I'm IT... a bit late!

Well, I have to admit, I am downright horrible at this whole blogging thing. When I first set up the blog my sister-in-law Heather asked me if I was going to post more often than Cam, to which I replied "Of course!" I guess I lied. Sorry Heather! Anyway, I think part of the trouble for me has been that I haven't really found a template that I loved, and it's just no fun posting stuff when the template is hideous! But, I found a nice Christmas looking one, and so I'm back for now! Cam tagged me forever ago to list seven things about myself, so.... here goes! Hope you like it!

1. I love to laugh! When I was little, my sister and I would get in trouble because we couldn't stop laughing. I was LITERALLY sent to my room (on more than one occasion) because I couldn't stop laughing! My poor mother! Seriously, I don't know how she put up with all the crazy things we did. Life is better, in my opinion, when you can laugh your way through it. I don't like to take things too seriously, and I love laughing so hard that I can't stop the tears from flowing and where my sides hurt! That's the best! Anyway, I think it's great that I married Cam because he is just so funny! He keeps me laughing, and I love that about him!

2. I work in a job created just for me! Seriously! How many people can say that? I started out in the entry level position at my place of employment (I don't like to give too many specifics over the internet...is that weird?), and they noticed that I was really good at training new employees, so they created a new position in the training department just for me! It was kind of scary though, because one day when I got to work my supervisor told me that I needed to meet with one of the Senior VPs. I kind of freaked out and thought that I had done something wrong, but nope! That little meeting was such a great confidence booster! Well, then I graduated in Health Promotion, and they were worried I would leave, so they gave me a sweet raise and let me start a wellness program. The current program is a weight loss contest, and it's called "The 'Waist' Management Team." It's been a lot of fun! Total pounds lost to date: 62.5

3. I love sports! We can thank my Dad for this one. Cam loves that my Dad "raised me right." I am a big Ute fan, love the Jazz, and the Red Sox. We didn't really watch much baseball (growing up) until the 2004 World Series, and right from the get go I loved Boston! Cam likes the Braves...so I'll cheer for them too. When Cam and I were at a U football game this year I asked him if I embarrassed him (I can be quite loud) and he started laughing and said, "No, you're no louder than anyone else around us." I looked around and came to a realization and said, "But they're all men." Cam just thought it was funny and said he's proud that I can hold my own! I think he likes that he doesn't always have to explain the rules to me.

4. My pupils are always different sizes. I don't know why, but it's true! In fact, I was water-skiing one time, and I took a really hard fall. I got in the boat and my cousin (who is a nurse) started freaking out and said that I had a concussion. It took me a minute, but I finally realized why she was worried. I just explained to her that my pupils are always different sizes, and I don't really think she believed me at first! But my sisters backed me up on that one, so we were good to go!

5. My favorite class in college was called "Human Rights And Nationalism In The Former Yugoslavia And Chechnya." I was going to major in Political Science before I got married, and I really only had one semester of upper division classes. I think this one was 4260. There are so many reasons that I loved this class! First of all, it totally changed how I look at the world. I learned SOOOO much. I also loved the class because of how much I accomplished. The first day of class I honestly felt like crying! It was so scary! The kid next to me even asked if I felt okay after class (apparently I looked like I was going to pass out!). I felt totally overwhelmed because most of the people in the class were all getting ready to graduate in PolSci, and also because the class was going to require a TON of work! I'm proud to say that I held my own quite well, and got an A! Wahoo! All our tests were essay tests, and I even had to read one of my essays to the class because I was the only person who received 100%! It was fun for me to jump into something that was way over my head, and realize that I could still handle it.

6. I had "the perfect" childhood. When I was in Junior High I took a Speech and Drama class. We had to give a speech about our childhood, and as soon as I finished our teacher freaked out. Apparently she had spent her whole career trying to find someone who had the perfect childhood, and after I gave my speech, she was convinced that I did. For those of you who don't know, I grew up on a street named after my family, and my grandparents and all my cousins lived on the same street. My grandpa had a farm, so we (my siblings and cousins) were always coming up with crazy things to do. We had an old tractor for a club house (actually an old onion harvester), and we always swam in the irrigation canal. We also had a fun uncle who would hook a rope to the back of his truck (a water-ski rope) and pull us down the road on our roller blades. We played boxcar children in the horse trailer, and even repelled down the hay stack (using horse bridles and bailing twine). We camped out in the field for a week at a time, and made up games (like the car game). And we got to see our Grandparents every day!

7. I LOVE waterskiing! I learned to ski when I was eight (would have been earlier but we got a new boat as I was learning, and the wake was a lot bigger, and I was scared of it!!) and then learned to slalom when I was twelve. My family has a few rules when it comes to waterskiing (most of which were created and enforced by my brother, who was determined not to have prissy sisters). The first rule, and the most important, is that you never end your ski on a fall. If you fell, you had to at least stand back up and then you could let go and get in the boat. Of course, if you were SERIOUSLY injured, you could just get in, but most of the time you had to prove that you were tough enough to get back up. The second rule is that we always dive when entering the water. Take it like a man. The reason this was important is because we always skied at Bear Lake, where most people thought the water was "too cold." Another rule: We always keep Tylenol in the boat. We have other rules, but there are too many to list here! There are also silly little things we do that make me smile. For example, we rate falls on a scale of 1 to 10. 1 is nothing out of the ordinary, whereas a ten causes serious pain and looks hilarious to everyone watching! I can remember so many times where I would hit the water (or the ski) and instantly be thinking "Dang, that hurt!" Nothing took the pain away like coming up out of the water to see the boat heading toward you with all occupants on their feet holding up ten fingers yelling "TEN! TEN!" Of course, the driver (usually Mom) would honk the horn too, which was an added bonus! My brother also always said that if you fell hard enough to draw blood, you must have been skiing really hard. So all battle wounds were cherished!

WOW! Talk about a long post! I've turned into a chatty Kathy here! I will try and post more often, and not make them so lengthy! Anyway, I now tag Stacy, Julie, and Jen!!!! Wendy gets off easy because she has a new baby! Good luck to all of you, and I'll be expecting to read yours soon!