you know i love to be:

LITERARY TAGGED! by Amanda

This is what you do:
1. Pick up the nearest book (at least 123 pages)
2. Turn to page 123
3. Find the 5th sentence
4. Post the 5th sentence on your blog
5. Tag 5 people

"You see, fear has had an effect on him." ~The Inspector General of Prisons

From chapter XIV: The Raving Prisoner and the Mad One of The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas.

Everyone I know who has read this book says it's their favorite. Already, I'd recommend this to anyone and I don't even know how it's going to end! I'm on page 839 of 1243. Almost there! When I first picked up this behemoth book I feared it would take me the entire year to get through it BUT it is so captivating! It's taken me about 3 weeks to get this far and I suspect I'll finish this weekend. I cannot wait to see what happens!

Oh, and I tag whoever feels like being tagged.

You know I love to be:

TAGGED! by Melissa

What was I doing 10 tears ago: I was a 20 year old USU college student in the midst of the most fun year ever and living with 5 of my best friends. I don't think much studying went on that year but there were a lot of boarding trips, Bear Lake condo trips and tons of crazy fun. I thought I was pretty mature back then... oh, how was I wrong! I pulled out my old journal and found a couple of pretty funny passages I wrote almost exactly 10 years ago (dang, time flies!):

"So, you know how you think you are sure about how you feel about someone then a week later you can't understand why you felt that way or you are embarrassed that you did feel that way? Well, boys will do that to you." Oh sweet 20yr old Christy- that's what we call "cornflakin'". Don't worry... you will still be doing that 10 years later.

"T moved home a week ago. Saturday we got a new roommate. She's fresh off the mission so our apartment is experiencing the uncharted territory of Michael McLean and church music." That's just funny.

5 things on my to-do list today: 1- finish the bridal shower invitations and send them; 2- get treats for enrichment night; 3- run 5 miles; 4- clean my room; 5- do my taxes. I probably won't get any of it done.

What snacks do I enjoy: Trader Joe's Oriental Cracker Mix, dry roasted, unsalted almonds, Baked Cheetos, Oreos (with milk)

What would I do if I were suddenly a billionaire: Pay off my car, my house and my credit cards, save for retirement, travel back to La Reunion & Mauritius for a few months, pay for dental work (including invisalign braces and whitening), get laser hair removal, hire a personal chef and personal trainer, play 'What Not to Wear' with my wardrobe and go on a major shopping spree, buy a horse, buy a boat.

Three bad habits: 1- My bedroom is always messy; 2- I stay up late and sleep in late everyday; 3- I procrastinate everything.

Five places I've lived: 1- Orem, UT; 2- Logan, UT; 3- Las Vegas, NV; 4- Ste Marie & St Denis, La Reunion; 5- Quatre Borne, Mauritius

Five jobs I've had: 1- Piano teacher; 2- Telephone surveyor (worst job ever); 3- Data Entry; 4- USU Computer Lab Consultant; 5- Project Engineer

Five things people don't know about me: 1- I love responding with "that's what she said" or "your mom"; 2- I sleep sideways in bed (usually on the top half of the bed); 3- I hated reading until I graduated college and now I adore reading; 4- I'm innately shy and still have to work to overcome it; 5- I spend too much time on LDSLinkup and like figuring out who people are "In A Relationship" with and find great satisfaction in seeing their status change to "Married".

tag-ed

secretly, i always wanted to get tagged... tag yourself if you like.

1- when i find a song that i love i have absolutely no problem listening to it on repeat for 12+ straight hours until i'm sick of it. i get a kick out of looking at my most played list on itunes and seeing which song i've endured the longest. oddly enough, i never know all the lyrics even though i always sing along. my brain only memorizes the notes, the instruments, the music, but never the words.

2- i am very aware of my physical imperfections, shortcomings, etc and like most people feel self conscious in most social situations, yet i have a (healthy?) streak of vanity wherein I have no problem admitting when i think i look great. i also love looking at photos of myself (probably because i know i'm photogenic and look better in photos than in real life).

3- i have whatever the opposite of a foot fetish is. i think feet are so disgusting and get a little freaked out if people get their feet too close to me or (heaven forbid!) touch me with their feet. ironically, i give a great foot massage. my feet are fine though. i don't hate my feet. what's weird though is that i cross my toes. more often than not i have my big toe crossed over my second toe or vica versa and do it with both feet. i have the long finger-like toes that can pick stuff up which is why i can cross them.

4- i served an LDS mission in the Madagascar Antananarivo Mission. i guessed that's where i'd go so it wasn't a surprise to me when i opened my call (which i received on my 24th birthday). i never served in Mada though i was lucky enough to go there the last 2 days of my mission. after a 2 month visa wait in the Oklahoma Tulsa Mission (i was in Fayetteville, Arkansas and loved it) i served, french speaking, on the 2 "outer" islands- La Reunion & Mauritius- that were part of the mission. i absolutely loved it! the islands were gorgeous, the missionaries were the cream of the crop and the cultures and people were amazing. i came home with a love for the indian (dot, not feather) culture, especially the food, thanks to my time in Mauritius. i love that i got to serve french speaking because i'd studied french all through jr high and high school and have always been a bit of a francophile. i'm still homesick for the Mascareign Islands!

5- i studied piano from the age of 5 until the time i left for college. i was required to practice 2 hours a day, went to various competitions every spring (i even won a concerto competition) and had several personal recitals. i wasn't always so dedicated to my practicing and my mom was always on my case about it (and still is to this day... seriously, this evening on the phone she asked if i had been practicing the piano). my greatest strength has always been sight reading. even though i've lost a lot of my technique i can still pick up almost any piece of music and play it. i even taught piano all through high school. my biggest regret (said La Belle Dame Sans Regrets...) is that i didn't continue on with my piano studies through college (i didn't realized i could get my engineering degree and still study the piano... one track mind). but one day i will go back and study piano pedagogy and combine my love for music and teaching (which was learned later in life) and have my own piano studio.

6- i am a serious night owl (2am 'lights out' is not uncommon for me). i hate going to sleep at night. but i love sleeping. waking up in the morning is the worst part of the day.

this is me with bubanky (my baby blanket), jimmy (the bear) and lammy (the lamb). i still have all three. cute, eh?

i LOL'd

so i was just reading the blog of a friend of a friend that i've actually met. anyway, whatevs... here's the point:
she posted a little "i got tagged and had to do this" thing where you come up with your spy name or nascar name or stripper name by combining your parents names and your favorite colors or something like that. anyway... i decided to kill a little time and write down my answers on a post-it. it was kinda lame until i got to my Star Wars Name.
to find your Star Wars name combine the first 3 letters of your last name with the first 2 letters of your first name.
go ahead... try it with my name. if you know me, this will be hilarious.

if you don't know me... well, i'll just tell ya. my StarWars name is...

wait for it...

wait for it...

croch

yep. still funny.

abc, 123

The ABCs of Christy:

A - Attached or Single: single

B - Best Friend: Stacy. She moved in next door when I was 6 and we've been best friends ever since. We've both pretty much been adopted into each others families and now I claim her 3 boys as my own. Even though we don't get to see each other very often and only talk on the phone every few months, each time we talk it's as if not a minute has passed since our last conversation.

C - Cake or Pie: Nothing wrong with either of them but I think I'd go with pie (especially peach pie. yum!)

D - Drink of Choice: Water! Or if I'm feeling crazy Diet Coke with a little Root Beer, Dr Pepper (good for road trips) or Mountain Dew (when I'm eating at Baja Fresh). I've just recently discovered the beauty of fountain drinks. So much soda! So cheap!

E - Essential Item: My hair straightener & biosilk. I'm quite sure I would die without either of them.

F - Favorite Color: everything blue

G - Gummi Bears or Worms: neither. gummi candies are sick

H - Hometown: Orem, UT

I – Indulgence(s): SYTYCD, blogging, sleeping in, naps

J - January or July: January. Only because July in Vegas feels like living in Hell.

K - Kids: After I get married I'd like a boy and a girl. And maybe a dog.

L - Life is incomplete without: friends, bbqs, music and dancing

M - Marriage Date: I'm doing the set a date program. But I don't want to tell you my date because it won't be as exciting when I tell you all that I'm actually getting married and I don't want to jinx myself.

N - Number of Siblings: 2 cool sisters.

O - Oranges or Apples: Oranges wedges!

P - Phobias/Fears: Admittedly I'm still afraid of the dark, being alone forever, and spiders (eck!)

Q - Favorite Quote: Just look up at the top of the page. Good old Mark Twain.

R - Reason to smile: I have awesome friends! And, it's the SUMMER OF FUN!

S - Season: Spring! I love when things start coming back to life, the warm sun after months of cold and the excitement of the impending summer.

T- Tag Three: I tag YOU!

U - Unknown Fact About Me: I cross my toes.

V - Vegetarian or Oppressor of Animals: Meat is Murder... tasty, tasty murder. I'm the daughter of a farmer. Of course I like meat!

W - Worst Habit: I tend to cut people off in conversation. I stay up way too late and sleep in way too late. And I eat late at night.

X - X-rays or Ultrasounds: X-rays are the coolest. OK, I bet ultrasounds would be cool too but I've never had one. But there is something pretty awesome about being able to see "inside" your body.

Y - Your Favorite Foods: chicken mahkni, pesto pasta, pbj, cocoa pebbles, chinese chicken salad, sandwiches from Great Harvest, baked cheetos, funeral potatoes, fry sauce

Z- Zodiac: Capricorn