Journal Jar #21: Food

What is my favorite food?
When I cook for my family, what do I enjoy making most?

I'm going to have to go ahead and say that my favorite food is chocolate. I admit it. Other sweet things I love include ice cream and homemade cream puffs (both of which usually include chocolate).

As far as non-sweet things, I seem to have a love for oriental soups. My top two: Thai Tom Ka Gi, and Vietnamese Pho. I also love fresh Mexican food, authentic Mexican food, sea food, and a good steak and potato meal every once in a while.

When I cook, I really enjoy baking. However, baking usually isn't healthy. So let's talk about healthy-ish foods. There aren't a lot of meals on my recipe rotation. I find myself making beef strogonoff, chicken squares, fajitas, baked ziti, and hamburger hash on a regular basis.

Journal Jar #20: My Bedroom

What does my bedroom look like?

Do I share a room? Am I comfortable in my room?

My bedroom is a master bedroom with a walk-in closet and light green walls. I have dark brown window curtains and during the winter months, a dark brown and light green comforter. I love to decorate, but somehow never got around to decorating my room. I think my bedroom is the hardest room to decorate for some reason. It's like I don't want to make a permanent decision about it, so I just avoid it all together. Like having nothing at all is better than trying something I may or may not like.

Anyway, on to question #2. Yes, I currently share a room. Growing up, I also spent time sharing a room with all 3 of my siblings (separately). I was the last person in my family to have my own room - gaining that right at age 16.

Even though I haven't decorated my room, I'm very comfortable in it. I love my bed. It's so soft. When we got back to our house after living with my parents for the summer, I just laid down on my bed and sighed. I was so glad to be back to it.

Journal Jar #19: Learning to Drive

Describe Your First Driving Experience

When I was 15, my cousin Robin lived about a half a mile from my house. We enjoyed each other's company, but didn't have vehicular privileges to get to one another's houses. This often led to us "meeting half way", meaning we would each walk toward the other person until we met, then we would walk together back to one house.

One sunny afternoon, after conversing with said Robin on the phone, and agreeing to one of the aforementioned "meet half way" rendezvouses, I convinced my dad to let me drive his suburban for my half of the commute.

This did not pose a problem to my father, seeing as my half involved tiny residential streets with little or no traffic at all times. I got in the drivers seat, and while my dad was buckling up on the passenger's side, I followed all of the safety precautions learned in my Drivers Ed course. I adjusted my seat and mirrors, fastened my seatbelt, and checked my blind spots.

Then we were off. I pulled out of the driveway with ease. My dad must have been beaming inside, since his daughter - at the fragile age of 15 - was a driving pro. I headed down my street to the end, where I was forced to take a right. I used my blinker. We hit the end of the next street. Blinker again, and looking both ways, I headed left. As we proceeded down this street, we could see Robin fulfilling her part of the agreement, but on foot. Oh, I could see the envy in her eyes from 300 feet away.

"Is that Abbie in that hot '84 burb?" she was thinking, "She looks SOOOO mature. And popular."

We drove up to Robin, and she got into the back seat. Well, actually the middle seat, since it was a suburban. I'm sure she started gushing about how cool I looked and whatnot, but I don't remember the details.

I pulled a swift 3-point-turn and headed back home. Again, my dad was overwhelmed with pride. As we neared my house, as luck would have it, my mom and all of my siblings were in the driveway. They ALL got to see me driving WITH PASSENGERS. I approached the driveway, turned the wheel, and prepared to glide effortlessly into my parking spot. Everything looked good.

Everything except for the look of horror on my little brother's face.

I glided the suburban effortlessly into our other car. The wheel wells of each car skidded into each other, causing the worst car-crash noise I'd ever heard in real life. My dad may or may not have sworn at that point.

I froze. He told me to put the car in park. I did. I got out, and without even surveying the damage or looking back at Robin, ran into the house crying.


It turns out that the damage wasn't that bad - hardly noticeable. The cars just exchanged some paint. Needless to say, it took some time before I headed to the drivers seat again. And who knows when my dad will ever trust my driving.



What about you? Any awesome driving experiences?

Journal Jar #18: My Family

Describe Each Member of My Family

Dad: My dad is currently the bishop of his ward. He's been bishop for almost 6 years now, and (knock on wood and don't tell my mom), I predict he's on his way to the Stake presidency. He loves to SCUBA dive. He likes camping in Mexico. He loves the boy scout program. He retired this year, and now volunteers at the Bishops store house 3 days a week-like it's a part time job. I get my excitement for planning & executing big projects from him. He loves to plan ways to tear his house apart and remodel it.


Mom: My mom works full time as a lawyer. You know when you were a kid and you thought that all teachers were girls and all firefighters were boys? I thought that all lawyers were girls, since my mom was a lawyer. My mom likes to SCUBA dive too, but only in warm water. She loves being a Nana. She likes to know all the gossip. I got my excitement for a good find from her. She likes to shop garage sales and thrift stores just like me. She can sing. I did not get that from her.




Mike: Mike is my older brother. We are 2 years and 2 days apart. Due to his 2-year mission, Mike and I graduated the same day as each other from BYU. Mike owns a small business. He enjoys building his business, spending time with his wife, and playing with his kids. He's smarter than I am. He's the only kid in our family that can carry a tune. He has a great sense of humor. He's an artist, but I haven't seen any work from him lately.



Danny: Danny is my younger brother. He served a mission in Australia, so naturally, he now speaks Chinese. Danny is very athletic and is the smartest of my siblings. Danny doesn't read my blog, so I can say whatever I want about him. But really, he's always been the most genuine guy I know. He also has a strong testimony.




Cathy: Cathy is the baby of the family. She was a tomboy, and grew up with a perma-pony tail until about high school graduation. Then she turned into a girl. She's super athletic and quite hilarious. She enjoys playing on co-ed softball & soccer teams. She's the most amazing person with kids I've ever seen in my entire life ever. Cathy likes spending time with her friends, buying new clothes, and trying new things.



And there you have it. My family in a nutshell.

Journal Jar #17: Being a Kid

What Toys/Activities Was I Into When I Was A Child?

Everything I was into, my best friend Kellie was into at the same time. This was extremely convenient for me, because her parents bought her pretty much whatever she wanted. We started off with Barbies. Our Barbie stage was definitely our longest stage. We then moved to Trolls. We also did a lot of playing outside and swimming.

We were very creative without toys too, if I do say so myself. Kellie and I invented an entire universe (that we were, of course, rulers over). The universe consisted of several planets, all of which had different characteristics and languages. On one of the planets, all of the people spoke their words backwards. This is how I know how to sing the words to "Jingle Bells" and "Happy Birthday" backwards (It's important to be able to speak the language of your subjects - to be a good ruler). But I'm not a singer, so it's not easy to get these songs out of me.

Other favorite childhood games: Playing "Saturday's Warrior", playing "Hobos" whenever it rained, drawing out our dream houses, creating Barbie movies, and jumping on the trampoline with the hose spraying on it.

Journal Jar #16: Ideal Location

If I Could Live Anywhere, Where Would It Be? Why?

Jake & I have decided that where we're old, we'll need 2 vacation homes: one for me, the beach vacationer; and one for him, the skier. As for MY dream vacation home, I think I would pick Mexico (Jake's would be Jackson, WY).

For me, nothing beats a nice, relaxing time at the beach, and what better way to enjoy the beach than with a shrimp taco in your hands? Now don't get me wrong, I love other types of vacations too, not just the sandy kind. But that's what Jackson is for.

Journal Jar #15: Pets

What pets have I had?
Which one was my favorite?

My family has had a slew of cats, one dog, 4 birds, various hampsters, tadpoles, fish, a turtle, and a rabbit. The hampsters never lasted long (remember, we had cats), so I don't even remember their names. The turtle was a found turtle, and if you can imagine: it escaped. Our neighbors found it down the street, and said it was their turtle, so it just stayed with them. The rabbit we owned for about a day (another found animal). We named it Fast. He escaped too.

The cats started with Peter. Peter was part of the family before any of the children were. He was born before my older brother Mike, and lived until Mike went on a mission at 19. During Peter's life, we also had Paco, Waldo, Figaro, and Tina; but Peter outlived all of them.

After Peter's time came Fred. Fred is mellow and lazy. He got hit my a car as a kitten, and has a limp tail because of it. This is good for babies and little kids because you can squeeze it and pinch it all you want, and Fred doesn't feel a thing. After a while, we decided to get another cat, so along came Ethel. Ethel is a very non-affectionate fluffy kitty. One day, she became quite affectionate, and we realized she was pregnant. She had 4 cute kittens. We decided to get her spayed once her kittens were given away. However, she had different plans, and before they were out of the house, we had a pregnant Ethel again (the little floozy). That time she had 6 adorable kittens, and 5 were adopted. The 6th one was black (a less desirable color), and never left the house. His name is Lucky. So yes, my parents have THREE cats, but quite by accident.

When I was 6 or 7, my family got a golden retriever named Ranger. Ranger was an awesome tennis ball catcher. At one point he could fit 3 in his mouth at once. He also loved water. He loved the hose, the retention basin after a rain storm, and he knew where every pool was in the neighborhood. Ranger used to put Cathy to bed. He would wake her up if she fell asleep on the couch, walk her to her room, lay on her bottom bunk (Cathy slept on the top bunk) until she fell asleep, and then leave and go sleep in the hall. He lived to be about 12, and it was very hard for our family (especially Cathy) when he died.

In high school, my dad built a bird cage outside of my bedroom window. I had 4 cockatiels in there for a while that I loved.

I would have to say that my favorite animal was Ranger. He was a good dog. However, I can't wait until I can get a cat. I love kittens, and they're much easier to take care of. Jake, who was an anti-cat person when I married him, has also warmed up to the thought of a cat, now that he's spent time with my parents' cats. I'm sure our family will have a dog someday, but it will be a while.

Journal Jar #14: Music

What's my favorite music group? Why?

My favorite musician is definitely Ben Folds. Why? Because he's awesome. Now, I have to admit here that since graduating from college, I have been slacking terribly in the music department. I used to stay up on most of the local bands both in Mesa and in Provo as well as other similar, more national bands, but now I hardly even listen to the music I already have.

Anyways, Ben Folds' fingers are like magic on the piano. He's just great. And if you only know him from his "She's a brick and I'm drowning slowly..." song, may I suggest the CD "Rockin' the Suburbs"? Just play it from the beginning and you'll be hooked (can I get an Amen from anyone in the audience here?)



Here is the music video from his song "Still Fighting It". Enjoy.

Journal Jar #13: At Home

What is my most favorite thing to do at home?

This one is obvious. Of course my favorite thing to do at home is spend time with Jake & Sophie. Family aside, I also love decorating my home. It's my favorite thing about moving into a new place, and even though I've lived in my current house for 2 years, I'm always thinking of new decoating ideas for it.

Journal Jar #12: My Testimony

Thank you for all of your patience during my blogger break. We moved last Monday, and we're still getting settled in. More on that later. To answer a comment question, this Journal Jar was something that my church's young women made during an activity to promote journal writing. I thought I would set an example for them and use mine weekly.

What Can I Do To Strengthen My Testimony?

I believe that a testimony of the church is a very personal thing. I feel my testimony is the strongest when I am doing things on my own to strengthen it, namely: reading my scriptures and praying daily. If I don't have the motivation to do these things by myself, I sometimes feel like I am just along for the ride, and not being as uplifted as I could be.

Journal Jar #11: Mothers & Wives

What kind of mother/wife do I want to be?

(This is seriously the question I randomly drew today.
How appropriate for Mother's Day, huh?)

• I hope to be a mother that my kids can talk to, no matter what.
• I hope to be a mother that celebrates little things.
• I hope to be a mother that takes time for fun.
• I hope to be a mother that recognizes when my kids aren't happy, or when they're struggling.
• I hope to be a mother that can laugh every day.
• I hope to be a mother that hugs my kids and tells them that I love them every day.
• I hope to be a mother that teaches my children about responsibility and morality.
• I hope to be a mother that kisses young kids' wounds, and helps to heal the teenaged ones too.
• I hope to be a mother that attends all the recitals, games, shows, competitions, etc., and the mother that is her child's biggest fan.
• I hope to be a mother that recognizes & honors kids' special days.
• I hope to be a mother that shows my children the importance of education and learning.
  
• I hope to be the mother that my daughters want to be when they grow up, and that my sons want to find in a wife.

• I hope to be a wife that shows my husband I love him through my actions daily.
• I hope to be a wife that hugs my husband and tells him that I love him every day.
• I hope to be a wife that always has an ear to listen.
• I hope to be a wife that shows patience and love while my husband provides for our family.
• I hope to be a wife that my husband finds attractive years and years from now.
• I hope to be a wife that remembers to do little, sometimes unnoticed actions to keep our house in order.
• I hope to be a wife that takes the time to impress my husband once in a while.
• I hope to be a wife that laughs every day.
  
• I hope to be the wife that my husband has always wanted.

Journal Jar #10: Dreams

What is the weirdest dream I've ever had?

I'm going to tell about 2 dreams, because I have an all-time weird one, and one that just happened last week, that I think you'll all enjoy.

1. When Jake and I were first married, I had a dream that I was on The Bachelor TV show, and Jake was the bachelor. This dream seemed SOOOO real to me. It was down to just me and one other girl, and I was pretty scared that Jake wasn't going to pick me. I remember in my dream calling my cousin Robin, to see what I should do. She had been watching the show, and she said that it seemed like Jake was going to pick the other girl. I think in the dream I even saw him kissing her. It made me so sick to my stomach. When I woke up, I was totally crying, and I wouldn't talk to Jake. I told him about the dream, but even after that, I was still mad at him for a couple days. Jake didn't think that was fair, but I didn't think it was right for him to go around kissing other girls in front of me.

2. About a week ago, I had a dream that Jake and I were with a lady and her daughter. The daughter was about 4 years old, and they were telling us about their vacation. They had gone to some place like Disneyland, and at this park, there was a Hansel and Gretel witch cottage made of real candy that you could really eat. Here's how my dream went:

Mom: (in a sing-songy voice, talking to her daughter) Where did we go today?
Girl: To the candy house!
Mom: And we got to eat some of it, and see the evil witch.
Girl: (very excitedly) Yeah!!! KILL THAT STUPID BI%*#!!!!!

(she accidently got her word mixed up.) Jake and I were laughing so hard in the dream, and I woke up from that dream with laughing tears in my eyes.

So what about you? What are some weird, funny or scary dreams that you had?

Journal Jar #9: Trials

What challenge or trial do I really want to overcome?
How am I going to do it?

I'm not sure if this question refers to trials in my life, or if it refers to my own weaknesses, that I can work on to overcome. Something that I consider a challenge is my ability as a wife. I would like to improve my wifely skills, specifically in keeping the house clean, dishes done, laundry folded, etc. I have a cleaning schedule set up, and if I follow it, I should meet all my goals.

Journal Jar #8: Friendship

Am I a good friend to other people?
If so, how? If not, what can I do to improve this?

(I actually made this yesterday,
so that Jake would always remember that he's my best friend.
He says that he's saving it for "Special Occasions".)

I'd like to think that I'm a good friend. I think that friendship is easier to maintain now that I'm all grown up and married, and my teenaged anxieties and dramas are all in the past. It's easier to be a friend not only because I'm more mature, but also because I think people don't expect as much out of an adult friendship. A phone call or an e-mail monthly can keep a friendship alive.

I try to be conscious of my friends' feelings and situations. I try to call if I know they're having a bad day. I try to send holiday cards and thank-you letters. Living in Tucson, all of my friends right now are long-distance. This has its benefits and drawbacks. It's nice because, if I'm not in a friendly mood, my friends won't necesarily know this, and they can still think I'm totally awesome. However, sometimes it's hard not being close to anyone.

To improve, I can call more often, I can e-mail to stay up-to-date on events, and I can make a better effort to visit friends when I'm in town.

Journal Jar #7: My Mom / EASTER

What are the things I admire about my mom?

• Smart
• Educated
• Great Personality
• No-Nonsense
• She'd rather have an accoustic show at the clubhouse than an HOA meeting, and makes sure that all the residents stay out of the way so the kids can have a good time
  
• World famous (in Mesa, anyway: "Oh, you're Susan's daughter??!!?!?!)
• Thrift Store shopper
• Knows EVERYTHING about EVERYONE (be careful what you disclose). This is good if you need info, but can be bad if you're the one with the news. Most stories that Cathy starts to tell me get interupted by me saying, "Yeah, Mom already told me."

EASTER

We had a great Easter complete with dinner with Ben, Macey, & Kiley. With our forces combined, we ended up with a delicious menu including ham, cheesy potatoes, green bean casserole, salad, rolls, & Martinelli's, with a chocolaty dessert. We couldn't have asked for a better way to end our Easter Sunday, especially since we were both spending the day away from our families.

Sophie sported her Easter dress & sweater at church - Thanks to Robin (It was her Christmas gift, but it didn't fit 'til now.) Perfect timing. Perfect cutie.

Journal Jar #6: Summer

Describe your Favorite Summer Activities

Lately, my favorite summer activity has been swimming in my parent's pool. It's fun because it's always a big deal, with brothers & sisters and Mabel & Oliver - no matter how many times a week we do it. It was especially nice last summer being large with child in the AZ heat, and I'm really looking forward to it this summer with Sophie.

This isn't an activity, but I also look forward to summer because it means that Jake doesn't have homework. Even though he'll be gone longer durning the day, once he's home, he's HOME. No worrying about papers or reading or finals.

As a kid, I always loved swim & synchro lessons, Mesa Parks & Recreation classes ("Arts & Crafts"), going camping in the forest over 3-day weekends, and hanging out with Kellie full-time.

Journal Jar #5: Birthdays

(Here is a picture of my Journal Jar, so you know that I really do pick out a random question each week from an actual jar)

What was my favorite birthday?
What was the best birthday gift I ever got?

Well, my favorite birthday is an obvious one - I met my husband at my 22nd birthday party.

However, the reason I had a party in the first place was because, ever since my 17th birthday, I have had HORRIBLE birthdays. I know, I know, if you're expecting something to be awesome, it's bound to disappoint. But I was just on a terrible birthday streak, so I decided to do something about it, and threw myself a party. The funny thing about it is that the party was actually 2 days before my birthday, and my actual birthday turned out to really suck. But, at least I got to spend the day thinking about that new cute boy I met, and hope that he'd call sometime.

As far as my favorite gift, I can't really think of anything. My 2 favorite childhood gifts both came at Christmas (my birds in high school and permission to get my ears pierced when I was 9).

What about you?

Journal Jar #4: Talents

What talents do I have that I want to strengthen?

I really enjoy sewing and making crafts, and both of those things are things I've been trying to improve lately. I always try to keep a project going, so that I am working on improving my skills every week.

I also can play the piano, and though I am not good at it, it is something I've been trying to strengthen lately. I even worked hard enough on a hymn to play it during opening exercises of the Young Women Sunday class one week.

Journal Jar #3: What Is Your Full Name?

What is your full name?
Why were you named that?
If you could change it to anything, what would it be?

My name is Abigail Kristin.

I was named after Abigail Adams, the 2nd First Lady of the United States. My mom really liked her and respected her, and so that is where I got my name. I just found out this year that my middle name was chosen because it's the name of my dad's favorite cousin.

I used to not like my name (as probably most elementary school kids did). The reason I didn't like it that much was because I didn't know any other Abbies growing up. I thought that my parents picked an outdated name, so I was embarrassed by it. Little did I realize that that was a GOOD thing. I remember wishing my name was Julie when I was a kid. I thought Julie was a fabulous name, and I envied the Julies I knew. My liking of this name came partially from my favorite movie.

I now really like my name, and definitely wouldn't change it (Although I did change my last name 3 years ago - mostly because I had a hard time writing it in cursive. Oh, and cause I got married). I like that Abbie/Abigail is extremely popular for a baby's name now. When I was born, it was ranked like 246, and now it's like #3. I like meeting 1-year-olds with my name.

Journal Jar #2: High School Teachers

Who Was My Favorite High School Teacher?

My favorite high school teacher was probably Mr. Webster. I had him 2 different semesters for English. I always did really good in his class, and it was his class that helped me realize that I have a talent in writing.

I also liked him as a teacher because, even though I was SUPER shy, and probably only talked in class like once, he remembered me a couple years after graduation. I was floored. What a great teacher to remember your students like that.