Easter Weekend!

I've been tagged.

Thanks Sandy for the "tag."

Where I was 10 years ago: I was teaching my second year of school at Fairmont Elementary (third grade--crazy class that year) in Yorba Linda, CA. We were living in an apartment in Placentia, and we only had our parrot, Riley.

Things on my to do list: Of course, I'd like to be more organized. I'd like to declutter and simplify my life. I'd like to lose at least 20 lbs, I'd like to scrapbook more and learn how to take better pictures with my digital SLR and learn how to alter them in Photoshop.

If I became a billionaire: After paying tithing, of course :-), I'd buy my dad a classic corvette, I'd retire Eric early, I would buy Kurt a new car, I'd possibly hire a cook, I'd hire a chauffeur for my mom, I'd buy Kerri a grand piano, I'd retire Dave early, I'd travel with my family, I'd invest and save, I'd donate to a charity helping children, and I wouldn't feel guilty anymore each time I bought scrapbooking supplies!

Three bad habits: I have a hurry button that gets me feeling impatient too much, I eat too much candy, and I have a hard time under pressure.

Five places I've lived: Citrus Heights, CA; Auburn, CA; San Diego, CA, Placentia/Yorba Linda, CA; Sandy, UT

Five jobs I've had: telemarketer for Alcoa Vinyl Siding, receptionist for Northwestern Mutual Life, data entry for Audio Editions, English Education Secretary at BYU, elementary school teacher

Something most people don't know about me: I can turn my tongue upside-down.

I now tag ERIC and KERRI!

Photo Mosaic Link

Here is the website that will help you make cool photo mosaics like the one I did for the aquarium:

http://www.bighugelabs.com/flickr/mosaic.php

Monterey Bay Aquarium

On Saturday, March 1st, the Youngberg gang, my mom and dad, and Jen, Sammy, and Maddy took a long car trip down to Monterey to explore the aquarium. So glad we did! Monterey is a beatiful seacoast town just off Hwy 1 in Central California. The aquarium is housed in what used to be a sardine factory on Cannery Row. The architecture of the aquarium was so cool, but the fish were even more amazing. The highlights for me were the shorebird exhibit (so up close and personal with little birds that are normally hard to watch on shore), seeing a duck swim on top of a leopard shark, watching a new ray wriggle in it's mermaid purse, the gigantic one million gallon tank that held the peculiar sun fish, hammerhead sharks, and 300 lb tuna, the flat flounder swimming like a mermaid, the gigantic sturgeon, sea otters, and the three-story kelp forest tank. I was in heaven with all the beautiful colors and interesting fish. I'm pretty sure Will's favorite part was touching the decorator crab and asking the woman there a million questions!

California Dreamin'

Two weekends ago our family took a little break from the dreary winter weather and enjoyed a pleasant trip to Nor Cal. The weather was wonderful--68 degrees and sunny--and the company was fabulous, too! I love going home to Auburn. My mom always has the house spotless. The guest room night tables have plenty of bottled water, magazines, and candy just for us. She loads up the other guest room with fun things for the kids to do. I also love the five acres they live on. It's so peaceful there. I can let the kids run wild and free and not worry about them getting hit by a car! This trip I especially loved the croaking frogs underneath my parents' kitchen window, the bulbs already up and blooming, and the bright stars at night. Ahhh. . . there's no place like home. I'm already dreamin' about going back!

While visiting we enjoyed a trip to the park in Auburn. We brought In 'n Out, of course, and let the kids play. The kids loved the tall slides, sandbox, the squirrel, and a large gazebo they climbed all over. I'm so glad my mom was able to come and that her feet are doing better. We missed my dad, but he stayed home having "things to do." (aka NASCAR has begun!)

We also enjoyed driving to Monterey with my parents for a fun outing. I'll tell about that trip in the next post.

Which Jane Austen heroine are you?

Recently I enjoyed taking a quiz to see which heroine I would be from Jane Austen's novels. According to the quiz, I am . . . Elinor Dashwood!

Comments from quiz at http://www.strangegirl.com/:

You are Elinor Dashwood of Sense & Sensibility! You are practical, circumspect, and discreet. Though you are tremendously sensible and allow your head to rule, you have a deep, emotional side that few people often see.

I think those of you who know me would have to agree! I also LOVE Sense & Sensibility. If you haven't read the book or seen the movie, you should!

Snowmobiling

We're so grateful to the McDermott's (our fabulous neighbors) for inviting us to their wonderful cabin in the Pine Mountain area this weekend. The company, food, and recreation were awesome!

We drove up Friday night to Pine Mountain (outside of Oakley) and parked our car in the association's garage area. We then donned our snow clothes, filled the sleighs with our overnight bags, and snowmobiled and 4-wheeled with the McDermott clan up to their cabin. It was only 6 degrees out! It was FREEZING but FUN! We ate pizza, watched a movie and then went to bed after midnight. (You can probably imagine how tired the children were the next day!)

Saturday morning we had a yummy breakfast that Rob made and then suited up to play in the field across from their cabin. The McDermott's were very gracious in letting our whole family use their equipment. They even had a small, mini version of a snowmobile that the kids drove around the field. Will and Abby were darling! Will liked the mini-snowmobiler so much that he thought he would take the large 4-wheeler for a drive as well until Rob chased him down and brought him back! That's our Will! Luckily, Rob and DeAnna know him almost as well as we do!

Abby also enjoyed being pulled on a sled or tube and spending enormous amounts of time with her best friend, Calli. Ezra enjoyed playing in the cabin with Lily and continued to protest the cold snow. Eric and I enjoyed zipping all around the field on the snowmobiles, as well, but our favorite was taking the snowmobiles on a scenic loop through the woods. We had a blast for sure!

P. S. Stephen's Gourmet Hot Cocoa Orange Creme flavor is the BEST!

Something Fun

One of my teachers at All My Memories blogged about a fun website. If you have time, check out http://www.meez.com/. It's a site that allows you to customize your own avatar. Eric and I had a blast creating our own. You can see mine on the right hand side of this blog.

Winter Fun

Since Eric has had a less hectic winter work schedule, we've been able to do more fun winter activities as a family. We've gone sledding more times this winter than all our winters in Utah combined, and we've also gone snowshoeing! Yesterday we went sledding up in Salt Lake on a north facing slope near Eastwood Elementary. We had a blast sledding off jumps and watching Abby and Will look like penguins as they slid down the hill on their tummies--sans sleds. The highlight was watching Will carry up his sled as well as another little boy's sled without being asked. Now that's joy!

I love love love being outdoors with my family. I also love taking pictures in the snow. The kids' bright clothes just "pop" against all that white. After sledding Eric and the big kids enjoyed playing Legos Star Wars, and I actually got to scrapbook a two-page layout!

Hide-and-Go-Seek

Tonight while playing hide-and-go-seek as a family, Will told me the following: "You need to hide some place where I can find you or you can't live in our family." That's my boy!