THE BIG "31"

Yesterday I celebrated the 31st anniversary of my birth.

Nothing too eventful happened, but I had the opportunity to celebrate with (or at least talk with) many of my friends and family members, exactly how I would have chosen to spend it. I have been blessed to have so many fabulous people in my life!

If you are reading this, you can be assured that you have touched my life in some way or another.

Here's to hoping for another great year and more time spent with all of you.

"GOONIES" & "THE PLAN OF SALVATION"

I love movies and I often find analogies in many of them. Many think I am crazy, and I probably am, but one of my favorites is the analogy between the great 1985 hit "The Goonies" & the plan of salvation.

For starters......we are all on a quest for our own treasure, that of eternal life/exaltation.

We have been given everything that we need to find exactly that.

The goonies had the treasure map, the copper stone, etc. We have a living prophet, scriptures, general conference, church magazines/books, church meetings, temples, etc. to help us learn the things that we need to know to gain our "treasure."

The goonies had the Fratelli's that were trying to keep them from reaching the treasure, as well as boobie traps and Troy and his friends. Satan doesn't want us to obtain our treasure, and there are other obstacles and trials that we have to overcome as well. On the other hand we have many friends and family on our side that supporting us along the way and helping us make it.

When the goonies get to the bone-piano scene, Andy is tested to see if she paid enough attention in her piano classes to allow them to continue on their journey rather than halting their progression. Have we paid attention and learned enough to be able to pass our tests?

When they finally arrive at the pirate ship, the treasure is greater than they had imagined. Once they get to the beach.....the end of their search, all of their loved ones are there to meet them.

A LITTLE PEAK INTO MY LIFE

I was tagged back in August by my dear friend Kim to post this list, so here goes.......

5 Things I was Doing 10 Years Ago-

1. To the date, I had just over one week before I was to enter the MTC and embark on that great adventure. Hopefully I was appreciating the luxurious comforts of America since I would have to live without them for the next 18 months.
2. Just prior to leaving on my mission, I had been working at a doctor's office in Sandy by Alta View Hospital (Dr. Dietz, Hawkins, Breding & Liu).
3. I was enjoying my last couple of days as a "not quite legal" 20 year-old.
4. I was driving a white, Chevy Cavalier Z24 (A sporty little 2-door thing with some serious get-up-and-go).
5. I had a pretty serious crush on Matt McIff from high school as well as our old neighbor from Sandy, Zachary Terry.

5 Things On My To-Do List Today

1. Update my blog.
2. Laundry/Put new sheets on my bed.
3. Go to the gym.
4. Order new appliances for my kitchen (I am going stainless steel! ) YAY! I have them all picked out, I just need to order them.
5. Do something fun.....catch a movie or something.

5 Snacks I Enjoy (It depends if I am trying to be healthy or not) Ü

1. Sunflower Seeds ("Spitz" are my preferred brand)
2. Microwave popcorn
3. Hostess Donettes
4. String Cheese
5. Cold Cereal

5 Songs I Know the Lyrics To (there are many, but here is a sampling)

1. "The Greatest Love of All" - Whitney Houton
2. "On My Own"* - Les Miserables
3. "Sold (The Grundy County Auction) - John Michael Montgomery.
4. "My Wish" - Rascal Flatts
5. "Mandy" - Barry Manilow

5 Things I Would Do If I were A Millionnaire

1. QUIT MY JOB!
2. Take my whole family on a cruise
3. Trade in the Honda Accord for a BMW
4. Do some major remodel on my condo, or probably just buy a new one and upgrade.
5. Invest the rest of it well, so that I can live and travel off of the interest.

5 Bad Habits

1. I take forever to go to bed - I am not doing anything important but just keep putting it off and then regret not going to bed sooner.
2. I rip my hangnails rather than clip them.
3. I always forget to attach my attachments when sending emails.
4. I eat when I am bored.
5. After vacation or being gone for a weekend, my bag will just sit on my bedroom floor for a week or so. I HATE UNPACKING!

5 Things I'd Never Wear Again (I guess we should never say never....but I think I can be pretty confident here.)

1. Banana Clips
2. High-top sneakers (I had some cool LA Gear & Reebok ones)
3. Overalls of any kind
4. Anything & everything that I was wearing on my mission. I look at pictures and just cringe.
5. Leg warmers

5 Favorite Toys (I don't know what really classifies itself as a toy for the adult population, but I'll give this one a try).

1. I do have quite a bit of fun with my Nintendo Wii.
2. My laptop
3. My tennis racquet (I stole that one from Kim)
4. I probably spend more time with my TV/VCR/DVD-R than I should
5. My MP3 player

4 Jobs I've Had

1. Parson's Bakery (Richfield, UT)
2. Rick's College Registrar's Office (Rexburg, ID)
3. LDS Hospital Radiology (SLC, UT)
4. Dominion Engineering (SLC, UT)

4 Movies I Can Watch Over and Over

1. Top Gun
2. Retun to Me
3. Goonies
4. Princess Bride

4 Places I've Lived

1. Sandy, UT
2. Richfield, UT
3. Rexburg, ID
4. Sao Paulo, Brazil

4 Shows I Enjoy

1. Biggest Loser (motivates me to get my butt of the couch, but Jillian would make me cry).
2. Gilmore Girls
3. Home Remodel/Repair shows (especially on TLC)
4. What Not to Wear

5 Places I've Been On Vacation (okay, so I know I have listed more than five, but some of them go together)

1. Ocho Rios, Jamaica/Grand Cayman/Cozumel - CRUISE
2. Cancun/Chitchten Itza
3. Cabo San Lucas/Mazatlan/Puerto Vallarta - CRUISE
4. San Juan, Puerto Rico; St. Thomas/St. John; St. Maarten - CRUISE
5. Wapanucka, Oklahoma & Idaho Falls, ID (I know you are all jealous of these exotic destinations, but some of the cutest kids in the world live there.)

4 Favorite Restaurants

1. Anything Chinese (NMandarin, Sampan, PF Chang's, etc.)
2. Brazilian Churrasco (Rodizio Grill , Tucano's, BrazaGrill, etc.)
3. Macoroni Grill
4. Market Street Grill

HOW COOL AM I?

I promise that I won't let it go to my head, but check out my new masthead!

I must say that I am quite impressed with myself. My friend Kim has one of the funnest blogs and it is always changing. After picking her brain for a while today I thought I would attempt to change my blog up a bit. This did take me a while with a couple of trial runs and still needs some fine tuning, but I thought it was kind of festive.
I know that everyone is probably thinking, "she should be working on new posts rather than the appearance of the blog since it as been over a month since Trisha has posted anything." And I totally agree!
I promise within the next couple of days I will get some more posts up there and try to stay more up to date.
Stay tuned............