Happy Birthday John!

My handsome husband is 26 today! I reminded him this morning after getting birthday doughnuts and chocolate milk that he is now closer to 30 than 20 ! He came back quickly that the day after I turned 25 I entered that category too...brat! I however am not the one with the grey hairs sweetie:)

So yes in honor of John's birthday I thought I would list 26 about him (this does not mean it will be a yearly thing)

1. He is a marvelous guitar player
2. He is in a band called Backing Wisconsin

3. He cuts his own hair

4. He is very loyal
5. He is hilarious (He's 105 on a scale of 100-according to Kevin,pfff)

6. He used to walk out of the bathroom after taking a shower with a towel wrapped in his hair and one wrapped around his body under his armpits. (that's what you get for being the youngest and having 4 older sisters)

7. He knows all the words to Everybody Dance Now

8. He loves fruity candy

9. He served a mission for 2 years in Brazil and speaks Portuguese fluently

10. He can shake his booty like Beyonce

11. He is good at fixing things

12. He wipes down the toilet after every use, yes I know I'm lucky!

13. When he vacuums he leaves carpet tracks

14. When he talks about his mom he can't help but smile, he loves her sooo much
15. He was once pulled over and accused of driving under the influence on the way to a church dance. As it turns out the car just had really bad alignment

16. He's an eagle scout

17. He is ticklish

18. He is very patient

19. He doesn't follow any sports, in fact I'm more of a sports fan than he is

20. He loves the apple pies from McDonalds and the Carmel empenadas from Taco Bell

21. I don't think there's a soul who doesn't like him

22. He was on the water polo, swimming, soccer, track and tennis teams in high school

23. He loves music and is very picky when it comes to his own compositions

24. My sisters call him Brother John, my dad and grandpa call him big John, and the rest of my extended family (aunts,uncles, & grandma included) call him cousin John

25. He worked as a life guard when he was a teenager

26. He is very honest

Here are some pictures of John Tullis, so they're not my John Tullis but I've already posted the two photos I have of him on my computer-deal with it. Happy Birthday John, I love you!

Road Trip

We went to San Jose and Sacramento this weekend to see 2 of John's sister and his parents. Mom & Dad Tullis recently arrived home from their mission in England so this is the first time we saw their new house in Sacramento. I got some pictures but I left my camara at home on Saturday-bummer. Oh well I'm not able to upload them anyway. Highlights from this weekend:

• Spending time with John on the car ride talking & singing.
• Seeing The Millers
• Going on a walk to the park even though it was sooo hot!
• Playing with the nieces and nephews
• Seeing Mom & Dad's new house
• Going to the Sacramento temple with Mom and Dad (it's a beautiful temple)
• Seeing The Brinks
• Eating a tasty lunch-thanks Suzie!
• Homemade apple pie and cookies-thanks Suzie!
• Watching Zach (and Dad) do the Happy Feet dance
• Staying up late talking with Mom on Saturday night
• Church was very nice. It was a treat to be able to sit with John during Sacrament and then go to Sunday school and relief society!
• Spending Sunday talking with Mom & Dad
• Homemade strawberry pie-thanks Mom
• Coming home and getting to sleep in our own bed

She Passed!!

Kerilynn is the newest Cosmotologist in CA! Yay!!

Good Luck KL!

Tomorrow my sister Kerilynn is taking her state cosmetology boards. (My mom is going to be her client) Kerilynn is amazing when it comes to hair, nails, and make-up. She's always had a talent to do hair. Girls have been coming to her for years for prom's and homecoming's. Her passion though is make-up, thanks to KL for giving me the best mascara ever! Because of her I'm slowly starting to do more with myself. I love her soooo much. We used to fight like cats and dogs when we were little and though we were girls we didn't hold back from using our fists. She won most of the time because she was stronger but I was quick just not quick enough. Luckily we have moved on from that phase (it's been about...oh...2 years since our last fist fight:)j/k) and now are really good friends. I love being close to her and being able to call her to sing with me or trim my hair or talk. Love ya Kerilynn, you'll do great tomorrow.

Slow News Week

What to write about....Last week my mom gave me a copy of the soundtrack from little women the musical. I love it! I've been singing two of the songs from it all week, the Massachusetts one and the duet with Jo and Beth (sorry I don't know the names). Some of you, wait there's only 3 people who read this, so all of you probably know that I love musical theater. I have been know to spontaneously erupt into song and dance. If only the people around me would join in then it would really be like a musical:)

In other news a few days ago I had a blog surfer leave a comment! It was so exciting for me. It was one of the first things I told John when I picked him up from school. Thanks to those who have included me on their blog roles. So my blog surfing friend got me thinking about how she found me, I think it was from Jeanine site, any how I was thinking about blog genealogy. I'm weird I know. I have a lot of time in the car to think about these things. You know what I mean though just a way to see how the connection was made a la 6 degrees of separation. It's something I've become accustomed to being LDS it seems it's not hard to find a mutual friend with a stranger. It goes a little something like this: your friend's cousin is visiting from out of town they are from that city that your roommates ex-boyfriend is from-their siblings went to high school together, their brother served in the same mission as your uncle (who is younger than you, that's how we roll), instant connection BFF and now you can add them to your social contacts list next time you run into that roommates ex. Same idea with blogging. It's a small world after all.

Some Things that Make Me Smile

I am Grateful for:

Good Samaritans

The Smell of Jasmine

It's a Girl!

The news is in! My sister in law is having a girl!! Yay for babies! Yay for Janelle and Lance! Yay for being an aunt! I love it. I'm the oldest in my family and the first to get married so you can imagine how wonderful it was to become an instant aunt by marriage! In fact 3 weeks before our wedding Renee (John's sister) had her first baby Jonus (dun dun dun dun dun dun He's carrying the wheel) and two days before our wedding his other sister Suzie had Zach! I am the proud Aunt of Camille, Greg, Clair, Alexis, Zach, Jonus, Haley, and soon to be baby LeeElle jr. mock (eh?, what do you think Janelle)! I miss them and wish that I lived closer so I could babysit and play with them. I'd like to think I'm the favorite Aunt but let's be honest I've got tough competition. (love ya Alyse, Suzie, Renae, & Janelle)

Thank You Thursday!

Today I would like to thank my dear friend Shannon for jazzing up my blog. She is amazing at blog designs and layouts. I went over to her house last night we had such a good time talking, hanging out, and of course working on the blog (although it really wasn't a we effort on the blog it was more of a she effort). Shannon is really talented! She is a computer whiz, great mom, stellar interpreter, and an awesome photographer (on our next "date" I hope to pick her brain and learn some handy camera tricks). Thanks again Shannon for your help! (Check out some of her photos...I have her link on my blog roll) This is one of my favorite photos of Shannon. Isn't she beautiful? And get this she took the picture!!

Say Cheese!

Here is my new Camera. It is a Sony Cyber Shot DSC-W80. Thanks to my work for the Best Buy gift card, my parents, my in-laws, and my grandparents for the birthday funds that went toward purchasing my new toy. It's so cool, I'm still learning all of its bells and whistles. Hopefully this will aid me in achieving my goal of taking more pictures.

Are you there Blog? It's me Margret.

Confession. Since entering the blog world I have stumbled upon many blogs that I enjoy. My favorites list is getting longer and longer everyday as I fill it with links to people's blogs who "I know" because I was on so and so's blog and checked out their blog roll which led me to this blog etc. I enjoy finding out what's going on in their lives; the births, the purchases, the new skill, their accomplishments, pictures, or enjoyable moments. (Is it just me or is everyone having babies?) I feel like I know some of them now. Will we exchange Christmas cards or go on double dates together? Sadly no. I wonder if ________ had her baby? or I wonder how their move went?

Creepy? maybe. But I can't help it. I've had the desire to leave comments before but never have for fear of being thought of as the weird stalker girl, but hey I can't be alone in this obsession right?..... Bueller?..... Bueller? Maybe I'm looking for justification or reassurance or possibly confidence to admit my "problem" to the authors. I don't know. Nevertheless I really enjoy "meeting" these people relating to them and seeing that there are many passengers in my same boat.

He's Back!

This is a shout out to my BFF John. He is so wonderful! John is in law school and just finished his last final yesterday! Finals at any level/school are long and gruesome however it is my personal experience that law school finals are especially unpleasant(I'm sure some other graduate programs are similar) . John's last day of school was at the end of April so all of May has been devoted to finals. He is a busy man juggling church, the band, me, school, and everything else. John is good about setting aside a little time here and there for us even if it is just a few minutes to talk or cuddle etc. Two weeks ago when I found out I passed my NIC test he took me out to dinner despite his upcoming tests. He has been diligent in his studying and staying at the library past midnight (apparently I can be a distraction!?) last week I think we slept in the same bed and the same time twice...maybe three times, whatever it was it was not cool. I don't know how he can go on so little sleep for so long and when I say so little I'm talking 3 hours or less. I'm glad he's done with finals and can catch up on his sleep and guitar playingand play with me more! I'm so proud of him and all the hard work he's put in this past year. Welcome back sweetie!

Under Arm Flab?? Have a Baby!

Monday morning I woke up and my arms were really sore. I felt like I had done a thousand push ups. As many of you know I am a sign language interpreter by profession which means I move my arms-a lot! It is not uncommon for my arms to hurt especially after a long or strenuous assignment but seeing as I hadn't signed for 4 days I didn't know what was causing the pain. Enter Mateo. He is my little friend. His mom and I work together (we are friends too). I babysat this cute little guy on Sunday. He is adorable coming in at around 11 lbs. You would think that from all the signing/moving I do my arms would have some tone and strength to them-wrong! I actually am getting what I affectionately call Relief Society arms, you know the under arm flab that waves to everyone after you've stopped waving. Needless to say holding/bathing/feeding/tending to Teo for a few hours on Sunday did it!! And I'm not complaining I would do it again in a heartbeat! Here's looking forward to having babies and strong arms!

I PASSED!!!

I have passed my National Interpreting Test!!!! This is huge for me. I'm now a real bonafide interpreter according to RID (the governing board for interpreters). It's an amazing feeling to achieve something you've worked so long and hard for. I didn't even feel this way when I graduated college! But I digress. Woo Hoo!!!

Mo Roco Eat Your Heart Out!

Love this!! I'm glad that I can only relate to 99% of these things (can't claim the mullet-whew!) I found this entertaining and appropriate for today.

You Know You Grew Up In The 80's or Early 90's If:
1. You've ever ended a sentence with the word SIKE.
2. You watched the Pound Puppies.
3. You can sing the rap to the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air and can do the Carlton
4. Girls wore biker shorts under their skirts and felt stylishly sexy.
5. You yearned to be a member of the Baby-sitters club and tried to start a club of your own.
6. You owned those lil' Strawberry Shortcake pals scented dolls.
7. You know that "WOAH" comes from Joey on Blossom
8. Two words: Hammer Pants
9. If you ever watched "Fraggle Rock"
10. You had plastic streamers on your handle bars... and spokey-dokes or playing cards on your spokes for that incredible sound effect
11. You can sing the entire theme song to "Duck Tales" (Woo ooh!)
12. It was actually worth getting up early on a Saturday to watch cartoons.
13. You wore a ponytail on the side of your head.
14. You saw the original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles on the big screen..and still know the turtles names.
15. You got super-excited when it was Oregon Trail day in computer class at school.
16. You made your mom buy one of those clips that would hold your shirt in a knot on the side. 17. You played the game "MASH"(Mansion, Apartment, Shelter, House)
18. You wore stonewashed Jordache jean jackets and were proud of it.
19. L.A. Gear....need I say more?
20. You wanted to change your name to "JEM" in Kindergarten. (She's Truly Outrageous.)
21. You remember reading Tales of a fourth grade nothing and all The Ramona books.
22. You know the profound meaning of "WAX ON, WAX OFF"
23. You wanted to be a Goonie.
24. You ever wore fluorescent clothing.
25. You can remember what Michael Jackson looked like before his nose fell off and his cheeks shifted.
26. You have ever pondered why Smurfette was the only female smurf.
27. You took lunch boxes to school... and traded Garbage Pailkids in the schoolyard.
28. You remember the CRAZE, then the BANNING of slap bracelets.
29. You still get the urge to say "NOT" after every sentence.
30. You remember Hypercolor t-shirts.
31. Barbie and the Rockers was your favorite band.
32. You thought She-ra (Princess of Power!) and He-Man should hook up.
33. You thought your childhood friends would never leave because you exchanged handmade friendship bracelets.
34. You ever owned a pair of Jelly-Shoes.
35. After you saw Pee-Wee's Big Adventure you kept saying "I know you are, but what am I?" 36. You remember "I've fallen and I can't get up"
37. You remember going to the skating rink before there were inline skates.
38. You ever got seriously injured on a Slip and Slide.
39. You have ever played with a Skip-It.
40. You had or attended a birthday party at McDonalds.
41. You've gone through this nodding your head in agreement.
42. You remember Popples.
43. Don't worry, be happy
44. You wore like, EIGHT pairs of socks over tights with high top Reeboks.
45. You wore socks scrunched down (and sometimes still do..getting yelled at by younger hip members of the family)
46. You remember boom boxes and walking around with one on your shoulder like you were all that.
47. You remember watching both Gremlins movies.
48. You know what it meant to say "Care Bear Stare!!"
49 You remember watching Rainbow Bright and & My Little Pony Tales
50. You thought Doogie Howser/Samantha Micelli was hot.
51. You remember Alf, the lil furry brown alien from Melmac.
52. You remember New Kids on the Block when they were cool...and don't even flinch when people refer to them as "NKOTB"
53. You knew all the characters names and their life stories on "Saved By The Bell," The ORIGINAL class.
54. You know all the words to Bon Jovi - SHOT THROUGH THE HEART.
55. You just sang those words to yourself.
56. You remember watching Magic vs. Bird.
57. Homemade Levi shorts.. (the shorter the better)
58. You remember when mullets were cool!
59. You had a mullet!
60. You still sing "We are the World"
61. You tight rolled your jeans.
62. You owned a bannana clip.
63. You remember "Where's the Beef?"
64. You used to (and probably still do) say "What you talkin' 'bout Willis?"
65 You had big hair and you knew how to use it.
66. You're still singing shot through the heart in your head, aren't you!

Missing Friends

1. Me and Sarah playing DDR (Dance Dance Revolution) and Kevin admire our mad skills.

2. Kevin and John on the slip n slide.

3. John, Kevin, and Andy. Old married men.

4. Brent, Hannah, and John at a primary activity day. (Brent or should I say Nephi told us about the journey we were about to go on)

5. David and me in costume at our cinco de mayo party.

6. In the background you'll see David, Kirk, and Greg. In the foreground,Sarah hitting the pinata at the cinco de mayo party.

Last night I was missing my friends who no longer live close by. **Disclaimer: I did not have picture of everyone-sorry! It doesn't mean that we miss you any less.** We are blessed to have such wonderful friends. I love them and miss them all!

I no doubt deserved my enemies, but I don't believe I deserved my friends.
Walt Whitman

The meeting of two personalities is like the contact of two chemical substances: if there is any reaction, both are transformed.
Carl Jung

The Joys of Moving

One of the things about moving to a new area is not knowing the 411 on the local stores/restaurants etc. In Utah if I was feeling wealthy and/or craving good bread for homemade french toast I would go to Great Harvest and get their Cinnaburst bread-delicious! I knew what restaurants were good and which ones to avoid. I knew that Papa Johns was better than Papa Murphy's or Five Buck Pizza. I new Macy's was generally cheaper than smiths. You get my point. Now that we're in El Segundo we don't know what is good or where it is. El Segundo is really unique too in that it's a small town (approx. 16,000) and doesn't have "typical" stores. There are two fast food places on the edge of town. Other than that most restaurants are mom and pop shops-no chains. There's a Ralphs on the El Segundo border but in the town we have Cooks a family owned store. I find that charming and feel strongly about supporting local businesses. They can be more expensive but in many cases it's worth it, that is if you are not currently supporting a law student and can afford the extra $1 here or there.
My point in all of this is that we are not that familiar with our area to know who has the best burgers or the cheapest cucumbers. It will all come in time and hey, what better place to learn than El Segundo.

10 hours of sleep!!!

Last night I was exhausted! It's always a goal of mine to get to bed at a decent time but it rarely happens. There are just not enough hours in a day to do everything. After we made dinner, did the dishes, and made lunches I went to lay down and read a little. John came in saying he would stay just for a little bit as he still had some reading to do but that little bit turned into a lot for both of us, we were asleep by 7:30 pm!!!It was glorious although I still wanted to sleep when my alarm went off at 5:00am. It's amazing what a good nights rest can do. I love not feeling tired, if only I could get 10 hours of sleep every night. The only down side to this is that I did not get the errands done that I needed to. oh well it was worth it.

I've realised my blogs are boring. Other people blog about:

• their kids...don't have any
• T.V. shows...we only get two channels on a good day
• their job/work...can't do that because of confidentiality
• their day...I do the same thing everyday work and then go to a Dr. appt, eat, go back to work, then sleep (this is why I get so excited about little things like spaghetti sauce and tulips;)
• their opinions...I definitely have those but I'm not always able to write mine down in a clear/concise/and tactful way (I'm working on it)

So bear with me hopefully the blog will get a little more interesting.

Yummy Easter Candy

This is one of the reasons I look forward to Easter- Cadburry Mini Eggs. If you have not experienced the joy that is Cadburry Mini Eggs I would recommend you do so and let me know what you think.

GOALS

They say if you write down your goals they are more likely to happen. 21 days to break or make a habit right?

1. Drink at least two bottles of water while at work
2. Take my multi-vitamen everyday
3. Take more pictures
4. Read at least one book a month

Soccer Mom to the Rescue

I enjoy fruit. Luckily it is good for you. However I tend to like the more expensive fruits i.e. mango's, papaya, guava, melons, any kind of berry... These fruits though delicious do not lend themselves to be purchased for daily consumption but rather occasional treats. So I have to find some other fruit to help me reach my 5 servings of fruit/vegetables a day (which doesn't happen often enough).

Growing up we had a choice of three fruits for our lunches- apples, oranges, and bananas because they are the cheapest. Occasionally we had grapes but for the most part I mostly remember the apples, oranges, and bananas. Because I ate these everyday I'm kind of sick of them now. I need variety! John is more tolerant of repetition and more traditional in his fruit choices than I am. At the store a few weeks ago he bought oranges, I figured I would try to eat them the best I could (sometimes when I'm sick of food I just won't eat it, John not wanting to waste will finish off the remaining food but this habit of mine kind of bugs him). Before I go on let explain why I don't like oranges.

1. When you peel them they get under your nails
2. I don't like the white stuff that's under the skin but over the orange
3. I don't like the membrane/sac surrounding each individual orange section
4. They get in your teeth
5. Overall they are a pain to eat

Anywho the next few days I did my best removing the rind from my nails, bringing floss to get the leftovers out...my feelings for oranges had not changed. John would say, "That was a delicious orange today don't you think?" Not so much.

Then in a wave of inspiration I decided to go soccer mom style and cut my oranges into wedges. BAM! Everything has changed. I am able to enjoy the sweet juicy goodness of an orange with very little hassle. Orange ya glad for soccer mom's!