on pudge's mind

so i don't usually post these kinds of things on this blog because i like to keep it pretty light and fun but i just think i am going to post this anyway. because guess what. this is my blog and i can do whatever the h i want.

i heard these quotes recently and i think they really put things into perspective. this life is hard and sometimes you forget how it all works. i'm grateful for quotes like these to help me remember.

"many of us fall into this trap - judging our individual worth by comparing ourselves to others. this view of worth results in one of two serious mistakes: either we imagine ourselves better than we are because we think we excel where others fail; or we are too hard on ourselves, thinking we do not measure up to others. faced with these misperceptions, we may settle into a false sense of self satisfaction, or strain to match the accomplishments of those we believe are ahead of us, or give up all together. our vision is clouded when we forget we are not in competition. as children of our Father in Heaven, we are already unique and valuable, beyond anything we can achieve in this world." -john c. taggart (all things in wisdom and order, aug. 2010 ensign)

"though you may feel that no one can understand the depth of your despair, our Savior, Jesus Christ, understands. He suffered more than we can possibly imagine, and He did it for you. you are not alone." -dieter f. uchtdorf (your happily ever after, may 2010 ensign)

oh hey lake powell

so i went to lake powell with andrea's family and martha. it was a grand old time.

"i'm a bronze goddess"...kind of.

you know how i live my life in fear? well, i am now a more daring version of myself. while i was in lp i wake boarded, knee boarded, hiked, drove a wave runner...and the list goes on.

if you want to see more pictures, click here.

in a pickle

you know how pickles are my favorite? do you know why they are my favorite?

nana made the best pickles in the whole world. i am not even exaggerating. she passed away about 13 years ago and my dad's family has been trying to figure out her pickles (among other recipes) ever since. a couple of my aunts have the recipe just about down.

last weekend brooke and i decided maybe we can get it right on our first try...

after several phone calls to my aunt eileen and mother, this is our result. i'll let you know how they turn out after thanksgiving when we're allowed to open them.

florence + the machine

i can't get enough of this song. i look forward to the eat pray love (which i can't wait to see) trailer to come on in commercial breaks just so i can hear it.

oh, and this one is pretty good too.

non-digital photos

so we had the thomas family reunion last summer and i decided to take my 35mm camera along and take some pictures. i just got the film developed (yes, a year later) and these photos are the result.

the first three photos are on the side of the road between ouray and durango, the rest are at mesa verde. all in colorado.

hallelujah

a new season of project runway starts tonight.

all is right in the world.

inception

so i saw inception last night and i kind of have mixed feelings about it...like i don't think i really liked it.

i feel like i understood what was going on for the most part which makes me think that maybe i didn't really understand it because everyone keeps saying it was really mind blowing and amazing and difficult to understand - but i didn't feel that way. and i have never had a reaction to a movie like i did this one, it was giving me so much anxiety that i was physically ill watching it, i just wanted it to end. i suppose the concept is interesting, but i don't like the idea of people messing with other people's minds to get what they want - it stresses me out. though i did feel better about things toward/at the end. maybe i need to see it again or discuss it with someone so i realize all the things i didn't catch and maybe i will like it more. maybe.

i think i just like movies that are mostly positive or funny or not too serious...like 17 again which i may have watched twice last weekend. yeah, i said it. twice. that movie is quickly becoming my favorite.

elder thomas

i just had an awkward experience...i just wrote my brother an email on his mission. i can't believe that little nas gas is in the mtc right now. it was a little weird writing him because i don't think i have written a missionary in about two years and i kind of forgot what you write them about.

elder nash thomas is serving in the mexico, tuxtla gutierrez mission. he just went into the mtc this past wednesday. i am excited to hear about all the great experiences he has over the next two years. he's gonna be an awesome missionary and i could really tell that he was ready to go. perhaps he was just so sick of his four older sisters nagging him all the time that he couldn't wait to get as far away from them as possible...

so precious.

let's just get it out in the open.

i watch the bachelorette. yes it is retarded and lame, but i kind of love it. and ali is actually a really good bachelorette and this season has been way less skanky than all the ones before it.

anyway, with that said. why the crap does ali like frank so much? am i the only person that can see that he is totally gay? there isn't a thing about him that says heterosexual to me, even his crazy obsession with ali is pretty gay.

but seriously, i mean come on...

i guess this doesn't matter because based on the previews he won't be around much longer. and can i just say that i am totally in love with chris? i would choose him in a heartbeat. i like roberto a lot too though, so i'll be fine with either one.

i'd almost prefer ali choose roberto so i can go to cape cod and stalk, i mean find chris. and make him love me.

dear diary,

so i am at home in colorado this weekend and i have been reading my old journals. here are some highlights:

september 15, 1995:

today i went to jill's soccer practice and i saw the cutest boy in third grade!!!!!! and he likes me to!!!! (those last four exclamation points had hearts on the bottom)

december 10, 1995:

today we have to go to church because it's sunday, and eryn is so grose she gives me the worst wedgies.

march 5, 1996:

my mom made this new rule that we can't watch tv on week days!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

may 22, 1996:

dear journal,

i know i haven't written in a long time!!!

august 25, 1996:

dear journal,

i know i haven't written in a long time!!! well i'm in fourth grade! i got ms. v, she is nice and she has a boy friend. well you might not have known this, but i had a lizard and it died. :( :(

lower down on the page it says: ms. v is EVIL! she is a witch

***side note: said lizard (lizzy) died because i didn't want to feed him crickets anymore because they were gross. i even had the crickets, i just didn't give them to him. i don't know what the sad faces are all about since i pretty much murdered lizzy.

december 6, 1999:

erik asked me out so i said yes. we had a pretty good relationship. i mean we hardly talked, but hey, this is what everybody does in 6th grade.

at this point all of my entries end with "G2G!"

december 7, 1999:

mrs. s - fat & crazy

mrs. b - 24, cool & married

mrs. m - fat, pretty nice, & makes weird faces

mrs. k - mean & her hair looks like a mushroom

brian - i liked him for a few weeks but not anymore because he is soooo stupid, he flunked 7th grade. when i talk to him i feel like i am babysitting.

december 16, 1999:

today i had a bad day. sara told me what kelly was saying while i was running the shuttle "paige won't beat anyone." guess what kelly, i did!

january 4, 2000:

shea has been really mean to me lately. so from now on i am not supposed to talk to her (her rule).

january 18, 2000:

i decided i wouldn't tell anyone that i liked casey, i really did that! yah, right! lots of people know, i told them. when sara was naming guys she thought i liked on the bus, she said casey so i said "stop asking me questions!" that is how sara and christine found out. other people, i just told.

january 20, 2000:

one of the bands i don't really like is godsmack. they really suck. so does rage against the machine. some of the bands/artists i do like are: limp bizkit, blink 182, beastie boys, 98 degrees (because they're hot), orgy, fat boy slim, madonna, enrique iglesias, creed, sugar ray...and more.

so, what did i learn about myself as a child?

-i was incredibly annoying from about seventh grade until i turned sixteen.

-i cared a lot about boys, probably too much.

-i was unfortunately shallow when it came to my seventh grade teachers.

i'm not gonna lie, i don't think i really like pudge in her young adolescence.

G2G!!!!!!!!!!!