Day 31 - A picture of yourself.

This is the last day of the picture challenge, which must mean that tomorrow is my birthday! :)

"Challenge" doesn't cover it! This was very difficult. Not to mention a little soul bearing. I am so glad I did it and even more glad to be done. :)

I would have to say that all of these 31 posts have painted a very good picture of myself. Not that I'm trying to get out of posting yet one more picture of myself...

Day 30 - A picture of someone you miss.

I've decided to dedicate this one to my college roommates. We don't get to hang out NEARLY as much as we used to! ;D

There is just something cool about the bond formed with your first family away from home. We had SO much fun figuring out how to be grown-ups and still get our homework done. I hope it's okay with you guys if I use your actual first names... if it's not, let me know and I'll make up a nickname for you! :D

Ricks College Dorm 6
S.L.E.D.N. "Sleddin" on the snowy hills in Rexburg, ID. :) Sara, Lucie, Emily, Diana, Nancy. I need to dig further to find pics of when we were actually roommates. The one of Nancy and I on a particularly freezing night was taken then, but you can't see her face! Never fear! I will find more pics! ;D I don't have any pictures of Emily. She left part way through the term to have her own room.

Crazy answering machine messages... "Well, I ain't all that nARmal..." Playing Ghost in the Snow Building. Boys. :) Boys. :( Racing home on icy sidewalks to make curfew on time. Sleeping in the living room and waking up to Chicago on the CD player. Eating in the cafeteria. Dean, Steve and Jake. :D Jonas, Tory, and Bruce. :D The Jareds. :D All of our other homies. :D





Ricks College Riviera
Lucie, Cammie, Mindy, Holly and Mandy

Eating together. Roommate prayer every night at curfew. Group hugs with heads tilted to the right. Mandy's car Nelly. Hot tubs in the snow. Break ups. Bike wrecks. Carpet in the kitchen. Holly's dating and engagement to Shawn. Man, it was cold!

Mandy is one who will always be truly missed. She died in a car accident the year after we were roommates. She worked so hard the year we were roommates to be accepted into the Nursing program and she was! Mandy was authoritative and our favorite quote was, "How high, Mandy?" because she was always asking us to jump. ;D She was just over 5 feet tall and I had to bend at the waist to hear her when we went to Ricks Basketball games (half the team was in our ward). What she lacked in height, she made up in personality. Love that girl!



USU Moen Hall
Gaylynn, Christine, Meghan, Emily, Shannon and various other roomies that came and went.

Three flights of stairs. Hawaiian haystacks in the common room. Our own personal balcony that could be used up to one week a year when the weather was good. :D Stairs. Archaic microwaves. Getting locked out because my keys were inside drying because I had painted my keychain with nail polish. Calls in the middle of the night for the Asian guy who had lived there during the Summer. Did I mention the 3 flights of stairs? Numerous times a day. Three. Flights. Of Stairs.

Day 29 - A picture that can always make you smile.

I LOVE BEING AN AUNT!

When my nieces and nephews are born, their first picture always stars on my computer's desktop. I get so excited to meet them! I love to love on them. I love hearing the first version of my name... Aunt Nana... Aunt Dinana... Anna (which happens to be the name of one of my treasured nieces). :)

It's fun when my kids have kids their same age to play with at family parties. It's also fun to snag them as they run by and snitch hugs and tickles and smiles from them.

My nieces and nephews can always make me smile!

Day 28 - A picture of something you're afraid of.

I couldn't decide if I was brave enough to post the above picture. Apparently I am. Are you really going to make me state what this means and why it is my deepest fear? There's probably some nueroses connected to the fear of drowning. All I know is, it scares me.

Which makes doing this feel a little impossible. I guess it's a little funny since a plane crashing in water probably has a softer landing than one crashing on land. But if you can't get out, what does it matter? You know that scene in The Abyss where they go to the nuclear submarine and they see the people still in there? I hate that part! And, somewhat ironically, I actually like that movie. I guess, for me, it is a thriller... as close to a horror movie as I'll ever get. Of course, my favorite part is how the characters relate to each other and the changes really deep true love can make in a person. But I digress.

Deep water and I are not friends.

Day 27 - A picture of yourself & a family member.

This is Grandma Sagers. She is Geoff's Grandma. I call her Grandma, too.
I love her SO much!

Day 26 - A picture of something that means a lot to you.

THE ABC'S OF FRIENDSHIP

A lways be honest, would you want THEM to lie to you?

B e there when they need you, or you may wind up alone.

C heer them on, we all need encouragement now and then.

D on't look for their faults, even if you have none.

E ncourage their dreams, what would life we be without them?

F orgive them, you just MAY do something wrong sometime.

G et together often, misery loves company, so does glee.

H ave faith in them, the human animal is remarkable.

I nclude them, you may need to be included sometime.

J ust be there when they need you.

K now when they need a hug, and couldn't you use one?

L ove them unconditionally, that is the ONLY condition.

M ake them feel special, because aren't we ALL special?

N ever forget them, who wants to feel forgotten?

O ffer to help, and know when "No thanks" is just politeness.

P raise them honestly and openly.

Q uietly disagree, noisy NO's make enemies.

R eally listen, a friendly ear is a soothing balm.

S ay you're sorry, don't let them assume it.

T alk frequently, communication is important.

U se good judgment.

V erbalize your feelings!

W ish them luck, hopefully good!

X amine your motives before you "help" out.

Y our words count, use them wisely.

Z ip your lips when told a secret.

Friendship means the world to me. From my family who were my very first friends and will be my very last, to every other person in between. I value good friends. They are what I missed the most after every big move I have made. Which, in turn, is probably why I love Facebook so much! Connecting and building lasting friendships means a lot to me. I try to be the friend I would like to have. :)

True blue through and through.

I apologize for not having an author for the above ditty. If you know who wrote it, please let me know!

Day 25 - A picture of your day.

Day 23 - A picture of your favorite book.

Multiple authors, one Source. History. Principles that strengthen my testimony. Will continue to read them over and over and over.

Beverly Cleary

My favorite childhood author.

Laura Ingalls Wilder

Another favorite.

Jane Austen

Love her.

J.K. Rowling

Fantasy rooted in the real world. Love it!

C.S. Lewis (above) and J.R.R. Tolkein (below)

Fantasy at it's greatest and most epic.

Cornelia Funke

Imagination.

Day 22 - A picture of something you wish you were better at.

Not just scrapbooking, but digital scrapbooking.

Playing the piano.

Quilting.

Day 21 - A picture of something you wish you could forget.

Let's be honest, I spend so much time and energy trying to remember stuff, it would be contradictory to try to forget something. :D

But really, even the bad stuff has made me who I am. Would I want to forget the first boy who broke my heart? No, because I learned from that and someday I might be holding my crying daughter and I can be understanding. Do I want to forget 9-11 and all other catastrophic tradgedies? How could I? They changed the world that I live in to be what it is today. I can't listen to Have You Forgotten? and not remember exactly where I was that day.

Everything... every little tiny thing... makes up who I am.


Live without regret, now there's a mantra I can get behind! :)

Day 20 - A picture of somewhere you'd love to travel.

IRELAND!

Day 19 - A picture and a letter.

This post is brought to you by the letter D and also the letters that spell Ladybug. :D

This would be at the beginning of my name if I was a fairy.

This would be at the beginning of my name if I had looked into the Eye of Sauron.

This would be at the beginning of my name in the book wherein is written a sonnet about me.

Don't we ALL need a little more Vitamin D these days?!

A little tailoring and you KNOW I would wear this! :D

A painted rock! How many times have I painted rocks in my life? Not a few!

If I lived alone, I would totally own this! Maybe for a guest room someday! ;D

Day 18 - A picture of your biggest insecurity.

And there's always this post.

Day 17 - A picture of something that has made a huge impact on your life recently.

If it were even possible (not to mention privacy issues) I would put a picture up of all of the awesome girls I have the privilege of associating with these days. First, I was just in Activity Days. Then I was in Young Women AND Activity Days. And now, I am in Young Women. I remember thinking how much I would love to be in Young Women... and then I would remind myself of all of the DRAMA involved! :D I am learning to love the drama. And I pray all the time that I will be able to say the right thing at the right time to minimize some of the drama.

Girls Camp Sunday has ALWAYS been my favorite! You know, the first Fast Sunday after Girls Camp when they all go up and tell about how their testimonies were strengthened and how the bonded and what scary, gross or annoying thing brought them closer together. Be it rain, or bears, or what have you.

You may be thinking that your Ward has the best and brightest Young Women in the world. And you're probably right where YOU are concerned. But as far as I am concerned, we have the most capital A AWESOME girls! Their integrity and strength of spirit amazes me. Their testimonies are so strong! They are valiant and talented. They are so kind to each other! In a world where their age group is not widely known for such a trait, in fact.

I am excited and humbled and oh so happy to be working with the youth in my neck of the woods. And I am thrilled at the direction the Personal Progress goals take me and I can't wait to earn my medallion... again! :)

Day 16 - A picture of someone who inspires you.

There are so many people that fit this category for me. I surround myself with people that uplift and inspire me. I am constantly amazed at the wonderful people that I get to communicate with every day.

Most recently, I have been profoundly touched by my cousin Bryce and his incredible wife Heidi. They are parents to two amazing boys. Their second son is such a special child that he only needed a few days in his earthly body before he completed his test.

With profound respect, I chose to share the rest of what I wrote directly with them and the picture I snitched from the blog is an oldie but goodie. :)

I sure love you guys... A LOT!

Day 15 - A picture of something you want to do before you die.

Write a novel.

I've already got several ideas started. Something I could really pour my heart into.

Eat at a very fancy restaurant.

Where the food is pretty and there are lots of forks.

Travel with just Geoff.

On a plane. Somewhere really far away. Be an anonymous tourist. Take lots of pictures.

Take a really pretty picture of me that could be laid next to Robert Frost's poem, The Road Not Taken.

Day 14 - A picture of someone you could never imagine your life without.

Ummm, that's like EVERYONE! I could never imagine my life without anyone who is already in it until it really is their time to go and I'm forced to.

My views on life and death are tied so closely to my religion and I believe that I will get to be with my loved ones forever and ever if we all do what's right while here on earth. I know where they're going when they leave and my dearest and only hope is that I will get to be with them there someday.

So, I guess I'm refusing to answer this question! I don't want to imagine my life without anyone and so I choose not to.

Instead, I choose to show you a picture of the place where families can be tied together forever. This is where we are Sealed together so tightly, not even death can break us apart.

The Bountiful Temple

Day 13 - A picture of your favorite band or artist.

Of all time: Collin Raye

You may remember when we got to go and see him at Desert Star. He is seriously the nicest guy. We exchanged a couple of emails before his granddaughter passed away. I haven't gotten up the guts since then to write to him again. He has this amazing Spirit about him. He has such strong core beliefs. His family means everything to him. He is just a really great person.

I like SO many different artists and songs! I struggled to narrow it down to even a handful of favorites. I couldn't do it! So, we'll just stick with the best and let the rest hold their own. :)

Day 12 - A picture of something you love.

Day 11 - A picture of something you hate.

I'm not even going to dignify it with an actual picture, plus I wouldn't be able to look at this post ever if I put a picture of a real one. I hate spiders. They make me feel all creepy crawly just to look at them. I once spent over an hour trying to build up the courage to smash a spider when I was 8 or 9 and I cried the entire time! And when my Mom, who had been encouraging me from out in the hallway, finally came in and saw how big it actually was, called my Dad to come and get it in the end! :D I'm slightly braver these days when it comes to protecting my kids from their obvious ill will and probably poisonous personalities. But I still detest them and will call anybody else, who is not me, to avenge my near death experience upon seeing one.

I made a special effort to find green spiders, which, not surprisingly brought up a lot of green goblin pics, considering I searched for "green cartoon spiders." :D

HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY!!