Randomness

Other March/April events (in chronological order) --March madness. I took 2^nd this year in the Round by Round. Chow won the whole thing by less than 1.5 points. It was a fun tournament. BYU made it passed round 1—a very exciting miracle. Kansas lost in the 2^nd round. Many people—including me –had them winning the whole thing so it was no wonder my post was “Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
oooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!”
The end of the tournament had me rooting for Butler since Clancy picked Duke. In my heart I thought Duke would win, but I was still hoping for the underdog.

I heard Michael Bublé was coming in concert back in November. I purposely decided to wait to purchase my tickets until the day of the concert because of our luck when Matchbox Twenty came to town. We found that they sold floor seats at GA prices. So you can imagine my disappointment when I didn't get to go, but instead chose to get my dryer fixed instead. "Mar 31 - Well, I was fiscally responsible today. Don't everybody pass out. I forfeited the Michael Bublé concert for a working dryer. I'll be honest, the sweet hum of a working appliance is pretty satisfying --Not Michael Bublé satisfying...but I digress."

A couple weeks later, I had a chance to go to Alabama to spend some time with Cassi and the two cuties while Brad was receiving training and accommodations from the Pentagon in DC. I had SOO MUCH FUN on this trip! Alexa Jo. is one funny little girl. Cassi is such a great Mom, too. One of the best things I learned from Alexa Jo. is when you ask her "Why are you so cute?" and she responds in her darling voice "Because my Papi is cute." I guess Cassi taught her this. When Brad learned of this he looked at Cassi and said "Cute? Couldn't you teach her I was 'ruggedly handsome'?" Sooo funny! Apr 10th's status read: "Alabama rocks! Friendly people, beautiful weather, authentic BBQ, fried green tomatoes, Montgomery Zoo, and hot Krispe Kremes---It is quite possible I am too full!"

My brother Baa Haa graduated on April 25th with his MPA from BYU. It was an awesome day!! My parents came down from Idaho, as well as Lincoln with Field and Abram, and Brad and Cassi with the two cuties. They packed up their moving van that same night and we had a delicious dinner at Baa and Lissa's with Ben and Ashley, and Marianne. That kicked off a busy weekend with Cailin being blessed up in Cassi's home ward in Garland and then Baa leaving for Wichita. They hit a snowstorm for a lot of their trip. (See!?? I told you this weather was lame!!) I was worried as I would talk to him and so after I hung up, I got down on my knees and prayed. Probably not the first thing most people do, but I went and put this on my FB: "We can't ask for bump-free, no-bugs-on-the-windshield, a-tank-of-gas-lasting-700-miles, travels...but we can ask for safe travels...and that brings a lot of peace of mind." I really did feel peace that they would be ok. I will miss them terribly. It's been awesome to have them so close.

March and April --In like a lion, out like a ....lion

I've been able to go through the next few months and find "trends" in my FB posts. I’ll break it up, since it’s very long...

Weather - As the caption of this blog post states, the weather influenced a lot of my facebook status. It rained, and rained, then we had a few good days, then it would rain or worse…SNOW! On April 29^th I was glad for a warm house. This weather has been so frustrating! (That “trend” has not stopped even at this writing date of May 29^th. But more on that later:))

TV
I was watching TV one night and I usually skip through the commercials, but on caught my eye on supporting your Vet. I had a blonde moment (no offense to blondes) and put this on my FB status: Mar 16 – “FYI, SupportYourVet.org is a website to support our wonderful Veterans of our Armed Forces, not support of your veterinarian. Sorry Linc. I feel so foolish.”

There's a show on TV that makes me laugh. It is about a community college and a study group that has gotten close to each other. It kind of reminds me of my awesome group in grad school and the various dynamics that each relationship has. Now there's not a lot of comparison to the actual character, but that's why I like to watch it. One episode caught me a little off guard, when a guy I thought was a wimpy, geeky, nerd --but in a pool competition, he had deltoids and laterals and triceps...after having watched that part ten times I wrote on FB "Wow Joel McHale/Jeff Winger. Who knew?"

And finally on my TV trend, on Apr 22^nd I wrote “Loves it when I see places I've been on TV shows I watch. Makes me feel so cool. :)” This after I had been watching House Hunters International and they were in the exact area of Barcelona where my brother Brad and Cassi lived. And then again on In Plain Sight when they were filming in Old Town in Albuquerque…the same place I stayed when I was down there for a conference last year. This is a perk of travelling, since it’s rare anyone is filming in Cottonwood Heights, UT.

BABIES!
Babies were another trend that I commented on a few times during these couple of months. My friends Coralie and Justin Stokes had their 2^nd baby, a girl on March 10^th. They named her Bailey. That is a cute name.
My new niece was born on May 3^rd. We didn’t know the gender and I’ll be honest…that made it even more exciting when Linc called and told me it was a girl!!! I was so happy, I cried. She’s soooo cute!!! And her name (after a nearly a month of deliberation is Anslea McNeil Mumford. I LOVE the name and am so happy she has arrived safely. Her two older brothers are all ready to protect “Lil Sis”.

January...start the year off fine...February, you're my little Valentine..

Well, I haven't blogged in MONTHS! So, in an effort to catch up on what's going on in my life (journal style), I have decided to back-track a bit--shout out to my facebook for the assistance in remembering what has happened the last few months.

January 20th -my niece Cailin Celine Mumford was born. Her arrival was a huge relief as Cassi had been struggling with kidney stones and had been hospitalized a few days before Cailin was born. And Cailin actually had to stay in NICU for a bit for her oxygen levels and eating levels to be ok. We are so happy she's here!!!
I got to meet her on February 6th - I wrote on FB "My new niece is a BEAUTY!! She looks like a little mini-Alexa Jo. (her sister). Loved spending time with them today. :) Good times!"

February 1 brings a big deadline at work. So I was putting in lots of hours and on Feb 2 I listed my status as "I'm finally home! Huge accident Orem NB I-15 tonight. It must be too much to ask to have a smooth ride home when leaving the office at 9 o'clock PM. After that selfish thought...I hope no one was seriously injured. Although given the amount of cars in that accident..that is unlikely too."
Note to self - don't use Redbox Free First Monday code in February, since it's a busy time of year and I must have forgotten to take a redbox movie back, because on Feb 3 I wrote "[Missy] Hates it when the "Redbox free code Monday" becomes the "You owe a $1.07 Wednesday"!"

February brings Valentines Day. I received flowers from someone named Tim. I only knew one guy named Tim, who said he wanted to marry me, so I assumed they were from him. However, he denied sending them, and so I have no idea who sent them to me. The note said "Nothing compares to your beauty, cutie." (something he would totally say, too) Anyway...thanks to whoever really did send them. Actually, they came via mail, and the company sent two. So I hope they didn't get charged twice.

May 15th -Editors note...Tim is no longer in the picture....and I'm ok with that.

On Feb 12, my FB status stated "Find a guy who calls you beautiful instead of hot, who calls you back when you hang up on him...wait for the boy who kisses your forehead, who holds your hand in front of his friends, who thinks you're just as pretty without makeup on. One who is constantly reminding you of how much he cares and how lucky his is to have you.... The one who turns to his friends and says, 'that's her"...." --I know this guy is not a myth, as some of my friends are married to this kind of man...but he sure seems to be elusive.

My dad is this kind of man..and he turned 60 Feb 16th. My mom planned a surprise birthday party for him and he was SOOOO shocked! It was fun to see him walk in the door and have a genuine "WHAT IS THIS!!!?!?!?!?" look on his face. I love you Dad!

My cousin Melanie married a good guy on Feb 20th in the Logan temple. She looked beautiful and I need to remind her to send me a picture so I can put it in here. But for now...this will have to do:

My friend Amy's 40th birthday was Feb 25th. Her friends planned a fun surprise birthday party for the 27th and I was tasked with getting her there. I had a TON of anxiety about this! haha - I didn't want to mess it up! So her niece Fumiko helped me and we had a fantastic night. That day was soooo much fun because I went to a BYU basketball game with Baa, Lissa, and Marianne. (Aiden and Camden Waite joined us for the game too!) BYU lost, but we always have the best time when we are together. My FB status..."80 points are great! They give us chocolate cake! Then I had chocolate cake at Amy's Surprise birthday party! THEN AGAIN at her house! And no, I'm not chocolate caked out at all. :) Great
day! (Even if BYU did lose.) (The 80 points was from the game, if BYU got 80 points, Magleby's Fresh gave away free chocolate cake...and they have AMAZING chocolate cake.)

I was gone nearly every weekend in February. I love my family!!

Christmas of Love--and Happy New Year!!

Well, it's no surprise that this time of year is my very favorite. There is little I don't like about Christmas. I love the gift giving, the sounds, the smells, the lights --there is a crispness in the air that while cold, puts a smile on my face. This holiday season I decided to simplify and stick with the plan. It started with getting my tree in the mountains (thanks to the help of my brothers Linc and Duke). We went as a family and found some really beautiful trees. I loved this activity. And even got my Christmas card photo out of it!

My "Things I learned in 2009" are a little small, so I will put them here:
*International Admissions --an awesome place to work.
*Spain & Italy are BEAUTIFUL!*29 Mumfords - a lot of fun (even with the stomach flu!)
*Albuquerque gets snow and Newport Beach is lovely.
*Exercise - not as over-rated as I hoped.
*Christmas tree hunting is better with proper footwear.
*I love the Gospel of Jesus Christ and pray you have a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! Love, Me

Of course, I learned a lot more than that.
I love the young women in my ward. I love the girls I sing with and the women I serve with in Young Womens. I learned that vitamin B12 is kind of a big deal. I learned how to make divinity with my cousin Valayne. (It was awesome! I am now saving for a Bosch. :) ) It's been a very good year.

For Christmas, Hollie suggested we get my parents new pictures of my Goff grandparents. I contacted my Aunt Cindy and she was a huge help in getting this project done for us. I didn't know my grandparents too well, as they died before I was old enough to remember much. I know they lived frugally and worked very hard. This photo was taken at my Uncle Mike and Aunt Cindy's wedding. And here is my mom holding the finished product. She cried--in a good way.

I was able to stay up in Idaho and spend more time with my family this break. It was really great!! I was able to play with my nieces and nephews and I worked on scanning 100's of photos from my mission to finally make my mission scrapbook. I'm excited to get working on putting that together.
My friend Bonnie and her daughter Ava decided to come up to Idaho for New Years. She called it their "adventure". It was great to have her there - I hope they had a great time. We had a lot of family and friends ring in 2010 with us! We have a tradition in my family to go bowling on New Years Day. Our dear friend Del Ray opens the alley for us and we bowl our hearts out. I actually bowled a 135 this year (only had one game in me) and I almost beat my Dad! (He must have been having a bad game, cuz he usually has higher scores than that.) Anyway - here's a few pics from the "adventure! Not a bad way to start a great year, not a bad way at all!

Fa-la-la-la-lah

Many of you may know (of the three people who follow this blog) that I belong to a singing group that meets each week to sing songs and visit. I am convinced many of the worlds ills would be cured if it were brought to the discussion of these wise women. But I digress...
This year, we decided to put a Christmas program together because I signed us up to sing for the "EmptyNester" group in our ward. To practice this program, we also decided to have a Christmas Kick-off Concert for our family and friends. We sent out an invite -

and prepared our little hearts out.
Of course, the night before, I start to get the inklings of a sore throat...that soon turned into laryngitis. But that didn't keep me from singing. (Ironically, "How can I keep from singing?" is one of our pieces that we sing.)
My Mom, Duke, Katie June, and Millie came all the way from Idaho. Michelle came with the kids (straight from In-and-Out Burger) and Baa Haa and Lissa came up from Utah County. It was sooooooooooooooooooooooooo great to have my family there supporting me. They are awesome! ( I think Michelle took pictures of my family and I so I will try and get them for archival sake ;) )

I love these ladies! They are so much fun to be with and to sing with. It was a great way to "kick-off" the season of celebrating our Saviors birth. I am so blessed to have these friendships and am grateful for each one of them.

Free giveaway on my friend's blog

http://fitmepink.blogspot.com/2009/12/my-favorite-fitness-giftswith-giveaway.html
She is so generous! Take a look and enter. She has a lot of great tips and encouragement for exercising!
Love her!

Ohhh yeah! I have a blog!!

OCTOBER -
Well, this was a great month! My cousin, Cami got married on October 1st. She met Javier Talamantes while serving a mission and a few years later, they got married in the Logan Temple. It was a fun day! She didn't want her two brothers (Josh is on a mission in CA) to destroy their car with wedding shenanigans, so they left it at the temple. Well, apparently Trent and Chubbs found it anyway. Haha! So funny, they are! Javier's Dad surprised the newly-married couple with a mariachi band at the luncheon. It was awesome!

The end of the month found me travelling to Albuquerque, NM for an International Educators conference. This was my first time to ABQ and I had a great time. However, it was COLD! My flight was delayed because of the weather. That weather followed me to the southwest.

Halloween couldn't come soon enough! I was sooo excited for my costume! I decided to be Frenchie from Grease. How'd I do?

I flew in from ABQ on Friday night, and left for Newport Beach on Sunday morning. So, Halloween was my only break. It was perfect! I went to my ward/neighborhood's trunk-or-treat, then went to see Grace, Hazel, Justice, and Will's costumes. (They were darling! I love having them so close! Even Michelle and her sister's dressed up --They looked awesome!) Then I spent the rest of the night at my BFF's house talking to her sister, Bonnie. I was invited to 10 different Halloween parties, and I was exactly where I wanted to be. Like I said...PERFECT!