Happy Birthday Erica!

My lovely sister turns 22 today! Erica and I have had the pleasure (or curse, take your pick) of looking similar throughout all of our growing up years. Even now, we have to say hi to people in public that think we are the other person (so as not to offend). Erica has even had five minute conversations with people that then emailed me and said that it was nice to chat. We are pretty good at letting each other know when this happens, so we don’t look like idiots in the future, but I have gotten completely off track.

Erica is studying to be an elementary teacher and it is the perfect profession for her. She is great with little kids and cares enough to put in extra time coloring and making things look exciting for her student teaching. She has a wonderful singing voice, and is constantly making me laugh. She is always up for any impromptu skit, and she probably should have done some acting, she really is talented. She is the basis for the M&M post that has been so popular (we love those “blonde” moments in our family).

I hope you have a great day! Love you!

Christmas Traditions

We just returned from a wonderful weekend away in sunny, California and are now about to embark on an adventure to the snowy tundra of Laramie, Wyoming. I have to admit I’m very excited to go home for Christmas this year and in anticipation of the events that will happen, I thought I would share a few of the Wyo family traditions.

Love Ornaments. When we decorate our tree (with white lights of course) we put all of the ornaments on except a tin with 20 heart-shaped ones. These are placed next to the tree and are our love ornaments. When you see someone do something kind for someone else such as making their bed, doing the dishes, cleaning up a mess that isn’t yours, etc, you take an ornament from the tin and place it on the tree. The goal is to get all of them up before Christmas.

Gifts to Jesus. Each year we write our gift to Jesus on a piece of paper and place it in a family box which is wrapped under the tree for Jesus. To be honest I can’t remember if we open this box at some point on Christmas or if we wait until the next year. I guess I will find out this week.

The Nativity Scene. On Christmas Eve we reenact the Christmas story. We have very specific costumes for each character. When I was younger, my sister and I would fight over who has Joseph and who was Mary, because Joseph had to wear a paper beard, which was embarrassing. Then there was the year that by brother Adam only wanted to be a dog, so we added one to the scene. As we have grown, we have not acted as willingly, but for the little ones, we trudge on.

Dinner like Jesus. This is a newer tradition, but one that I actually like. On Christmas Eve we eat as Jesus ate, with only candles for light, torn pieces of french bread, cheese slices, nuts, dates, grape juice and fish. When I was younger the “fish” was fish sticks, but now we have Halibut-delicious!

We have many others, but these are some of my favorites!

Happy Birthday Kari!

And again, another birthday! Kari is the youngest of the Cali clan and is just the sweetest thing. She is a wicked-sweet soccer player and loves to sit and watch chick flicks with me, which I appreciate (since Ronnie has to be tricked into that sort of thing.) Kari is very generous with her time and energy, always willing to help when needed.

Have a great day, we love you!

Happy Birthday Maggie!

Today is the special day for Maggie, Ronnie’s cousin who currently lives with his family. She doesn’t say a whole lot, but when you listen carefully, what she does say is usually really funny. Ronnie loves to spend time trying to get her to crack a smile.

Have a great day Maggie, we love you!

Happy Birthday Dan!

December is full of birthdays (6 of them) and I managed to get this one done on the actual day. Yea for me!

Dan was welcomed into the Wyo family two years ago and we sure do love him. He is always looking for an excuse to laugh and has even made up nicknames for the two youngest kids that I get a kick out of (J-dawg and S-kitty) His new love is the 1946 Willy’s Jeep that my dad is restoring and I think more time is spent talking about what they could do to the Jeep than actually doing anything. We hope you have a wonderful day (you old man)!

What did you just say?

Every family has some inside jokes, at least I assume so. My family has many but telling them to you here would be less than entertaining as most of them are of the youhadtobethere sort. Nevertheless, these experiences have caused us to evolve the English language a bit.

1. Yember. This word came about when my youngest brother was…well…young. He loved to talk about things we had done earlier in the year or even earlier that week. Instead of starting every sentence with “Do you remember…?” he shortened it to “Yember?” We laughed about it at first, but then realized the genius of it all. We always say it to each other, and occasionally I catch myself using it when talking to a friend. (I usually just move on quickly with the story, hoping they won’t realize I just used a made-up word.)

2. Snoofers. This is courtesy of my mother. She refuses to say “snot” or “booger” and as such combined the two to create a secret word that she could use in public and not be too embarrassed.

3. Fast as a pig. My other brother was about five at the time and my father asked him to do something quickly, he looked up, wide-eyed and asked “fast as a pig?” My dad tried to stifle a laugh and said “yes, please.” Ever since that time, if we want something done fast, we use this phrase.

4. Fair. This one actually came from my cousin Cole. When he was younger he didn’t understand the difference between fair and unfair, so when he felt he was being slighted he would yell, “THAT’S SO FAIR!” Ronnie and I would look at him and answer, “Why, yes it is!” Since that time, it is a constant battle to figure out whether something I make Ronnie do (as if I can make him do anything) is fair or unfair.

Happy Birthday Aubrey!

I always seem to be a day late and a dollar short on these, I really need to get better! Yesterday was the actual event.

Aubrey is the oldest of Ronnie's side. She is great to talk to and one of my favorite things about her is her ability to listen (no matter how long I go on). She is an extremely hard worker and has always made me feel a part of the family. I love her infectious laugh! The other day we were on the phone, and I scolded Ronnie in the background and called him 'Ronald!' She loved it! (Probably because Ronnie was getting scolded, but it was funny none the less.)

I hope she had a wonderful day and look forward to seeing her soon!

Free Stuff!

I thought that title might get your attention. As we are in the process of moving, we have come across a few things that we no longer need. The biggest of those being a desk with a hutch. Before you get too excited, I feel it necessary to tell you that Ronnie purchased it at DI several years ago. It is still very functional, but may not be the "looker" you desire. I have not taken a picture of said desk, and after searching on the internet have discovered that no one has a desk similar to it, so you will see my artistic rendition below. Let me know if you are interested.

Rockin' Out

Me: Hey! Do you want to go to the Trans-Siberian Orchestra concert on Saturday? I can get us free tickets.

Ronnie: Uh, I don’t go to anything with the word “orchestra” in the title.

Silent Pause

Me: Hey! Do you want to go to the Trans-Siberian ROCK concert on Saturday? I can get us free tickets.

Ronnie: Yeah, that should be fun.

Ahhh, the single life

I have recently had the pleasure of helping cover a night shift that was started at work to expand our customer service. We have hired four students; two girls and two boys. They are all single.

You can imagine the conversations.

As I supervised last night, I was able to sit back and just listen for a while. We were on our break and I pretended to be engrossed in my computer. Seeing as how everyone had just officially met for the first time, we are not experiencing full-out flirting, just subtle-feel-it-out flirting, but flirting none the less.

Watching this human mating process has caused me to reflect upon how I may have acted when I was single and working in a very similar office environment.

I have just one thing to say to all those who may have had to work around me, or listen to the conversations I know I had.

I’m sorry.

I hope you have been able to completely block out those memories and if you have, please let me know how so I can do the same.

Moving!

We didn’t think we would be doing this for another 8 months or so, but we are moving. My grandparents are heading off on their third mission to Phoenix, Arizona and we will be taking care of their house and whatnot in PG.

As much as I’ve thought that I just want to get OUT of Provo, I am sad to be leaving. I love our ward and little apartment, but look forward to two bathrooms and saving money!

If you are in the area (and yes, Provo is considered in the area) please stop by, we will still need our friends!

Presents

Christ. Family. Love. Others.

I wanted you to know that I do know the true meaning of Christmas before I began this post. As I sit here typing, there are four presents sitting in my living room. I love presents. Truly. Not your average love, but passionate-can’t sleep at night-giggling love. It is when the child inside of me comes out.

Since my birthday is in between Thanksgiving and Christmas, ever since I moved out of the house my mother would leave my birthday presents with me (to save on shipping) and expect that I would open them on the 16th.

This has only happened two of the six years I have been away. (Sorry Mom!)

After stuffing myself with turkey, I would say goodbye to the fam and proceed back to my apartment, presents in hand. I always have every intention of waiting until the morning of my birthday to dive in, but little by little those wrapped boxes wear down my resolve.

One year it was the Sunday before and I just opened one. The next was a week before and I opened all but two. The following year I held out until the day before, but just couldn’t seem to make it. The funny thing is, I wouldn’t USE any of the presents until my birthday, but I just wanted them open!

Dating and then marrying Ronnie has had a positive effect on this illness. (I actually think that I have improved because I have someone who cares whether I wait or not.) I have found the cure to be his knowledge of the gift. If he sees my mom or anyone else hand me the package, then it is safe from early raiding. If not…it’s all up to me.

Unfortunately, he knows about the four presents here, but what he may have forgotten is that one had the instruction to open on Dec. 1st.

Hopefully that will satisfy my inner child for 15 more days.

Happy Belated Birthday Karen!

Since we were at the cabin for the actual day, I didn’t get to post my birthday post until now. (I’m really sorry for the scare of no communication Karen!) I love my mother-in-law for many, many reasons. She mothered Ronnie, and goodness knows that would have been tough! :) She is one of the kindest, most considerate people I have ever known-I am constantly getting little surprises in the mail that she knows I just HAVE to have (who doesn't love those?) She is selfless and constantly looking for ways to help others. I have always felt at home in her home and love spending time with her and the family. Even though the first few times I met her I was using her house as a place to crash with girlfriends (back when Ronnie and I were just friends and not dating), she still liked me enough to let me into the family. I love you and hope you had a terrific day!

Thanksgiving Fun

Ronnie and I were able to spend Thanksgiving at my grandparent’s cabin, that’s right 29 of us bunked in the cabin. I should probably start by saying that if you are picturing a two-room log structure; you need to get that image right out of your head. This cabin is really more like a mountain home. While the outside structure IS made out of logs, it is three stories, has four bedrooms, three and a half baths, and can accommodate quite a few. 29 may have been pushing it, but we managed wonderfully. We ate the big meal at 1pm and were all so stuffed that when my Grandma started getting out food for dinner later that night, we all looked at her in disbelief for a moment, groaned…and then proceeded to fill our plates for the 3rd or 4th time that day (despite our straining waistbands).

Night-time was filled with screaming cousins, movie-watching and some kitchen crafts by the girls. Grandma taught us how to make beautiful caramel apples—seriously beautiful, like the ones that you buy in the mall. We also learned how to make chocolate covered popcorn (yes, it is as delicious as it sounds.)

All in all, we had a great holiday and hope you did too!

Guitar Hero Revisited

I have received complaints that the video of my mom playing guitar hero cannot be viewed. I have put the link below. Let me know if it still doesn't work.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AOgfR4PIkZc

The Softer the Better

Apartment life has its ups and downs that’s for sure. I love that it is affordable, basically commitment-free and that none of the problems are mine! If the ceiling caves in, microwave stops working, or fridge goes caput, I just sit back and wait for repairs to be done with minimal inconvenience on my part. I’m not quite as enamored by difficult parking, midnight vacuum sessions by the upstairs neighbors, and dumping my hard-earned money down the drain.

But most of all, I despise the lack of soft water.

My skin and hair know the difference and choose to share their dislike through itching, flaking and dryness (just dryness from the hair, not the other stuff). Because my love of soft water is a little on the freaky side, I have talked about it with several people and would like to let all of you (all 5 of you) know a little more.

Some people don’t like the slightly “slimy” feeling that is on your skin when you use soft water. You may feel that soap is still on your body. In response to this, I would like to propose that you wash your hands with soap under hard water until you feel you have gotten them clean-now lick your palm.

It tastes like Dawn or whatever soap you used.

Now, wash your hands with soap under soft water until you feel that you have gotten them clean-lick your palm.

It will taste like….the palm of your hand.

Contrary to your belief, soft water has removed all of the soap from your hand, while hard water has left a soap residue on your skin.

I encourage all of you to run, not walk to the nearest location with soft water, take a long shower and rejoice when you are not forced to put on lotion afterward!

Our Heritage

I was introduced to an entertaining site lately. In addition to helping you with genealogy, www.MyHeritage.com offers a celebrity match program. I am pleased to announce that I am a 83% match with Jessica Simpson. She is the celebrity that I my face structure most resembles. If you are as shocked as I am, don’t worry. I uploaded an additional picture to see what the difference would be and I’m pretty sure that it depends on what position your face is in. You know that you are curious as to who you look like, so go try it out!


I know you are all dying to know about Ronnie as well. Apparently his Mormon-ness came out in the picture I submitted because his highest match was none other than the great Donny Osmond.

Mmmmmm.....

On Saturday, Ronnie and I were craving a little BBQ and decided to use a buy one get one free at Lon’s Cookin’ Shack near our home. I am in LOVE with their rotisserie chicken! We ordered to go and once we received our food, we got in the car to drive the two blocks back to our apartment (I know we should have walked, but what can I say? We’re lazy….and it was raining.) We pulled out of the parking lot and down the street. As we were waiting to cross University Avenue I was startled by a knock at the passenger window. It was a Lon’s worker who asked if we were the order for Ronnie and handed me the spinach salad they forgot to put in the bag. What customer service! He had run out in the rain and knocked on our car window on the off chance that we were the people he was searching for. If only every store I frequented would have this kind of service.

A weapon?

The other night Ronnie and I were watching TV and I was laying my head on his shoulder. I had been in this position for a few minutes when he wriggled away suddenly and said, “Your chin is sharp and VERY dangerous!”

So if you are looking for something to chop vegetables, whittle, or wreak havoc in general, my chin may be available.

M&Ms

It was the year 1999; I was a sophomore in high school and pretty much the coolest girl ever. But this post is not about me….it is dedicated to my younger sister, Erica. She is just two years younger than me, and is fortunate enough to look nearly exactly like me. (just kidding, Erc!) Erica was in 8th grade and also a very cool girl. She was sitting in her drafting class talking to the boy next to her (BNTH), when the subject turned to music. The conversation went something like this:

BNTH: “So have you heard about Eminem, the new white rapper?”

Erc: “Uh….no, M&Ms have a brown wrapper.”

BNTH: “No, I mean Eminem, the new white rapper.” (I’m sure this was accompanied with some “ghetto” like hand motion)

Erc: “I just bought some at the store, and they had a brown wrapper!”

A few sentences later, Erica finally figured out that Eminem was indeed a new white rapper, but ever since that time, I can’t buy any form of M&Ms (brown, yellow, blue, or cream) without chuckling to myself in the candy aisle.