100 Things I Have or Have not done in my life.

OK so I was reading my friend Krystal's blog today and came across this list. Feel free to copy this idea off of me as well. It is quite fun.Rules: Bold anything in this list you have ever done. Thats it!
1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Ran a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run ( I have on the Wii but I don't think that counts)
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had Chicken pox
89. Saved someone's life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met Someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee
100. Totally copied a post from someone else's blog to your own

54 of 100 isn't bad. I still have some things to do.

My Life of Late

So I haven't actually typed much of whats been going on in my life lately. Ben and I had a nice thanksgiving at home just the two of us and the cats. I cooked everything from scratch so we had a turkey, cranberry sauce made from fresh cranberries, apple, orange juice, orange and a little sugar. It was delicious. I also made mash potatoes using a recipe from the owner of the Chef's Table a fine dining restaurant in the Provo/Orem area. Also on the menu was homemade gravy and some rolls that were left over from someone else's attempt to made homemade rolls. They weren't quite fluffy but we still enjoyed them. Also I am proud to say Ben and I have officially gotten into the Christmas spirit and decorated our Christmas tree yesterday after Ben finished working his 3:30 am to noon shift at Kohl's on black Friday. Today we managed to complete all our Christmas shopping with the exception of presents for my brother, as he has yet to tell me what he wants, and a few presents for Ben and me. So all in all life is good.

My kitties waiting their turn for a bath.

Preparation for our thanksgiving feast.

Ben's contribution was following my instructions to chop the fruit for the Cranberry sauce.

Our Thanksgiving spread, from left to right, Gravy, mashed potatoes, Turkey, cranberry sauce, and our plates is the bread. And out of the picture is the pumpkin pie and ice cream Ben ran out and got because you can't have thanksgiving without pie.

Beatty cat wanted some too and he didn't believe me that I didn't have anything.

Our Christmas tree in all its glory.

Beatty cat got used to the new decorations quite quickly. He was displaced for his favorite spot under the trees once we had presents under there.

Happy Holidays everyone. Or if its not too offensive MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Random Photos

I took these and they make me smile so I thought I would share them with you.

Halloween...a little late

So I had a lot of fun this Halloween. I was a devil but Ben kept telling people I was Sarah Palin and he was both Obama and McCain. Actually most people thought Ben was suppose to be both McCain and Obama, but in fact it was just a politician...since they're two faced.
I have to admit, I really enjoyed dressing up for Halloween. I was the only one in my office that dressed up and every one kept asking me if I saw The Office the day before. I only figured that out a few days ago when someone explained that Pam was the only one that dressed up in her office. Normally I watch the Office the next day because we record it on the DVR but for whatever reason the day before Halloween none of the shows we normally watch got recorded...sad. So I have yet to see the Halloween Office episode.

Here we see two lovely sisters. Krystal is Julia Roberts from pretty woman, minus the hooker thing. Mary is a Fairy which is in fact Krystal's Halloween costume from a yesteryear.

Aren't we sexy in our halloween get up? I thought so. To quote Cher: "Thats why we're friends because we both know what its like to have people jealous of us" : )
Speaking of people being jealous, I got hit on at a Halloween party with Ben standing right next to me. Ben didn't say anything he just waiting to see how dumb the guy would feel when he realized he was hitting on a married woman.

And of course more pictures of me and my guapo hubby.

Solo shot... I hope you enjoyed my Halloween pictures as much as I did!

The People I work with...

These are the people I work with....cool huh?

Best Birthday Present to Ben EVER!

So for Ben's birthday I got him tickets to the Rock Band Live Tour which includes: Panic at the Disco! Dashboard Confessional, The Plain White T's, and the Cab.

We show up to the show psyched of course and first thing I run into a girl I went to college with and learn she now works for some of the local radio stations. Ben jokes about how I run into someone I know everywhere we go and we chat for a little bit with this girl and her husband. She asked if we were there for the meet and greet and we told her we were just there for the show. Our conversation ended shortly after that and Ben and I got in the normal line. About five minutes later my friend's husband comes over to tell us some of the people who won access to the meet and greet from the radio station didn't show up and asked if we wanted to go to the meet and greet for Panic at the Disco. Like I would say no to that?

So we got some amazingly sparkly wrist bands and filled into the lower reaches of the E-center and got the security talk about what we could and could not do in the bands presence (You can't give them food, because of a freaky fan who baked her hair into cookies, you can't hug them because who knows what you'll do with your hands, and you can't ask them to sign any articles of clothing you're wearing.) We were then told we could talk to the guys, have them sign one item, and then we could get a picture with them well.....
BEN AND ME WITH FREAKING PANIC AT THE DISCO!!!!!

So we got our tickets signed by the guys and got our picture taken (which only took three tries since Ben's phone didn't want to take the picture), and then went on and enjoyed the show. All and all this is the most enjoyable birthday present I've ever given to Ben. Yea for Ben's birthday.

The show was great and we were in the general admission section which means we squeezed quite intimately with hundreds of people to get as close as possible to the stage so we could watch the musicians sweat. IT WAS AWESOME!

Happy Birthday Ben...

So Ben's birthday was actually last month....on the 22nd, and I made him a cake but I forgot to post a picture so here it is....a month late. Oh well, it's the thought that counts.
Devil's food cake with homemade peanut butter frosting and chocolate chips. Jackie, Eric, and I all sang Happy Birthday as we surprised him, and I almost dropped the cake. It was priceless. I also got Benji some tickets to a show in Salt lake that happens to be taking place this week on Thursday. It also happens to be during Ben's fall break so he doesn't have to miss class to go. How serendipitous is that?

Beatty Cat

My cats are survivors. Batman has outlived his brother, moved with us three times, and as of yet has not gone missing, been eaten or even been sick. Beatty Cat has gone missing twice and both times just when we thought he was gone for good he shows up; a little skinny but never to much the worse for wear. Both of the cats traveled back to New Hampshire with Ben and I this summer but on the way back to Utah in August Beatty cat became lost in Ohio. We stopped to visit my second Mom, Chris and her husband. As we were about to leave Beatty jumped out of the car and when we tried to grab him he got scared and ran... and ran....and ran until he was in the woods and we couldn't find him. So looked all day and stayed an extra day but we couldn't stay any longer than that. Chris and Scott put up flyers and kept looking. One of their neighbors saw my cat and recognized him from the flyer. They tried to catch him and were feeding him in the process. Eventually they succeeded and returned Beatty to Chris's house. Chris then sent him back to us via Delta airlines. So now he's home and we're soooooo grateful to have our little buddy home.I wish I could do that with my tongue.

My little adventurer...I'm so glad he's home!

The last month....

So I've been so bad at updating my blog of late but I have some good news... well it's been good news for a while. I lost my cat on my trip from New Hampshire to Utah and my cat was left in Ohio after he ran into the woods. Well.... HE'S HOME!!!!!!! My Beatty cat arrived home back on Oct. 2 and our family has been reunited.


Ben, Beatty, Me & Batman.

It's past my bedtime so I'm going to sleep now, but I'll update more tomorrow.

A little late but...my wedding pictures

So I've actually been married for almost 2.5 years but I was looking at other people's wedding pictures and it made me want to post my favorite pictures from when I got married. So here they are....My Dress, it took me forever to find but I loved it!

My sexy husband carrying me and my dress that weighed 20 pounds. He's so buff.

Our closeup...

Gotta have the under the veil shot.

Kissing my hand on a temple bench.

The flowers at the Temple.

My handsome papa bear.
One of my favorites....the east coast is so pretty.
My temple!
My cake that looked like presents. My mom froze the top and on our one year anniversary my mom brought it with her in her purse when she flew to visit us.
My studly brother, the ladies can't resist.
My moms. My mama bear and my mother-in-law.

Thanks for looking at my pictures!

Friends

This post is dedicated to my friends...
My awesome sister-in-law joy who welcomed me into the blanchette clan before I ever knew I was going to be a part of it.My new sister-in-law Nikki, because I love her and she's super sweet not to mentioned beautiful!My friends who I could not have made it through college without: Krystal and Christina. We met in the dorms and it was the beginning of a beautiful friendship.Yet another reason why I couldn't have made it through with out them....who else would have dressed up like this just for fun with me?
And then there's my Comms friends... the lovely Alicia...And of course Jacquelyn what would I do it without her? My partner in crime at the Daily Universe, my roommate, and my co-worker.

Thank you to all my friends. I love you all. You're awesome!

Back in Utah

So it's back to life as usual. Ben and I made it back to Utah with one less cat and one speeding ticket. We stopped in Ohio on our trip back so Ben could see where I grew up. As we went to leave my mom's friend's house my skittish cat Beatty made a break for it and jumped out of the car. We tried to chase him back toward the car but he bolted for the woods and we haven't seen him since. We looked for him the entire day and put out cat food, his litterbox, anything that might smell familiar but to no avail. My mom's friend said she'll call if anyone sees him, but so far no luck. I miss my kitty cat.
In other news: Ben started school yesterday and I started my new job as a administrative assistant to a Financial Representative at an Insurance and Investment Firm. I wasn't aware you had to get fingerprinting down to work in a securities industry. The policeman who did my fingerprinting seemed confused about my cheerfulness with the whole process, for me it was a novelty. I'm so excited to have a job again, even if I'm terrified about how much I have to learn. I was bored out of my mind in August because where I was working had no jobs for me the entire month so I sat at home and cleaned, not exactly my ideal way to spend time. Sorry for the short post I'll try update soon.

Twilight

So I'm obsessed with the Twilight series and a friend of mine had it as a theme on her blog so I couldn't resist. Also if you're as excited about the Twilight movie that comes out in December you've probably seen all the teasers and trailers. I got a kick out of this awesome spoof: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dompotjTeIA

Progression

So I was reviewing the many photos from my college years and I noticed my style changed some...
Freshman Year:

Sophomore year:

Junior Year:


And Senior Year:

I know I'm weird. Hope you enjoyed my pictures.