"Home means Nevada to me"

Some Nevada history for ya...

When Utah Territory was created in 1850 it included much of present day Nevada except for the southern tip (including Las Vegas) which was part of New Mexico Territory. Then in 1859 the first major silver mine, Comstock Lode, was discovered near Virginia City which attracted thousands of miners to the area. In 1861 Nevada became its own territory, and in 1862 its eastern boundary was enlarged, reducing the size of Utah. Then on October 31, 1864, during the height of the Civil War and on the eve of a presidential election, Nevada entered the Union as its 36th state. "The Silver State" became its present size after it acquired another piece of Utah's western border in 1866, and its southern tip from Arizona Territory in 1867.

"Home Means Nevada"
words and music by Mrs. Bertha Raffetto (1885-1952)

Way out in the land of the setting sun,
Where the wind blows wild and free,
There's a lovely spot, just the only one
That means home sweet home to me.
If you follow the old Kit Carsen trail,
Until desert meet the hills,
Oh you certainly will agree with me,
It's the place of a thousand thrills.

CHORUS:
Home means Nevada,
Home means the hills,
Home means the sage and the pines.
Out by the Truckee's silvery rills.
Out where the sun always shines.
There is a land that l love the best,
Fairer than all I can see.
Right in the heart of the golden west,
Home means Nevada to me.

Whenever the sun at the close of day
Colors all the western sky,
Oh, my heart returns to the desert grey
And the mountains tow'ring high.
Where the moon beams play in shadowed glen
With the spotted fawn and doe
All the lifelong night until morning light
Is the loveliest place I know.

CHORUS:

Photo Tag

I saw this on Julie and Sis. Layton's blogs, and both tagged EVERYONE, so I thought I'd do it.

You're supposed to post the sixth picture in your sixth album -- What does that mean anyway? The sixth picture in the sixth album of pictures stored on my computer? On my flash drive? In my Picasa? I have pictures EVERYWHERE! So I did all of them...

Picasa: Festival of Colors at the Hindu Temple last year

On my computer: Shooting with Bro. Nishimoto (Christmas 2007)

USB: Preston at Chris Farley's grave

I tag EVERYONE!! Just do it, you know you want to.

Last last Friday night adventure

So I'm a little slow blogging about it, but last last Friday night my friend Lindsay (from hockey) was having her wedding reception in Mapleton. I knew, I knew, I KNEW I shouldn't go. I mean, Mapleton is an hour+ away, plus I was already late, plus I still needed to get a present, plus I was going right back there the next morning for a soccer game. PLUS when I put the address in mapquest it didn't like it and kept asking me if I meant Spanish Fork. Sure, they're close enough I thought, and mapquest knows what it's talking about, right?

But I wanted to see everyone and I told them all I was going so I got in my car and started driving. My window had broken earlier that morning and wouldn't roll down anymore. Better than having it be stuck down I say, but it fell a little so the wind was getting in just enough to be annoying.

I got all the way to Spanish Fork and stopped to get a present. I knew there was a fishy miscalculation when the people behind me in line at the store said, "Where are you going? 1250 S 1250 E? Well that's our house." Curious. And...I don't suppose...you're having a wedding reception at your house...right now? :)

My cheapskate mentality wouldn't let me turn around and go all the way home, wasting all that gas, without at least going to the address and checking just to make sure. Yup, no reception there.

Dahhh! Well...I guess I'll just drive home.

This is where I get on my blogging soapbox. Not kidding, the first thing I thought was how funny this would be to blog about. A much better response than my typical one which would be, namely, cursing about how stupid I am, what a waste of time, what a waste of money, what am I going to do with this present, I'm ticked that after all this I still won't get to see everyone, etc. etc. Instead? I laughed about it. Thank you blogging, you've made me a better person. Off soapbox.

My second attempt at "making the trip worth it" was to call everyone I knew in Provo to see if I could latch onto them for the night. No such luck. Thanks all my Provo friends for NOT answering your phones. Preston was on a date, an acceptable excuse, but where were all the rest of you hosers?

The fuel gage kept creeping lower and lower, taunting me. reminding me of every penny down the drain.

Well at least the drive back wasn't a total loss. First, I saw a falling star on the way home, gotta love that, THENNNN the song "Crush" by David Archuleta came on the radio. I love that song! I had to gently maneuver my sensitive volume control to get it high enough to hear over the blasted wind whistling in my ear from the broken window, but it was worth it. I blasted David Archuleta without shame. Alright, I'm gonna come clean here. I'm pretty sure I have a little cougar crush on David. But who doesn't just love him?!!

Moral of the story? MapQuest isn't as smart as everyone thinks, my gut should probably knock me over the head so I'll listen, my friends have better things to do than hang out with me, gas is expensive, blogging makes this world a better place, and David Archuleta makes me happy. I'd say the night went well. Now what to do with the wedding present...

Oh and um, sorry about the commercial before the video, I couldn't get any other ones on the blog.

Sad, but oh so true...

BYU/Utah birthday hockey game

The Friday after my birthday (Oct. 3) some friends and I met at Hires for some hamburgers, then went to the BYU/Utah hockey game. It was a blast!

The group at Hires: Sue, Tiffany, Brian, Me, Jared, Chaney,
Nancy, Diana, Rachel, Ben, Kevin, Brittany.

me and Rachel

Ok, Rachel is a DIE HARD Ute fan, so I'm not sure how I got away with this picture. I don't think she was paying attention

Making sure Rachel is dressed in the appropriate colors for the game. While this picture was being taken she was yelling, "I'm melting! I'm dying!!"

She got me back though...


me and Diana

Sibling rivalry: Ok this is the funniest thing ever, Rachel is a die hard Ute fan but her brother Brian loves BYU, even though he goes to the U.

Blanket war (me and Ben)

Chaney and I cheering another BYU goal (13-4 was the final score I believe)

Taunting Ben after another BYU goal. Don't worry, he got me back.

Rachel crying after witnessing the annihilation of her teampoor, poor Ute fan

Chaney and Brian, Matt Cowan, Brian S. and Mary (in the back)

me (behind the blanket) and Brian showing our loyalty

First row: me and Ben,
Second row: Brian F., Chaney, Rachel, Diana, Nancy,

Third row: Brian Shelby and Mary (but you can't see her :))

HAHA, that Ute player seriously missed the check. Oops.

Watchin' my boys warm up

Well, it was such a fun night and I'm so happy everyone came!!

(p.s. Thanks to Kevin for all the pictures and making the video!)

Suns/Jazz Preseason Game

So last week my friend Nate called me up and asked if I wanted his extra tickets to the Jazz/Suns preason game. Is the pope Catholic?! Of course I want them! I had 3 other activities that night but I dropped them all. Why? I love the Suns! But more importantly...I love Steve Nash! And let me just give you a little recap of the last/first Suns game I went to last year...

My awesome brothers got me tickets to a Suns/Jazz game last year for Christmas. And it was great because they also called up my cousins Christie and Nikki (die hard Jazz fans) to get tickets and come with us. So fun. I'll also never forget how my cousins apparently didn't know we were rooting for the Suns. When they walked up to where we were sitting Christie took one look at our shirts and said, "WHAT?...are you wearing?!!" Well, it was really fun except for 3 little...ok, BIG things--no Grant Hill, no Shawn Marion, and NO STEVE NASH! I.was.ticked. Nash was sick or something, he's NEVER sick! Except for the one time I go to watch him play. Ugh. And the Suns lost by a good 25 points. What made up for it was the constant heckling coming from my brothers. Oh, have you never been to a game with them? Hmm, well they don't care whose winning or losing, in fact it's probably more fun for them to heckle when their team is losing. In fact I think they heckly their own team. BJ is proud of his status as an equal opportunity heckler :) It was a good time, but I really wanted to see Nash work his magic in person!

Anyway, so I was really excited for this game because I could see no reason why Nash wouldn't be playing. I was not dissapointed.

Me and my boys

My friend Paul came to the game with me warming up...
There he is...Nash. Although he kept practicing that corner shot on the opposite side from where we were. Lame Steve, why can't you help me out a little?!
Nash againDragic--I've decided I like him. He was a hustlin', reboundin', passin' machine!
The National Anthem. Tip off...Shaq Diesel didn't even win it. What the?
Me and Paul
The group
Nash shooting freethrows--and making them of course
Me, Paul, and Rory's hand
This is apparently my "I'm really excited" face
Ok, funny story - So the Jazz bear was launching these little balls up to the crowd during one of the breaks. I was looking in my purse and didn't see one coming our way. Well, I turned around just as Paul was launching himself over the seats in front of us, landing on top of the row in front of that, sacrificing his body to the max, trying to get the ball--so that he could give it to a little boy of course :). In his attempt, he sprained his left pinky... he's my hero. I have included this picture of the beginning stages of the swollen-ness. It was awesome and, sorry Paul, so funny!!
Good times.

If I hear this one more time, I think I'm gonna scream

#1 Every time I meet a new person the question of whether or not I'm in school always comes up. This is fine. It's the conversation that follows this inquiry that gets me in a huff. The rest of the conversation usually goes something like this:

"No, I graduated last year."

"Oh great! What did you graduate in?"

"History."

::Silence::

"Oh."

::Silence::

"What are you going to do with that? Teach?"

What is it about my chosen field that renders people speechless? Do you feel sorry for me? And apparently the only thing one can do with a History degree is teach. Lately this conversation has ended quite positively because, at the moment, I can tout a job in the Church History Dept. "Oh great!" people say. Because, hey, good for you, you found something other than teaching to do with that utterly useless major.

Why, oh why do I always have to defend my major? Ya, I have a History degree and I'm proud of it! So you can just take your little cool "sounding" degree like biology, or finance, or communications and go to you know where. What are you going to do with your major? And you know what? I can do a lot of things you can't do! Can you bust out a 10+ page, footnoted paper in 4 1/2 hours? Can you piece together property titles and discover land ownership for a 100 year period? Can you read and comprehend 8-10 books per semester--per class? Can you do well in classes with essay tests where its practically impossible to ever get a 100% because, you know, no paper is absolutely perfect? No, you're sittin' pretty with your multiple choice tests. Can you look at today's world and see parallels with the past that can, in fact, enlighten your understanding, broaden your scope, and open your mind? No? Alright then.

#2 "How tall are you?" Which is inevitably followed by "Did you know that if you were (whatever number they make up) inches shorter you'd be a midget/legally handicapped/get a sticker for your car and get to park in the close parking spaces?" Why thank you! You're the first person to EVER tell me that. I'm sure glad I have you around. Maybe I'll just skip right over to the DMV and see if they'll give me my complementary midget sticker anyway, I'm close enough right?

Yes people, I get it, I'm a little shorter than most. But guess what? I'll be laughing all the way to the shoe store because I can wear whatever size heel I want and not have to worry about it. And shoes always look cuter on my little feet anyway, so there!

#3 "How old are you?"

So yesterday I was at the Family History library looking at land deeds for Joseph Smith's Kirtland store using my amazing skills I learned as a HISTORY MAJOR. Well my little card doohicky that I normally use to print wasn't working so I went to the desk to get one of their extra ones and the following conversation took place...

"Excuse me, my bypass card isn't working so I..."

"Now how old are you?"

"23."

"Oh, ::snicker, snicker::, I remember the first time I saw you come in here and I thought to myself, "What is that little girl doin' here, she should be in school."

"Ha ha" ::I'm gonna give you my best fake laugh because you're a nice missionary and I'm sure you think you're really funny, but really, you should get an award for the most insulting version of "I thought you were 14" I've ever heard::

"Just give me the *$#@ card!" (Ok I didn't really say that).

Really people? If you want to ask me how old I am--fine. No problem. I realize I look a lot younger than I am. But for the love of pete, when I tell you my real age, DON'T follow it up with "Oh, I thought you were (fill in the blank with any number ranging from 14-20)." Keep that little tid bit in your head. And one more thing, at this point in my life, when I'm trying to look mature and attractive to the male population, it DOES NOT make me feel any better to say "Oh, you'll be grateful you look so young one of these days." Great! I hope you're right, but not right now!!

Whew. I think I'm done. The rage has been successfully transferred to the blogosphere.

And p.s. If you have said something like this to me, don't worry. Don't think I hate you. It's just me, it's all me :) From now on, I'm gonna choose not to be offended. Thank you.

A&W Root Beer...gotta love it!

Well, another year has come and gone. And once again, we went to A&W with a bunch of friends and got wasted!! Thanks for coming everyone, it was so good seeing you!!

Here are some pictures of the blessed event (sorry they're blurry, not sure how that happened, it's kind of annoying).

Ok, let's see if I can get everybody (Megan F., Erica, Jewell, BJ, Rachelle, Chris, Rachel, Karalee, Paul, Scott, Vanessa, Kyle, Vanessa B., Keith, Dustin, Stephanie)

BJ, Preston, Dustin, Rachel, Scott, Paul, and Karalee

Whitney, Me, Bradley, Preston, Jeanettie

Me and Spence-dogg (and yes, I'm totally standing on a chair!)

One year older and wiser too...

Well, Preston and I turned the big 2-3 today. I don't have anything profound to say except for this...

"Life moves pretty fast, if you don't stop to look around once in a while, you might miss it."

-Ferris Bueller

Every time a birthday comes around I'm reminded how lucky I am to have a twin brother. And not just any twin brother--I'm lucky to have Preston. No matter what life threw at me, especially during those oh so fun school days, I always knew I had at least one friend. One person who loved me for me, without any conditions. One person to walk home with, play around with, and have a conversation with. He's always supported me and included me. I look up to him in so many ways. It's been so much fun growing up together, helping each other mature and become the kind of people we hope to be. Having him gone for 2 years on his mission stunk for me. I hated not being able to talk to him whenever I wanted. When he came up to BYU life was great. We lived in the same complex for 2 years and it was so fun! He'd just drop by all the time to chat, watch a movie, or get some free food :).

But really, I feel like having him as such a major part of my life has prepared me for future relationships. In other words, I feel like I know, at least in a small part, what it's like to love someone so much that you'd do anything for them. That even though you fight sometimes, at the end of the day, you want more than anything for them to be happy. You need that person in your life who knows you so well that they can cool your temper, bring you back to reality, or make you feel like you're worth a million bucks with just a smile or a few simple words. Preston can do that for me. (Now I just need to find a non-brother version... but that's a whole 'nother beast :))

Happy Birthday Preston! Love you!

Now, at the risk of embarrassment and public harassment, I've posted some "through the years" pictures for your viewing pleasure...