My little buddy :)

I had to post this, because of all the crazy terminology used in the McBride/Kari home, this is one of my favorites. Josh recently came to Ryan, and said "Hug a diddy". (Diddy. . Daddy. . ) Now when he wants you to hold him and cuddle, he will come to Diddy, and say "Hug a Diddy, or Mommy, and say "Hug a Mom?" . .. then there's Kari. .. The kid says "Mommy, Diddy, Ky (Kylie) Bubba (Connor) Jack Jack (Jaxon) and Mimi (Macie) but for the life of him will Not say Kari. Probably the easiest one of the bunch. . . two syllables, and short. . . We've come to the conclusion, I'm "Dat one". .. He's such a funny boy, and so much fun to play with. . . even if he won't say my name :) We'll work on that.

Haircut. . .

Have you ever just had a day, where you wake up and get ready, but just feel like your always the same, so you decide you want to change something, but just don't know what to change. .. because honestly, how do you change the way you look? I mean, its not like you can look at yourself, and go in your closet and come out with a 10 pound difference, you can't make yourself instantly tan, you can change your make up around a bit, but still, that's not really very drastic. I decided the only thing I could really instantly change, was my hair. SO . . . Kari made an impulse decision, and during lunch one day last week, went to get her hair cut. Lets just say, drastic change on impulse decisions. . . may not be my strongest point. . . Here is the before (This is the day of the cut, not great pictures. . . we had to take pictures to make it look like we were working, to send in for a portfolio that was being made, so this is the best I have of that day

So after this whole ordeal, and I left the hair cutting place, I thought to myself "I have just made myself look like a toilet brush" Not the plastic kind that everyone has now, but the kind that they used in the olden days that are cloth and then go all frizzy and weird when they dry. SO, needless to say, it took me a couple days to tame the beast, but I have gotten used to it, and it will grow back. Here's the after.

Tagged. . . again

Question and Answer: Answer the following questions with one word answers and one word only! Then pass it on to seven others. Here are the questions:

1. Where is your cell phone? Pocket
2. Where is your significant other? Huh??
3. Your hair color? Brownish
4. Your mother? Smart
5. Your father? Softy
6. Your favorite thing? Happiness
7. Your dream last night? None
8. Your dream/goal? Family
9. The room you’re in? Family
10. Your hobby? Shopping
11. Your fear? Kidnapped
12. Where do you want to be in 6 years? Married
13. Where were you last night? Church
14. What you’re not? Sleeping
15. One of your wish-list items? Holland
16. Where you grew up? Utah
17. The last thing you did? Dinner
18. What are you wearing? Clothes
19. Your TV? Music
20. Your pet? Reggie
21. Your computer? Retarded
22. Your mood? Excited
23. Missing someone? Christmas!
24. Your car? Volvo
25. Something you’re not wearing? Hat
26. Favorite store? AE
27. Your summer? Hot
28. Love someone? Yes
29. Your favorite color? PINK!!!
30. When is the last time you laughed? Today
31. Last time you cried? September

TaGgEd!

K, so Jana tagged me. . . and I started this like a week ago, so some of it is already over (election) but I didn't want to start over, so I'm posting it anyways :)


8 Favorite TV shows
I NEVER watch T.V. . . So this was difficult. . .

How Its Made
What Not To Wear
Surprise By Design
Full House
American Idol
Iron Chef
Football???
I'll have to come back to the rest

8 Favorite Restaurants

Salad Works
Five Guys
Cafe Rio (Anything Mexican!!)
Isaacs
Dipco
La Dolce Vita
Texas Roadhouse
Pizza City

8 Things that happened yesterday
Church
Skipped a Meeting (Don't tell)
Watched Mary Poppins
Sorted candy and THREW IT AWAY! (actually gave it to homeless shelter)
Laughed a lot
Facebook
Slept on the couch
Met the girl I visit Teach, and she's REALLY nice!
Didn't work out (But thats cuz its Sunday!)

8 Things I look forward to
Black Friday!!!
Going home for Christmas!
Mom's Christmas cooking
90 days to be over. ..
See High School Musical again!!
Shopping for Winter Clothes (am I a little late??)
My Wedding
Election Day to be oVeR!

8 Things I love about Fall
Since I don't LOVE Fall. . . only like it sortof. . .
Daylight savings time. I hate the fact that it gets dark at like 3:00, but I like the extra hour I get for a day. . .
The Trees
Warm baths
Wearing Hoodies
Extra Blankets on my bed
Hot Chocolate. . . sometimes
Halloween
School starts, and I don't have to go :)

8 Things on my wishlist
Um. . .
An Ipod?
Raise a righteous family
Go to Holland
90 days to be over (can you tell I hate diets?)
Ride the King da Ka in New Jersey at Six Flags
I'll come back to this when I have more things I want :)

Krazy Kari?. .. Thats an understatment!

So. . . today I've managed to:
*Fall down the stairs while someone had the camera. . .
* Lose my Drivers Licence, the day I decide that its probably time to go get my PA one (now that its been a year) So I start researching, to find out how to get UT to issue me a new one so that I can get PA to issue me a licence. . .And then find it behind my Social Security card, in my wallet. . . 2 hours later.
*Saw a real live Nun for the first time (didn't think she'd appreciate the photo opp. . .)
* Went to Market for lunch, ordered a smoothie (yes, a healthy one) . . Pulled my cash out of my wallet, and set it somewhere, went to pay for the smoothie, and couldn't find it.. . anywhere. . Luckily Megan was with me, so she paid for it, and I found the cash. .. in my back pocket right as we left.
*Walked out of the smoothie store without the smoothie. .. got half way down the block and had to walk back. There were a few who found that hilarious inside the store.
. . . and its only 1:30. Help me!

"I'm not in Utah anymore"

The same day as the construction project. . .. well, Day 2 of the construction project. . . Here was what we passed as we walked to the Market to buy our weekly produce and treats :)

Its kind of nerve racking to be driving and see a horse and whip behind you in attempt to pull you over :) Just kidding. This is the Clydesdale we see all over downtown. There are a couple of them, and they are the police horses. Very friendly, they would let you touch them if you wanted. . . . But I don't really want to, so I just take the pictures. I leave the touching for Megan. .. she likes it.

The picture above was taken as we were leaving the office. It was walking down the street in front of us. When we turned the corner, I saw the horse and got all excited, and took a picture. After taking the picture I said to Megan "That's not very exciting, its just a horse, no one is going to know that it belongs to the police dude" She quickly responded and said "Dude, its a horse tied to a parking meter, with a car in front of it, and police bikes behind it. . . .tell me you don't see that every day in Utah". . . she's so smart, that's why I like her :) (Even if she could be old enough to be my Mom. . . sorta ;)

This was after our Market run, and the officer had just finished lunch and had gone back to the parking meter to retrieve his horse. Kinda cool. I'm not a dork, tourists take pictures of the horses all the time. . . I was assured that the officer didn't mind. . .

And Last. . . but not least . . .

The Red bull car. . . .made me laugh SUPER hard. Don't think I've ever seen one before. What a sheltered life I've led. All in a day's lunch hour :)

Kari Constructs :)

Reminder. . . . Next time I make a purchase. . . . read the fine print. If it says "some Assembly required". ... . . carefully place back on shelf :)

No really, I decided that if I was going to work for a construction company, I really should be able to construct something. .. . right? yea. .. right.

My desk is very . . . cute, but I was having a bit of a problem. It didn't come with a keyboard drawer thing. I don't know what the "technical name" for them is, but no slidey do ah none the less. I lived with it for a year, but then decided that I really would like to have the space on my desk for papers, and a place to eat my lunch etc etc etc. SO. .. I asked Mike one day, if he thought it would be smart to install a "slidey drawer" under my desk. He said "Sounds great Jex, but the deal is, you put it together all by yourself" I figured it couldn't be that hard. . .

Sometime around 2:00 PM...

Somewhere around 3:00. . . .same darn screw.

Getting very frustrated . . . same screw

Frustration paid off. . . .. 4:45 . . .. Mike had some humility and decided to help out. . . but its not finished. .. Still have the mouse side to install. . .

Beginning of day 2. (Just hit my head on the blasted thing) Reading directions.

That is the last picture I got. . . but the good news is, I got to work at 8, and finished installing the mouse rest (all of 2 screws) just in time to walk out the door with Megan for lunch :) I'll take a picture once I get the desk cleaned off, and put back together :)

I love to see the Temple!

I'm sure many of you heard in Conference today, that the Church is building a Temple in Philadelphia Pennsylvania!!!! I don't know how to describe the excitement I felt. It was seriously like Christmas morning, when you open your biggest present. You just want to scream because you're so excited. That's totally the feeling I had. Totally overcome with the love my Heavenly Father has for his children. We are all so excited here to have a temple that's only 45 minutes away, instead of the 4 hours to get to D.C.

These are some of the Temples that I have had the opportunity to visit.

Salt Lake City UT. This was taken in June when I was home for Kendra's Wedding. Yes, that is a boy :) His name is Ryan. He's a good friend. The Salt Lake Temple is the Temple that I hope to get married in someday.

Logan Utah Temple. My Jr. and Sr. Years of High School, when Kendra and I were going through the obsess over missionary phase. .. we decided that we were going to go to every Temple in Utah, and get our picture taken. Sadly, we did not quite make it, however we did get a good start. We went to Logan for a football game, and stayed at her Aunt's house that night. We stopped by the Temple on our way to Audrey's house that night, and then went back the next morning to try again, since it got too dark and we couldn't figure out how to get the flash to work.

Bountiful, Utah Temple. This was taken on Kendra's wedding day. I was able to attend the Open house for this Temple when I was little. I don't remember much, other than it seems like there were tents that we had to walk through. I think they had them set up because it was raining or something. They also gave us little slippers to put over our shoes. I have always loved the Bountiful Temple. The city of Bountiful is a place where I have created many memories. I lived there when I was born, and it is where my Grandparents still reside. Both of my parents were born and raised here. It is definitely a place that I love to visit.
Washington D.C. Temple. This picture was taken back in 2005, when I was living in Hanover, Maryland. For Family Home Evening one night, we decided to drive to the Temple and walk through the Visitors Center. It is now the Temple that we are assigned to here in Pennsylvania. I recently was able to attend a Baptism trip with the Youth. It was a special experience. This Temple is beautiful. I love that each Temple can look so different, but the message and the procedures are all still the same. That's what is so great about my Church! The Gospel is the same, wherever you are! Awesome!
Winter Quarters, Missouri Temple. This was taken at the very beginning of our 2005 trip. I was still warming up to the whole picture thing, and wanted someone in it with me :) So this is Me, Kylie, Connor, Jax.

This is the Kirtland Ohio Temple. It was beautiful, and since it is not currently owned by the Church, we got to tour it. It is so amazing inside!! Seriously, how did people back in the 1800's build such amazing buildings, without the technology we have today??? Boggles my mind, that's for sure!!

OK, ready for my favorite??? Nauvoo, Illinois Temple. This Temple is GORGEOUS, but I think what really means so much to me, are the stories often told of the trials and hardships the saints went through, to have a Temple, and the faith that was displayed when it was destroyed. It was also dedicated on my birthday :)

Palmyra, New York Temple - This was also taken back in 2005. The landscaping to this Temple is amazing. We didn't get the chance to walk around and get our pictures in front of the Temple, but we did get some good pictures of the Temple itself. This is one of my favorites.

I am so lucky to be a member of such an amazing Church. I truly can't imagine where I would be without the Gospel in my life. I am so grateful to such great parents, that raised me in such a good home. It is totally because of their example, that I have my own testimony of my saviour Jesus Christ. I know that this is the only true church on the earth today, and that President Monson is a Prophet of God. I am so grateful for the opportunity I have this weekend to listen to him. I seriously love my life.

Oreo

Attention Dog Lovers (or not so much dog lovers. .. )!!!

I have this dog, her name is Oreo. She needs a home. She needs someone that will love her, and play with her, and can give her more attention than me. She's a Border Collie, 5 months old. If you want her, she can be delivered to Utah on Monday. If you live in PA, she can be delivered any day! She really is a sweet innocent little thing. She has lots of energy. She is mostly an outside dog, but sleeps in the house in her kennel at night.

Ok, so the real story. . . Connor got this dog for his birthday, because allllllllllll he wanted was a dog. Well, the fantasy lasted for a while, and really the kids have done awesome at taking care of her. Better than I would. . . But, now until we get a yard with her own space, the dog is miserable. So. .. If you want her, she would love to come to your home :)

My Best Friends Wedding :)

Let me tell ya. The words "My Best Friend's Wedding" take on a whoooooooooole new meaning, when its you're Best friend that they apply to!! I'll admit, when I first met Kendra (at 8 years old) and we became such amazing friends, we had our wedding day's planned, the fantasies of a perfect wedding, from the man, to the cake, the dress, the hair, the flowers, the shoes. . . everything. It all sounded like so much fun, and neither of us could wait for the day when our dreams would come true. Well, I remember the first phone call I got when she was dating Doug.
It went something like this. "Yea, there is this kid I went out with tonight. . . He's really nice, I guess I could go out with him again. . . " That was about it. So imagine how surprised, no SHOCKED I was, when 3 months later, we were still talking about the same guy, and there seemed to be something a little "different" about this one. I could tell he wasn't going away. That was fine, I dealt with that. It happens to everyone. . . right???

It is crazy. . . it went from. .. this, (last day of school)

To this:

. . . Way faster than I expected. June 14, 2008, was a day I will never forget.

Seeing someone you love so much, be so happy, is the best feeling in the world. Kendra and I went through everything together. We had so many ups and downs, but we were always there for each other. Her wedding day was beautiful. It was one of the best, and worst days of my life. So many different emotions. It felt like I was losing my best friend, but at the same time I was so happy for her. It was hard. It was SO hard, but so worth it. She has reminded me on more than one occasion, that I have no room to talk, because I was up and out of there as soon as graduation was over. I guess she's right. I am so glad, that we have continued to stay in touch with each other. I hope it stays that way forever.

It was a beautiful day, Everything was perfect. Kendra was beautiful, her cake was amazing, the reception was awesome, I am so greatful I was albe to be there with her. (This was the weekend after Disneyland. . . can you say sick of airplanes?? ;) But I would do it all over again in a heartbeat.

How sweet. Kendra and her Daddy :)

Loved the shoes!!

McNeill Family. . .One of the best!
I do have to say, that she truely did find an amazing guy! Doug is one of the sweetest, genuine guys I've ever met. I will be so lucky, if I can someday do as well as she did!! Doug's awesome. . . Ask our brothers!

The cake was beautiful!!

(Ignore the puffy eyes. .. )
I LOVE YOU KENDRA!!!!

And one more picture. . . cuz its gotta be my favorite :)

SuMmEr FuN

OK, so one of my BIGGEST dreams as a little girl, was to go to Disneyland, and meet Winnie the Pooh and the Princesses. That dream finally came true at the beginning of the summer. It was the perfect way to start out my summer. I got to see my family, and be in the happiest place on earth, all at the same time!

It was quite the adventure getting there, it began at about 3:30 on Sunday morning, when I woke up. My boss was so kind to get up that early and drive me to Philadelphia, (Thanks Mike!!)to the airport. I got on a plane (barely made it) and flew to Vegas. That's where I met my family. My Dad and brothers met me in the airport, and then we walked out to the car, where I met my Mom and sisters. Lets just say, that you don't realize how great your family is, until you don't see them every day. It had been a full 6 months, and I was very ready to see them all again. Especially my Mom.

From Vegas, we drove for a very long time (really it wasn't that long, but after something like 6 hours on a plane. . . ) We made it to California to our Hotel. We got checked in and then went to find the beach. . . which you wouldn't think would be too difficult. .. in California. Well, between 2 GPS, and a brother, an Aunt, and a Father that all thought they were smarter than the GPS. .. It became quite the adventure. Needless to say, what should have only been maybe a 15 minute drive, turned into well over an hour. . . But everyone was together, laughing and having a great time, so it was worth it. Monday was the first day for Disneyland. I was SO excited. Now.. . .for those of you who know my Mom. . . you all know how amazingly prepared she always is. Well, we had a schedule, we were to be standing in line having had breakfast, and waiting for the bus by 7 AM. (or something like that. It was earlier than I wanted to be up, however I did have the advantage of being MaJoR jet lagged, so my body was 2 hours ahead of the game, so I can't complain too much) We had a plan. The whole park was outlined, from everything to which lines were shortest just to enter the park, to which food stand had the least amount of people, and the best times to go. Seriously, someone that had the time to come up with this program. . . was brilliant. We all laughed, and made fun of Mom, saying things like "who would have thought that we would be on such a strict schedule at Disneyland" But, when it was all said and done, we had it down to a science. We didn't stand in any line for more than 10 minutes, and got to ride all the way popular rides very first. By noon, we were done with the schedule, (having been very satisfied) and were free to do whatever we wanted. It was seriously amazing. Thanks to my Mom and the help of Des Read, two of my very favorite people, we had a great time and got do so many more things than we probably would have, without their stroke of brilliance!
We did Disneyland for 2 days, and the the 3rd day we went to California Adventures.

We were supposed to head out on Thursday, so that I would have time to spend with my friends before flying back to PA the following Sunday, but decided that we definately wanted to go back to the beach. So we spent Thursday at the Beach, and drove home all day Friday. The beach was so much fun.. . .Only problem was, I scorched myself. I refused to use sunscreen, and fell asleep on the beach. I have never been in so much pain. . but hey, I was not so white after the fact :)

It was a great trip, and I'm so glad I got to have one of my biggest dreams come true, with the people I love the most!

Pennsylvania Journey

OK. . . I just have to brag a little bit about the awesome state I live in!! I am SO grateful for the opportunities I have been blessed with out here. Many of you know, I moved out a year ago with Ryan and Whitney McBride and their family.

(This picture is a couple years old. . . but the people are the same :)

We moved to Lancaster, PA. . . right in the middle of Amish country. Can you say Culture shock? Its a little different when you call home and say your running late because you are stuck behind a buggy, instead of stuck in traffic, or stuck behind a train. . . But I love it. I wouldn't change it for the world. There is such a calm, peaceful, happy feeling about this place. I'm so glad that I made the decision to come out here, stepping completely out of my comfort zone.

I guess what impresses me, is the selfless attitude the Amish have, all the time. They are willing to help with anything, are some of the most sincere loving people I've ever met. Always polite, and hard working. Many remember the Nichol Mines School Tragedy, that occurred almost 2 years ago. This school was located about 10 minutes away from where I am now living, inside our Ward boundaries. I have heard ward members share stories about the love the Amish showed towards everyone during this hard time. They are so willing to forgive, and not hold a grudge. That impresses me a lot.

When I first got out here, I was so intrigued with the Amish clotheslines lol. The system they have going, is seriously awesome! They have the coolest little laundry houses, and its like a conveyor belt system to hang the clothes. Hang a shirt, pull the rope thing, and it moves, and you hang more. I find it pretty cool. :) The little things that impress me :)

Overall, I'm so grateful for the experiences that I've had, and continue to have. This place is amazing!

Blog

Ok, so I swore I'd never have a blog, because I thought it would be too much work, but I figured since, I'm bored at work, and since my journaling skills are lacking at the moment. . . I may as well. . .right? I love reading other people's blogs, and watching old friends grow and see how their lives are changing. . . makes me feel connected to my Utah home, even though I'm so far away :)

So, here goes nothing...