My Christmas vacation

Just got back from CA last night and I thought I would post some super cute pics of the kiddies.

The first 2 are Nathalia and Miguel in their preschool classes. Santa came to visit, so I got to go with Billie. The little kids were so stinkin' cute. Some of them were scared of Santa and some were super excited. Too funny!
Look at the little boy's hands just to the right of my nephew (Miguel is the one looking at the camera).


We went to the Oakland temple on the 23rd and I got some really cute pics of the kids in the car on the way home.





Alanah with the new puppy, Charlie. Tally (Nathalia) and Miguel say Chawlee. Super cute!

Getting To Know You...Christmas Edition

Getting To Know You...Christmas Edition

Mt friend Ruth tagged me and I thought this one was cute...

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? Wrapping paper only. Bags are no fun to open!!!

2. Real tree or Artificial? Real! I hate fake trees! unless they're upside down :)

3. When do you take the tree down? New Years Day or later

4. Do you like eggnog? Yes, but I prefer the light version. Usually it's not quite so thick.

5. Favorite gift received as a child? Barbies and barbie stuff.

6. Hardest person to buy for? Friends. I never know how much to spend or what other people might already be getting them.

7. Easiest person to buy for? Nieces. Girly stuff is always easy.

8. Do you have a nativity scene? Somewhere in storage

9. Mail or email Christmas cards? Neither. Without kids, there's not much of a reason.

10. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? Something that came in a package shaped like a barbie, but wasn't a barbie :p

11. Favorite Christmas Movie? Several. Love Actually, White Christmas, A Christmas Story.

12. When do you start shopping? Whenever I have money

13. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? Only things I have received from work, never real gifts.

14. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? Pumpkin pie or mashed potatoes and gravy.

15. Lights on the tree? Of course!

16. Favorite Christmas song? Last Christmas by Wham or O Holy Night

17. Travel at Christmas or stay home? Travelling is going home

18. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer's? Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner, Blitzen and Rudolf …only because of the song.

19. Angel on the tree top or a star? Angel

20. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning? Morning. Maybe one the night before if it's jammies.

21. Most annoying thing about this time of the year? traffic
22. Favorite ornament theme or color? I love decorating the tree with simple colors. Our tree has red and silver ornaments, and then the pre-lit clear lights.

23. Favorite for Christmas dinner? Pumpkin pie or mashed potatoes and gravy.


24. What did you get what you wanted for Christmas this year? Yes. I got to see my family

Grandpa Bill

So, a few of you might know this already, but my maternal grandfather died Sunday November 9. Grandpa Bill was obviously really important to me and all of my family, and I thought I would share some of my "best" memories of my last grandparent. 20 hours in a car each way gave me plently of time to think about these :)

1. Granpda pretty much taught me to cuss. Every other word or phrase out of his mouth was something like "shit", "sonofabitch" (said all together with no pauses), or "gdamn" (unedited :)). Grandpa also shared the word "housebitch" with me in the last couple of years, which is now a favorite among my coworkers. If you've been around me much, you know Grandpa taught me well.



2. I love bridges. Grandpa lived in Richmond, CA when I was little and we had to cross the Carquinez Bridge to see him. The Carquinez Bridge has a beautiful view of the bay and I remember clamoring for a seat on the right side of the car so I could see the water and look for sharks on the way to his house. Even though my Grandpa hasn't lived in CA for 20 years, whenever I cross that bridge I stare into the water below and think of visiting Grandpa.



3. Grandpa always had 2 packs of Wrigley's gum in his front pocket. Mom didn't let us have gum very often, so going to grandpa's we could pretty much have as much as we wanted. Even the smell of doublemint gum still reminds me of grandpa.

This also remind me of grandpa's generosity. Whenever we needed or wanted something, he did what he could to help us. I wouldn't say he spoiled us in the traditional sense; he certainly wasn't just handing over cash and toys to us. But I always knew if I had ever REALLY needed to borrow money I could have gone to him. And I didn't have to worry about money when I visited. He would buy the things we needed and certainly wouldn't let us pay at restaurants (and he loved to eat out). I think I only ever brought $20 with me for those month long trips when I was a kid; Grandpa took care of the rest.



4. Whenever my sister Billie and I got to stay the night at Grandpa's we would get to wear Grandma Edna's nightgowns. Edna was our step-grandma and was a much smaller woman than anyone in our family, so when we were 8 or 9 we weren't that much smaller than Edna. Edna had lots of those silky old lady nightgowns, but we thought we were such big girls when we got to wear them.

5. Grandpa moved to Sierra Vista, AZ (about 10 miles from Mexico) when I was about 10, I think. Me and Billie got to go for the Summer. We flew there (our first airplane ride!) and rode with them in their huge motor home on the way back. (Maybe it was the other way around ??) I remeber going to Mexico (my first trip out of the country), going camping and hiking at the Chiricahua National Monument, Tombstone, and going shopping. I also remember grandpa telling me I could eat whatever I wanted that summer if I promised to go on a diet when I got home :P




6. When I was 13 and 17 I spent a month of my summer vacation in Arkansas (Grandpa moved back home after a couple of years in AZ). I flew there all by myself and this felt like a great adventure. For me, Arkansas is a magical place; green as can be, beautiful views, lots of water, and lots of family. I loved the sounds of crickets and frogs at night. I loved sitting on porch swings at both of my grandparent's houses and reading novels. Grandpa bought my plane tickets nd I will be eternally grateful for that; if it wasn't for him those trips wouldn't have been possible. I got to know my grandparents and my aunts, uncles, and cousins so much better because of those trips.





7. When I was 21 my ENTIRE family went. Whew, what a trip. I'm sure that was pretty overwhelming for Grandpa and Edna (and Grandma too) but they all took it in stride. We had lots of fun with grandpa on his 4-wheelers. Boy, could he drive those suckers!



8. I went to Arkansas again last summer for about 10 days and was able to spend a lot of time with Grandpa and Edna. We took Edna to the hospital the night I arrived and most of my time was spent with Grandpa taking care of Edna in the hospital. She died a few weeks after I left and I will forever treasure my last face to face visit with both of them.

I will also forver remember driving on the 4-wheelers with my cousins to feed grandpa's catfish. I think there were 4 of us on that 4-wheeler and my little cousins drive a lot crazier than I would ever even think about. Than we would throw these little white pellets of food into the pond and the catfish would go wild; it looked like a little pond quake with all of them rushing to the food. Fun, fun, fun!



9. I love love LOVE grandpa's house in Arkansas. It looks just like any good southern home should. White house, pillars, wrap around porch, and a porch swing. All sitting on a piece of land as pretty as I've ever seen with a body of water in the background (Grandpa's water is an off shoot of the Arkansas river). There are only 3 bedrooms inside but they're all huge with huge double closets and fantastic views. The stairs are good and wide and almost impossible to fall down :) If I could build a house, it would be very very much like this house (with maybe a couple more bedrooms, though).

Tired!

So, I know I'm beating a dead horse and I am completely tired of all the election hooplah also, but a guy at work sent me this fantastic link. It lets you pick which issues are important to you and how you feel about them, and after it tells you which candidate most closely resembles your views. I thought it was interesting!

http://minnesota.publicradio.org/projects/ongoing/select_a_candidate/poll.php?race_id=13

Eight by eight

My friend Ruth from work tagged me, so here goes

8 Things I Like a Whole Lot
1. Fakey reality shows: America's Next Top Model, The Hills, Real World (also RW/RR Challenges), etc.
2. A clean room or car. - I know I don't have either of these very often, but I like them.
3. My hair
4. My college degree
5. Driving with my sun/moon roof (???) open on a nice day or a warm night
6. Ice cream
7. romance novels
8. My family and all of the ridiculously cute babies they make

8 Phrases I Say Often
1. "I'm just sayin'" - thanks Kristin
2. "Let's be honest" - thanks Josh
3. "Hell to the no" - thanks Kimora Lee Simmons
4. Anything I can repeat multiple times like "I love love love _____"
5. Anything I can exaggerate about in general
6. love you
7. "Thank you for calling ______ _______. How can I help you?"
8. Follwed later by "Have a good night" - I even say this when I infrequently work during the day. Oops!

8 Things I Want to do Before I Die
1. Have sex.
2. Oh yeah, and get married (in the Temple)
3. and have a few babies
4. Not be fat
5. Pay off my debt
6. Have a totally happy family. For a few minutes at least
7. Own a home
8. Write a book

8 Things I've Learned From My Past
1. Not to eat my emotions. Okay, so I haven't learned this yet, but I'm hoping to.
2. It always better to do the right thing in the first place; fixing mistakes is no fun.
3. Not to spend money I don't have. This has taken a VERY long time, but I'm finally getting the hang of it.
4. Time spent with family is irreplacable. Even if it's inconvenient or a journey, see or call family regularly.
5. Don't put off for tomorrow what you can do today. Still working on this too :)
6. Save for retirement as early as possible.
7. Some things are really not worth talking about if they only result in an argument and no common understanding.
8. Buy low, sell high!

8 Places I'd Love to Visit
1. New Zealand
2. Paris, France (Arkansas too!)
3. Japan (to see Joy)
4. NYC, again!
5. LA (haven't been in a long, long time!)
6. Hong Kong (my Dad served his mish there and I think it would be fun to get him to go!)
7. The British Isles (this means I don't have to list England and Ireland as a seperate choice here :) )
8. Any part of Greece, Italy, France, or Spain that is on the Mediterranean

8 Things I Currently Need or Want
1. To pick the remainder of dinner out of my braces :)
2. To not have my braces on :(
3. Plane tickets for December
4. December to be now
5. a letter from my brother
6. a particular book to complete my collection
7. Mo' Money
8. to not work Saturday nights. Uggh!

8 Favorite Places to Eat
1. Bombay House (SLC)
2. Olive Garden
3. Eastern Winds (Ogden)
4. Jeremiah's (in Ogden, for breakfast)
5. Rumbi's
6. The Pie
7. Iggy's
8. Let's be honest, Beto's

8 People I Tag
Whoever wants to :)

New Stuff

New teeth ... kind of. My orthodontist shaped my 4 front teeth some on my last visit. The first picture is pre-shaping. He also moved a couple of brackets, which may add a minimal amount of time but he said I am ahead of schedule. The timeframe was initially 16-18 mos from Dec '07, so I'm hoping to be done by the big 3-0 in February, but I'm pretty sure that's a pipe dream!

Now I don't look like I have 2 square chiclets for front teeth :)



Also, my new and awesome room

Do you like how I rigged up this plate holder to hang neklaces from? It was nailed into the wall at my old apt, but I didn't want to put any more holes in the new virgin walls than I absolutely had to.

Can I tell you how much love this song?

You MUST watch this clip! New Taylor Swift song (White Horse) playing during Grey's Anatomy season premiere. Plus, the clip has a hot hot HOT kiss :)
(If you watch Greys, sorry - I know this is now like a month old, but I was talking to Melissa Leonard about this song and thought I would make it really accessible)

Busy, busy, busy

So, in the last couple of weeks I've moved, worked a bunch of overtime, and been super super busy at work. Work doesn't seem to be slowing down much, with all of the volatility. My team did a little contest to see who could guess where the Dow would close today and I WON! Yippee! I won a package of Oreo's and guessed that the Dow would close at 9294. It actually closed at 9387, a record increase of 936 points up.

I know a few people have not watched the Sarah Palin - Katie Couric interview yet, so I thought I would post all 3 parts here. I know some people who have watched the SNL parody only, but this is even better. Once again, I don't hate Sarah Palin; I'm sure she's a very nice woman. But you couldn't write this stuff. This is seriously the funniest "serious" interview I've ever seen. It's fantastic!

Videos #1 and 2 are primarily about the economy and the bailout plan




Video #3 is foreign policy (and my personal favorite)


This is a really amazing greatest hits clip

Gotta love politics!

Did you all watch the first presidential debate tonight? I watched my tivo'd copy when I got home from the Weber State volleyball game tonight (Go cats! We beat Idaho State in 4). I thought this was a pretty good debate, but my vote will most definitely be for Obama. Now, I know most of my very conservative friends will have the exact opposite view from myself and that's okay.

I seriously can't stand John McCain. Doesn't he bug anyone else? I don't like listening to him speak and I really don't like watching his interactions with others. I was cringing throughout most of the debate. I know I tend to be a bit liberal, especially for a Mormon. I respect his service record, but I don't want him running our country. I may very well have voted for a republican if their nominee had been someone else, but not him. (Not that it really matters much who I vote for since I live in Utah.)

Oh, and can we discuss 5th from the bottom of their class at the Naval Academy VS. President of the Harvard Law Review? I love how McCain said several times during the debate that Obama didn't understand or didn't get it. Really? Really?

So, I don't like McCain. I'm sure this is a huge surprise for you all :)

I thought I would include this video of Matt Damon hating on Sarah Palin. I think it's funny. Disclaimers: #1 - I don't think that celebrities are smarter than anyone else, but they are entitled to their opinion and have the ability to share with a wider audience than we do. We share our opinions when allowed, even publicly via blogs and such so I think it's perfectly okay for them to do the same. #2 - I don't dislike Sarah Palin, but I certainly can't imagine her as the President.


And lets add this for good measure:

Update...

So, I'm moving. Yippee! Who would ever think I would hate living here:


I've lived at the Gateway for a year, and believe me, it gets old fast. The best thing about living here is that my commute is a 3 minute walk. There is exactly 1 store I can buy clothing at. There are a few for shoes, but if you know me, you know that's the last thing I need to spend money on.

Anyways, I'm moving to a house just on the other side of the highway. This will be much cheaper and lots more fun. Now I will have a 3 minute driving commute. Not bad.

I'm also excited about my teeth news. My next appointment is in a couple of weeks. If my xrays look good at this appt, I get to start the finishing phase of my braces. This means after this next appt, I may have only 2 to 6 months left! Yippee!

Hi, my name is Bonnie and I'm a TV junkie .....

So, like the rest of the country, and maybe world, I've been watching ridiculous amounts of the Olympics during the last 2 weeks. Sad/glad it's over... (but I could watch Michael Phelps and the other swimmers 24/7)

I'm super addicted to Jon & Kate Plus 8. If you don't watch it you need to.

I love junk MTV/VH1/E!/Style/Oxygen shows. If it's about a celebrity or someone dating a celebrity or minor celebrities competing with eachother for something, I'm all over it.

Right now, I'm watching Big Brother. I only started this one 2 years ago, but it's addicting. And right now, when there's nothing new on, it's nice to have something on 3 nights a week.

I can't wait for the new Fall season. I must watch: Grey's Anatomy, the Office, Private Practice, ER, Gossip Girl, America's Next Top Model. I like to watch Law & Order, but can't commit to 3 nights a week. The only show I'm planning on adding is the new 90210; hopefully it's good...

Wow. I'm a loser! :)

Friends pics

I've been meaning to post the pics for awhile. Sorry Girls!

Birds update ...

The birds have proved to be very irresponsible parents. They have abandoned their undeveloped charges and I am left to clean up the mess. Do I push the eggs and nest over the edge or dispose of them down the garbage shoot? Hmmm...

Fire Videos

Fire in downtown SLC!!!

The building across the street from my apt at the Gateway is on fire right now! It's been 1 1/2 hours and it's going strong! Yikes! The following pics are in chronological order:

It was REALLY warm on our balcony at first!

This is the most exciting thing that's happened around here for awhile!




We thought it was done, but it came back....

The smoke started to drift in this direction, but the fire is strong

It's almost over!

The fire finally died down around 4 am!

Should I .....

The bird at 3:30 am. Isn't this the crappiest nest you ever saw?


The bird at 10:00 am.


This is how far the nest (and eggs) would have to fall....

For the birds ...

Misty & Dave's birds have moved on ... to my patio! A stupid pidgeon laid 2 stupid eggs on my patio. Then it and it's mate/partner/friend (????) started dropping off sticks and have moved on to make the most half-assed nest I've ever seen. They are now sitting on the eggs 24/7 ... on my patio at the gateway. You should see this stupid nest; it's like 3 inches from falling off the edge. Which I would like to happen. Is that mean? Now that there's actually this crappy little nest, I don't think I can chase the birds away and kick the eggs off the side. But I would like to. I just don't really want to wait for the little birds to hatch & grow up big enough to fly away. Plus, I'm sure I will be able to start a compost with bird poop if I let them stay. I'll post some pics soon.

What should I do?

Las Vegas!

Did you know I love Las Vegas?
I had never been until 3 or 4 years ago and then my brothers moved there, so I finally had a good reason. I just went this weekend. Now only one brother still lives there, but I'm hooked. This is my tribute to Las Vegas... :)

--0--0--0--0--0--0--0--0--0--0--0--0--0--0--0--0--0



Oh, little town in the desert how I love thee.
The sparkling lights and the soft warm nights, I love thee.
Trader Joe's and street walking hoes, I love thee.



$7.95 prime rib at the Golden Gate
and strawberry shortcake at Peppermill are great.
I love thee.



Flowers at the Bellagio.
40% off at Mac is a GO.
I love thee.



Most of all, my brother Patrick.
Even when he acts like a d*^#.
I love thee!

Can I still be a princess?

According to my almost 3 year-old my niece, no.
My sister was in Disneyland with her 4 kids last week and put me on the phone with her youngest.
This is one of those conversations where mommy tells child what to say and child repeats.
Here's how it goes: "I saw Mickey. I saw Minnie. I saw Goofy. I saw princesses. I'm a princess."
Then I say, "I'm a princess too."
Without a pause and sounding totally offended, she says, "No you not."

Priceless. Thanks Nathalia.

Miguel's Birthday

Miguel turned 4 on the the first day of my trip home.

Miguel taking a swing at his pinata!

Nay Nay's turn

She needed a little help from Uncle Daniel!

Presents!