Another Quilted Gift!

My good friend Christina, whom I have worked with for a few years, is so good to me! For the past 3+ years that I have known her she has made me a Halloween quilt wall hanging for my birthday! She said I am her excuse to make Halloween things. I love it! Every one of them have been so cute and it means the world to me that she would put so much work into something for me. She is a great friend that I will cherish for life :)

THANK YOU CHRISTINA!!!

Childhood Memories, As I Saw Them

Life would suck without siblings! They have always been my best buds, even when they would beat on me I still considered them great friends! We did everything together, laughed, cried & played. We were always a team, especailly when it came to getting in trouble with the parents! Those were the times we bonded most!

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A few years back I decided to draw out (in cartoon form) some of our greatest memories as kids. By request of my sister, Shayla, I have posted not only the ones she didn't have but all of the ones I have drawn thus far along with a little bit of explaination.

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These are our nicknames & the way I have chosen to visualize each person in my family

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CLICK THEM TO ENLARGE

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We are a pretty outdoorsy family, we all love to travel and go camping! One of our favorite places to go was southern Utah where we would play on goblins and climb up rocky walls. We always had a blast!

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Honestly, ants have got to be something every kid loves to observe. Tho, our observing of ants were probly more torturous then anything. My older brother, David, taught us the ropes on that. Burn them , drown them, smash them, freeze them, cave in their homes, etc. I'm sure we'll all be haunted by ants in the after life...

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Living on wheels was our life, mostly by force cuz we got locked outside all the time and had nothing better to do... but seriously it would be unfair to blame my parents on that one. Having 5 little devils running around in the house everyday would drive anyone insane I am sure

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So I mentioned that we got locked outside a lot... you learn to get creative with limited supplies. We would fill up garbage cans with freezing cold water and have contests to see who could stay in it the longest. We figure this must be the reason we are all immune to sicknesses.

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****Now here are the reasons we got locked outside so much****

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This is Car Smasher. A sibling favorite. This is a simple game. Simply place two matresses ontop of each other between a bunk-bed and a wall. Place the victim aka 'the car' inbetween each matress and then jump as hard as you can onto the top matress smashing them to death... or until they start crying, haha. Then rotate! Easy as pie and so much fun! :)

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Any child that never played in the dryer has surely miss out on life! It wasn't uncommon to see us playing in the laundry room when the parents weren't around. It also was not uncommon to get thrown into the dryer and have it turned on by an older sibling when you made them mad. But all in all, good times!!

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The one thing that always brought us together as sibling was when we knew we would ALL be in big trouble if we didn't fix a problem one of us had caused. We were pros (or so we thought) at repairing holes, fixing broken furniture and cleaning up carpet spills!

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So we had a giant pink bean bag that we picked up at a garage sale one day. We had fun, it exploded and then we were never allowed to have another bean bag again...
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Our mom had once told us of a time when she cleaned the kitchen floor by tying sponges to her feet and skidded along. One day when my parents were out we thought we would suprise them by cleaning the kitchen floor for them, and we took our mother's idea to the extreme! We covered each little (brand new) linoleum square with dish soap and flooded the floor with buckets of water and went at it for hours! Oh it was a blast! Needless to say the new floor was completely ruined, we were grounded forever and couldn't figure out why. Pretty sure we never cleaned without being asked again.
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Alligator, as simple as the picture. You fall off, you get eaten.
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Seriously, who hasn't done this?! We used everything imaginable: matresses, sleeping bags, blankets, laundry baskets (which really hurt), trunks (also painful), everyday attire, couch cushions, large stuffed animals, etc. Honestly, if you haven't ever slid down a case of stairs before you are missing out!!!
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We all have many many more adventures that I need to put into picture form. It is a great way for us all to remember such good times.

Panoramic Pictures

Back in April I went with my family to Bryce Canyon & some other places in southern Utah. I took a bunch of pics in hopes that I would be able to figure out how to connect them all to make one long panoramic shot. I just learned how to do that last night so I thought I would post them! I wish they weren't so small, but if you click on them it will make them bigger. Two taken at Sunset Point and the other at Bryce Point. I love pictures that make me feel like I am there, which is why I think I love panoramic pictures so much. Honestly outdoor photography is my most favorite kinda photography to do. I love being in the right place at the right time, nothing could be better then photographing the beauties of the world.

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Workin On My Skillz

This last week I had the chance to do a couple photo shoots to help me out with both my photo skills & people skills! My co-worker had mentioned that he wanted his portrait taken and I told him I would take his picture because I needed practice anyways. It's been about a year since I actually did anyones portrait so I was a little scared, but he was happy with the results so that is all that really matters right?

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My old roommate had also called me and asked if I would be willing to take her engagment pictures for them. I was more then happy to do it, but still quite frightened. I had never taken anyones engagment pictures before and so I was kinda in the dark. I'm just glad my first experiance was with someone I knew very well. It was a good way for me to get some more practice in and feel more chill about the whole thing.

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Check out my photo blog if you wanna see more portraits that I have taken :)
http://mariko84.blogspot.com/

Takin Pictures

So my boss wanted me to take some pictures of their grandson, Athrun. Its good for me to have people that want their picture taken, it gives me the practice I need and I am always more then happy to do it free of charge. Maybe someday when I'm real confident I'll make people make me cookies or something in exchange :)

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My New Car!

I did it, I finally caved and got a better car! Anyone that knew my old car, Fozzie, knew that he wasn't gonna last me much longer, especially through the winter time. Fozzie hates winter... So with the help of many family members I picked the car that most suits me. This is a total Lisa car incase you didn't know. Cute, small & somewhat sporty lookin!

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In my family we have always named our cars. When you've got like 5 different cars at the house its just more fun to say, "Lets take Junior, Cammy, Fozzie, GW or Shark Bait" So having a name for my new car is a must in my book! I told my family to be thinking, I wanted it to be something cool sounding. I told them something Hawaiian or Japanese would be awesome. My little sister came up is Kaji, which mean Fire in Japanese. Perfect fit if you ask me, Kaji it is!

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At the dealership

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Black & Red seats! :)

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First time I've ever had AC and a CD player in my car! Soooo happy!!

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The steering wheel can control the radio/CD player & it has cruise control!

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I got this at Disney World in January, but never put it on Fozzie, the antenna was much lower and I was afraid it was gonna get stolen! Hopefully it will be ok with the height it has now, I love pirates :)

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Of course I couldn't go without my pineapple hanging from the rear view mirror!

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I'm a proud owner of a Mazda 3, no more grandma car for me!!

Japanese Stab Binding

So, it has been quite awhile since I have made a book. My friends birthday was coming up and so I decided to make a book for him. I always wanted to learn how to do the Japanese Hemp Leaf stitch because I just think it looks so awesome! So I took the time to learn how to do it. Usually these books are made with a soft cover but I really like hard cover books so I kinda combinded two methods that I knew to create this one!

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Flowriding!

My ward is so awesome! Seriously we always do such fun things! This week we went to the Lindon Aquatic Park & played around in the pools, on the waterslide and in the lazzzzy river! But the highlight for me was the flowrider! I saw one of these on TV a couple years ago & ever since I always wanted to try one! This was my chance, no way I was passin' it up! Someday when I'm all rich & all, I'll have a flowrider! Yeeeah! ;)

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P.S. the pics are kinda bad cuz I blew them up from an iphone. Hehehe :)

Alaska!

Alaska was so beautiful and amazing. What a great place! We left out of Seattle on our cruise. The cruise was pretty amazing for the most part. Better then I thought it was gonna be but still doesnt even compare to the awesomeness of a Disney cruise.

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Ketchikan was our 1st stop. I loved it so much, the town is so cute and the scenery is breathtaking! In Ketchikan I saw wild orcas for my first time, it was so neat! We also went to an Alaskan Lumberjack show which was pretty cool :)

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We stopped a mile away from the Hubbard Glacier on our way to Juneau. It was so amazing! Our cruise ship got closer to the glacier then any other one has before and with the glacier growing, a few years down the road people wont even ever be able to go out to the glacier by boat because of the dangers. We watched huge chunks fall off the glacier into the sea, sounded like loud crashes of thunder! It was so cool!

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In Juneau is where Shayla and I got to take our 1st helicopter ride! Wow, that was amazing! One of the coolest things I have ever done! We got to see about 6-7 different glaciers from the air and then land on another. Soooo freakin amazing! Probly the highlight of the whole trip for me!

. In Victoria we went out to the Butchart Gardens! They were absolutly beautiful! I couldn't believe it! I smelled like every flower in my path, haha! My favorite was probly the Japanese gardens tho, they were so so pretty!

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When we arrived back in Seattle we went to Pike Place Market, a place I had never been before. It was really cool and fun to see the famous fish tossing!

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After Pike Place we headed out to Deception Pass, a place I had never been either! Which is weird considering like the million times I have been up to Washington! It was beautiful and I loved it!

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Afterward we went to hang out with good old Grandma & Grandpa Dickson! It was so fun to see them and be at their home. I think it had probly been about 6 years since I was last there. It was fun to see the cows and chickens! We also played some dominos, the one game that will ever remind me of my grandparents :) I loved it! It was also pretty cool that I won too! Then my cousin Janice painted all our toes! I love that mine are blue!

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This was such a great trip for me, I really enjoyed it. It is always good for me to get away from the every day life and world here in Provo. There are so many beautiful sights out there to see and I'm glad I am so blessed to see so many!

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*Check out my facebook for about a million more pictures of Alaska*

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Till my next big adventure!

:)

Livin' Like An Islander - My Dream Come True!

A few weeks ago my ward had a Luau that they buried a pig for and I thought it was so cool, but I didnt get to see how it was done. There is a couple in my ward getting married that wanted the same thing done for their wedding and one of my good friends invited me to go with him to see how it was done! I was so so excited!

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There were a couple dudes there that served their missions on islands and learned to do this, so they taught us how it all works. First thing is to dig a rectangular pit about 3 feet deep and fill it with wood and start a giant fire! We used about 2 1/2 gallons of gasoline to help us out! Afterwards we threw in lava rocks to heat up till they were white hot.

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Next step is to prepare the pig! I think the one they got was about 125 lbs. To prepare it you have to cut slits all over the meaty parts of its body and shove it full of salt for flavoring. I wasn't as grossed out as I thought I would be, it was actually pretty cool! Then you line a wire basket with banana leaves (because they won't burn) and place the pig inside.

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We started off using fans to get the fire hotter but decided to speed things up with a leaf blower! That sure did the trick, it was awesome. Once the lava rocks were hot enough we piled a few in the stomach of the pig to help with cooking and covered the rest of the pit with cabbage to help trap the moisture and provide a little flavoring.

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Then the pit was covered with banana leaves and wet news paper, after which they tied up the pig and placed it on top. They then laid banana leaves all across the pig, along with wet burlap gunny sacks and topped it all off with a big ol' tarp.

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I didn't get pictures near the end because it started pouring rain like crazy! But it sure was a blast to see and I enjoyed every second of it!

Doing Some Service!

For a ward activity we all went over to our 1st counselor's place to help him landscape his yard! It was a lot of fun, even in the mud & rain! I got to mostly shovel dirt and dig up sprinkler heads to cap off. I love working out in the yard!

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Awesomeness

Over the weekend I had one of my really good friends and former roommates (Jennifer) come visit me! It was so much fun to play with her again!

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We got a group of friends together to hike to Timpanogos Caves! It was such a blast and so beautiful! I haven't been in about 10 years so I was glad I had the chance to go with some fun people!

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Later on Jennifer and I met up with another former roommate, Carley and her husband Caleb, for some Cold Stone ice cream! It was so great to see them both, they are so much fun to be around!

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When I got back to work today one of my former co-workers and good friends (Christina) came into see me! She had made me this cute travel size pillow case! Beach decor and everything! I was so excited! She is so sweet and knows me in and out!

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Diggin' a Trench!

Today I went to my parents house! I was talking with my dad about getting a patio and fire pit put in the backyard and he said he needed to get some cords buried first but hasnt had time. So I asked him where he wanted it buried and then I got to work! I enjoyed doing it! Hopefully this will give him a little start to put in the awesome patio!

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Replacing the Damage!

My daddy is so freakin awesome! He helped me pick out and replace my shattered mirror today! This time we made sure to bolt it securely to the wall so future residents wont almost die like me! It ain't goin no where! It's so nice to have it back!

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Who Gets The Bad Luck?!

I really do like my apartment that I moved into in December, I think it is SO cute and I have really good roommates! They only thing I seem to have a constant battle with is my bathroom! When I first moved in the ceiling was dripping water from the apartment above and a couple months ago my bathroom flooded like crazy and my faucet on my sink had to be replaced. This time was a little more scary! I was sitting at my desk, which is only about 6 inches away from my bathroom and all the sudden I heard loud crashing noises and I looked over and my 50 inch mirror was in the process of crashing to the floor! It scared me so bad I was shaking for hours! I had glass all around my feet! Luckily I didnt even get one scratch! I dont even wanna think what condition I would be in if I were any closer...

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Here is the aftermath of the crash... I had a couple drawer oraginzers on my counter that got knocked down during the fall. It was far from fun to clean up!

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The mirror put holes and gashes in my door...

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...my wall...
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...the toilet lid...
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Apparently it was never bolted to the wall even! I checked for screw holes and everything! I guess gravitiy just decided it was time for it to come down. I'm just glad it didnt come down on my head!

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Yup so there it is, the story of how I almost died! I'd double check all your mirrors if I were you! Hopefully I will get a new BOLTED in one soon, it is kinda not fun using only hand mirrors to get ready each day....