What blogging means to me

Happy birthday to my blog! I have been blogging at this domain for a whole year today! I've been thinking a lot lately about why I blog now verses why I started blogging during the summer of 2004, how my blogging has evolved, how blogging has gained a lot of traction in the last year, and what my particular blog is all about.

I started blogging over at another blogging site the summer after my freshman year at BYU because all my friends were doing it. Really. It was a way to keep up with them and write funny things about each other and our lives. I kept it up into the school year. I liked blogging with that particular domain because it included a "friends page" which posted any new entries that my friends had made with that particular blogging site. That is, I told the site who my friends were, and it pulled their blogs into one convenient page for me. But then, with time, many of my friends pretty much just stopped blogging altogether.

Around that time, Janssen started blogging here on blogspot, and I followed her shortly thereafter. For me, it was really not about keeping up with people. It wasn't about telling everyone about me. It was all about writing. An outlet for me to write about the things that amused me and occasionally the things that frustrated me.

Somewhere in the last year my blog became pretty generally known to my family- both my side and Eric's. Actually, to be clear, it happened on Eric's side when Brianne started blogging and I commented on some of her posts. For my side, I think it happened when I sent an email telling everyone to check out my new teeth because I had posted photos to my blog of the transition from crooked to beautiful.

Around the time that I started blogging on here, I also started using Google Reader. It is WONDERFUL! It compiles all the blogs that I read into one place. It is easy to use! It prevents me from checking blogs a gazillion times a day one at a time just to see if the blogger has posted. Not only is that more convenient for me, but it also doesn't screw up the statistics on the blog, if the blogger has a site meter or uses Google Analytics, like I do.

Google Reader also suggests to me other blogs I might like. It is great! Because, you see, reading blogs is not just about keeping up with people I know. It is also about reading things posted by strangers. I know. It's a little odd. Why do I care at all what strangers have to say? What they do all day? How cute their kids are? Frankly, I don't know! But it's not just about their lives, it's mostly about how they write. There are some really great writers out there, and I love getting a feel for different writing styles and different ways to tell stories. It has helped my writing quite a bit.

Plus, some people are just downright hilarious.

So, to summarize:

• I have about 50 blogs in my Reader. Yes. 50. And I add about 2-3 each week. I'm constantly looking for more. Mind you, many of these haven't been updated in more than a week. I only get about 15 posts a day, and half of those I barely skim because I get a lot of genealgy blogs, and that news can often be repetitive.
• Hate to break it to you, but blogging is not for you to keep tabs on me. It is for me. To write. Maybe one day I'll stop writing about my day-to-day life altogether. Probably not. But maybe.
• I was on the blogging bandwagon long before it was merely a way to share pictures with family members and friends. And I'm a little too proud of that fact. But I do love the sharing aspect of it!
• Never, ever, ever has Eric posted on this blog. Nor will he. It's not his. It's mine. He mostly shuns blogs, and he thinks my whole blogging obsession is a little silly. He doesn't read your blogs unless I tell him to do so. Sorry. Usually I just tell him what is going on with his friends and family. I am the information gatekeeper in this household. But really, it's not his blog, so if you wouldn't mind not calling it his, that would be great.
• I like to keep track of how many visitors I get. That means I like it when you link to me. I generally assume that other people like to be linked to as well, so if you don't want strangers visiting your blog, please let me know and I won't include hyperlinks when I refer to you. But, I ask that if you refer to me, you do link to me. Because I care. Too. Much.
  

Freshman Year Discovery

I loved my freshman year at BYU. I have great memories of the fun times with my roommate, Priscilla, and our neighbors, Heather and Janssen. I miss those girls a ton, and it is often sad to me that we don't live together any more. I mean, I love living with Eric, but I also loved living with those girls.

Every Monday night Heather would come into our room to watch the new Strong Bad email on Homestarrunner.com. (To summarize, homestarrunner.com is a website of a cartoon of sorts. The characters don't make a lot of sense, but they are funny.) Each week I dreaded this nonsense because I just didn't find Strong Bad funny. Or any of the characters. Or anything about the website. I thought it was rubbish. Unfunny rubbish.

That is, until Lures & Jigs. Hilarious.

Since moving down here, Eric and I have rediscovered Homestarrunner.com, specifically the Strong Bad emails. We have even introduced it to a few friends. We like to show them our favorites including Dragon, Japanese Cartoon, English Paper, Diorama, CGNU, and of course, the site's introduction. Usually if none of these get our friends to realize how funny the site is, we show them Lures & Jigs, and it does the trick!

Today Eric went fishing (he's not home yet), and all I could think of was him doing a little dance to attract the fish, while saying, "Hey fish! I'm gonna suggest you get up in here! We've got a keg... of worms... and phytoplancton!" Hilarious, I tell you. Just go watch Lures & Jigs, okay?

General Conference

I'm happy because today is General Conference Saturday for us. We opted to watch it online for the Saturday sessions for a couple of reasons:

• Non-Sunday clothes.
• Not a chapel full of screaming kids.
• Couch.
• Sickness.

Yep, I'm sick. Pretty lame because I have no idea how I got sick. The people who we hang out with? Not sick.

This has given Eric another chance to shine, though. Right now he is going to the store to buy me some much-needed cough syrup so that I can actually sleep tonight. (Actually, he just came home with said cough syrup plus throat lozenges! Way to go!) Each morning he has made me a cup of raspberry-peach herbal tea complete with added honey and sugar. Always makes me feel better! What's this you say? I turn my tea into hot Kool-aid?

Yes, that is correct. And it is best that way to drink that often intolerable stuff.

Calling all Travelers

Did you know that so far one person is definitely coming to visit me in New Zealand? Yep. ONE. Of all the people I know.

She bought her plane tickets yesterday. I am so excited for her to come at the end of November.

I spent some time looking online for plane tickets yesterday, just to see, and do you know what? I found roundtrip tickets from Salt Lake City to Christchurch for only $1000! That is a steal! So, get on the ball, folks! Come over here and visit us while you have the chance to have free lodging and food!

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I'm going to Australia again at the beginning of May. I just sent off my passport info to the person who buys plane tickets for our company, and it was so exciting looking through my passport at my one visa and two stamps! I know, it's only two. But eventually there will be lots more than two! And I just get so happy thinking about it!

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And here's a little meme I felt like doing. No need to also do it. I won't judge you if you don't:

Four jobs I have had in my life:

Cashier at a grocery store, Stir-fry cook, Peer Mentor, Linking Team Lead on an extraction project

Four movies I've watched more than once:

Beauty and the Beast, Little Women, Dr. Strangelove, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Askaban

Four Places I have lived:

Texas, Utah, New Zealand. Really, I've only ever lived in three places. I guess you could say I lived in Provo and Orem, but they are practically the same place.

Four T.V. Shows that I watch:

None right now. Really. NONE. I do watch the highlights of American Idol each week. And if I lived in the states I would watch The Office. But that's all.

Four places I have been:

New York City, Seattle, San Diego, New Zealand

Four Favourite Foods: (You'll have to excuse the ridiculous spelling, this was sent to me by a Kiwi, and I felt I should keep it in its original form.)

Salad, Ice Cream, Lamb, Bread

Four Places I would like to visit:

Jerusalem, Washington D.C., Florence, Prague

Four things I am looking forward to this year:

Going to the Barrier Reef, temple week in Hamilton, trip to Milford Sound, eating lots of lamb

Paua

On Saturday night Eric and I went over to Phil and Annemarie's house for dinner and games. Phil happens to be the branch president. He is crazy about games, and he's a big-time trash-talker. He kind of reminds me of Andrew. Because here he is rubbing it in that you lost a die, yet he only has one left. I guess if you take it seriously it could be really annoying. But we were warned, so we felt justified and just dishing it right back. It was a fun time!

Phil and Annemarie have three really cute kids. One of them is four, and his name is Jared. Yes, stories are coming.

This is paua (pronounced pow-uh). It grows in the ocean. (In America it's called abalone.) You can go diving for it. Just pick it up, and if you are fast enough, the little muscle-like creatures won't attach themselves to the nearest rock. Paua are useful for two things: one, the meat is very tasty (or so I'm told) and two, their shells are really beautiful. Somebody in the household had gone out and caught a couple of paua and placed them in a bowl for later consumption. These paua were still alive, and of course this was very fascinating to the little boys, especially Jared. Phil brought the bowl of paua over to me so that I could see them, and they happened to be very active at the time, moving around quite a bit. It's rather difficult to explain how they move since they live in shells and are invertebrates but the best description is that they were flexing.

Anyway, cute little Jared was touching the paua and encouraging me to do the same. As you might expect, I was not keen to touch the black, gooey thing. So, I told Jared that I really didn't want to, and he told me, "But he likes it." Jared continued to enumerate to me all the wonders of paua, how yummy they are and such. This was funny because when he first showed them to me, I asked him if he had ever had it, but he said that he hadn't. As the conversation continued, Jared told me how to prepare paua. "Scoop it out of the shell. Put it in a pan. Turn on the stove so it gets hot. Let the paua get hot in the pan until it is cooked, " and so on. The funny thing was, when I asked how to cook it, my question was directed to a grown-up and I pretty much missed the answer, except I think it can involve coconut milk.

And, the best of all. When I asked Jared what his favorite food was, he assured me, of course, that it was paua.

I don't think that story translate very well written down, but this kid was darn funny! And cute. And, his mom told me that he has had paua, and she's pretty sure it wasn't his favorite food.

Be Our Guest

On Tuesday night our friends, Angela and Haki, came over. We fed them dinner, and it was only mediocre dinner. Too bad they didn't come over on Monday when it was really yummy dinner. Alas. While we were getting the food on the table, I mentioned our lack of a cheese grater and how we totally meant to buy one at The Warehouse! Lame! And do you know what? Ange brought us one on Wednesday. She is a nice person.

Also, she brought Tim Tams. Tim Tams are cookies. And with Tim Tams, you make Tim Tam Slams! I had heard from somebody that they were overrated. Whoever that was is wrong. Dead wrong. Tim Tam Slams are the best Kiwi dessert ever.

Here's the gyst:

A Tim Tam is a cookie that is shaped like a bar and covered in chocolate. To turn the Tim Tam into a Tim Tam Slam, you bite off both ends of the cookie and use it ever so briefly as a straw to slurp some hot chocolate. You have to act fast though, because once you slurp, the cookie starts to turn to mush and the chocolate starts to melt.

Unbelievably tasty. So chocolatey, goodnessy, wonderful.

Of all the things to take back to the states. This is it. I'm planning on importing several packages of Tim Tams so we can show all the folks back home how wonderful Tim Tam Slams are.

In fact, I liked them so much, here is chat I had with Eric:
me: can we eat tim tam slams for dinner

Eric: no

me: you are mean

Eric: yes, lets eat chocolate and sugar for dinner

3:50 PM me: exactly!!!!!!

3:53 PM tim tam slams it is then.

Unfortunately, Eric was being sarcastic when he said, "Yes, let's eat chocolate and sugar for dinner." We had leftovers instead.