2013 in review

 This was an exciting year.
 My bi monthly goals kind of died, but I still did lots of new and fun things.
-In April I discovered what Ragnar means. At least Ragnar trail. And it was awesome. So awesome that I did another one in August.
-This summer was the summer of ice cream, water, camping and concerts. I made the goal to go camping once a month starting in April and going through September. Totally did it.
-I decided to go on a Mediterranean cruise, which is on a different bucket list I have somewhere in the back of some journal. It was awesome. I love discovering the world and seeing all the diversity there is and how creative God is with his creations.
- Go on a cruise '11 '13
- Go skydiving '11
- Learn Italian
- Visit Italy '13
- Learn to play the guitar
- Go to the festival of colors '11
- Run a 1/2 marathon '11
- Ride in a hot air balloon/ go to the hot air balloon festival in New Mexico
- Shoot a gun '12
- Write a children's book
- See Josh Groban in concert '11
- See Wicked '12
- Go to all the temples in Utah
- See a firefly
- Watch a meteor shower '13
- Hike the Y '12
- Be in a flash mob
- Visit Prince Edward Island
- Swim with dolphins
- Visit all 50 of the United States
- Be the voice of an animated character
- Be complaint free for 30 days
- Ride a tandum bike
- Run a Marathon '12
- Run a Ragnar'13
- Go to a Brad Paisley concert '13
- Visit Europe. A lot of it.
- Go on a spur of the moment trip. on a plane. to somewhere random.
- Be a volunteer at a telethon'13
- Do a triathlon
- Get a Master's degree

One time I was a ninja

So one time I was a ninja, but actually  not a very good one. Friday at work I got a text from my friend Noreen and she was so excited and had something awesome to tell me. So I went home, dropped my purse on the table and went to her house. I left my keys because I didn't want to carry them around and we have a garage so I can just get in with the garage code. So we went and got dinner after her exciting news and then she took me to my house so I could get my pjs and then we could watch a Hallmark movie. I put the code in and it WOULDN'T work. It was pretty cold out and I'm pretty sure the battery in there is ancient so I just went to her house and text my roommates to see when they would be home. Both of them were in Salt Lake. Boo. After the movie I went back to my house and tried again, but alas, no dice. Still wouldn't open. So I thought to myself, I think the kitchen window is not locked. I went to the back of the house and there is a hole in the screen so I pulled the screen down and sure enough I could just slide the window open. BUT the window is kind of high. I thought about calling the home teachers at this point, but I figured they'd be out on dates because it was Friday night and only like 10:30. Luckily there was a water faucet right there that I could step on and so I used it and jumped up into the window. I nailed my elbow pretty hard on the side of the window frame AND the blinds were down so my head was just pushing them into the house while I pulled myself in. I'm sure there was one point where it would have been awesome to see me from either side. Inside with my head poking in and the blinds on my shoulders as I walk on my hands and try to get my whole self in, and from the outside, my feet sticking out the window probably flailing while I wiggled in. It was ridiculous. I have a large bruise on my thigh, also from my jump into the house.

All in all it was quite the night. Next time I'll just call the home teachers. Or maybe I'll just replace the battery.

You are not extra

Last week in Relief Society a sister got up at the end to bare her testimony. I know different people got different things out of it, but the message I got out of it was one of self worth. She talked about how the guy/girl ratio in our ward is very lopsided and how it was easy to feel like an extra. But no matter how it looks, YOU ARE NOT EXTRA! God did not accidentally make more girls than guys. You were made on purpose and YOU ARE IMPORTANT. To me the point was not about dating, although that is a big deal for us at this phase of life. There are so many times we get down on ourselves for innumerable reasons. But I am not extra! I matter!
I read this blog this week titled You are Intentional. It was right on with this thinking. We have a purpose! We were made intentionally and God has a plan for us.

About a month ago, my Relief Society was doing an activity and the week prior to the activity they gave us different challenges. I couldn't actually go to the activity but I decided to participate in the daily activities anyway. One of them had you ask others about your qualities. I recommend you do this, but be prepared to be overwhelmed and probably cry.

This is the message I sent to my friends. 
Our Relief Society is doing a Be-You-tiful challenge this week and I need your help for today's challenge.

Challenge: Read your Patriarchal Blessing and pay special attention to any mention of your strengths, gifts and talents. You might ask your parents or closest friends what gifts they see in you. Make a list of these in your journal.

If you have a minute if you could write down a few gifts you see in me I'd appreciate it. Love you girls.

This is how they responded. (I'm NOT posting this so you can see how awesome I am. I'm posting this so I can always remember what others see in me when I can't see it in myself). 

Patience, open mindedness, pure love of Christ, service oriented, quilting and sewing skills, you share lots with others, listener, faithful in whatever you put your mind to.     ~K.D. 

Thoughtful, creatively crafty, and giving. And sometimes all at once. You are a good listener and a great friend.     ~S.H. 

Cathy, you are one of the most service-oriented and selfless people I know. You always look for ways to help other people. You are a fabulous gift-giver and a very loyal friend. You are also very diligent. You work hard, always at a steady pace. You are never extreme in anything, which means you are very dependable. Love you!       ~D.L.

Dear, dear Cathy. You are one of the most thoughtful people I know. There is no one else in my life that EVER sends me random cards in the mail, just because they were thinking of me. You have the ability to make everyone around you feel important and special. You notice the little things. Your quilting skills are AMAZING. If long term memory is a talent, you're pretty good at that too. You have an amazing gift for serving people out of pure love and kindness. You are always thinking of others. Thanks for being such an awesome friend.      ~D.C. 

Dear Cathy, You are self-motivated, determined, intelligent, brave, strong, and inspirational. I still have the jean quilt you made me, and whenever we need to go somewhere that requires a blanket, the hubby always asks, "Where is that blanket?" You are crafty, talented, thoughtful, y muy hermosa! You have endured trials in your life that you have persevered through, and those experiences allow you to reach out and bless the lives of others. You are fierce and wear your emotions on your sleeve. You are a no-nonsense, getter-dun, kick-butt and take names warrior.You have brought excitement to my life and lasting friendship. You are a character. I am writing an action/adventure/fantasy/romance novel, and one day when it is finished, you will find that one of the characters is inspired by you. (P.S. we should still make that music video and use Sean Faris cardboard cutouts. I am also down with Gerard Butler and Hugh Jackman.) You are a beacon of light and an angel of hope. Querida amiga mia.    ~D.H.

Hey sweet friend!! I love you and I always talk to the hubby about your strengths. so I'd love to brag about you..... You are sensitive to the spirit, have ability to see people's needs and meet them quietly, unwavering faith, charity encompasses everything you do and how you treat others. You are the most loyal friend. You remember the little things. You love people for who they are. You are emotional (I see it as a talent ) you are so humble... Willing to do all the work even if you don't get recognition. Dedicated- you say you're going to do it then you will. Willing to learn new things. Awesome back massage giver. best homemaker, basically ms. Cathy.... I love you and hope to be like you one day.  
~C.S.
  
To all of you who may be doubting your own self worth and purpose, come talk to me. Better yet, go talk to God. He will let you know how important you really are (you can still come talk to me or email me or call me). You are loved. You have purpose. YOU ARE NOT EXTRA.  

You know you've made it

Last night I was hanging out with some guys from my ward. We watched the football game and somehow ended up talking about marriage. At my unmarried age, I guess that's just what we do. :) Anyhow, they wanted to hear our "lists". We all shared our 3-5 things that we're looking for in someone and then 3 of us started our own little conversation. It was more about relationships in general and not just a dating relationship.

One thing that came up was being yourself. I feel like this is something that sometimes I really struggle with. I wouldn't say that I'm a fake person, but like most people (I would say), I have a couple levels of me and most people only see the first level. Maybe you'll make it to the second once I get to know you a bit. I should label these levels and determine how many I actually have, but I haven't sat down and thought about it that much. We talked about being with people who you feel comfortable showing your weaknesses. Everyone wants to show their best self, that's natural and there is nothing wrong with that. But we are human and we are not always our best self. We have bad days and life happens. I have determined that you know you've made it as one of my good friends, one of the people I trust and feel comfortable, when I let you see those levels of me that I find to be embarrassing. The moments when I am weak and vulnerable. It takes a lot to get there. For me to have confidence in you that you love me enough, that when the moment is gone, you won't think any less of me.

I know most people wouldn't think less of me for my moments of weakness, but what I know and what I feel don't always line up. I am grateful for the people in my life who fit into this category. They love me, for me. The good, the bad and the ugly. They see my weaknesses and accept them, but don't stick me in a box. They allow me to grow and help me to do so. They listen with love and then grab me by the hand and help me along until I can do it myself.

I can think of so many people in my life who have actual made it to this point. Now that I think of it, maybe it's not that hard after all. For those of you who have seen me in my not so pretty moments and have continued to love me, I thank you. Especially those I sought out. I KNEW I would be safe. I knew I could depend on you to love me and help me through.

Interesting enough, one of the people I was talking with is one of these people. I think I may have blogged about this a couple months ago. I'm pretty sure I did. I don't know if he really understands how much I value his friendship and look to his example in loving others. He is an example of Christ like love and I feel very blessed to have people like him in my life.

Rome 2013

Thursday morning I woke up. Nervous, a bit apprehensive and excited. Laura came and picked me up to take me to the airport. I love getting to the airport hours before your flight so you can make it through security and everything and then it takes 20 minutes and you sit in the terminal for an hour and 40 minutes.
The flight to New York was uneventful. The layover in New York equally uneventful. The flight to Italy was long, but I did manage to sleep for about 6 hours.
Ashley had gotten instructions from their hotel on how to get there from the airport. They looked simple enough and really I only got lost one time. But waiting for the train at the airport and then finding the right metro line and getting my ticket took longer than I think any of us were planning on. I knew they had tickets for the Colosseum for 12:00 and I just watched the time tick by. I had no way to tell them I was almost there. I finally found the place and as I was headed to my room, the lady at the desk asked me if I had seen my friends. I was so shocked and said no. She said, "Oh they just left 5 minutes ago". There was a note on the door for me, that they had waited as long as they could and that I should stay there and rest up. NOT HAPPENING! I didn't just fly to Rome to rest up!
I knew they were headed to the Colosseum so I asked for directions and RAN to the metro station. I figured catching them at the metro stations was my only shot. Once they were actually there I'd be out of luck. I got on the first metro and didn't see them. I started praying right then that some how I'd be able to find them. I ran from the A line metro to the B and was just standing there on the escalator praying when what do I hear but "Cathy?" I looked up and two steps away was my group!!! I almost burst into tears right there on the spot.
That was the topic of the day. "We found Cathy!" "I can't believe we found Cathy!" "Remember that one time we found Cathy!?" Basically God loves me, knows where I am, he hears my prayers and answers them.
The Colosseum was really cool. SO BIG. I was glad that I listened to the people who told me to download the Rick Steves walking tour. Hearing the history of it made it much more interesting. After the Colosseum we headed over to the Forum and Palantine hill. They were also very interesting. After the touring we had some delightful Italian pizza where we had a dream Italian man as our waiter. On our way home we made a stop to see the Spanish steps and then it was time to head back to the hotel. I was glad to have a place to lay my head.

Preparing for Italy

Travel trips from my roommate Kari
 I have some travel tips for you:

These are all based on personal experience:

1-Don't take a sleeping pill if you aren't used to them. Like be to drowsy and half asleep when you get off the long flight and leave your passport on it.
2-If you leave your passport on a plane, try and realize it before you go through security and get stuck between security and immigration and can't leave anywhere.
3-Ask nice people for help. They will get your passport for you off the plane. 
4-have your address written down on paper (a few pieces off paper) Then you can just give it to your taxi driver. The French ones try and SCREW you and pretend you told them wrong.
5-just don't blow dry your hair (unless it is a hairdryer provided by the boat or hotel). I literally blew circuits for an entire left wing of a hotel once. I also burnt three blow dryers on Europe trips. 2011 was a rough year on my hair.
6-pretend you know what you are doing.
7-In Europe men are going to tell you how pretty you are. Even if you haven't showered and have BO. They still will.
8-Enjoy people telling you how lovely you are because you come back to Provo and the men don't  9-don't be a sucker on exchange rates. I once bought a purse for $300 in Germany that I thought I was getting for $50. It is real nice but really! I had confused to different continents rates. It was a really crazy month for me.
10-Go into every H&aM you see. They are just better in DC and Europe.
11- Buy Kari Chocolate
12-Buy Kari Chocolate
13-Buy Kari Chocolate'
14-If you have a CC take it and use that.
15-Always have enough cash on hand to take taxi home.
16-Beware that they will charge for plain old simple water. They have some real European hospitality, NOT.
17-Europeans stink quite often, Don't let your face indicate that they do. Keep calm and don't breath in.
 I wish you were going to Asia. I would have EVEN better tips. Like no matter what they say...don't eat the Ox Tongue! OR never use a public restroom in Malaysia. EVER. You will never recover from that smell.
hahaha here is a great guide from nomadic Matt on girls traveling in Italy.  This line below makes me soooooo jealous of you:
"Let’s cut right to the chase: Italian men are beautiful. The phrase, ‘Tall, dark, and handsome’ was probably coined in Italy. I think most women find Italian men to be easy on the eyes, so if people watching is your thing, then consider heading to Italy. The men here are very suave and make it easy to fall in love with them, which isn’t a bad thing".
To which I replied: I have been asked multiple times if I'm going to kiss an Italian man
And then Kari replied: do it. I will give you $$
me: we'll see if I meet any worth kissing
Kari: just base it off looks. that is all I ask.
99-Pack a carry on that has underwear and a change of clothes.  I traveled with an Exec that failed to do that once and had to be in meetings in windbreaker athletic pants for three days before he retrieved his lost luggage.  Not a great first impression.

Other preparations have including:
-asking my cousin for great places to see and eat since he lived there for 2 years and has been back a few times. His enthusiasm was contagious.
-Having the home teachers give me a blessing to help my anxiety ridden self.
-Using google maps to determine how far apart hotels are so I'm not completely cut off from other people in my group.
-Pre-trip check in.
-Finding a ride to the airport. It pays to have people who love you and who don't work during the day.

Thanks for all your help and excitement. It's gonna be great.

Summer of concerts

I'm not sure how it happened, but this was the summer of concerts. I started in June with the Josh Turner concert at the Scera Shell. I went with Noreen and we had a lovely time! That man can sing and he is easy on the eyes.

August was my half birthday present to myself by going to Brad Paisley. I went with Sarah, Lisa and Brenda. Josh and Kim were there as well and it was a surprise to see my favorite Liz. Brad is a favorite, but we were kind of far away and couldn't see super well, but it was still fun. His concert has been on my bucket list so I can check that off now.

The end of August was Sara Bareilles and One Republic. I went for Sara Bareilles, but I LOVED the concert for One Republic. I knew I liked their music before, that's one reason I decided to go. Sara Bareilles and another band I knew was okay. Guess I missed the memo that I know all their songs and all the words and that I LOVE THEM! It was really fun. I went with my roommate Chelsea and met up with Kyna, Jessica and Jen from the ward. They had gotten there early and had awesome seats. Sadly they also got caught in the pouring rain. Kyna called me as we were leaving to go to the concert and told us to buy some tarps since it was an outdoor concert and the grass was now soaking wet. It was a good plan. The concert was SO fun.

I was going to finish the summer out with Backstreet Boys, but I couldn't find anyone who would go with me. My friend Jonathan was going with his sisters and he actually offered to sell me his ticket. I didn't get my hopes up too much though, I didn't figure his sister would let him bail. I wish she had. I'll have to catch them next time they tour.