Where's the baby? There he is!*

Congratulations to Amber, Tami, and Mur - each received 10 blog bucks for correctly guessing the last post's title.  Mur received an additional 10 points for guessing the post before that.

Just wanted to drop a line - I'm going to Texas tomorrow morning so I'll be gone until next week!


I hope to be getting away from the weather like this

 But exciting things are coming folks - I am back to doing the monthly book reviews (since I'll be reading hard core due to my 50 books goal).

There will be photos from my trip...

...and that's about all the exciting stuff.

Last night we had a Relief Society activity on Family History and writing your personal history.  I presented the Family History portion - I get so nervous in front of people, it's ridiculous.  I'm really love Family History/Genealogy.  I'm also super excited to start writing my personal history (we were given a handout on a rough outline of what to do).  I've already started to think of stories and such to add to it.  We talked about how this is like an autobiography and that got me more excited because as you may recall - I already have the title, "Still in the Room - Growing up as the Youngest".  I like this idea because it will be something of me to leave behind.  I wish I had things like this from my grandparents, because I didn't really get to know any of them all that well, especially my mom's mom who died well before I was born.  I think it would have been really neat to have something from her, to get to know her, to read stories about her and find out what kind of a person she was.  Don't get me wrong - Aunt Honey is a good source, and that's exactly why I think it would have been neat to have something, because I've learned more about my grandma from Aunt Honey.

Anyway - I shall miss you my little blog friends.  I hope you all have a good week and I'll see you soon!

Feel the rhythm, feel the rhyme.*

Congratulations to...oh wait - no one guessed.

So - my birthday was last week.  I had a pretty good time.  I don't like to make a deal out of my birthday - as I believe I mentioned in a previous post, so it was perfect for me.  For my birthday I decided to do something I had seen online - I did random acts of kindness.  30 random acts for 30 years of life.  It was a pretty good experience.  Rather than focusing on me I ended up doing nice things for others, and for a few people, I wrote letters to express my gratitude for them.  So it was a good way to change the focus and to also realize how blessed I am.

And since that's over with - let's return the attention to me! Just kidding - except kind of not - here are some pictures from the festivities.

Saturday night Vivienne invited the boys over to play games and eat pizza.  Turns out that both Ben and Chris are allergic to cats but they both like to pet cats...Ben's eye swelled up so we made him an eye patch out of random craft supplies I had.  Chris' began to but I only had so much string so he was out of luck.  Still waiting on the pictures from Christian for that one - it was pretty.

When I got to my parent's house on Sunday Ava ran up to me and said, "Tesika, it's gonna be your birthday!" and then she took me to see the cake Joanna had made.

The penguin and I are almost shaped the same...well, now that I've eaten him we are.

She is so serious!

Monday, on my birthday, a group of us went to Plaza Azteca.  The boys like that place, and it's apparent by how many sombreros were in the closet of their house (at Plaza you get a sombrero when they sing a birthday song).  Christian says my sombrero is better though - so we compared. 

Yes - mine is made for grown-ups and theirs for a small child.  For my birthday - the boys stayed up late finishing the 3,000 piece puzzle that we've been working on since September or October.  Since I estimated we could finish it by Christmas and Christian said we'd take at least a year - I win.  Best birthday present ever! (actually, there are several things that were better - but this from them is the best from them...)

A life lived in fear is a life half lived.*

Congratulations to Amber and Murbatron for getting the last post's blogbucks!

And since I'm retarded and forgot - the winner's from the blog post right before that were Joanna, Amber and Murbatron.

So I got something in the mail about the marathon/half marathon/8k.  I'm not sure which to do - I'm trying to remember how miserable I was in training and during the race and it's not working - I just can't go back to the 8k when I've run the half marathon twice - but I know I'm going to dread every day of life up until the 1/2 marathon.  Don't worry - the marathon doesn't cross my mind.  It's just down to the half or the 8...hmmm....

I'm also signed up for the Color Me Rad run, and I need to sign up for the Monument 10k (I got an e-mail from Sportsbackers letting me know that I seeded... I might take them up on that).   I just got an e-mail this morning from the Mud Run - I wasn't impressed with the Mud Run last year, but from my understanding because of rains that made the river rise they had to reroute the course last minute - which might be why it was the lamest trail walk  run I ever did.
The problem is this day.  It is so bright and sunny and looks beautiful outside and it makes me think that I can do anything - especially after all the rain and snow of last week when everyday was one of those days that you just wanted to curl up with a blanket and read or watch Netflix all day.

So...what do you think I should do? Run the half marathon or try to let go of pride and run the 8k?



Was that my pants or my muscle?*

So - we finally got some snow.  They had been calling for massive amounts of snow since - well, I'm not sure cause I don't watch the weather, I first heard about it Wednesday.  Everything people told me varied from one person to the next; 2-3 inches on Thursday night, 4-6 inches on Wednesday night, etc.  I recently read about normalcy bias - basically, when a huge natural disaster happens people die because they try to go on like nothing is wrong.  Tornado's coming? No it's not...there goes the house.  I thought of all the natural disasters we've recently experienced in Virginia, the earthquake, the tornado...I can't remember anything else.  In the earthquake and tornado though, I was at work and I kept feeling like people were overreacting and I kept trying to remain calm and not think it was a big deal - even when our 6 story building shook like a herd of elephants was on the loose.  So - when I started to hear reports of a snow storm I had an internal battle with this normalcy bias - yes, Virginians overreact to snow, we shut down at the sight of a snowflake, but that doesn't mean we haven't had bad snow storms before. So - that's where I have been mentally.

I love snow - and with the exception of living in Rexburg, ID for four years, I don't think I'll ever get tired of it (I did get tired of it in Rexburg - your toes and nose hairs can be frozen for only so long before you begin to miss what your body naturally feels like).  But here in Richmond, where it rarely snows - I love seeing it.  Everything so white and clean looking. 

I was looking out the window at work this morning and realized that when I look at the snow covered bushes I found myself thinking of those gingerbread houses you see at grocery stores around Christmas with the confectioner sugar (powered sugar for those who didn't know it has two names) sprinkled all over it.  It made my sweet tooth tingle and I think it's a little sad that I see snow so rarely that I think of sugar more than getting out and making snowmen.

I Wish I knew whale.*

Congratulations to Amber for getting 10 blog bucks by correctly guessing last time's blog post.  This bumped her up to third place!

Today I want to write about how funny I am.

No seriously.

Okay, not that seriously.  But a funny thing happened to me this week.  I made a joke, and then the comedian, Ellen, ripped off my joke.  My sister, Martha, is in Utah and it's a little chilly there.  She sent us a screen shot of the temperature and it was something like 12 degrees (whoa, even typing that made me get really cold).  I wrote back with the below:

Then Martha sent me this:

And then this:

People think that Ellen is funny (which I would agree) and we have said the same thing, so it stands to reason that everyone who thinks Ellen is funny would think that I am funny.  Right?

You of all people know we've discontinued that promotion.*

Congratulations to Amber and Sarah! You both received 10 blog bucks for correctly guessing the last blog post's title!

So - today is my birthday.  Not sure how I feel about that.  I swing between hoping everyone forgets it and not wanting it to go unnoticed.  That's not just this year - that is EVERY year since I was a teenager. 

To "celebrate" the big day, I have written my Manifest Donbro.  Over the past few months I have been working on having more faith in the course of my life, learning who I am, and overall finding contentment and peace.  Over the course of this time I have made some decisions about how I am going to live my life and the type of person I want to become.  I don't have these things down - I'm far from it, but these are things that I want to work on, for the rest of my life.

Manifest Donbro

I will not let others make my decisions for me.  I will make up my mind and stay with my decision.  If I make the wrong decision, I will fix it - but the fear of being wrong won't stop me from making a decision.

I will not allow others to bring me down, I strive to lift up others and will surround myself with people who want to lift or be lifted - not those who want others to come down with them.

I will make the most of each moment.  When faced with a letdown, I will turn it into something positive (when life hands me lemons - I'll learn to juggle cause I don't like lemonade).

I will learn what is needed,  If I do not get the most out of each experience, I only have myself to blame.

I will leave everything better than I found it, including and most especially people.

I will not give something to someone if it does not belong to them.

I will seek my purpose, piece by piece and fulfill it...piece by piece, until I am the person the Lord knows I can become.

I will take time each day to sit in silence. 

I will continue to seek knowledge.

I will forgive myself for each time I fail.  Failure brings weaknesses to the surface, creating the opportunity to remove them.

What would be on your manifesto?

I know the fat guy's gonna have a heart attack if we don't eat again soon.*

Congratulations to Murbatron for getting the last post's blogbucks!

Today has been pretty interesting.  I realized that I am definitely getting older. I was chatting on Facebook messenger with a younger man and he wrote "LAWL".  What the heck is that?  Thank goodness for Google.  It turns out it means "laughing at who's laughing"...so he was laughing AT me? Not WITH me?  This is a new level of rude. 

At work my coworker asked me if we had a yard stick and I told her 'no' and then she said, "come with me".  I hesitated - I'm not ashamed that I hesitated.  She said, "are you scared?" and I said, "Yes, I'll admit it, I'm scared." I mean - you ask for a yardstick, when you find you don't have one you ask the tall girl to come with you? I knew what she wanted me for, she wanted me to measure something with my body.  She pretended that was NOT the reason she asked me to come with her, she even brought a tiny ruler to add to the illusion. 

At one point she laughs and says, "Yeah, go ahead and lay down, let's see how long this is."  I told her I could just hold my arms out, my wingspan is the same as my height and she questioned that so I proved it to her, I held out my arms and she held the spot where my arm came to and then I laid down and it's the same length! So we did that, I held my arms out, she marked the point, I walked over to that point and held my arms out.  Then room was 5 Jessica's long - pretty big room.

We are getting free pizza today because we made our goal last month.  I like the pizza days like this because they aren't coordinated through HR - I just eat.  Still - it's interesting to see who will show up 15-20 minutes before they are even supposed to.  Lately it's been this one guy, we caught him today walking down the hall towards the break room about 15 minutes before noon (the pizza wasn't even there yet), but when he saw us he turned around and went to his desk.  Back! Back, you beasts!

That's what I did at work today...and it's only lunch time.



I know when I was held at gunpoint-*

Congratulations to Isaac for getting the Blogpoints for the last post!  It was indeed from the movie Elf.
And to Nobody - for getting the Count of Monte Cristo reference that was unmarked (sorry - sometimes I forget to mark these things).

So it turns out that I had the flu.

When you catch something and people find out about it, several things happen. 

The first - they treat you differently...it's understandable, they don't want to get sick too, so they stand further away, they avoid you, etc.   It might be why I try to buck it up when people get sick and show no fear...which might consequently be why I got the flu.

Second - they tell you all about the people they know who got the same thing, or had similar symptoms, or what they've been reading in the news.  I've heard plenty of Patient First horror stories, stories about how high the flu numbers are this year, schools closing in Boston, about so-and-so's cousin who even got the flu shot but still ended up with the flu.

...I have never gotten the flu shot before...I have also never gotten the flu.  So at least one of these things changed this year but I can't say that I will start getting the shot.  Yes - I hated the flu.  Yes - tamaflu is freaking expensive when you are on a high deductible plan.  Yes - my nose chapped, my nasal passages clogged, my muscles ached (making me think that I was getting too old to play sports - glad I figured that one out).  But from what I heard - the shot didn't help either.

Besides - I've been getting a lot of attention lately and any attention is good attention right?

Anyway - so - since I put it out there - How is everyone? Anyone been sick?

Hopefully I'll be back to posting like normal soon - we shall see.  Until then...

Is there sugar in syrup? Then yes!*

I feel like I have been M.I.A. lately.  Not just in the Blognation, but it real life too.  Oh...sorry if that offended anyone - you are real life as well, just...different. 

My sister, Martha, flew in to town on the 17th of December and I think that is pretty much when it happened.  It was good timing though, I mean, a lot of my friends went home for the holidays that week and are just beginning to come back now.  So maybe I didn't go M.I.A...maybe they did.

So a recap of my life since December 17th. 

I got sick.  Yup.  I wasn't too worried about it - I mean, I am apparently to live out the rest of my life with a weakened immune system - either from old age or lack of veggies - it's a toss up.  I went to the doctor after three or so days and he couldn't tell me what it was, but he gave me antibiotics - so I can't really complain.

I ate way too much.  Not just homemade stuff, but eating out as well.  If I never see another restaurant I think I'll be just fine.  I'm thoroughly disgusted with my body right now, I feel like I've packed on a 60 pounds and just can't shake it.  Then I panic and think that this is what old age is - easy to pack it on, difficult to take it off.

I played a lot of games.  We played Ticket to Ride almost every night! I absolutely love that game.  I picked up Christian from the airport last night and it turns out that he played Ticket to Ride almost every night too.  It's always nice to realize that there is at least one other person with the same unhealthy addiction.  Strength in numbers.

I went to the Temple twice (okay - the first time was the 15th so technically NOT included in the "since December 17th" list - but it didn't make the blog cause I got so busy). 

Partied it up in a hotel with my fam - eating pizza and playing games. 

Spent TONS of time with my family (and guess what? I still love them!)

Had 25 too many conversations about being single...for a grand total of 25 conversations. 

I cleaned the boys' house.  Originally I just wanted to clean the guest bathroom - since that was the one I use, but I decided to clean the whole thing (minus bedrooms).  Chris was home so he helped out, but the other boys were gone for Christmas so I wanted to do something nice for them to come home to.  Merry Christmas Boys.

Went shopping a couple of times - Spent too much money.

Saw the Hobbit...I think I overall liked it.  I kept leaning over to my roommate and saying, "that's not in the book!" but it didn't make me too mad like some movies made from books do.  King's to you Peter Jackson.



We celebrated all the January birthdays (I think there are 6).

I got a lot more Penguin items including a night light, Penguinopoly, a penguin cookies cutter, and Viv's parents bought me a little penguin stuffed animal with a Santa hat on...oh yeah and I got a little learning kit about penguins...


I deep cleaned my bedroom - and by deep clean I mean that I went through all the papers that I keep shoving into boxes, bowls (yes, bowls), folders, books, drawers, etc. and threw away A TON of stuff.  2013 is going to start out clean dangit!

Watched 1408 with my family the last night Martha and Jeff were in town and the ending was different, and the movie somehow scarier than the first time...I had trouble falling asleep that night.

I met up with some old friends at the Chick-fil-a.  It was great - I think I need to do that more often!

My roommate, Vivienne, got the flu and Chris was sick....so I spent New Years with the two of them and we made a ham that finished at the exact same time that 2012 did...is it sad that I found that exciting?  We didn't even eat the ham - which I'm okay with because of the risk of brain worms.

And last night Thursday night we had a basketball game.  I don't know how I feel about it - I think I liked it.  I was nervous at the beginning and then the beginning of each quarter.  Then still kind of had that nervous feeling last night as I fell asleep.  I'm beginning to think this anxiety is turning in to a real problem. (note: I figured it out - I was coming down with another bug...so I wasn't nervous, I was sick). 

That's kind of it - actually, it's probably not.  I feel like I am forgetting something big, I'm just not sure what it is.

P.S. I intended to post this earlier but I GOT SICK AGAIN! This time a fever and a barking cough (gross).  But it seems to have been a 24 hour bug - I'm not 100% but I am feeling better - and I can sit up now...and walk...and I only see one of everything now. Oh yeah - and thanks to Martha for some of the pictures! She was much better about taking photos over the last few weeks.