Temple Square

Friday night we five girls went to Temple Square and the Cheescake Factory. It was a great time. We went and put our names on the list at Chessecake Factory and then went to Salt Lake to see the lights. It took a while to find a parking spot, maybe even longer than we actually spent at Temple Square, but it was worth it! The lights were really pretty, but I was sad that there weren't more. I'm sure that back in the day there were more lights on the bigger trees. Our overall wait for the Cheesecake Factory was about 4 hours. Wow! That's a long wait, but at least we went and did something fun in between. I'm so glad that Lindsey is down here. We have so much fun together. I'm glad that we got out of town this weekend and had such a fun time!

Cousins at Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving Day we 6 cousins all got together before dinner. Becky, Leah, Chalyse, Jackie, Me and Lindsey. Aunt Sherrie took this pic of all of us girls just hanging out before dinner. It's a fun tradition that we have to go to Grandma Rob's each year for Thanksgiving. This is my 27th year going to Grandma's and I can't even imagine how weird it would be not to go to there. We always have a delicious meal and everyone has their favorite things. Jackie and Chalyse always look forward to Grandma's candied yams, and even though others don't admit it like I do, I love the "Cranberry Sunset" salad that Aunt Shirley makes. We always go around the table and each person gets to share something that they're thankful for and of course, we Hansen girls ALWAYS shed tears. There's just something about seeing your sister or mom cry that brings the tears to the surface almost instantaneously! I love Thanksgiving and look forward to the opportunity to remember all the things that I've been blessed with. I hope I can become better at remembering those things that I have been given and be more grateful! What a wonderful holiday!

Jimmy Johnson Takes it Again!

So Jimmy Johnson got his second Nextel Cup Series Title! I must say I'm glad for Jimmy, even though I'm still a Dale Jr. fan. Next year will be interesting when these two are actually teammates.

I'm excited for Jr. to start fresh next year and drive decent cars.
I'm just sad that he wasn't able to keep his number. Lame that his step mom wouldn't let him take it. Whatever, who would want to take over his number anyway? He has currently been running the No. 8 because his grandfather had used that number, but didn't realize that Ralph Earnhardt also raced the 88 once - in the 1957 Virginia 500 at Martinsville Speedway for Petty Enterprises. So, he'll be running the 88 next year with new sponsors: Mountain Dew AMP energy drink and National Guard; AMP will appear on the car in 20 of 36 races next year with National Guard on the other 16 races. He has a 5 year contract with Hendrick Motorsports. Let's just hope that next year will be a good one for Hendrick Motorsports like it was this year and last! I'm looking forward to the Daytona 500 on February 15, 2008!

Weekend at Wolf Creek

We had a great time in Wolf Creek this weekend! Mom & Dad got the condo, but couldn't stay Saturday night, so they offered it to us girls. Of course, we couldn't pass it up! We left Saturday morning and stopped in Layton to eat lunch and pick up the keys to the room from Mom & Dad. It's kind of funny because you'd think that a group of girls heading out for the weekend would watch chick flicks and paint toenails or something of the sort, but we didn't. We actually watched Transformers, yes, that's right, you heard it, we watched Transformers. I'm not going to lie, I've wanted to see it for awhile now, and I must say that I really did enjoy it. We had treats and stuff and then Mollie and Lindsey brought a special recipe for sweet pork and tomatillo dressing just like Cafe Rio! Yummy! The got the recipe from Mollie's sister when they went down to Arizona last weekend. I can't believe how much it tasted like the real thing! So, we had sweet pork salads and played Disney Scene It until we couldn't stay awake any longer.

I had only been to Wolf Creek one other time with some friends in the middle of the winter, so I didn't really know how it looked without snow. The valley is beautiful and reminds me so much of what home is like this time of the year. I went for a nice little walk this morning and enjoyed nature. I'm glad that we could all go this weekend. I had a great time, and it's so nice to have good, fun friends, and a little sis living so close now! Thanks for going girlies!

Cream Puffs

Lindsey and Mollie made some YUMMY YUMMY cream puffs tonight. It was their first time making them and they did so awesome! I have always loved cream puffs and I think that now that McKenna has tried them, she loves them too! Okay, so they really didn't squeeze pudding directly into her mouth, but we thought it would be a funny pic. I think she might have been a little disappointed that we didn't let her eat it that way.

Today we had a great time shopping in Logan, sewing curtains for Mckenna's room, and painting frames for Mom's room and for Jackie's house. I always love to get with my sisters and my mom and have a good time. I'm so happy that we're all such great friends!

Pumpkin Carving Take 2

Our favorite married friends invited us over for Halloween dinner and pumpkin carving. We had a GREAT time with Misty and Kyle. Misty made a cute little spiderweb cake and eyeballs (devied eggs) as part of our meal. After, we all picked a pattern and carved our pumpkins. Some of us were done quicker than others, but it was a great time socializing nonetheless. Melynda did the bat, Kyle the skull, Misty the window w/spider & cat, and mine is the pirate ship. I think they turned out so AWESOME!! I don't believe I've ever carved two pumpkins in one year. Tonight I think Melynda and I are going to stay home and hand out candy to the little kids trick or treating.

Happy Halloween!

Melynda and I actually made it FHE last Monday where we got to carve pumpkins. It's been a few years since I've last carved a pumpkin, so it was actually kind of fun, all but the gutting that is! Melynda's pumpkin turned out so cute! I love the big smile, and he looks so happy when he's lit up. Thank heavens for the little pumpkin carving kits with the small little knives, pokers, and patterns. Without them, my carving of the cat would NEVER have been possible! We had a great time, and are looking forward to making new friends in our ward, so I'm glad we went.

McKenna & Morgan

Mom, Jackie, and McKenna came down for a visit last night and stayed over until today. We went to dinner last night at the Pizza Factory and then came back home to my place. My neighbors are packing up to move to Denver, so we decided to have Morgan come over and play with McKenna. They had so much fun playing the piano together and then playing with Kenna's sunglasses. How cute are they? They are both at such a fun, busy stage right now and are such sweet little girls. It was so fun to see Kenna again and see how she's changed over the last month. I'm glad that we could all spend some time together since it's been awhile. Thanks for making the long trip girlies!

Which Twilight Character are you?

Which Twilight novel character are you?

You're Esme Cullen - Your maternal instinct to take care of people and be kind draw people towards you. You're compassionate and loving, yet firm when you need to be. You appreciate hard work and value the beautiful results of your dedication to any project.
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Before & After

I have had a fun time picking out new things for my room and bathroom. Here are the before and after pics for you to see just what I've been up to. I love it! Somehow I get major satisfaction from decorating and re-decorating. I think I got it from my mom! :)

My Personality Type

You Are An ISTJ

The Duty Fulfiller You are responsible, reliable, and hardworking - you get the job done. You prefer productive hobbies, like woodworking or knittings. Quiet and serious, you are well prepared for whatever life hands you. Conservative and down-to-earth, you hardly ever do anything crazy. In love, you are loyal and honest. If you commit yourself to someone, then you're fully committed. For you, love is something that happens naturally. And you don't need romantic gestures to feel loved. At work, you remember details well and are happy to take on any responsibility. You would make a great business executive, accountant, or lawyer. How you see yourself: Decisive, stable, and dependable When other people don't get you, they see you as: Boring, conservative, and egotistical

What's Your Personality Type?

After I took this test I couldn't believe how true most of these things are. Kind of sad, but true. What does everybody else think?

Re-doing

So I've been wanting to re-do my room for awhile. Mom, Dad, & Linds helped me paint the walls this spring, and I liked that, but now I'm just done with the red. Every room in my house has red. Don't get me wrong, I obviously like red, but I think I'm just ready for a break. Let's just face it, I love to decorate, and my room is ready and waiting. I just got new rugs and towels for my bathroom at Kohls today. It was a perfect day because it was a one-day sale so I got everything for 50% off. Gotta love those sales! I decided to go with chocolate brown, orange, and sage green for the bathroom. I got a great deal on some frames at Roberts and painted them so cute. I have a couple more things to finish up in there and then I'll post some pics, but so far, I love it and I'm having fun. I'm on the lookout for a cute quilt for my bed, so if anyone has any ideas, I'm up for some suggestions. I'm thinking something in chocolate brown would be really cute since my bed and the rest of my furniture is cream. I'm looking forward to getting some more good deals and making my room so darn cute. I've watched that show Decorating Cents with Mom so many times that I can't wait to take the before and after pics and figure out just how much I paid to make awesome changes!

The Birthday Scoop

So yesterday was my 27th birthday, and I still am not quite of the shock! I can't even believe that I'm already in my "late 20's". I had a great day, thanks to all my awesome friends and family. Lindsey decorated my office so cute with balloons and brought fresh KrispyKremes in too. I must say I was a little embarassed, but hey, it was my birthday and it was really cute of her. A bunch of us (Julie, Sarah, Amy, Ali, Melynda, Lindsey,Molly, Amanda & Brad) went to dinner at Chili's and then came back for cake and ice cream. I'm sure you can tell by the picture that I absolutely loved the cake! German Chocolate cake is my all-time fav and Melynda did a great job making it! Thanks everyone for making my birthday so special!

Nauvoo

I decided that I better post a little text to go along with the pics. We had a great time on our trip to the Church history sites. We started in Independence, MO and made several stops on our way to Nauvoo including Far West, Liberty, Adam-ondi-Ahman, Gallitan, and Hannibal. Hannibal was really cool because it was right next to the Mississippi River and it was where Mark Twain grew up. Liberty Jail was interesting. I couldn't believe that they were locked up in that little space for 4 whole months! I can't even imagine being down there in that small, freezing place in the middle of the winter. Adam-ondi-Ahman was absolutely gorgeous. It was really peaceful and quiet there. I couldn't believe how pretty it was. At Far West, there wasn't really anything left there except for the temple site. The original 4 cornerstones are still there, and there's a monument explaining what happened there. It was also a peaceful place. After staying in Hannibal, we went to Nauvoo.
Nauvoo was really amazing. I love love love the temple! It is a beautiful building inside and out. We did a session there one morning and it was neat. Nauvoo has several little homes and stores that have either been re-built as they were before, or have been restored to their original state. It was easy to see why it was so hard for the Saints to leave their beautiful city of Nauvoo. There really isn't much left to their city compared to what it was when they left, but you can get the idea of what it must have been like. There was a very special spirit in Nauvoo and I would highly recommend that everyone go there sometime. One of my most favorite thngs was going to Rendezvous two nights while we were there. The senior missionaries put on a little play that they call Rendezvous and talk and sing about what Nauvoo was like back in the 1840's. It was really good, and we definitely had some good laughs!
From Nauvoo we went to Carthage. Wow! Carthage was one of my most favorite places of the entire trip. I learned so much about Joseph Smith and we sat right in the very room where he and Hyrum died. I can't explain how it felt to be there and especially after we had somewhat followed their path all the way from Missouri. Joseph and Hyrum were both amazing men, and I hope that I can have a relationship with my sisters that is similar to theirs. They were willing to do anything for each other.
We spent a whole day, or at least it felt like it, driving across the entire state of Iowa to get to Winter Quarters. We visited another pioneer cemetery that is right behind the Winter Quarters Temple. That temple is also really pretty. There are beautiful stained glass windows on every side. We also did a tour in the visitor's temple and after having heard about the trek of the pioneers and all of their trials for an entire week, my emotions were overwhelming by the time we got to Winter Quarters. The sister missionary sang Come Come Ye Saints and I couldn't hold back the tears. For one thing, she had an amazing voice, and I also felt a deeper connection to the early members of the church than I ever had before. It was awesome! Our last stop was in Council Bluffs at the Kanesville Tabernacle. This is actually the spot where Brigham Young was sustained as the second prophet 3 years after Joseph Smith died. It is also the place where the Mormon Battalion left from. It was interesting to find out that we had a relative that was in the Mormon Battalion. How cool is that? Anyway, the trip was altogether amazing. I learned so much and gained a much greater appreciation for the early members of the Church. My testimony was strengthened and I won't soon forget about the sacrifices that have brought the Church where it is today.

I love Fall

Tonight Lindsey and I went for a drive up Provo Canyon to see the beautiful Fall colors. I have always loved fall so much because the mountains become so full of color and the temperature goes down where I like it. The mountains are beginning to be dotted with red and orange. We had a great time together enjoying the colors.

Lindsey hadn't been to Squaw peak yet, so we drove up there too and enjoyed the overlook into Utah Valley. We could see all of Utah lake and actually quite a ways north and south. I think she enjoyed seeing the view from above. We've been having a great time together now that we live so close. It's actually really great to have someone from my fam live so close. I love it!!! Hope you enjoy the pretty fall pics.

Austenland

I know it seems like I've been a bit obsessed with Jane Austen lately, but her love stories are so great! Sarah lent me the book, Austenland, and I loved it! It was such a fun story and made me really, really want a boyfriend, but it was good nonetheless. I would recommend reading the book to anyone who loves Jane Austen! I haven't gone as far as Melynda yet with her whole Austenland experience. She's been dreaming about living in the times of Jane Austen. Interesting!

I Love Vacation!

I am so excited to go on a Church history tour of Missouri, Nebraska and Illinois. I'm lucky enough to go with Mom & Dad at the end of this month to see these cool places. I'm really excited to go to the places where the Church began. I plan to take lots of pics and hope to learn alot about the early saints. I am looking forward to going to the Nauvoo Temple and hopefully to the Winter Quarters Temple as well. I can't wait!!!

Movie Satisfaction

I went to Becoming Jane with friends yesterday and I loved it! Truthfully, I didn't know much about Jane Austen until I saw this movie. I love that so many of the characters in her novels are based on real people in her life. I can't believe the things that Jane Austen went through, yet she still wrote so many awesome love stories, and never did marry herself. Interesting..... Maybe that's what I'm going to to have to do, write love stories the way I wish they could happen. This afternoon I've been watching Pride and Prejudice, the A&E version with Melynda. It's so darn good. If I ever turn in to anyone like Mrs. Bennett, someone shoot me! She drives me CRAZY. Okay, so definitely see the movie, I think you'll really like it.

Disco Mania

Star in Your Own JibJab! It's Free!

Breaking up is hard to do

Okay, so Wade and I broke up yesterday. I will admit that I've been waiting for him to tell me what's been going on for the past two weeks! Yes, two whole weeks! I gave him opportunities to tell me what was going on, but he didn't do it. I decided that if he was the one that had issues, he should come to me and tell me. I shouldn't have to drag them out of him. So, yesterday he finally called me. He talked and I talked just like normal, and then after all the small-talk stuff was done, and after I prompted him a little, he finally spilled what he was calling for. He was calling to tell me he was done with our relationship. I won't go into any of the details, except for the fact that he told me I'm pretty, and I'm smart, and he likes my personality, he likes the time we spend together, and I have an awesome family, and blah blah blah blah, and that "all logic tells him that we should be together," but there's just something missing. Okay, whatever. All of these things just contradict the reason why you're calling!!!!!! I took my opportunity to tell him all the things I'd been thinking about over the past two weeks. They were just things that you would tell a person because you care about them, even if they are dumping you.

As a girl, I analyze almost everything! I'd formulated in my head everything that I wanted to tell him, and I did! I actually told him everything I thought he should know, or learn from this situation. He listened to me and I hope that he takes to heart the things I said to him. I don't hate him by any means, I just really hate the whole situation and I still don't really understand. And no, we can't be friends like he said. I don't see what the point is, really. I'm hurt, and I'm sad right now, but I know that I'll be okay. I know there's a reason that I have to go through this trial right now, and I'm trying to stay positive. I have been blessed with AWESOME friends and family. They care about me so much and build me up, offer great advice and support, and tell me it's going to be okay. They are all amazing examples to me and I love them so much.

Four Things

Mrs. Bennett (Michelle) sent me an email with some fun facts about her. I decided to post it on my blog so that others could see my responses as well.

Four jobs I have had:
1. Boat Rental
2. Campground Front Desk
3. H&R Block Tax Preparer
4. American Crafts Accounting

Four places I have lived:
1. Garden City (Bear Lake)
2. Logan
3. Orem
4. Maybe I should move ? :)

Four TV shows I like to Watch:
1. Grey's Anatomy
2. Deal or No Deal
3. The Office
4. Lost

Four places I've been on vacation:
1. Hawaii
2. Florida
3. Western Caribbean
4. New York

Four places I'd rather be right now:
1. On Vacation (anywhere really)
2. Home in Bear Lake
3. At the Beach
4. somewhere with friends


Four places I like to shop:
1. Target
2. IKEA
3. Old Navy
4. Anywhere with cute home decor

Feel free to share these fun things on your blog too!

All in Four years...

I was reading one of my friend's blogs and she had posted some things that she'd done 10 years ago. I was thinking about this and asking myself some of the same questions, but I decided to post about what fun things I've done over the past 4 years.

1. Graduated from USU with a degree in Accounting
2. Moved to Orem because I got my wonderful job at American Crafts. This was a huge step for me because I left all my friends and family behind. I must say, it's one of the best things I've ever done!
3. Went to San Francisco with Amanda and her parents
4. Worked at the boat rental during the summer. I can't believe we used to do that!
5. Made my best friends ever!
6. Went through the temple
7. Visited New York City with some great friends
8. Went to Daytona Beach, FL and to the Daytona Speedway
9. Bought my own Townhouse
10. Went to a NASCAR race
11. Went to Hawaii--I'll definitely go again sometime!
12. Bought my first brand new car, and since got another, I know, I'm CRAZY!
13. Became and Aunt for the first time and found out how much you could love a little person!
14. Leaned a ton in my job.
15. Found out how much my family means to me and that when it comes down to it, they're all that really matters.

Women are from Venus, Men are from......?

So we've all heard the famous saying Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus. Why in the world are we from different planets when we're supposed to be getting together? I am having a struggle right now with this whole situation. I know that men and women are different for a reason, but come on, wouldn't the whole dating thing be much easier if for a portion of your life, you could each be from the same planet?????? All I'm asking is for men to think like women for a short time peiod so that they can understand our feelings and think about how the things they do or don't do are affecting us. I know this will never happen, but it's nice to dream about.

I found a quote from the above mentioned book, and I quite like it. I guess I'm going to try to make it something I think about before I react or assume. "We mistakenly assume that if our partners love us they will react and behave in certain ways--the ways we react and behave when we love someone."

Demolition Derby- Juab County Fair

On Saturday night Melynda and I went to the Demolition Derby in Nephi. We went last summer with Misty and Kyle too, so I guess you could say it's become a "tradition". Kyle has a couple of friends who actually participate, so it's more exciting when we can watch and route for someone we kind of know. Okay, so we don't actually know them, but close enough. One of Kyle's friends, Kurt #300, actually won this year. I must say that Norm and Kurt definitely had the best cars. They were old Chevy Impalas, and they apparently put some money into them to make them as good as they were. I don't think any other cars even came close to being as awesome as theirs. Not only did we have fun watching the real life version of bumper cars, we had a great time people watching. It's funny how many WT people come out to the derby and the county fair. My oh my, if my friend Emily were there she would have taken enough pictures to fill up her "Wall O'Mullets" picture wall because almost every guy that walked by had one! Let's just say that going to the demolition derby might be a once or twice a year kind of activity.

Amanda & Brad's Wedding

Amanda & Brad got married on August 9th. It was a really special day and I was lucky enough to take part in everything! I don't think I've seen a prettier reception than hers. She was so lucky to have it in a beautiful yard right up by the mountains in Salt Lake. She looked absolutely beautiful! I'm so happy to have such a great friend and know that she found the perfect man for her. Brad is a great guy and I know he's perfect for Amanda. Congrats!

Jane Austen Heroine

Take the Quiz here!

:: M A R I A N N E ::

You are Marianne Dashwood of Sense & Sensibility! You are impulsive, romantic, impatient, and perhaps a little to vocal in your honesty. You enjoy romantic poetry and novels, and play the pianoforte beautifully. To boot, your singing voice is captivating. You feel deeply, and love passionately.

What do you think? Is that me?

Dad turns 50!!!

We had an awesome day with Dad on his 50th! After church, Mom made an amazing meal of steak, bacon-wrapped chicken, and even shrimp! Wow, are we ever lucky that Dad had a birthday. Mom decided it would be fun to have a party and invited several of Dad's friends, so Sunday night we had cake and ice cream and celebrated. The cake was awesome, don't you think? Wade made the cake and thought it would be fun to build a mountain and put a lake on it as well. It was pretty much one of the coolest cakes I've ever seen and it was delicious too! He even put real Bear Lake raspberry jam inside! We had tons of fun together and played Bacci a few times too since Jackie and Shea gave that to Dad as a gift. I must say, it was a pretty fun day!

Summer Fun

Over the 4th of July weekend I went to Bear Lake with Wade. It was such a beautiful weekend up there and it was the first time, yes, the FIRST time in forever that my family was actually able to enjoy the holiday. With the boat rental finally sold, we had time to enjoy ourselves just like our neighbors always have! Amanda and Brad came up on Saturday morning and that afternoon we took the waverunners for a ride. It was Wade's first time to ride a waverunner, and I would have to say that he liked it alot. We spent that night playing games like speed scrabble (love it!), Nertz, and Spades and eating pizza from Lakeside. We made it to church on Sunday with the other 1200 people there and then watched Fly Boys. Later that afternoon I went on my first 4-wheeler ride with Wade. It was so much fun! I loved it! Not to mention it was a tad bit cooler up in the mountains. We enjoyed several bike rides and just some good old fun! Monday morning I got to ride the GP1200 and if that machine doesn't give you a rush, I don't know what would, it was so much fun. t was so nice to finally have a holiday like all the other people in the world! I can't wait to go home again and play!

Me and the Babe

I can't think of anything else quite as fun as being an aunt. It has been so much fun to watch McKenna grow and change over the past nine months. She's such a cute little thing and is definitely full of personality! She seems to know exactly what she wants at all times. She's now got both of her two bottom front teeth. She's so much fun! I love to see her get dressed up in her cute little summer dresses and her cute little swimming suits too. She's so much fun!

Hawaii

We had an AWESOME time in Hawaii. Seven days in Maui and three days in Oahu! Wow! We are so lucky to have been able to go and spend that long there. We did so many fun things from the beach to Pearl Harbor and Luau's and Sunset Cruises to the PCC. The people in Hawaii are so nice and friendly pretty much wherever you go. Melynda and I saw many beautiful sunsets and enjoyed walking along the beach too. Big Beach was probably one of the coolest places that we went to. I would have to say that Boogie Boarding was one of my most favorite things that we did there. The water was a beautiful crystal blue and warm. It was actually really refreshing to jump in and cool off from the heat. It was so much fun to have the whole family there in Hawaii together. It's our first vacation since the babe joined the family. She was too cute in her new little swimming suits and sun dresses. I'm so glad that Melynda and Leah could come too. M's definitely part of the family so there's no reason why she shouldn't have been there! I will most definitely go back to Hawaii someday because it was so pretty and really alot of fun!