Karaoke Funtime

Thanks to some friends from Jon's school, we have discovered the wonderful world of Japanese BBQ, specifically Manpuku, a Japanese BBQ restaurant in Westwood. It is so good especially if you like meat and we are definitely meat eaters. We went there this week with a bunch of friends from Jon's school and they convinced us to join them in Karaoke afterwards. This was our first time participating in Karaoke but it was really fun/funny. I will admit, I got a little stage fright while singing the chorus of Cat Steven's "Peace Train" but Jon and our friend James did great! Our friend Aya loves Karaoke and she said that sometimes she will just rent a room by herself and sing for hours.

3 and 5 Things...

Here you go Vanessa:
First one: Post these rules on your blog.
List: 3 joys, 3 fears, 3 goals, 3 current obsessions/collections, 3 facts about yourself.
Tag 5 people at the end of your post by leaving their names

3 Joys
1. Jon / Family
2. The Gospel
3. Food

3 Fears
1. Not being financially stable
2. Losing someone close to me
3. Health

3 Goals
1. Jon graduating school and finding a great job
2. Starting a family
3. Going back into Teaching

3 Current Obsessions/Collections
1. Diet Coke
2. Blogs
3. Twilight

3 Facts About Yourself
1. I worry about everything. In college I tried to have the nickname "laid back Mercedes" but it became a big joke because I really am the most un-laid back person you will meet.
2. I am a horrible liar...Once while at BYU while I was walking down the hall with my sister I ran into one of my Professors and he asked me why I wasn't in class last week and I lied (Yes, I know it was wrong of me and I have repented and believe me, I don't lie anymore because it is wrong and also because there is no point )I began to tell him a story about how I was on a plane and it started to skid to a stop and by the time I had ended my lie I had somehow also intertwined a bear into the story as well. Needless to say my sister who was next to me was cracking up and I doubt my Professor really believed what I told him :)
3. My facial expressions give away any thought that is going on in my head...I can never hide any feeling or emotion.

Ten Years Ago ...
1. I was 17 years old
2. I was a Junior in High School and applying to BYU
3. I was working at Blockbuster
4. I was driving Bob
5. Hanging out with my best friends Jaclyn and Christina

5 Things on today's "to do" list...
1. Get organized at work so that when I am gone for Christmas my boss can handle things on her own
2. Wrap presents
3. Find quarters (ie...look on the floor everywhere I walk and waste dollar bills in the candy machine just to get quarters back in change) for laundry
4. Go through my closet and choose clothes to give away
5. Create a Christmas budget

5 Snacks I enjoy...
1. Diet Coke
2. French Fries
3. Kettle Corn
4. Fudge
5. Chicken McNuggets (I can't help it...they are really good)

5 Things I would do if I was a millionaire...
1. A million doesn't get you that much anymore but...I would invest
2. Pay off Jon's school loans
3. Purchase a home
4. The money would pretty much be gone after that

5 Places I've Lived...
1. Canyon Country, CA
2. Provo, Utah
3. Stevenson Ranch, CA
4. Chicago, IL
5. Brentwood, CA

I tag Marshall, Silvana and Jaclyn because none of you have had anything on your blogs for awhile and yes, I check almost everyday!!!!!

Thanksgiving to Christmas in the Blink of an Eye

We just finished this:

And we are moving full speed ahead into this:

Which is why I am a little stressed and have decided not to purchase or deal with one of these:

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving in San Diego with Jon's family. It was nice to see everyone and fun to spend time with family and our adorable nieces and nephew. We were able to go to Balboa Park and Julian as well as have a girls night out to see Twilight of course...and I really enjoyed the movie and I will be seeing it again with my Mom (Jacks, even after listening to you, I unknowingly got myself in the same situation). But now that Thanksgiving is over it seems like Christmas is already here and I am not ready at all.
While driving to work today (actually stuck in traffic not driving but rather sitting on Santa Monica Blvd. with my car in park)I had a beautiful view of the Temple and realized that they had put up the lights. My first thought was "Oh how pretty, Jon and I should spend an evening on the grounds looking at the lights" and then I quickly came to the realization that we have absolutely no time to do that or anything else for that matter. Why you ask? The answer is a sad reality that I have come to discover...My life begins on Saturdays and ends on Sundays. The other days of the week do not even exist to me. What happened to Monday through Friday? Well, I will tell you:
Wake up at 6am (actually alarm goes off at 6am and hit snooze until 7:30am)and wake up stressed because I woke up at 7:30am and will not be able to shower even though I gave myself a ton of good pep talks the night before on how happy I will be if I get up on time and actually take the time to look nice for work and eat breakfast.
Work from 8am (Oops arrived late, so I will not be taking my lunch today)until 4:30pm. Wouldn't it be lovely if I actually could leave at 4:30pm! Something always happens right at 4:15pm that will cause me to stay until 5pm - 6:00pm (that's okay, I don't mind the overtime $)Now here comes the scary part...venturing out into the rush hour traffic. When Jon and I first moved here I would seriously have mini anxiety attacks 10 minutes before I would have to leave work for home because I knew I would be driving in the horrible, crazy, video-game esque traffic of Los Angeles. Depending on which office I am in, my drive home will take anywhere from 45 minutes to an hour and a half...and yes, that is to either go 4.6 miles to my home from Century City or 12 miles to my home from downtown, LA. (Throw in Prop 8 protesters and double the time) Arrive home anywhere between 6pm - 7pm. Eat dinner because I am starving from missing my lunch and then come to the reality that if I don't jump in the shower now I will not be taking one (because face it...my pep talks to myself never work at getting me out of bed on time). After shower it is 8pm. Great...I can start getting the things done that I need to get done...laundry, dishes, cleaning around the house but then comes the feeling of fatigue and the rationalizing starts to take place... "I have been at work all day and I am tired" "It's just Jon and I...do I really need to clean the tub?" "If I spray some perfume on this cardigan, I can probably get away with wearing it a couple more times" and the one time I tried to go grocery shopping on a weekday by myself was hilarious! I don't know what it is about grocery stores and grocery shoppers in Brentwood, but they are insane. First off...no one buys food! If you look in every one's baskets (which might be bad grocery shopping etiquette, but I started observing because Jon and I are always the only ones with an actual cart, everyone has those small baskets that you carry with one hand)all they have is some wine, bread (oh excuse me, they prefer it to be called baguette) and maybe some cheese. We are the only ones with a cart buying actual food staples and unfortunately the aisles are too small for carts...hence the small baskets. The one time I went by myself on the weekday, I arrived home at 10:00pm (due to traffic...it never dies down!) and then had to make 3 trips up and down the 4 floors to get everything in and it was at that point that I decided all shopping and everything else for that matter can wait until the weekend! So...my life (everything from fun, movies, friends, chores, grocery shopping) happens on the weekend. You might be wondering where Jon is during all this because I didn't mention him at all during my Monday - Friday routine...well that is because he too doesn't exist between Monday - Friday. He is at school all day and pretty much all night. I go to bed around 11:30pm alone and all I know is that he is asleep next to me when I wake up. Throw in a holiday like Christmas and I am going crazy. We are leaving for Utah on the 20th so according to my "life" I only have 4 days (two of which are spent in Church) to do all the things I need! Even though I am stressed I am going to try to calm down and maybe even venture outside on the weekdays...I will have Kost 103.5's Christmas music on the radio to keep me company in the traffic!