100 Interesting Things About Me

I was tagged. I don't know how interesting this is going to be, but here it goes...

1. I was born in Bountiful, Utah.
2. I claim to be from California, even though I have lived more years in Utah.
3. I moved to Fresno, CA when I was 9 years old.
4. I returned to Utah to attend BYU.
5. I have 4 brothers and I'm right in the middle.
6. My dad calls me "the rose between four thorns".
7. I'm a daddy's girl!
8. When I was little I always wanted a sister, but as I grew up I began to realize the many advantages of being the only girl.
9. I am extremely proud of all 4 of my brothers. :)
10. I kept snails as pets when I was little (probably 7 years old).
11. I love talking to my parents on the phone.
12. I moved to Houston, TX when I was 23.
13. I moved to The Netherlands 6 months ago.
14. I have never had any debt (besides my current mortgage).
15. I have been married for 7 years.
16. Andy and I were set up by our fathers.
17. I have a 2-year old daughter named Rachel.
18. I am a very emotional person.
19. I usually cry at least once a day over something I read, see on TV, or something Rachel does that just touches my heart.
20. I'm a homebody - sometimes several days can go by without me going anywhere.
21. I do enjoy traveling, but hate planning trips.
22. I love cruises (not as much planning).
23. I graduated from BYU with a degree in Elementary Education.
24. I got through college in 3 years.
25. I was a teacher for 5 years.
26. I taught two years in Utah and three years in Texas - 3rd, 4th, and 5th grades.
27. Fourth grade was my favorite grade to teach.
28. It wouldn't really bother me if I never went back to teaching, but who knows some day I might...
29. I love to take naps.
30. I love Mexican food.
31. I enjoy reading.
32. I don't really enjoy cooking.
33. I like paying bills.
34. I love chocolate.
35. I don't really have a favorite color.
36. I loved my calculus class in college.
37. I love when Rachel wakes up and sings in her crib.
38. I love that pictures of me when I was Rachel's age look like Rachel.
39. My hair has gone somewhat curly/wavy since Rachel was born.
40. I don't really like to play sports.
41. It drove me crazy growing up when all my brothers would watch was baseball - 4 votes against 1 and I would lose.
42. I love playing games.
43. During my teenage years we really started playing games a ton as a family - almost every Friday or Saturday night - fun times!
44. I love to win and can be pretty competitive.
45. I loved babysitting during my teenage years.
46. I babysat up until I went away for college.
47. I was (still am) a very girly-girl.
48. I loved playing dolls when I was little.
49. I used to complain to my mom that the boys had a lot more G.I. Joes than I had Barbies (I didn't quite understand the price difference).
50. I enjoy movies, but I'm not one to watch them over and over again.
51. I only own about 5 DVDs.
52. I love watching CSI Miami.
53. I actually like going to the dentist.
54. I love the way my teeth feel after a good cleaning.
55. I like foods in their original form - cucumbers and grapes should not be altered into pickles and raisins.
56. I'm not a fan of tomatoes, but can eat them if they're cut up really small.
57. I loved family vacations growing up - trips to the beach were my favorite.
58. I enjoy sewing, but haven't done it enough to really be good at it.
59. I usually enjoy learning how to do new things.
60. I have self-taught myself how to cut Andy's hair since we moved to Holland (Andy's request - haircuts are expensive here).
61. I've been fortunate enough to travel to some really neat places.
62. I'm pretty lazy about my hair and not that creative.
63. I really don't like getting ready every morning.
64. Getting ready for bed isn't much more fun, but I have to do the same routine and the same stuff every night.
65. I cannot sleep with make-up still on - I have to wash my face before going to bed.
66. I'm a side-sleeper.
67. Once the alarm goes off I get up pretty quickly (Andy's the opposite). :)
68. I feel blessed to have a lot of wonderful friends (new and long-timers).
69. I love it when my whole family gets together (it's been two years).
70. Scents leave an impression on me - I have different scents to remind me of different things - my mom, my dad, my honeymoon, etc...
71. I sometimes speak before I think and then really regret what I've said.
72. I don't like confrontation and I really try hard to avoid it.
73. I really don't like making decisions.
74. I like relaxing in a bubble bath with a good book.
75. My hair has gotten darker and darker as I have gotten older.
76. I used to be a blonde.
77. I haven't highlighted my hair since college.
78. I use to get perms in the late 80s and early 90s.
79. I've had a pedicure once.
80. I've had about 3 manicures - proms and my wedding.
81. I love having my toenails painted, but haven't painted them but a few times since Rachel was born.
82. I'm not much of a decorator - our house in Texas was quite "simple".
83. I painted our dining room and front bedroom all by myself - and I must say I did a pretty good job! :)
84. I have actually read the whole Bible front to back.
85. I love hot chocolate with whipped cream and cinnamon.
86. My favorite dessert is a brownie sundae.
87. I love to laugh - really hard and really loud.
88. I enjoy exercising when it's a class of some sort and there's variety.
89. I get very bored of the treadmill.
90. I prefer rice over potatoes.
91. I prefer chicken over red meat.
92. I prefer vanilla milkshakes over chocolate - weird, huh? (except when it comes to frosties).
93. I hate being sick.
94. I'm lucky to be a very healthy person.
95. I have taken a multi-vitamin pretty much every day for the past 10 years.
96. I floss my teeth every night.
97. I love the smell of rain.
98. I enjoy watching lightning storms.
99. I'm generally speaking a very happy, optimistic person.
100. I hope I really didn't bore you to death!

I feel bad tagging people - I don't know why, but I do. So, if you think this is a fun challenge, go for it, and consider yourself tagged! :)

Too Cute!

Rachel sure did look cute yesterday in her new dress. Thanks Grandma and Papa Smith for such a cute dress! Rachel was so excited to wear something new. :)

Funny Story

I hope I get this story right... While I was out Friday night, Andy heard Rachel over the monitor at around 9:30 and she wasn't a happy camper. So of course, he went up to investigate. Here's their conversation:

Andy: Rachel, what's wrong?
Rachel: Change diaper. (Rachel makes a throat clearing sound and waves her hand in front of her face.) Very bad.
Andy: Okay.
Rachel: Lots of wipes.

Andy turned on the hallway light instead of turning on her lamp and that upset Rachel. She didn't want the light on. But Andy explained to her that he needed to be able to see to change her diaper. Once Rachel had a clean diaper on, she didn't forget to say "thank you Daddy". So, Rachel got her diaper changed, Andy sung her a song, and then she went back to bed. Sometimes she surprises us with the things she does! I don't think either of us have ever used the term "lots of wipes". I guess she's one smart girl and hopefully getting closer to being ready to be potty trained! :)

Girl's Night Out

I have the most wonderful friends in the world! Claire, Ruthie, and Amy all treated me to a fun night out to celebrate my birthday. We were also joined by Amy's sister, Karyn, and Amy's baby, McKay. It was so much fun! We took the bus into Amsterdam and had dinner at Hard Rock. And then of course the night wouldn't be complete without a trip to Ben & Jerry's. :) I am so lucky to have such wonderful friends here in Holland. Thanks girls for such a fun night!

Beach Noordwijk

Andy had a holiday on Monday, so we decided to try out our first Dutch beach. It was quite crowded, but we had a great time. It's only a 30-minute drive from our house, so I'm sure we'll make more trips to the beach throughout the summer. The water was freezing cold, but the beaches were nice. No one else really went in the water either, so we weren't the only chickens. We simply enjoyed getting a little sun. Rachel absolutely loved playing in the sand! She first started out by simply grabbing handfuls and letting them go (luckily she didn't exactly throw the sand). Rachel also enjoyed playing with some toys in the sand - we need to purchase some actually beach toys! :) And then one of her favorite things was for her dad to bury her legs in the sand. We had a great time and here are some pictures of our beach adventure:

Nate's Visit

Andy's brother, Nathan, came out for a visit! Rachel had been so excited for him to come. She'd been talking for weeks about her birthday, Nate, and riding a train with Nate. She wasn't too sure about him at the airport, but once we got home she was ready to be his friend. We had a great time with Nate. We enjoyed exploring more of our new home with him. Here are some of our adventures:

We went to Alkmaar to see a traditional Dutch cheese market. It probably would have been more interesting if they had spoken English instead of Dutch. Nonetheless, it was a beautiful day. We watched the cheese auctioning for awhile, walked around and tasted some Dutch cheese, and just enjoyed the little town of Alkmaar. After Alkmaar we headed out to Volendam. Along they way we stopped at some tulip fields. In Volendam we just walked around the little town. It was a beautiful day. We enjoyed walking around, having lunch, and hanging out in the warm weather. The next day we headed into Amsterdam. We went to the Anne Frank Huis, did a ton of walking through Amsterdam just checking everything out, and then eventually we ended up at Hard Rock for dinner. Here's Rachel giving her Uncle Nate a kiss on the train ride home: On Nate's last day here we headed down to Kinderdijk. Unfortunately we didn't have much time, but we did enjoy a walk along the canals as we saw all the windmills. In this small town there's 19 windmills that were all built around 1740.
We enjoyed Nate's visit and were glad he made the effort to come. Rachel certainly had a lot of fun with her uncle! We are looking forward to more family visits in the future! :)

Mother's Day 2008

What a weekend! Rachel's birthday, my birthday, and then Mother's Day. All in a row! Mother's Day this year was a bit comical. I don't have any pictures, but I'll share the story. I informed Andy on Saturday morning that he was in charge of dinner on Mother's Day. So, the dutiful husband that he is, he set out to the grocery store. He was going to purchase some chicken cordon blue. The Dutch version is a little different than back home, but it's still pretty good. The container should have said "kip cordon bleu". Well, shortly after he got home I noticed it said "gehakt cordon bleu". Andy doesn't really do any shopping here in Holland, so he thought he was getting the right thing. We were curious what he had bought, so we tried to look it up on freetranslation.com. We didn't have any luck, so we checked out our nederlands-engels dictionary. Success! Gehakt means minced meat. So, I told Andy it would probably be fine and not to worry about it.

Well, fast forward to Sunday night. Andy's boiling the potatoes and cooking our gehakt cordon bleu. We quickly discovered that gehakt doesn't smell that great. So, I told Andy he was in charge of a taste test. He said it was okay, but he didn't think I would like it. I took his word for it. I know, not that adventurous... So, the mashed potatoes got put in the fridge and the gehakt cordon bleu was tossed in the trash. Andy got out the trusty waffle maker and waffle mix and made us all waffles. The dinner turned out great! The best part of it was I didn't have to cook or clean (two nights in a row even!). Andy of course felt horrible, but I didn't really mind. He got me roses and chocolate (although it was dark and I prefer milk). He tried so hard and it's the thought that counts anyways. Maybe next year we'll have purchased a barbecue and then it will be a bit easier for Andy to grill something for Mother's Day! I did make it to the grocery store this morning and purchased some kip cordon bleu. So, we'll have our planned Mother's Day dinner tonight. :)

Laura's Birthday

The celebrating continued on Saturday. I had a nice birthday! We spent most of the day in Amsterdam exploring. It was perfect weather and Rachel was so good for not getting a nap all day long. Rachel was a bit confused that it wasn't her birthday anymore, but she got over it pretty quickly since she still had her presents to play with. She did inform us that I was 2. Eventually we got her to say 28. Funny girl! :) And what did I get for my birthday? Well....In a few weeks I'm off to London with some friends. I'm so excited! Four days of fun and freedom. Andy's taking time off work and staying home with Rachel so that I can have a fun girl's trip. I can hardly wait! :) Rachel and I hanging out in Amsterdam.

After we got home that night (around 9:15) Andy was getting into our cupboards and I asked him what he was up to. He simply stated he was getting some cake. I thought that was odd, we had just walked in the door and we had just barely eaten at Hard Rock. Well, he came around the corner with a piece of cake and a candle for me to blow out. Fun times! I actually looked for an "8" when I bought Rachel's, but they didn't have one, so just a "2" worked just fine. I had a great day! So many people made my day so special by cards, emails, messages, and phone calls. Thank you! :)

Rachel's Birthday

Rachel turned 2 last Friday and she was much more into her birthday this year than last year. She had fun opening presents, playing with her presents, and eating the frosting off of her cake. I always struggle with what to get Rachel, because I never know what she'll really like. Well, this year all went well and she enjoyed everything she got. Here are a few pictures of her day: The hat was probably the one thing we could have done without. She wasn't that into, but it's so huge she'll be able to use it for several years to some. So, maybe next year she'll enjoy it more! Opening Presents

Rachel's new sunglasses! She loves them! :) Taking care of her new baby. The baby can laugh, cry, and talk depending on what part of the body you squeeze. Rachel gets quite concerned when I make her baby cry! :)Pretty Princess! Thanks King Family - Rachel loves it! :)Blowing out her candle. Rachel did really good!
No need to use the fork. All Rachel wanted was the frosting anyways.

Rachel's 2nd Birthday

We are celebrating Rachel's Birthday today. She is lucky enough to have her dad taking the day off work and her Uncle Nate visiting from Utah. It should be a fun-filled day. Rachel has requested several things over the past couple of weeks when we have asked her what she wants for her birthday. She wants pancakes, cake, ice cream, and bubbles. Not that hard to please, huh? Here are Rachel's 2-year stats:

• 22.5 pounds and 34.5 inches tall (tall and skinny)


• Loves to color and she's really into drawing circles (which she calls flowers).


• Knows most of the basic colors and is constantly telling us the color of things - white, yellow, orange, pink, red, purple, green, blue, brown, and black.


• Loves being read to and has special names for all of her favorite books.


• Can sit for a good 30 minutes flipping through a Reader's Digest.


• When caught in the right mood will sing several songs pretty much the whole way through - her latest is "I Am a Child of God".


• Loves to be outdoors checking out flowers, ducks, and dogs.


• Has quite a vocabulary - the biggest word she can say so far is anniversary.


• Longest sentence so far: "I don't know where airplane is."


• Enjoys helping Mom cook.
• Can count up to 16 (minus the number 15) - we have 16 stairs. :)

It is amazing how much joy and happiness the past two years have brought. We feel so blessed to have Rachel in our lives and try to make the most out of every day! We already feel like she has grown up so much and we don't want the time to slip away too quickly.