Music of 2012

Albums I bought in 2012:

• Duets by Barbra Streisand
• Born and Raised by John Mayer
• Jump Back- The Best of the Rolling Stones
• The Music of Smash
• Overexposed by Maroon 5
• Rock of Ages
• Thank You Camelia by Kris Allen
• Trespassing by Adam Lambert
• Unorthodox Jukebox by Bruno Mars

Songs of 2012:

• Call Me Maybe by Carly Rae Jepsen
• Cupid's Got a Shotgun by Carrie Underwood
• Girl on Fire by Alicia Keys and Nicki Minaj
• Give Your Heart a Break by Demi Lovato
• Gold on the Ceiling by The Black Keys
• I Was Here by Beyonce
• Let's Go by Calvin Harris and Ne-Yo
• Locked Out of Heaven by Bruno Mars
• Skyfall by Adele
• Too Close by Alex Clare

Mom's Ugly Christmas Sweater

Mom had me decorate her ugly sweater as well.  She bought it at Saver's.  I chose the theme of Christmas village.

I first glued a felt snowman to the bottom:

I cup up tinsel sticks and glued them to the giant snowflake in the middle.

She wanted these gloves incorporated into the sweater, so I glued them to the shoulders:

I cut ribbon and glued them around the wrists of the gloves:

I added foam stickers, a fabric gingerbread man, and a plastic tree to the bottom: 

I glued foam snowflakes down the sides to make it look like it was snowing on the creatures:

 I glued Moose Buttons on the gloves and glued more ribbon, to connect the gloves on the back of the sweater:

I added a purple bulb clip to the zipper:

This is how it looked when I was done:

My Ugly Christmas Sweater

Buy an ugly sweater at a thrift store.  I got mine at Saver's.

Buy some decorations you want to put on it and some tacky glue.  I had tinsel, ribbons, gloves, foam stickers, pom poms, and themed buttons.  Use what the sweater has on it and incorporate it into overall theme.  I had snowflakes all over mine.  Decide on a theme.  I chose Christmas Tree theme.

I started out by cutting tinsel sticks in half to glue onto the snowflakes.

Then I added Penguin Foam Stickers to the top right and bottom left.

I added this Bulb clip to the zipper:

I glued on a twisty ribbon to make it look like light strings on the tree.  

I glued on Candy cane foam stickers:

I glued on tree foam stickers:

I cut up more tinsel sticks and glued them to the sleeves:

I added some moose buttons:

Here is the finished sweater:

Finding Cats

I couldn't find Shadow anywhere, so I went downstairs in the basement and took the flashlight to look in every nook and cranny.  I finally spotted him. 

We have a screen on our back door on the deck, so the cats can go in and out, which helps to cut down letting bugs in.   The cats put their heads under the screen to come back in.  On Thursday, I hear my parents laughing and wander out to the family room.  Daisy had decided to bring in a grasshopper and Dad had to catch it.  While I was taking a nap on Saturday,  Dad let Daisy out in the backyard.  She brought him another grasshopper on a stick and then snuck out under the fence, because dad had moved some of the bricks.  I went out the front door to find her.  She was in our neighbor's garden when I found her.  When she saw me, she bolted to the fence, knowing she was in trouble.  

Park City

On Friday, we took the trailer up to Park City RV Resort near Kimball Junction. We were parked in lot A5.  We ate at Taco Bell for Dinner.  We drove around Kimball Junction, looking at what the shops were.   I read the book, Red Tent by Anita Diamant.  We ate Pumpkin Brownies for dessert.  Daisy and Shadow kept us awake all night, meowing to go outside.

On Saturday, We went shopping at the Tanger Outlets, where we got some shirts at Old Navy.   We drove up to Main Street and ate dinner at Red Banjo Pizza.  We got pizza and garlic bread.  We walked around the rest of the shops.  It was sad to see the mall on Main Street had only one store left open.  When I went to the Sundance art exhibit in 2008, it was in the basement of the mall.  Now they have the basement blocked off.  I wonder where they do the Installations exhibit now.  As we were walking past The Egyptian theatre, a couple in their gown and tux were getting their pre-wedding photos taken in front of the ticket counter. 

On Sunday, we drove home.

Costa Mesa

We flew to LAX on Sept 5th.  We rented a car through Advantage and drove to Costa Mesa, staying at the Best Western Newport Mesa Inn, near the O.C. Fairgrounds.  We have stayed there once before, with Ryan.  After we got to the hotel,  Dad and I went to the South Coast Plaza to get them a wedding gift.  We went to Crate and Barrel.  Dad bought them some salt and pepper shakers and I bought them a pancake/ waffle spatula, a cheese grater, 4 cutting mats, and a whisk.  We went back to the hotel and unpacked.  Then we went to Von's to get groceries.  After we put the groceries in the room, we went to the Crab Cooker with Ryan and Sara. We gave them our gifts.

On Thursday, We ate breakfast at the hotel.  We spent the whole day at Disney's California Adventure from 10:30 am until 5:30 pm.  We hadn't been there since 2003.  We had to park 2 miles away and take the bus to the park.  We started out in the Condor Flats, going on Soarin' Over California.  Mom has to shut her eyes to go on this ride.  We went over to the Grizzly Peak and went on the Grizzly River Run, which we got soaked on.  We walked over to Paradise Pier and went on the Littler Mermaid- Ariel's Undersea Adventure, which is like the ride, Finding Nemo at Epcot.  Dad and I went on the Golden Zephyr, which is a spinning ride that made me nauseous.  Dad went on Goofy's Sky School which is like the Wild Mouse at Lagoon.  While Dad went on the Silly Symphony Swings, Mom and I got Icee's.  We then all went on Mickey's fun wheel, the Ferris wheel, choosing to go on the side that doesn't spin.  We ate lunch at the Pacific Wharf Cafe, which had clam chowder in sourdough bread bowls.  We walked over to Hollywood Land to see Disney's Aladdin-a Musical Spectacular at the Hyperion theatre, which was a 40 minute show and really good.  We rode on Monsters, Inc: Mike and Sully to the Rescue, which has taxis as the vehicles.  We walked around the shops, while Dad went on the The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror.  We walked back to a Bug's Land and saw It's Tough to be a Bug.  Then we walked through the shops, while Dad went on the Radiator Springs Racers in Cars Land.  We saw the Pixar Play Parade.  Mom bought some Caramel corn, before we exited the park.  We had dinner at the Old Spaghetti Factory at Blackie's.  On our way back to the hotel, we went to Grower's Direct and got some fruit.  When we went back to the hotel and logged onto Facebook,  we found out my Dad's uncle Calvin had passed away the previous Saturday.

On Friday,  I ate raspberries for breakfast. I finished reading, Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn.  We drove up to Los Angeles, parking at Hollywood and Highland, walking around the stars and the shops.  We drove around Beverly Hills and Melrose Avenue, passing the CBS and Paramount Studios.  We had lunch at the food court at Anaheim Plaza  I read on my ipad and Dad went to Newport Beach while Mom took her nap.   At 7 pm, We went to the rehearsal dinner at Sara's house in Sunset Beach, hosted by my parents. We had Greek food from George's Greek, which included Greek Salad, Fruit, Veggies, Chicken Kabobs, Beef Kabobs, Pita Bread with Hummus, and Cheesecake for dessert.  It was good, getting to know Sara's family.  At 11 pm, we drove back to the hotel.

On Saturday,  I ate raspberries for breakfast. We went to the OC Swap Meet, where I bought some books and Mom and Dad bought some strawberries and some Caramel corn.  We ran into my Aunt Elaine and Uncle Les.  We got to the Newport Beach Temple at 2:45 PM, because our GPS wouldn't let us put in the exact address to the temple.  The ceremony was at 3 pm.   After the ceremony, we took pictures on the front steps. Sara and her mom made her wedding dress, her two sisters' dresses, and dresses for her nieces.   I wore my blue dress with a black sweater, Mom wore her grey dress. Dad and Ryan wore blue suits with rust colored ties.  After the pictures, we went to the car and we started pulling away, when I noticed Dad's flowers squished in our parking space.  They must have fallen off his jacket when he put his jacket in the back of the car and he ran over them with the tires.  We drove around the Pacific Coast Highway before going to the reception.

The reception was at Sherman Gardens and Library in Corona Del Mar.  We had appetizers such as Shrimp wrapped in Bacon, Tuna on Polenta, and Onion Tarts, with Lemonade to drink.  When we were seated inside at the U shaped table, I was seated between Dad and Aunt Elaine. Sara and her mom made the rust table runners, the grey napkins, and soapboxes for name plates.   Sara's dad conducted the dinner and made introductions of the family.  Ryan and Sara had their first dance to the song, I Will by the Beatles.  The first course was Mozzarella, Lettuce, and Tomatoes.  The fathers of both the Bride and Groom gave speeches on Ryan and Sara.  The second course was Asparagus and Arugula with an orange colored dressing.  The main entree was Halibut, Risotto, and Carrots.  The best man, Rich, and the Matron of Honor, Laura gave speeches.  Ryan and Sara then cut their cake, which was Pineapple and Coconut with Butter cream frosting.  Sara in her speech, had 9 other people including me, give one reason why she loved Ryan.  I had to talk about how he honors his Priesthood and does what is right, with Sara giving the number one reason.  Ryan then talked about how much he loves Sara and got teary-eyed.  We then ate the cake, which was delicious.  Then it was time for us single ladies to gather at the back of the room as Sara threw the bouquet.  Their friend, Sara B. caught it.  Then we gathered out in the courtyard with poppers of confetti to pop when Ryan and Sara ran past, sending them off.  After they left,  we said goodbye to everyone and drove to our hotel. Mom and Dad gave them money for their honeymoon to Playa Del Carmen, Mexico.

On Sunday,  I finished reading, Matched by Ally Condie and I watched some episodes of the Office (UK) on my ipad.   Dad went to Sacrament Meeting at the stake center next to the Temple, with my aunt Elaine and uncle Les.  After Dad came back from church, we drove up to Knott's Berry Farm and had chicken, mashed potatoes with gravy, and rolls with boysenberry jam for lunch.  After we ate, we walked around the shops.  After our nap, we decided to drive past Blackie's.  It was too crowded to walk on the pier.  So we went to Downtown Disney.  They had closed the book store, which was sad.  Mom bought the Indiana Jones playset and some cookies.  We had dinner at El Torito.  We drove back to the hotel and watched the movie, Date Night.