing activities for the youth in our ward. It keeps us young and crazy.

General Conference. Was wonderful. I also had the opportunity to sing in a stake program for Women's Conference. I really enjoyed it.

Nursing home. I love my clinic placement this semester in a nursing/rehab center. It is inspiring to be in therapy and see the elderly people working so hard to get better, pushing themselves and trying to please the therapists and their loved ones by not giving up hope even when they are in pain or it would be easier to just stop trying.

Virtual choir. This pretty much rocked my socks off. If you have never heard of him, go listen now. Choral music genius. I'm gonna do it.

Mint.com. Budgeting! I loathe. But this, I can do. It is the first time I've EVER been remotely excited about finances. I cannot gush enough about it. Please try it. It makes pretty charts and graphs and there are so many user friendly options. It is simple and effective.

Garage sales. Holy garage sale. There are some women here in my ward who are incredible garage salers/ estate salers/ thrift store junkies. They let me tag along the other day and I struck gold. I love the idea of repurposing and reusing and saving cash along the way, as well as creating and having unique pieces for your home and wardrobe. I don't know if I'll ever want to pay full price again. For anything.

My dog. And I love that he loves peanut butter. It is the best day of his life when we finish the jar and we let him lick it clean.

Dislikes:

My dog eating my shoes. He ate his 2nd pair tonight. And he always picks new ones. Guess the old ones are too stinky for him. Either that, or he doesn't want to be 'last season'.

TV. Actually this should go under "Likes: Not having TV". I spoke with a friend about this who was amazed as she recalled how she moved into a new apartment and signed up for cable like it was water or electricity. Do we really neeeed that much TV? Absolutely not. In fact, this generation of adolescents will have wasted 7-8 years of their life by the time they are 70 years old, just sittin' in front of the boob tube. 8 YEARS?!! Think of the places you could go, the relationships you could have, the things you could learn or accomplish with that amount of time. That's right. We don't have TV. And we LIKE IT. I rarely miss it. We save money every month, we save TIME, and we don't let our precious brain cells rot away by sitting in front of that mindnumbing glowscreen for hours at a time, watching things we don't even care about and things that make us feel icky after. We actually stay productive, talk to each other, take walks, play games, and get 8 hours of sleep. When we do want our TV fix, we can watch a specific show online. Just one episode, no commercials, we choose when we want to watch it and we only watch that. Period. Easy peesy lemon squeezy. We can read the news online (my only other TV need) or listen to it on the radio. When we want to watch a football game, we can go to a friends house and make it a social event. I feel like this is one of the best decisions we have ever made. I know some of you think I am crazy. But for us, for now, it works.

Cover songs. Yuck. Sorry. I am a bit of a purist when it comes to this. The original is always better. Yes, it is.

Overflowing closet. Time to clean it out again. Maybe all of those shirts from middle school (?) should finally jump in the trash. I have issues with this. I hold on to clothes. What if it comes back in style? What if my size changes? What if I have to go naked because I can't afford to buy another pair of shoes when I need them!? What if there happens to be a very special occasion where I need that exact article of random clothing??????? I just couldn't bear to not have it on hand. (read: to have it stuffed somewhere so far in the depths that 1. I have forgotten about it or 2. I need the jaws of life to rescue it.) You see my irrational fears at play here. Time to conquer them.

Whenever. I'm not a grammar nerd. But this has got to stop. It bugs me to no end when people use the word "whenever", when they really mean "when". Stop doing it! For example, " I bought some toothpaste whenever I went to the store yesterday." Bah! When, WHEN, WHEEEEENNNNN! "Whenever" is only used in circumstances that are/were repeating. For example, "My mom buys me an ice cream sundae whenever I get a good report card." This implies that she does it every time. Ok.

hOK. So.

Now is the time when I tell you about my BIRTHDAY!!!!!!!!

I got to have a picnic lunch with my friends Katie and Alyssa :)

I got to check the mail and open 3 ! birthday packages. Thank you thank you thank you. You know who you are. :)

And, I got to go camping at beautiful Racoon Lake, Indiana with Katie, Carl and her awesome fambam. We played games and ate food and survived a minor downpour. Jonny made me a Mississippi Mud cake for my first ever dutch oven birthday cake. It was fabulous. And he and Colby kept me warm all night long in our little tent :)

Then, on the way home, we stumbled upon a little homegrown pumpkin patch/farm!! It was incredibly cheap and they had a huge selection. How festive for the start of October. :)

We spent a wonderful couple of days together snuggling on the couch watching General Conference and taking walks with our pooch. And Saturday night I went out to a lovely dinner and dessert with my girlfriends Carli, Ali, Marquette, and Lauren. :)

(tragically, I brought my camera but took no pictures)

Here is me in front of the requisite birthday banner with bunches of cards. I felt so loved.

Grazie mille. Thanks to all who made this birthday so special! I loved talking to my family and friends and milking the whole birthday weekend. :)