Not tagged, but doing it anyway...

Nobody tagged me, but I need a break from work and I LOVE filling these out (plus, maybe it will inspire someone else to fill it out and I can read about them!).

Where were you born? Good 'ol Roosevelt, Utah

Middle name? Nanette (I used to wish it was my first name, actually - I thought it was prettier and easier to pronounce. :D)

How old will you be this year? This year, I already turned 22. I'll be 23 in about 4 months.

Nicknames? Alis, Alf, Dad, Babe, Fella (I don't really like that three of those nicknames sound like they should be for men...never thought about that...)

Are you taller than your mother or father? I'm probably about the same height as my mom - She might be a little bit taller - don't know for sure.

Do you cry often during movies? That really depends on my mood and the movie, but I do often cry in movies, yes (ALWAYS in movies like Charly, Titanic, Pearl Harbor, etc).

What is your biggest pet peeve? Oh, I have way too many. Switching lanes without turning on your blinker, people who talk/laugh really loud in a work environment, slurping drinks/soup, girls who don't know how to walk in high heels and wear them anyway, people who use the self-checkout lines in the grocery store, but aren't QUICK about it (I don't care if they have lots of stuff - just if it takes them FOREVER to figure out how to do it), etc. :D

Favorite color(s)? Green

Favorite food(s)? Uh oh. I'm really hungry right now, so....Ramen, chocolate ice cream, fries with Franks & ranch to dip, celery, apples (only if they're crunchy), boneless Buffalo wings

Favorite restaurants? Fuddruckers, Cafe Rio, Applebee's

Favorite smells? RAIN, apple cider (esp the candles), ANYTHING vanilla, babies :D

Favorite time of the day? Right before I fall asleep and I'm completely relaxed.

What brand of shampoo/conditioner do you use? I use Thermasilk for days when I am straightening my hair and just the Costco brand for other days.

What brand of make-up products? Hah. The only makeup I EVER wear is eyeliner, mascara and eye shadow. The eyeliner and mascara are Mary Kay (thanks mom!) and the eye shadow is from AJ and I have no idea where she got it.

How many pillows do you sleep with? Two - one for my head, one to go between my knees (they hurt if they rest on each other)

Do you play an instrument? I sing and can play "As Sisters in Zion" on the piano, but that's about it.

Have you ever been skinny dipping? Not the way you're supposed to go....

Did you play any sports in High School? Swimming (mostly backstroke) and track (hurdles)

What was the last movie you saw in the theatre? Regular Theater or Dollar theater? In the regular theater I think it was 27 Dresses and in the dollar theater, I think it was...actually I can't remember. Been too long.

What is your favorite article of clothing? My jeans that make me look skinny. The bottoms are completely frayed and they're REALLY dirty right now, but I'm wearing them anyway. :)

What is your dream vacation? Right now it's Italy. It changes often, but that's where I would love to go right now.

What was your first impression of your spouse? I thought he looked like his younger brother (I don't think that anymore). I also really liked his car (red Subaru Legacy). And I liked his muscular shoulders (I don't think I've ever told him that...)

If you were an animal, what would you be? Monkey. I LOVE climbing!

What is your dream car? Honda Pilot

What is one of your weaknesses? I get sick of people/annoyed with people really easily. Also, I get offended too easily.

What do you fix for dinner when there is nothing to fix? Ramen of course. Nate makes a quesadilla (he hates Ramen).

If you could live in a different decade/era what would it be? If we're going for clothes, I would want to live in the South around the Civil War. I LOVE those dresses. For lifestyle, I've always thought the 20's seemed kind of fun.

What is the emotion you feel the most? Exhausted, and I do mean that as an emotion. I just got a job promotion and called as Relief Society President in my ward, so I'm always a little exhausted. But I'm also usually just happy. :)

Do you consider yourself outgoing? I used to, but not anymore. I have a really hard time starting conversations with people I don't know. I'm fine if I'm with people I know (maybe a little too comfortable with some people) but for the most part I'm pretty quiet.

What is something you are constantly working on? Not letting emotion rule all of my decisions (that's for you Nate) :D

What is a word or phrase you overuse? Babe. One time I tried to go 24 hours without calling Nate "Babe." I made it 7 minutes.

What was the hardest thing that happened to you this past year? My grandpa's funeral. While I was okay with him being gone, the circumstances around his funeral were a little jarring and I had a really hard time with it.

What is the best thing that has happened to you this past year? Graduating was pretty awesome!

What is one thing you hope to accomplish this year? Oooh. Maybe finish the quilt I'm working on...we'll see.

The best piece of advice you learned this past year? This wasn't really advice and I definitely didn't just learn this this year, but I've learned BETTER to just be patient and let things happen when they happen - I don't let myself get as stressed as I used to. Hence the quote at the top of my blog. :)

Wedding, beaches and "Disseyand"!

A couple of weeks ago, we went to San Diego for Nate's brother Trav's wedding. I, of course, was awful about actually taking pictures (I took my camera EVERYWHERE, but it sat in my purse...sigh...).

Here are some of the highlights from our trip (thanks to everyone who's pictures I borrowed!):

DISSEYAND!

For two weeks before our trip, I walked around the house saying "I go to Disseyand!" like a 4 year old. Nate got really sick of it, but I hadn't been there since I was THREE, so can you blame me??!?! We ended up having a really fun time, but realized if you want to be able to do everything you want to in both Disneyland and California Adventure, you need at least 2 days...

This was our favorite ride - California Screamin' (it's actually in California Adventure). I'm not sure why Nate is so hidden in this picture, but this is the whole fam, minus the parentals.

This is us on California Screamin'. It stops you right at the beginning, does a countdown and then shoots you forward! Way fun.

Somehow, I "got" to be in front for Splash Mountain. Everyone else got a few drops here and there - my whole front was soaked. Good thing it was warm that day! (I'm holding my pants out to show that my fitted pants were all loose because they got wet. I looked like such a freak until they dried).

When we got home, everyone asked me if we saw all the Disney characters. We really didn't see that many! (we were focused on the rides). We saw Brer Bear, Winnie the Pooh (didn't get a picture), AND....
Mrs. Incredible! Or Elastigirl! (which ever...)

After all that playing....
(Okay, this was actually lunch time. We all get a little tired when our blood sugar gets low...)

Another group shot (this isn't a real street behind us, but is looked seriously real until we were that close).
And finally, the castle. It's really blurry, but you get the idea. :) I love Disseyand!


BEACH/FAMILY PICTURES

We went to the beach a couple of times just to play and go sea kayaking. One morning, we got all dressed up fancy and took family pictures. I would love to post them, because they're pretty good, but I only have access to them on the photographer's website. There are a few of them on there, if you're interested www.ninaseibertphotography.com.

After we took pictures, I really wanted to play in the water a bit. I pulled my pant legs up and walked out as the wave receded, then ran back to shore as the wave came back in. After a while, everyone joined in!

Ready to run....

Run!
Back safe from the wave...Or so we thought...

One of the times, the wave came up a little higher than we expected -- and by a little I mean a LOT. It completely came over the top of Kim, Connor and my heads. It was AWESOME! (the trip home was a little uncomfortable - it's amazing how much sand and salt I had everywhere).

That was one of my favorite parts of our trip. I don't think Rachel would agree with me....

WEDDING

And then, of course, the reason we were there:

The Happy Couple...awww....

All the brothers: Nate, Jordan, Trav, Connor, Jakob and Aaron

All the sisters (funny how my family has WAY more girls...) Paige, Kim, Trav, Lindsey, me and Rachel's little sister Rebecca. And despite the fact that I look like it in this picture, I'm not pregnant (I really need to learn to hold my stomach in while pictures are being taken!).
And the Frakes Fam! We just really like each other. :D

And that was our fun trip! It did make me realize I don't want to live in San Diego, like I used to want to, for which Nate was thrilled. It is definitely a fun place to visit!

I will probably be murdered for posting this, but I can't help it. This has a long history, only part of which I know. If you want the rest, you'll have to ask Adam and Trav (oops, I guess you can't tell it's them...maybe I shouldn't have said...)

Enjoy!



Sorry it's kind of dark...they didn't know I was filming...

E-mealz.com - a gift from heaven!


Dave Ramsey has done more for me than just the financial stuff Nate mentioned. Nate was listening to his radio show and heard a commercial for something called E-MEALZ.COM. He looked at the website, then told me to take a look.

I was in awe.

I have such a hard time with grocery shopping on a budget and just cooking in general. When I shop, usually I just wander up and down the isles looking for anything that could be turned into a meal. Doing that, I usually spend WAY more than I plan to (impulse shopping...), then I get home and realize I really don't have anything to make a MEAL.

This website is the exact answer to my problem. For $5 a month (which really isn't much for what this site does), they create recipes and then a shopping list to whatever store you shop. Not only that, but they do a week's worth of groceries for $30-40.

I started doing it this last week and I couldn't believe how amazing it was. These are YUMMY recipes with lots of variety! They're well rounded meals and I spent exactly my grocery budget for the next two weeks!

The only downside is that the recipes come out weekly, so you have to go shopping once a week (I usually go every other week). The other thing is that this only covers dinners, so if you're weekly budget is less than this requires, it won't work (or you'll have to go without breakfast and lunch!)

Despite those downsides, I really love this website. You sign up for three months, then can cancel or renew as you want. So if you want, you can do this for three months and end up with a pretty good amount of recipes to use and exactly how much the ingredients cost!