As 2009 ends, I'm already making plans for 2010. While I feel like I'm a totally awesome person, everyone can use a little polishing right? If you read my sister's blog, then you've perused her post about New Year's resolutions.
Anyway, I'm going to do a similar deal where I report back on my progress on the 1st of each month. This way my butt's on the line, and you guys can help keep me straight.
Plans:
Do Power 90 at least 2 times a week (Let's not get crazy...)
Read my scriptures regularly
Write at least a page a week in my book
Start a book.
Be a better pen pal to friends on missions
Be a harder worker, as posted about before.
They all seem fairly manageable, I'm going to do this people. I am woman hear me ROAR!!
On this day, an undisclosed amount of years ago, my mother was born. Ever since then, she's been raising hell. Haha, just kidding. But no, really...
She's the kind of mom that I'm sure made other kids jealous. For years Katie was convinced she only had friends because they wanted to come over and hang out with our mom.
As you've all probably figured out by now, I like to list things. It helps me get all my thoughts out, so here's another list...
The Top 15 Reasons Marti Wallwork is the Coolest & Most Awesome Mom Ever:
Her cousin is Robbie Benson, the guy that does the voice of the Beast from Beauty and the Beast.
She collects leather-bound books because she loves the smell.
Her eyes sparkle when she laughs, it's kind of pretty.
She has always stood up for us, especially against loser middle school vice principles.
Have you seen her shoes?
Her jewelery collection is pretty great too.
She taught me how to play backgammon with her.
She taught me how to make delicious spaghetti.
She laughs at my jokes.
She believes entirely in my genius, or in the fact that I have a genius.
She's funny.
She takes us chalk tagging.
She suggests we go chalk tagging.
She's funny.
She loves me.
Check out that killer skirt she's wearing as she holds that chub a lub (aka ME)
She's entirely too good for me, but I feel honored to even live in the same house as her when I come home. She does so much that I'm shocked she hasn't been nominated for something. She is easily the strongest person I know. Live it up Mom, it's your birthday today!
My chin in the bottom right pic looks lumpy. Don't ask.
I'm kind of a lazy person. That whole , "never put off for tomorrow, what can be done today" nonsense has never flown with me. I'm all about putting off what can be done today for tomorrow.
Sure I do what's necessary to get by. I do my laundry when my jeans are dirty enough to stand up by themselves and I am completely out of underwear, and there is no money in the bank to go out and buy more.
I do the dishes when the faucet becomes unreachable because of all the crap in the sink.
I pick up my bedroom when it starts to look like a bomb went off. I'm sure if you were to move my pile of dirty clothes, you would find Osama Bin Laden, the perfect man, or some other elusive creature hiding out. It. Gets. Bad.
I'm also horrible about keeping in touch with people. I have a hard time maintaining a relationship with people when we live in the same town, let alone in another state.
I suck at writing letters to people. My good friend, Coop, has been on a mission for over a year, and I have written him once. My roommate, Beth, is serving in Russia and I have yet to send words to her. I'm horrible! If I write the letter, then I don't have stamps. Or if I have stamps, I don't have time to write the letter. It's a vicious cycle. Things just seem to get in the way. I always rationalize this problem by saying " they have other friends writing to them."
But they don't have other friends named Kristi Wallwork writing them, and I'm the only one they got. Sad as I may be, I like to think that I have a little somethin somethin to offer people.
As I've been home for Christmas break this year, I've had the opportunity to serve my mother, who's been ill recently. You can bet growing up that it was harder than all get out to get me to do anything. I pretty much did, and do, whatever I want. What kid in their right mind wants to scrub the bathroom, or do the dishes?
But being able to help my mom I found that a little hard work isn't a bad thing. I've cleaned the kitchen many times this past week, and I appreciate how quickly it gets dirty again, and that's without little kids in the house.
The effort to keep ones' house clean is endless. I find that I'm still able to abide by some mess, but I start to feel guilty for some reason, if I'm laying in bed in the morning and the kitchen is dirty. It's a new development I'm not sure I like.
With the new year approaching, I'm getting an early start on my resolutions. I'm going to be a harder worker. I'll keep you posted folks!
Packing up the last little bit and getting ready to hit the road. I have to finish selling my books back and we'll be good to go.
Fall semester 09 is officially over. Time for some legit caramel corn and Christmas treats! I can't wait to be back in California for a much needed break!!
It's one of my most favorite parts about Christmas. I love to see the ornaments and bows arranged just right. It represents history. Each year we add new ornaments and our history grows.
My absolute favorite part about having a Christmas tree is to sit and stare at the lights. To sit in a dark room, with all the lights off, only candles flickering along side the jewel-toned glow coming off the tree. Carols playing in the background, a soundtrack to my inner thoughts.
The opportunity to just soak in everything, touches me. To have the chance to sit with my musings and reflect on my life and the things that I have been given, on the friends and family that I have.
I feel at peace, a peace that I only feel once a year at Christmas. Relish it folks, its stay is far too short.
My home tree kicks the crap out of my apartment tree.
Each year there are things that we always follow during the holiday season. We make caramel corn(that's another post entirely), we bake nut butter balls, we hang the candy cane count down, we get new pajamas on Christmas Eve, and we read Luke 2 before a roaring fire with all the candles lit.
I enjoy this part of Christmas, reading about the birth of our Savior. Whilst reading we stop at the appropriate places and sing corresponding Christmas carols. They are always off-key, and occasionally someone will start singing the wrong song, and mess the rest of the group up.
But no matter what, the purpose has been served, to recognize the birth of our savior. Funny story about Katie, we were in Young Women's (church program) once during the Christmas season, and our leaders asked us what some of our favorite holiday traditions were. We went around the class, and when it was my turn I replied that I liked that my family read the story of Christ's birth in Luke every year. Katie immediately looked at me and asked, "We do?".
It made me laugh, because for as long as I can remember we have done that. It's always been important to my family and it is a tradition that I want to continue when I start my own.
Somewhere along the way I got this crazy idea in my head that every Christmas morning my family has cinnamon rolls.
I remember it.
My family swears that I made it up, as they don't remember. That may be so, but if we didn't have them before, we do now. Every year since then, family members have stepped in to help me make my cinnamon rolls. My aunt Pat, my Grandma, my mother...
These tasty treats are just a part of Christmas that I love. After ripping open all your presents and exclaiming and seeing the joy on everyone's faces, it's nice to refresh yourself with a hot roll and an ice cold glass of O.j.
Since Christmas is my favorite time of year, I want to look back on my favorite holiday memories and share them with you.
So throughout the month of December, I will be writing down my favorite holiday happenings from my life. I want to relive the spirit of them all and get amped for this year's season.
My Brown Teddy Bear Stocking
This object is intrinsically tied to my Christmas experience. With his black eyes and nose, wearing a Santa hat, he always offered unknown treasure. After all the presents were unwrapped and the gifts given out, my brown teddy bear stocking still had vast depths that I had not yet plundered.
Inside there would be candy. Mostly chocolate, but occasionally hard candies and a candy cane. Most of the time there was nail polish and fun hair things. And gift cards. Always gift cards. For months after Christmas is over, he's sat on my nightstand, serving as my candy receptacle. Offering me a nightly sweet before drifting off to slumber.
I loved looking at that stocking all year. I see him and I think of Christmas morning. I think of ripped wrapping paper and a roaring fire. I think of bed head and morning breath and the crisp air on a just awoken body. This bear is as much a part of Christmas to me as a tree is.
My mom always asks me if I want the toy soldier stocking, or the brown teddy bear. I reply the same way every year, " The brown teddy bear one. Always."
**I'll post a picture of my well-loved friend when I get home for break**
Today, I am thankful for college. More specifically the opportunity I have to go to school and learn about the field I want to go into, and prepare to enter that work force.
I've been temping at a property management company this week and it affirms to me more than ever that I want to work with words. I hate sitting all day answering phones and appeasing tenants. I'm bored here, straight up. While I appreciate the experience (and mula) this job has given me, I know I'm not at the right place.
Hopefully I can stick it out and make it all the way to New York! Maybe one day you won't be reading my words on a screen, but holding them in your hands, on paper.
the miracle of human flight that lets me be home with my family for Thanksgiving. Yesterday, I was sitting in an airport in Salt Lake City, and now I am typing from the comfort of my own bed.
Every time I get on a plane, I feel like I'm taking part of something amazing. I know that I'm literally going to be flying through the clouds. I'm thankful that I can take a 2 hour flight instead of a 16 hour drive to get home. It's so cool!
I've decided to write down some rules for my unborn daughter.
1. Never rat your hair to gain height or to make a poof. I will not help you brush it out if you get into a tangle.
2. Though you may be funnier than those around you, don't tell them that. Odds are they won't like that very much.
3. You will watch black and white movies. They are a necessity of any education.
4. Though you may not like to read, you will like that I read to you.
5. Though I expect you to love your father, I expect you to love me a little bit more.
6. You will spend at least 4 Saturdays of your life watching Pride and Prejudice starring Colin Firth with me.
7. Take your mom out to lunch once in a while, she'll love it.
8. Remember it's not cheating, it's called utilizing your resources.
9. It's not stalking if it shows up in your News Feed.
10. If you are a younger sibling, you will choose the same topic as they did so we can recycle projects. Momma's a busy girl, sweetie.
11. If you are smart (you will be) don't go around rubbing it in everyone's faces, flashing your early acceptance into Stanford, your high grade on essay tests etc. It's obnoxious and no one will like you and will talk behind your back. Can you tell I knew a girl?
...good books. Books with characters you can fall in love with, books with characters you can relate to, books that make you laugh, books that make you cry, books that make you feel like you can do anything.
I love the written word, always have, always will. I'm thankful for a mother that read to me as a little girl and passed on her love of literature to me.
I spent most of Sunday watching the A&E version of Pride and Prejudice with Colin Firth, it reminded me how much I love it and the story. I just giggle and giggle whenever I watch it. I'm so blessed to have the ability to read, and read well. I guess that class for slow readers in 1st grade paid off. Look at me now!!
learning. For example I learned how to make this delicious zesty meatball soup in my cooking class a couple weeks ago. I made it last night and it was fabulous! :)
My mother, who taught me handy tricks in memorizing scriptures my freshman year of seminary.
For part of my midterm in Old Testament, we have to choose 15 scripture verses to memorize. We need to have them memorized by Monday. I've done 4. I do this to myself, don't I?
UPDATE: I got a 59 out of 60 on my mastery test. :)
This was my 3rd and favorite visual media project so far. We had to combine at least 2 images in Photoshop and apply text to the image as well. I love black and white vintage photography, so I loved this!!
This was my second project in Visual Media, creating a flyer for a benefit of some sort. All details were left up to us. Looking back now, it's not my favorite. I love the pictures and the purple background but other than that, not so much...
I've been thinking a lot about myself lately. More specifically the way I perceive others, and how they perceive me.
In my Old Testament class yesterday, my teacher put a slide up about our dueling natures. Mainly, the natural man vs. the child of God.
He asked questions like , " Why do I hate and gossip when I fully believe in the power of love?" and " Why do I fail to forgive others when they hurt me, when I expect to be forgiven when I hurt them?"
It made me think. It was a humbling experience. What am I doing? How am I acting? Do I expect things of others that I am not willing to do myself?
I've never thought myself to be a hypocrite. Thinking that that might be where I am heading is a sobering thought.
I'm thankful for the Lord that places things in our path when we need them the most. It's sobering to think that you might be sliding into the realm of the natural man. I am not a natural woman. I am a daughter of our Heavenly Father, and as such I have limitless potential that I need to remember. I can do better. I will do better.
"The door to peace is open. I will pass through by choosing to follow the master, rather than the enemy of the soul.' - My Old Testament teacher, he's pretty legit.
At the start of the semester I put a sticker on my mirror. The sticker reads "Laugh Often". I love laughter. I love the sound. I love the feeling. I love how people look when they laugh. I love the memories that are made through laughter.
I placed the sticker there in hopes that seeing it daily would help me to not take things so seriously and to enjoy myself. The past couples weeks, I've forgotten to laugh often.
I've been a grouch. My roommates might have use another word for it. I've been snappy and not very nice. Maybe I was tired, maybe I was stressed, maybe I just missed my family. Whatever made me that way, didn't leave me in a state where I could laugh often.
I'm making the choice today to laugh often and when I don't feel like laughing, I promise not to take it out on other people. :)
October really is a great time of year. It's the beginning of what I consider the trifecta of holidays: Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. The leaves are starting to change color here, and there is a crisp bite in the air. It's snowed once, and it nearly broke my heart.
Since October means Halloween and spooky things we've been having a lot of fun.
Festivities include...
Dr. Slaughter's Haunted House- I got chased by and cornered by 2 zombies. Never run, they always get you.
The Haunted Mill- They made you crawl through tunnels and sprayed you with water!
Murder Mystery Costume Dress-Up Activity with the Ward- I was Elizabeth Bennett.
Our friend Craig insists on watching a scary movie practically every night of October.
Titles have included:
The Skeleton Key
Arachnophobia
Scream
Scream 2
Scream 3
Quarantine- This one is legit creepy. I think it scared me the most!
High Tension- A French movie that we had to read subtitles to understand, but still scared the crap out of us.
House of Wax- Straight up creepy!!!
Numbers 3-8 were the edited versions and it still freaked me out! I was jumping like every 5 seconds...
There are more movies to watch and more fun to be had. I think we're headed down to Utah this Saturday to go to the Haunted Forest, it's supposed to be pretty scary...
What's new in my life you ask? Besides my being near death with sickness, I got a new phone last Saturday. It's an LG Versa, and I really like it so far. It has a touch screen and lots of other cool features. I bought a case for it, so the picture is pretty much what my phone looks like as I bought the green cover. So now Katie and I have the same phone again! Her cover is blue though, so that makes it easier to tell them a part!
This is my first project for my Visual Media class. I used Adobe InDesign to create a flyer for Skylark Scholarships. We were given the text and told that we had to use all the words given, but we could put them in whatever order we wanted.
If you click on the picture it will get bigger. Please ignore the bad quality, as this is a scanned image.
Yesterday was my roommate from summer semester, Kelli's birthday. I wanted to make a cake for her since her new roommates are kind of lame and I am awesome. Can you all tell what it is? It was fun to make, but also took longer than I thought.
Anyways, she loved it and we've been eating cake ever since!
I woke up to my sister taking a pair of heels off my door this morning. On her way out, almost as an afterthought, she said, "Oh, P.S. , it snowed last night."
Something happened last night as I was safely ensconced in my warm blanket blissfully unaware of the outside world. It rained last night, and it was so cold last night, that it froze. Having lived in California for all my years before coming up to Idaho, I love the sun. It's warmth, it's color, and the way it lights up a blue sky. The snow just is not the same. Sure it's pretty for a while before it gets all brown and turns to slush. But it just lacks color.
So this marks the change of fall into winter. What a short season it was. I wish we had a fireplace, because this is the perfect time to start reading in front if it. So take advantage if you have one, enjoy it.
For my Brit Lit class, as a getting-know-you for the teacher, we all had to write our own version of Christopher Smart's poem Jubilate Agno. When I sat down to write it, Patrick Swayze had just passed away and I was thinking about Dirty Dancing and , Johnny Castle. I had a mad crush on him and thought it might be a fitting tribute.
My teacher chose my poem and another girl's about Cary Grant to be read in class today. It was kind of cool. I had a lot of fun writing it, so here's my poem.
Delecto a Nocens Puer (To Love A Bad Boy)
By Kristi Wallwork
For I will consider JohhnyCastle.
For he wears all black, like a priest, but inspires feelings that are not suitable to have for a member of the clergy.
For he scoffs at Dancing with the Stars and would dance circles around Billy Ray Cyrus.
For firstly Chuck Norris refuses to dance in the same state as him because the awesomeness that is emitted from his moving feet counteracts the awesomeness of Chuck Norris, leaving him not awesome at all, and thus vulnerable to all the things his awesomeness protected him from in the first place.
For secondly his name is Johnny Castle.
For thirdly his name is Johnny Castle.
For fourthly he knows how to deal with spaghetti arms.
For fifthly he swivels his hips from side to side.
For sixthly he hears the music and is spirited away.
For seventhly when he and Penny dance, the world stops and takes notice.
For eighthly he is a bad boy that is oh so good.
For the way he wears his leather jacket.
For the way he busted his back window to get his keys from the car.
For his being too stubborn and cheap to wait for a locksmith before busting his back window to get his keys from the car.
For his eyes sparkled and glistened like the water in which he lifted Baby.
For he danced on a log like it was no big deal, risking life and limb to teach.
For his form is desirable to all those that are blessed to see it.
For he knows that nobody puts Baby in the corner. Ever.
For he taught a sheltered Jewish girl how to move like a Latina from Miami.
For he is loyal to his friends, even if they are stupid and fall in love with Robbie the waiter.
For Johnny Cash got the idea of wearing all black from him.
For he made it sexy for men to dance.
For he is so awesome that he was awarded a cameo in Dirty Dancing Havana Nights.
For high-waisted pants on him do not inspire vomiting as they might on other men.
For his coiffed hair was rivaled only by Elvis Presley.
For he came back for Baby and dared to make a scene.
For he turned Kellerman’s into a night club, young and old came together to drop it like it’s hot.
For he danced the final dance of the season the way he wanted to dance it.
For he smiles like he has a secret, making it hard to discern his thoughts.
For he laughs sharply, twisting every girl’s heart further around his finger.
For Fred Astaire came to him, confessing that he knew nothing and wanted Johnny’s instruction.
For Ginger Rogers merely settled for Fred Astaire , when her heart yearned to be dipped by the Irishman.
For the Catskills became less lame because Johnny Castle summered there.
For his insecurities only made him more relatable and a whole lot hotter.
For he sent girls scurrying for a dance studio, with hopes of an instructor that looked half as good as him.
For when he loved, he loved fiercely.
For his name is Johnny Castle
For he was America’s first Favorite Dancer,
For he is tanned and toned.
For he seeks approval from Mr. Houseman, despite how awesome he is already.
1. Slept until 11:30 in my room which some of my roommates affectionately refer to as "The Cave", because I put a blanket up over my window to block excessive light from coming in. 2. Ate breakfast. 3. Watched some Roswell. 4. Played on Facebook. 5. Showered. 6. Hit up DI for apartment decorations. 7. Went to Porters for crafting supplies. 8. Cocoa Bean for cupcakes and Frozen Lemonade.
Banana Chip cupcake with honey and cinnamon butter cream frosting
9. Little Ceasar's for cheap pizza that doesn't make we want to throw up. 10. Crafting. :) 11. Swindled by Geno the Perfume Guy in to buying D&G Light Blue, that wasn't really Light Blue. 12. Saw The Proposal for the 5th time at the cheap theatre. 13. Came home. 14. Crafted 15. Roswelled it up and went to bed. :)
We made wall art using styrofoam, scrapbook paper, ribbon, and Mod Podge. I'll post a finished photo when we hang everything up. We found some pretty great things at DI as well. Stay tuned!
