The Choo Choo Monies Club

Dear friends,

I think it is time to introduce you to one of the best parts of my life.
The Choo Choo Monies Club!
Members include
Joey

Jim

Michelle

and Me

We have a few honorary members,
Danielle (she's one of the more permanent ones)

Sam
Emil
Eric
and whoever else joins us.

We also have our own troubadour, Rob. He is also a great cream soda supplier.

Basically, every night for the past month or so, we've gathered at one of our houses and played Choo Choo Monies (more commonly known as Ticket to Ride) and danced and eaten and watched movies.
And it has been awesome.
Now I'm gone to Florida for 6 weeks, but I can't wait to be reunited with my favorite people (besides my family, of course! Jeez, Mom, don't get mad...)

I love you guys!

ps I stole all your pictures off of Facebook. Why don't we take more pictures?

Scandocious

Prince Charming and Cinderella {aka Bishop and Wifey}

(Almost all these pictures are for a certain Talana because she doesn't have a Facebook. Enjoy, lovah.)

So remember this?

Well, Saturday night was the ball. And can I just tell you that it was awesome? I am so so in love with my ward. Here is some documentation and commentary.


All images are courtesy of the amazing Tiffany and our sweet bishop's wife.

The boys put on their top hats...

...and cowboy hats...

The girls put on their pretty dresses...

And then we danced!

{I don't know what Jacob's doing in this one...}

Parker and his ballroom dance partner gave us a lovely performance.

Which we all heartily approved of.

We went to take a portrait with Mike {3-4 ladies, the lucky man!} but it took forever to set up the lights.
Tiff got quite a few of us waiting there.

It was Kinsi's birthday. A ball in her honor? I think so.

I am constantly amazed by the awesomeness of my friends. You guys rock.

I think that this is an adorable one of Ash. Parker knows how lucky he is, I think.

After the dance, we were still so happy that we had to take more pictures.
{Notice my awesome blue coat?}

I'm pretty sure that Blake and Ashley make this my favorite picture of the night. Ees hot.

The tiara made it's way around

This is a series by Ashley. She likes to click the camera.

All in all, we agreed with Joey, that it was a success.

Glowsticks+Ravenclaw Mansion=DANCE PARTY!!!!

What do you do with left over glowsticks from FHE?




First you make a video, then you go knock on the Red Door and have a dance party.



I know, we're basically the coolest girls you know.

Cupcakes and Parties

So I have this weird thing...

I love sweets (this isn't the weird part). I love eating sweet, gooey, chocolatey things with sprinkles and such. I eat chocolate frosting straight from the container. I eat whole batches of cookies in a matter of hours. I carry around of giant Symphony bar in my purse/backpack (in case of dementors). But...

I hate cupcakes.

I mean, I like looking at them. They're cute and sweet and innocent. But there is something about them. I hate to eat them. Ick. I gag just thinking about it.

This is dumb and irrational.

So I have a plan. We are going to have a Cupcake Party. Everyone is going to bring a cupcake (or three) and we'll try them and decide which is the best. So pull out your best recipes. Pull out your decorating skills. We'll decorate some and have a contest. Let's be creative.

And there will be alternate desserts provided by me in case I really don't like cupcakes.

Sunday. My place. In lieu of game night. Everyone is invited. Email me if you don't know me but you still want to come and be my friend (no creepers, please.)

Needle Point and Tiny Animals

Check it out:

We call them piggy pockets.

Sam and I have been busy at work today. I taught him how to crochet. And while I could be making something like a scarf or a hat, Mr. Snuggles is old and in love with his new guinea pig hide-a-way. So that is what Sam and I are doing today.

What's in a name?

Inspired by Rebel Angels, I've been playing with anagrams. How fun is it to change up your name? I'm really really bad at it. But I don't mind.
So far, I've come up with

Lacey Keli Warren

I don't love it, so I will be playing around with the letters until I get something I like.

What's an anagram of your name? Is it a name you would go by?

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Finals Week

Finals begin today. Which is fine, because I feel ready for them. It has been a very good semester and I will be sad to see it go. I don't know how next semester is even going to compare. My goal is to make it even better. I can't wait.

As a rule, finals week always goes out with a bang. April 2009 brought a car wreck. December 2008 brought llamas and car wrecks. April 2008 was all-nighters, The O.C. marathons, and too much food. As for December 2009, Talana is in town and staying with me, so it's gonna be a good one. Yesterday was amazing, what with church and music and games. Today promises to be just as good. So, if I can catch the bus, I'll be taking some finals, building some snowmen, eating some hot dogs, caroling at a nursing home, baking banana bread, going to the library, and watching Christmas movies. You are all invited to join me on any of these activities. Documentation will be provided of fun times.

As for the rest of the week, Alexia's getting married! Kate's getting in town today and I am going home in just 3 days. I can't wait to see my family and to finally be warm. Ahhh...Florida. I can hear you calling me. I'm coming.

Game Night

Sunday night is game night. And some weeks a lot of people come (meaning like 4, but they're really loud! So it counts.) Some weeks are smaller and quieter. And some weeks (aka today) there are firesides that interrupt. So we didn't actually have a game night. But we played some games with our friends at their house. And I have to share some things that were said. I will make them anonymous, in case certain people don't want me to share. But they were funny!!!

These were all while playing Catch Phrase.

The word is guppy
B: It's like oatmeal...
Me (sitting next to him, not on his team): How is that like oatmeal? That is a fish!
B: Oh I was reading it "goopy".


The word is Brooklyn
Me: A tree grows in ____...
J: Dirt! A forest!
Me: It's in New York...
J: Central Park!
buzzer goes off
Me: Brooklyn! A Tree Grows in Brooklyn! It's a book! And a movie!
B & J: Not everyone knows that! Is that supposed to be a common literary reference?


The phrase is Remember the Alamo
T: Davey Crockett said this!
Somebody: Remember the Alamo!
J: Wait! Davey Crockett was at the Alamo? When was this?
Me: How did you not know that Davey was at the Alamo? Disney even made a movie!
everyone (including J) starts singing the song
J: How did you know that and not me? Were you at the Alamo?


A: um....
M: Marzipan!
A: that's it!

The phrase is Mardi Gras
B: It's a party in Mexico...
Everyone: Cinco de Mayo, Day of the Dead...
B: Nope. Wait, maybe it's in Georgia!
Me (looking at the word): That's not in Mexico or Georgia!
B: Where is it?
Me: Louisiana!
B: Oh it's French!
M: Wait, you speak Spanish! How did you think that was Spanish?



If this bores you, I am sorry. But I know that Talana will laugh when she reads it.

T: Turtles

I just realized that I need to hurry up and finish my A-Z series before 2010 gets here! So I'll knock off a couple today.



This summer, I was out in our backyard when I found a little pit that had some eggs poking out. So of course I ran inside to get everybody. Momma and Sam came out, inspected the little pit, went back inside to do some research, and that was how we wound up with 20 little turtle eggs.

After lots of care, the baby turtles were removed from the pit (where something had obviously been bothering them--there were broken shells all over) and moved into little containers with moist dirt and put into a safe place on our back porch.

Samuel and Mom faithfully kept the dirt moist and cool for the little eggs, and the day after I left to drive back to Utah for school, they hatched! I am very sad I missed it, but they are still there (19 eggs hatched) and they are still tiny, waiting until they're big enough to survive on their own. I'm not sure what kind they are, but I have heard from a few good sources that they are quarter-sized and cute.The pit


Samuel moving the eggs to their new home
(we had to mark the top of the egg before we moved them because they attach their shell to the top of the egg, and if they get flipped over, they'll detach and die.)

K: Kites

Some of my best memories are of going to the park late at night with Talana and flying our $2 Barbie kite for hours. I don't think that there's a better way of getting in touch with your inner child. Plus, flying a kite over the ocean is just so darn beautiful. So I'm getting a kite this week and dragging Window Boy to the park to fly it with me (don't worry, he likes these kinds of things).


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