Happy #200!

Dear Blog,

Happy 200th Birthday! I know you probably don't feel that old, but you are! This marks the 200th post on your fair wall. Crazy, but true. In human years, you're not even three, but the age of humans differs greatly from the age of Blogs.

Much has occurred since your birth in September 2007, and you are a lucky Blog indeed because so many of those changes and events have been detailed right here with you. At your birth, I was living in Bleak House with one roommate and a wall full of mice (didn't know that at the time...); today I'm living life solo in my very own condo, and heartily optimistic there aren't any rodents sharing the living space.

Would you mind if we wandered Memory Lane just a little bit longer? I promise just a small sampling. But in your 200 posts there are some favorites I feel to point out.

• My thoughts on Facebook were noted more than once. First in Welcome to the Book, and again in What if I don't want to be your friend?
• I dated three different men. One ended with a "meh," another with a "Jerk" and the last with a giant sob. My Mind is a Scary Place and Message I Need Today are definite faves in the relationship category.
• I traveled all over and used your writing space as a travel journal to detail a Forks roadtrip, O Canada!, two trips to New York, the food bonanza of San Francisco, Disneyland Disneyland Disneyland, and I'm sure many others.
• I started writing with you as a lowly 3rd year teaching. Now I'm finishing up year #5 as a National Board candidate, District trainer for Primary Sources, and Board Member of the U.C.S.S. (pretty much all thanks to Pam, btw)
• I ran and ran and ran.
  
• Remember my rant against LDS Fiction?!
• And the time I defended text messaging?

There have been some good times, I must say. You have been a near and dear friend, and have given me opportunity to ponder and meditate more than I usually would on different events in life. Even the fact that you're turning 200 with this post has given me pause to reflect on the past three years of my life. And I am so grateful for all the amazing experiences I've had--those written here and those kept a bit closer to the heart.

I can't deny that on your very first birthday (when I dubbed myself Felicity with the romantic idea of being anonymous and keeping you all to myself) I couldn't have begun to imagine myself where I am in 2010. But here I am, and I hope I'm the better for it.

Life is really grand, you know. And I am grateful and happy that I have you, my dear little Blog, to help me remember that fact as together we keep track of life's ups and downs.

Here's to another terrific 200 together!
*me*

P.S. Do you think this would justify eating cake?

Holy Heck! It's #6!!

I'm guessing most readers who perused the "27 in my 27th" list assumed the purchase of a house would occur closer to my 28th birthday. Guess I fooled you there! I was in the midst of house hunting when I put the silly list together. And guess what? I DID IT!

As of April 12th, I am officially a homeowner. Or...Condo Owner. Whatever. It's mine. YAY!

My condo is adorable, by the way. You should drop by, and when you come feel free to bring snacks. Or a couch. I don't have a couch yet. Or a table. Or barstools. Or a broom, for that matter. I am heading into this new venture with the bare necessities of life--namely some cereal bowls and a television.

Anyway, a Housewarming Party/Open House/Thing is in the works. Just give me a chance to move myself in, and perhaps purchase some flatware. Until that happens, the cereal bowl/tv thing could get a bit slovenly.

Pepper Spray?

Recently, I started working as the US History teacher at a local night school for GED candidates. The demographic is entirely different from my usual "kids" at the middle school down the road. This fact was really brought home to me on the first night when I surveyed the students to see what sort of form they'd like to see class take during fourth quarter. One of my new students responded,

"Honestly I just don't care for any class really. I have other interests for my life, this is just to save me from going to jail. Don't tell my Judge I said that."

This is going to be fun.

Spring Break highlights

Made Funfetti Cookies with my nephew and shared them with friends and family.

Spent a lovely afternoon with the Barnett's--eating tasty food at Paradise Bakery & Cafe, shopping at DSW Shoes, and seeing the truly delightful How to Train Your Dragon. I was pleasantly surprised by how much I loved it. Have you seen it yet? Go!

Ran a ten-mile route around South Jordan. It took just over an hour and a half, but I'm not going to lie and say it was easy. Ai-yi-yi...

Enjoyed a lovely hour at the Oquirrh Mountain Temple.

Watched four wonderful sessions of General Conference with the family. I don't know that I could pick a favorite talk, but I found a lot of good counsel. There is much to be worked on! Onward and upward, right?

Made strawberry jam with my mom and sisters during the Priesthood session Saturday night. I now have 5 pints in my freezer. I hope it lasts until next strawberry season!

Introduced the family to Overnight French Toast. Its such a tasty recipe!

Did a little spring wardrobe shopping. White skirt. Good idea? Bad idea?

Received notification of my acceptance to the Gilder Lehrman Summer Seminar on Reconstruction at Columbia University. I'm so excited!!

SmartCookie. DE-LICIOUS!

Spontaneous viewing of Diary of a Wimpy Kid with j. We agreed that as adults, you can't go to that kind of a movie alone without looking like a creeper.

Watched Anne of Avonlea. Four hours long, and an ending that always makes it worth it.

Finished up my service project for Disney's "Give a Day, Get a Day" program. Woohoo!

Started and completed a sewing project.

Re-read the good parts of Breaking Dawn--note that it didn't take too long.

Watched 3 hours of "The Best of 'I Love the...'" on VH1. Those shows kill me!

Visited with friends over a yummy BBQ meal on Monday night.

Got one step closer to "Going Green." More details to follow...

Slept in one final time before starting back to work this morning.

9 more weeks until Summer Break!

Happenings

Last Friday night I went to the U of U women's gymnastics meet with the fam. We've had front row season tickets for my entire life and I have many a childhood memory of heading WAAAY down the steep stairs of the Huntsman Center to our seats. The seats are still way down there--the stairs just aren't as steep or long anymore. Weird. Anyway, the U pulled off a win against three other teams and one chick did her floor routine to the song from August Rush and it made me happy. As did hanging with my cute parents and lil' sis.


Spring has sprung in Utah--with beautiful warm days interspersed with freezing snow days. Gotta love our weird weather. I scraped frost and ice off my car one morning this week whilst wearing my cute brown flip flops. That's how you know Spring has come to our fair state.

I've started into my training regimen for an upcoming Half Marathon. Last week's long run was 6-miles which was doable on a treadmill. This morning I ran from Riverton to West Jordan to check off the week's 8-miler. Sense of accomplishment? HIGH. Pretty awesome.

Last night I had a Girl's Night with Charisse and Julie. We ate yummy snacks, chatted the night away, and watched Bandslam. Let me take a second to promote this little film? Genius. That's what it is. Hilarious--one of THE BEST awkward kiss scenes ever--and touching, and really just GOOD. Why don't movies like this get more notice when they're in theaters? Watch it. You'll love it. If you don't? Well, I'll try not to hold a grudge.

And in other news, my student's have been "publishing" picture book biographies of famous Americans. Yesterday, an 8th period student read the class her biography of Taylor Lautner. Page 6 featured a shirtless illustration of the man--replete with a carefully drawn in 6-pack. Made. My. Day. Also making my day was the two students who laughed their heads off after they caught me taking the picture...

#9 Do Something Entirely New To Me

Snowshoeing.

I have been dying to try out this winter sport for a while now and when the Activities Committee organized a Ward Outing to the Snowbird Nordic Center on Saturday...I knew it was meant to be. The crowd was small, but fun. We strapped on the snowshoes--more complex than the old chairs and string Jake Gyllenhaal uses in The Day After Tomorrow--and headed off to make a loop around Silver Lake. We made it about 200 feet before most of us needed Caryn's help to really strap on the snowshoes. BUT! With that minor hindrance behind us, we pressed on.

The weather was beautiful, the company was entertaining, and the snowshoeing was new and totally fun!

Here I am, obviously thrilled to be sporting my nifty snowshoes:And I've decided that as a bonus to this 27 in my 27th goal, I'm going to try and tackle #9 as many times as I can. So much "NEW" is bound to make life a little more interesting this year.

#11 Get a Massage

This goal is really an entire year late. Last year for my birthday, Erin and Lori gave me a gift card to Massage Envy--I had never had a massage and my back was entirely jacked up around the Happy 26th, making it the perfect gift. But...I put it off. And then my back worked itself out and I wanted to wait until I really needed it. And then I was too busy. And long story short, it was high time to get 'er done.

And what better time than the Friday after Parent Teacher Conferences--only days after I sat in a chair for approximately 14 hours and then came back the next day to do it again? I know--there was no better time.

More importantly than what got me there, the massage itself was A-mazing. My appointment with Nick the Massage Therapist was so relaxing, and so delightful, and absolutely something that needs to be repeated. This was definitely a grand way to kick off the "27 in my 27th."

That's 1 down, 26 to go.