My friend Melissa did a fun tag on her blog. It is questions about herself, like those things that get sent around the e-mail every now and then, and at the end she picked some friends to "Tag", and I was one of them:) So here goes:
Side note: this ended up being really long, so If you aren't interested, skip it :) That's the beauty of the blog.
1. Best Meal: My Grandma Fuller's fried chicken. It was incredible chicken, and creamy mashed potatoes, and white gravy made out of the yummy bits left over in the frying pan after the chicken was cooked. We used to have Sunday dinner at her house a lot growing up, and she always made that. I loved it! It is REALLY bad for you, but sometimes when I get homesick, that's what I long for. I have a lot of wonderful memories associated with that meal.
2. Best Car: I have enjoyed every car I have owned, but my favorite was probably the little red sports car I had in high school/college. I LOVED that little car. It was VERY cute, and VERY Fast. I have lots of memories associated with that car, lessons I learned, friends I had, places I went... I was heart broken when I sold it. Some kid from Monticello bought it and fixed it up (From where Troy hit a deer as we were headed to the dealership to trade it in. I'm not sure if they ever got the deer teethmarks off of the window...) Sometimes I see it driving around Moab, and it takes me back to a simpler time in my life, and makes me remember (and miss) the people who were important to me then.
3. Best Hobbies: I LOVE photography. I love how you can capture an image, and forever after you can remember just what you were doing, the sounds, the feelings, the smells, everything about it. I really do believe that saying "A picture is worth a thousand words". I love to capture a twinkle in someone's eye, or an angel over their shoulder. I love the story told in a landscape, or the wisdom in a building. I like to shoot everything I see. I don't think I have a favorite subject, I just like to examine things from all angles. I also love sewing, writing, scrapbooking, and gardening, though I'm not very good at any of those things.
4. Best Vacation: When I was a kid we never took vacations, but once we went to Phoenix to see my cousin get baptized, and my dad, who never stopped anywhere, except for gas, stopped at several fun places. He stopped and let us see the Grand Canyon, and we got to get out of the car and actually look at it! We even stopped at a gift shop and learned more about it, and got to buy souvenirs. We stopped at a little jewelry stand by the side of the road, and my mom and dad bought us each something. I got a little turquoise frog ring that I still have today. And we stopped at a rest stop and looked at this giant cactus. We even hiked up a hill and took our picture next to it. I was sure that it was a famous cactus, like the biggest one in the world, or oldest, or it was in a movie or something. Several years later when Troy and I were on our way to Mexico, I asked him to take me by that cactus, and he had no idea what I was talking about. I even made him pull over several times so we could hunt for it. We never found it, and when I got home I asked my dad where it was. It really wasn't anything special. He just needed to use the bathroom so we pulled over. That just NEVER happened before, so I thought it was very important. And really, to me it is important. It is a time with my family that I will always remember. It was a time (Though I did have many of these times growing up, just never on vacation) when the only thing that was important was being together, and having fun as a family.
My favorite vacation as an adult was when we went to LA to finalize our adoption. The day we left, everything that could go wrong did, from Troy forgetting the credit card, to us being rear ended by another car and nearly missing our flight, to getting lost and driving around LAX for over an hour before we finally made it to the freeway. But the days after that got much better. We literally felt the weight of the world lift from our shoulders as we finalized our adoption, making us a legal family that no one could take away from us. We got the opportunity to visit with the kid's Bio-grandparents, and also with Kyle-The-Good-Social worker all of whom played vital roles in bringing our family together. We also stayed at a WAY nice motel, and went to Knott's Berry Farm and had a blast. We were also able to go see the Redlands Temple (That's where we met with Kyle and his family, and several other adoptive families that had been touched by Kyle) which made my list as probably the most beautiful temple grounds I have ever been too. It was awesome to look back on it and see how everything fell into place, even the parts that were nearly disasters ended up working out somehow, and it was the perfect vacation to celebrate our family.
5. Best Vacation Without Kids: We never really took full out vacations before we had kids. We were poor college students who were just trying to make ends meet, and I'm an over protective mom who has never felt comfortable taking a vacation without my kids since we got them, but I do have fond memories of day trips as newly weds. We were living in Ceder City, and there is SO much history there, and so much to see and do. We would pick out a place we wanted to go visit, do research on it, and then take a trip to go check it out. We went places like Mountain Meadows, and Zion National Park. We explored Kolob, we went horseback riding at Brianhead. We hiked, rock climbed, skied, sledded, and just explored, and it was perfect. We learned a lot about our area, and also a lot about each other. It was a wonderful way to spend our newly-wed lives. Now that we have moved to Brigham City, we are doing the same thing. We are picking things to learn about and see, and are loving every minute of it, only this time with kids.
6. Best Job I Ever Had: "Welcome to the Hole 'n the Rock, my name is Katie, and I will be your tour guide..." I really did like that job, it was very interesting, and I met a lot of CRAZY people. I really have loved every one of my jobs. I liked doing Daycare, I LOVED those kids, and many of them still are very special to me. I also loved working at Deseret Book. I made great friends there, though I didn't make much money- I spent it all on books. Right now I am a mom and a Mary Kay Consultant, and I LOVE it! There are rough times as with every job, but this is certainly one of my favorites.
7. Best Thing to Buy if Money Was No Issue: I have always wanted to own a beautiful OLD house. And I really want one with a mystery, like a secret passage way, or old love letters hidden in the walls. There are a lot of those to choose from around here, and someday I will get the house, and the mystery I have always wanted.
8. Best Age Growing Up: I loved all of my years growing up. I really had a very fun childhood. And the funny thing is most of the time we were just working. I think that really proves what wonderful parents I have, that they taught me things and made me who I am and the whole time I thought it was one big game! I remember having picnics outside when we were working with my dad, and one summer we spent the entire summer on what was called a contract, where my dad went around building roads or ponds or something (I'm actually not sure) with his dozer, and we followed along behind him in the truck most of the time. But it was the funnest summer ever! We would sing songs and my mom would tell us stories, or read to us. We would swim and play at parks, and we got to go to the laundromat (It really was exciting) and we went to church in a lot of different places because we moved from town to town all summer long. I learned so many things there and had so many experiences, and there are things that happened that summer that we still laugh about, Like the "Worst Western" motel, and Dad jumping on the beds. I even learned that summer that I liked my sister. -There was a little who stole who's birthday dispute for a while, but that is the summer I remember thinking she was really cool:). But even when we just stayed home it was still fun. I remember gardening with my mom, and visiting grandparents, and playing with cousins. I remember building our house, and learning to drive, and learning to serve others. I would have to say that my teenage years were the best as far as growing close to my parents I was the only child at home, and that made for plenty of opportunities to bond with my parents, and I am proud to say that those years resulted in my parents being two of my very best friends. My mom is my partner in crime, and we earned that title every bit. My dad is the one I can ask all the hard questions to, and I know he will answer honestly, even when it isn't what I want to hear. Both of my parents are a constant in my life. I know I can count on them, and I know that they are always there when I need them, no matter what. So, I can't choose a best year, I would have to pick all of them.-25 and counting:)
9. Best Toys When I Was a Kid: dirt, this old cabin we had in our yard, barbies, 4-wheelers(when I was an older kid)
10. Best Date Before I Was Married: I have too many to choose a favorite, but here is one that is up there on the list. I was going to college at SUU, and there was a concert-I can't even remember who it was, -nine days , and fuel or something. Levi was supposed to come with me, but that weekend there was a huge blizzard and he couldn't make it. I was stuck with his extra ticket, and tried everyone I could think of to go with me, but by then, anyone who wanted to go already had tickets, or had plans. I seriously asked EVERYONE! Then, I ran into Troy. He had just moved to Cedar, and didn't have plans or tickets yet. I didn't really like him, but he was the very last resort so I asked if he wanted to go with me. He did, and he was a gentleman, and opened the door for me, paid for my dinner, and stood up and danced and sang with me even though you could tell he didn't really feel comfortable doing that. After the concert there was a dance, and we went to that for a while. He was a really good dancer, and taught me patiently, as I wasn't. Then we went sledding at "Walmart Hill" It was a really fun hill that was next to the old Walmart in Cedar. It was a little dangerous though, just the morning before our date a kid went down, and broke his neck and was paralyzed. Scary-but that didn't stop us. Troy had a few of those little plastic saucer sleds, and he and another couple took them and tried our luck. It was fun until one time when we went down together (Our butts were much smaller back then, because we both mostly fit on that little thing:) We hit a jump going the speed of light and the sled broke. That didn't stop us though, we kept going down on the pieces until one trip the piece caught on my back pocket and ripped it completely off! Not super classy, and VERY COLD! I was mortified, (and continue to be even to this day when Troy tells people that I ripped my pants off on our first date) Finally we decided to take my frostbitten butt home to my apartment where I changed, and we finished out the night with ice cream and movies. It was so much fun. It didn't start out as something I considered a date, more like a last resort, but when it ended I KNEW that we would certainly be friends, and I had noticed several qualities in Troy that I liked, and just knew that somehow he was going to have a special roll in my life. (Though how significant a roll I didn't know. -But Levi did-he always knew, I really ought to learn to listen to him sometime:)
So that's it, I'm going to tag Emily, Rachelle, and Kristene, and anyone else who wants a try:) You're it:)
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