spreading christmas cheer?

i don't often like to brag about how awesome my job is but i did kind of a fun story today.

a father and daughter -- both born on christmas! what are the odds, right? check it out.

also, i've been watching this video with my coworkers a lot today (mostly because the tune is so darn catchy) and we can't quite figure out why the blonde girl is even in it --

does she make the video more interesting? yes. but she also confuses me. who is this girl?! and what is she doing? and is she stalking justin bieber?

...so many unanswered questions.

hope your christmas was full of awesome things <3 <3 <3

Mr. Musically Talented himself.

DK came up with this song when he was in the shower a couple weeks back and just wrote it all down and, I have to admit, it's one of the best Christmas songs I've ever heard. And this little video he made to go along with it has some cute pictures too. (: Way to go, DK!!

LOVE THIS PLEASE!

everything about this song just makes my heart happy:)

enjoy.

David Archuleta

This is adorable.
I love the crowd's reaction to his announcement!
...& his version of 'O Holy Night' isn't too bad either :)



MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

be warned: the dangers of auto-correct.

i already showed this to sarah, but this may be the most hilarious website i have looked at in a while. if your phone has ever auto-corrected you, you know exactly how funny / awkward it can be.

it's called, "damn you auto correct" and this link takes you to the top 25 funniest of the year.

here's one of my favorites.

jason -- "be warned. i'm dumping you when i get home tonight."
jenna -- "fine with me. i was just thinking we could use some time apart."
jason -- "WTF JENNA??? i got autocorrected. i meant to write jumping you not dumping you. and now you're telling me you want to break up?"
jenna -- "well this is awkward."

Allisa Berry

This is Allisa Berry

This is her story, written by her mother.

It is heartbreaking & inspirational.

She is a beautiful young LDS girl who lives in Hyrum, UT.

Right now she is at home with her family. Hospice is at her bedside to manage her pain.

A couple days before Thanksgiving of this year her family found out that her brain cancer had returned, & this time it was inoperable.

She has a Facebook page called Hope for Allisa with the latest update (8 hours ago) reading:

She's AWAKE!! oh, boy…what a ride this is. Allisa is home now and hospice has gotten her set up on an IV drip. Yesterday she wasn’t getting enough and was in some nasty pain so we had things adjusted and that totally doped her up…she wasn’t really conscious all day, despite her nephew sitting on her lap and slapping her in the face. Bob and I pulled the couches up on either side of her bed last night and laid by her. We watched her sleep and dozed here and there. About 5:00 this morning, her breathing became very shallow and many heart beats between breaths…we were expecting her to simply drift away, and then the sun came up and she opened up her eyes and had to go potty! :0) We don’t know how many days we will get to have her here, her time for going home is approaching very fast, but every moment we see those amazing blue eyes is a gift. How fitting to get a gift every day at Christmas time!

What they are going through is unfathomable, but their optimism is so uplifting.

While most people are out shopping for the season, this family is soaking in every second they have left with their Daughter/Sister/Friend.

It definitely gives you some perspective.

I know this family is absolutely being carried by the Lord right now, but saying a little prayer for them--& for all suffering, especially this time of year-- couldn't hurt.

I'm just waiting for this to go viral.

I think the "reindeer" part at 2:29 is my favorite.

Teddy Bear Toss

Annual Teddy Bear Toss.

When Calgary scores their first goal everyone starts throwing Teddy Bears onto the ice!

All the Teddy Bears go to local Hospitals & Charities.

26,919 is the record.

How cool is that?!?!

love + cookies + sail + my bf bonus

i know. i've been bad and not posting on sunday's. 

to make up for it, here are a couple fun videos for your viewing pleasure.

first up, a video game love song ( :

next, an adorable cookie commercial.

(disclaimer: i would NEVER make cookies like. from scratch is the only way to go)

third, this song played on the radio and i found it strangely addictive.

not like anything i've ever heard before -- a little creepy and a little hypnotic.

let me know what you think?

BONUS VIDEO:

merry christmas from my boy, jbiebs.

just love him sometimes?

Mormon Disco Balls.

I had to.

cupcakeries

Hey, I finally remembered to blog today!! I think the trick for me, just like with my other blog is planning in advance and just setting it to the schedule since weekends are usually too cra-cra for my blog-liking. Without further ado...

In Provo we had the Sweet Tooth Fairy.
Pleasant Grove... we still made the trek to Sweet Tooth Fairy.

And in Ohio we have tried about a half-dozen different cupcake places but nothing beats the Pink Moon Cupcakes. My favorite is the Red Velvet and Mr. D loved the caramel and chocolate but they have about 25 different flavors every day! Brilliant. Without really realizing it, we have become cupcake people... splitting cupcakes into half or fourths, discussing the taste and what could possibly make it taste so darn good.

Mr. D and I are all about small little boutiques, Ma and Pa places to eat, and the like. Who says nobody supports small businesses nowadays? Small businesses are the very best kinds of business!!

So tell me... have you been to a Ma and Pa place to eat recently? Any good eats out by your neck of the woods???

Against The Grain.

Stop motion + so many colors + amazing music = the best kind of music video, yes?

approximately one year ago.. i was still awesome.

Laughing With.

I just updated about this on my own blog, but I forgot to post yesterday so I figure I'll just use this as my post here, too. (:

I completed two of my Day Zero Project goals simultaneously a week ago at my Ward Talent Show - #'s 63 (Learn to play a new song on the piano + sing along!) and 64 (Perform a solo in public). And this is the end result:

I'm no Emily, I know. But it's a start. (:

little d's Glenns

Its no secret that I have the most awesome friend there is to have in Ohio... LG!

We pretty much do everything together. Especially if it involves trouble.

also... some of you may know LG's mom and dad, Keely and Brandon and how cute they are... well, they made a movie and it is also totally awesome. Like you would not believe.

Its the post right below this one... go watch it!! NOW!

By My Side

Your People will wear Cardigans & Drink Highballs

One of my favorite kid movies :)

Yoga Break-dancing: The most beautiful extreme sport.

All he cares about is treats..

...treats and snoozin.

I love this:)

Blueberries Blueberries!

Now that is the bestest!

It's yumma!

PS. Our blog's 1 year anniversary was 7 days ago :) Yay!

their shirts say: "my mom rocks."

these kids are adorable.

exhibit A:

exhibit B:

exhibit C:

also, i just decided my kids will always wear matching outfits.

ALWAYS.

YOU sneaky mom!

I can't get enough of Halloween this year.

Trash

I still need more proof.

i love my job.

the news can be funny or it can be serious(ly touching). 

here are some examples of both:

Only 11 months and 26 days until Halloween!

I know it's officially past celebrating Halloween-time...but this is just too too cool. 

And way cooler than the LMFAO light show. 

Even though it is the same house. 

These people must have SO MUCH free time.

Oh. And I love this song.

The end.

Happy Halloween!

Now get ready for a "HOLY FREAKING CRAP' rendition of

The Harry Potter theme :)

the wausau loner.

when i first started telling people i was going to wausau to be a reporter, few people knew where that even was. but one of my friends had heard a lot about the city because of a particular twitter account he followed -- the wausau loner.

as the story goes, two years ago, there was a zombie apocalypse in wausau. 99% of the population died, leaving behind a trail of undead bodies and not many clues as to how everything started unravelling -- save the memories of a green flash of light and the remnants of their crumbling civilization. now in 2011, the wausau loner and his crew continue their quest to take on the zombies and avenge their nearly-lost society. 

...awesome, right?

well, i found out the guy who did the tweets lived around here and arranged to do a halloween story with him this week. i interviewed him about why he started doing these serial tweets (it's like a book, told 140 characters at a time) and how the past few years have been for him. it was an interesting story -- you can watch it by clicking here.

anyway, while i was working on the story, the author asked me what i was doing two years ago. i told him i was in school, working on my journalism degree. i was delighted to find out he wrote me into the story over the past few days -- as anna, the WAOW intern who captured video on a flip camera as zombies started taking over the north-central wisconsin area. COOL!!

so although i'm still far from famous, my legacy will live on via twitter's zombie apocalypse.

follow along with the wausau loner buy clicking here.

Inspiration:)

This is beautiful.

Watch the whole thing.

It's amazing:)

<3

Happy Halloween: LMFAO Style.

(no words necessary)

Things that make me cry

The most adorable Proposal ever

(Jaime posted this on FB. You may have seen it)

Hearing Herself for the First Time

(I posted this on FB. Again, you may have already seen it :)

Two men raise a lion cub until he's full grown & release him into the wild.

A year later they go to Africa to find him...this is their reunion.

Pretty popular story, but it's my favorite.

what you've been missing.

dear people who have DVR.

here is what you're missing out on -- 

the truthfulness and honesty of this girl?

seriously adorable.

the thumbs-up on this one?

seriously hilarious.

the attractiveness of my favorite leading man?

seriously undeniable.

(p.s. micae may love this one)

BONUS!!

here are the two songs i have been jamming to this weekend.

enjoy.

talented.

if you haven't seen this yet...you've been missing out. it still amazes me what a great voice she really has. and that other girl is just so adorable as her groupie hahah. and i just love the second vid because i love ellen and she really does just make everyone's dreams come true. (:

and these guys i am honored to call some of my good friends here at BYU (: they have amazing voices (at least two of them are MDT majors (musical dance theatre)) and acting/songwriting skills/abilities to make music videos...they just have all the hook-ups. and they are all beautiful. and you will love this song. i promise you!

just learning to sit up

waking up from a nap, fuzzyhead does what he does best...ham it up for the camera :)

Going to the Store

??????

Can't. Stop. Watching.

pictures on a whole other level.

this just looks awesome. 

technology, man.

they're cloning sheep and everything.

Why some people just shouldn't do theatre.

Upgrading your Bed

For the last couple weeks I've been waking up with a sore neck.  I thought maybe it was the stress of work or maybe the position in which I was sleeping.  I have a tendency to sprawl across the whole bed.  I like my head leaning over the edge on my side and my feet almost all the way on Jon's side of the bed.  Jon's solution for the problem?  Get a bigger bed.  If I could sprawl how I wanted I wouldn't wake up hurting.

Getting a bigger bed isn't really an option in a house that was built in 1957.  The rooms are designed for full sized beds as it is.  Also, a new bed is expensive and not something in our budget.  So, no new bed?  What was the solution that you should try?  A brand spanking new pillow!!!  I got one at Ross for $9.99.  It's the most firm pillow I have ever owned.  I totally sleep like a baby and wake up with no sore neck and no crankasaurus rex problems now.  Well, no crankasaurus rex problems as long as Jon hasn't stolen all of the covers.

And since we all love pictures, here are some older pictures that fit with this Try-me Tuesday.

Koda wanted to upgrade his bed.  So, he figured out a great way to get his wish.  Destroy the other one.  Yes, that green thing is his blankie and if you were wondering if he pulls it around the house with him, the answer is yes as well.  He's like the dog version of Linus.

Koda with his upgraded bed.  The head at the bottom of the picture is his stuffed pheasant who he can't sleep without.

And just so Star doesn't feel left out.  Our new pillows are so wonderful that her snuggles don't even wake us up anymore... or they don't wake me up at least.

So... try it.  A new pillow or a new bed.

talented friends.

i may not have a lot of cool skills, but i like to think i've at least surrounded myself with people who are incredible at a lot of awesome things.

here's a video of my friend john doing what he does best -- dancing.

Precious Moments.

My dad sent me an email today with some tender stories. Today's lesson is that we all could be a little more caring. (Especially because it is so cold outside.)

Author and lecturer Leo Buscaglia once Talked about a contest he was asked to judge. The purpose of the Contest was to find the most caring child. The winner was: 1. A four-year-old child, whose next door neighbor was an elderly gentleman, who had recently lost his wife. Upon seeing the man cry, the little boy went into the old Gentleman's' yard, climbed onto his lap, and just sat there. When his mother asked him what he had said to the neighbor, the little boy just said, 'Nothing, I just Helped him cry.' ********************************************* 2. Teacher Debbie Moon's first graders were discussing a picture of a family. One little boy in the picture had a different hair color than the other members. One of her students suggested that he was adopted. A little girl said, 'I know all about Adoption, I was adopted..' 'What does it mean to be adopted?', asked another child. 'It means', said the girl, 'that you grew in your mommy's heart instead of her tummy!' ************************ ********************* 3. On my way home one day, I stopped to watch a Little League base ball game that was being played in a park near my home. As I sat down behind the bench on the first- base line, I asked one of the boys what the score was 'We're behind 14 to nothing,' he answered With a smile. 'Really,' I said. 'I have to say you don't look very discouraged.' 'Discouraged?', the boy asked with a Puzzled look on his face... 'Why should we be discouraged? We haven't Been up to bat yet.' *********************** ********************** 4. Whenever I'm disappointed with my spot in life, I stop and think about little Jamie Scott. Jamie was trying out for a part in the school play. His mother told me that he'd set his heart on being in it, though she feared he would not be chosen.. On the day the parts were awarded, I went with her to collect him after school. Jamie rushed up to her, eyes shining with pride and excitement.. 'Guess what, Mom,' he shouted, and then said those words that will remain a lesson to me....'I've been chosen to clap and cheer.' ********************************************* 5. An eye witness account from New York City , on a cold day in December, some years ago: A little boy, about 10-years-old, was standing before a shoe store on the roadway, barefooted, peering through the window, and shivering With cold. A lady approached the young boy and said, 'My, but you're in such deep thought staring in that window!' 'I was asking God to give me a pair of shoes,' was the boy's reply. The lady took him by the hand, went into the store, and asked the clerk to get half a dozen pairs of socks for the boy. She then asked if he could give her a basin of water and a towel. He quickly brought them to her. She took the little fellow to the back part of the store and, removing her gloves, knelt down, washed his little feet, and dried them with the towel. By this time, the clerk had returned with the socks.. Placing a pair upon the boy's feet, she purchased him a pair of shoes.. She tied up the remaining pairs of socks and gave them to him.. She patted him on the head and said, 'No doubt, you will be more comfortable now..' As she turned to go, the astonished kid caught her by the hand, and looking up into her face, with tears in his eyes, asked her: 'Are you God's wife?'

Ps. Sorry I'm such a lackadaisical blogger:(

100 Dresses - more than your average children's play

Click the link to watch the video from KSL's 5 o'clock news!

'100 dresses' play inspires real-life fundraiser by 5th graders | ksl.com

CONE. OF. SHAME.

Playing White Elephant Photo Exchange

World's worst blogger here.  I signed on and saw every one's awesome posts and decided that I wanted to participate in the awesomeness again.  So... here it goes.

Jon's family has a tradition on family vacations to do a white elephant gift exchange.  Each person can spend $5 on their gift and it has to be something that you find on vacation.  In Asia this was pretty easy.  The winner was Aimee's Top Ramen Toilet Paper Holder.   In Jamaica David won with the dog tooth that he got for free from a man with a tooth collection that he admired.  This year, we decided to forgo the gift buying because France and Switzerland were significantly more expensive than our last two trips.  Instead we all had to take pictures of the weirdest/ grossest thing we could find.

Jon and I took this game very seriously.  We searched and searched for oddities.  And... we won!

Here are a few of our runner up pictures, with the last picture being the cake winner.

Jon found a Four-leaf Clover in the Gardens of Versailles

Portrait of a dying queen in the Louvre.  We couldn't decide if the queen was male or female.

Baby face in an old school toilet.  The hole leads down to Lake Geneva.

Speaking of old school toilets.  We hadn't seen any like this since Malaysia.  Your feet go on the foot marks and you squat.  We all opted to hold it at this rest stop.

Fuzziest and biggest slug I have ever encountered.

 If you are faint of heart, you may want to look away now.  The rest of these are kind of grotesque, but they are the pictures that helped us win.

Smiling skull in the Catacombs of Paris.  6 million corpses were thrown down here during the Black Plague.

Bloated dead fish hanging out in the moat of one of the castles we visited.  Of course there were little kids throwing rocks at it to see if it might pop.

Dead rat all curled up in the roots of a tree near Pont D'Avignon.

Dead bird hanging out at the Roman Amphitheater in St Remy.

Winner!  Winner!  Chicken Dinner!  You are probably catching on to our theme at this point and realizing that this is probably not a garbage bag.  It is in fact a pile of body bags.  Jon and I stopped with David and Aimee at a French Cemetery because they are very different than American ones.  Families share a common crypt.  One of the crypt doors was rusted open and we used the camera to see inside because it was very dark.  This is what we saw.  A stack of about 20 body bags.  YUCK!!

So... I don't think I would try taking pictures inside of a grave or crypt again.  But, I would suggest that you try a photo white elephant exchange.  It's really fun to see who can come up with the weirdest stuff.  Trust me, the other families had awesome submissions as well.  The Mason's for example took a tour of Des Egouts de Paris... look up a translation and you will understand why they were probably second runners up.

So wrong yet...

I can't stop giggling.

The first one is more adorable, than wrong...

This one I feel a little more guilty for laughing at...

Ahhhhh, Youtube.

red light on hope street.

umm...this is adorable.

even though it says not to let love pass you by, i think anything goes.

don't let life pass you by -- whatever you want, just go for it.

also, whoever updated the background -- LOVE IT ( :

Stephen Jones says to get on your feet.

can she even make a bad music video?

based on my experiences, i would say no.

i can see surrah liking the end of this especially ( :

wordless wednesday: teaching the kevs how to poop.

Disney's 'World of Color'

Last week I had a BLAST going to L.A. with a couple friends.

While there we went to Disneyland & at the "California adventure park" they had a new show called,"World of Color" which was ABSOLUTELY AMAZING. It was a water/color/music show with Disney movies & music strewn about, including scenes projecting on water mist. Although this video is nothing like seeing it live, you'll get the gist. It is hard to choose a favorite part with SO many amazing Disney movies represented, but when "UP" started, I lost it... Couldn't stop crying...then it went into "A Whole New World" from Aladdin, & the tears kept flowing. 'Up' starts at 10:45, but if you have a half hour to spare, this will not disappoint. Wall-E, Pocahontas, Toy Story, Beauty & the Beast, Little Mermaid, Lion King, Pirates of the Caribbean, Finding Nemo... all amazing.

Although I do think I'm a really emotional person, by the end of the show I felt like a majority of the adults were crying.

It was beautiful. Worth the $105 all by itself.

i can feel you looking at my butt.

okay. how did i miss seeing this video in july??

dear justin.

if you are reading this, i love you.

xox from anna. 

I love creative people.

making a star.

so...there's this japanese pop group called AKB48. there's six main members and one virtual one. basically they took the best traits of each of the current girls to make one super pop star girl. she even performs with the group (sort of). i think they project her image onstage when they sing.

her name is aimi eguchi.

weird? maybe. awesome? pretty much.

Happy Wedding Day, Erika!

So glad we could all enjoy this together! (:

(Note: Yes, Drew has shrunk just a little bit since returning to Ohio. And Ruth came a little undressed for the occasion...but it's okay because Anna + Baby D made up for it with the balloons. They were the life of the party!)

<3 <3 miss youuuuuuuuuu all <3 <3

wordless wednesday: peekaboo!

going to africa.

if you know me, you know i want to go to africa.

...a lot.

since i'm currently tied down to a landlocked midwestern state with no hopes of going anytime soon, i get to live vicariously through some people who do.

like evan --

evan is friends with one of my old BYU friends and i got to meet him for the first time IRL at the nickelcade in provo last month. he's just as cool in person as he is on the internet. he likes to travel and show people what's out there and i think it's pretty awesome. he has a bunch of other videos online so if you want to check them out, click here. he also made a really great video about the festival of colors that i think i posted here a while back. overall cool guy.

anyways. miss you all. xoxo.

wordless wednesday: so you think you can...

reunited:)

so i realize this isn't friday.

but the video you are about to see...

was taken on a friday.

and lets just be frank here...

we belong together.

:)

wordless wednesday: "trick or treat...!"

wordlessly wednesday

Take THAT Ms. Gaga!

I have always wanted to be a decent artist mainly because I have so many things in my head that I want to adequately put on paper. I only bring this up to warn you that these sketches aren't good by any means, but they give you an idea of what I'm hoping going to make happen :)

When life gives you lemons, make lemonade.

OR a FREAKING AWESOME Prosthetic leg.

So this is the plan. When my Prosthetist makes my liner to cover the leg, I want a small section to just have a clear plastic cover instead of the flesh colored rubber one that will cover the rest of the leg.

Then there is going to be a little hatch door on it somewhere so that I can open

& fill it with whatever I want...

Mainly, gumballs.

Or Confetti!

Or Battery operated Christmas lights!

(Didn't fill in the ankle on these cause I was too lazy.)

or anything!

now you wish you had an awesome fake leg, don't you?

What would YOU put in it?

khloe's...son?!

now, before you freak out, it's actually kourtney's kid.

but let's be honest...we've been hungry for a mason fix for quite some time.

i'm interested to see their clothing line, to say the least.

looks like it may be a bit too animal-print-y for on the air but if it's

got the kardashian name on it...how can you resist??

how do you get people to use the stairs vs. the escalator?

easy.  make it fun. (:

make sure to turn up your speakers!

here's a bit of an explanation of the fun theory + the winning idea of the fun theory award:

wordless wednesday: Baby D's evolution of dance.

get your clickers ready.

...because you'll need to click these links to see some awesome photography.

#1: 70 years separates them.

photographs of two women doing the same thing...seventy years apart?

kind of a thought-provoking series of pictures.

#2: tiny people invade fashion photography.

pretty much exactly what the name implies.

but not creepy tiny people...just action figures.

#3: before and after shots of joggers.

this one is my favorite.

funny to see how we look when we run vs. how we present ourselves to the world.

I HAVE RETURNED:)

I'M BACK!

And I have a few things to share:)

1. You might have already seen this, but my mom showed it to me.

AND I CAN'T WAIT!

2. There's a girl in my ward who is amazing!

Check out her music.

I can't embed these videos.

So just click on the links:)

Typically

Vancouver

Pandora's Box

The end:)

RAWRless wednesday

justin, joel and andy...oh my.

i'm dying to see THIS MOVIE:

this one looks dumb, but joel mchale's in it so it can't be that bad:

(right?)

and if you didn't know shark week started today...well, it did.

LOVE IT.

ALSO!

there was this film contest where you could only use six lines of dialogue.

"what is that?"

"it's a unicorn."

"never seen one up close before."

"beautiful."

"get away, get away."

"i'm sorry."

this video won.

love love love it.

happy videos ( :

jack sparrow + michael bolton??? (+iran for anna)

I'm officially joining the youtube revolution... one hulu video at a time :)

PS I would say someone go show this to mom... but shes not a huge fan of the bleeping on kardashians so i doubt she'll like it from mr. bolton
also...

for anna. since she just loves adam levine (who doesnt?!?!)

splitscreen: a love story

shot entirely on a cell phone. 

winner of the nokia shorts competition 2011. awesome.

Little D's two best friends: Charfy and the Kevs

my heart's a stereo.

i know i missed my day but (in case you were wondering) i love this song / music video.

<3 adam levine & retro boom boxes <3

ALSO here's a song from a band from wisconsin.

it's been playing on the radio nonstop but i bet that's just here in the state.

...let me know what you think?

mmm fro yo

If you haven't discovered the heaven that is Yogurtland (or any other "DIY as much froyo and toppings in your cup as you can and pay by the ounce"), you NEED to try it out. Seriously, whoever thought of this deserves some kind of Nobel Prize. I must admit that by now I have mastered the froyo:toppings ratio. Can you guess which one mine is??

Yup, bottom right. 

Just be prepared that some people are going to want to share with you...

 And they may be a little demanding.

photography + rube goldberg + mario reference [just for dk's bday!] = awesome.

wordless wednesday... baby d: balloon boy??

Postcrossing

This is my new obsession.

Jaime found it on DZP, actually, a couple months ago.

It's a site called Postcrossing

and I swear I check it more than Facebook.

Basically, you send a postcard to a random person around the world,

and you get one back from another random person. I have yet to get one, but I am so excited!

Currently I have "sent" 4, and 7 are on their way to all these countries :)

So, 4 are on their way to me too!

When you receive them, there should be an "ID" number written on it so you can register it, and

keep track of sent & received cards.

Jaime & I were so excited we spent hours finding random postcards on Zazzle.

Here's a small sample out of like 100.

And then when you get them, people upload them and show everyone what they got.

I LOVE IT. I love different cultures & people & postcards,

So, it's right up my alley.

It's so easy too. So you all should do it. The end.

a water-powered jet pack..?

there are a lot of awesome things about being on the news. one thing that is easily the best and the worst is the fact that you are typically live -- and when you're live, pretty much anything can happen.

case in point:

also, if you didn't know, i put together an hour-long piece about the tornadoes that hit our area and the rebuilding process it's taken to start putting everything back together. click here if you want to watch some of the video (it's divided into segments -- each is between 5 and 10 minutes long so you don't have to watch the whole thing if you don't want to). you can see my face in segment 1, 2 or 5.

BONUS: hear me talking about kind strangers letting me use their

bathroom after their electricity goes out in segment 2.

Packing for a Trip

Sorry in advance for posting this late.  I'm an awful blogger.  Anna mentioned in a comment that she thought the baby hungry post would be by me... so I decided that Try Me Tuesday should be something non-baby related.  Looking back at most of my challenges there has been a theme of baby.  Hey, if you are passionate about something though, shouldn't you share that passion?

Well, rather than being passionate about babies today, I am going to share my passion for traveling and being organized.  This month we have a couple of family trips coming up and rather than being like a normal person a throwing a few things in the suitcase last minute, I have been planning exactly what I want to pack since the second week of June.  So... here's my list of suggestions.

1.  When traveling for more than 5 days, only pack enough for 5 days max and plan to do laundry part way through your trip.  This way you only have to pick out your top 5 favorite outfits and more than likely, you can mix and match them. (Jon and I are headed to France for 10 days with the Hamiltons and are trying to pack in one suitcase, with two backpacks as our carry-ons, we are going to follow this rule and make sure to bring our own laundry soap.)

With our luggage enroute to Jamaica last year.  We had a chance to stop in Dallas and see my sister Maggie.

2.  Bring a couple of garbage bags with you in your suitcase so that your clean clothes do not contaminate your dirty clothes if you are going to be packing and unpacking often. (If you don't want to pack these, most hotels have "laundry" bags hanging in the closet that you could use for the same purpose.)

This closet did not have the free laundry bag and I was way bummed.  Their padded hangers were nice though.

3.  If you have to sleep with a fan on or a white noise machine, make sure to pack it.  It's hard enough sleeping in a different bed, having a calming sound that you are used to can make your sleep more restful.  (I picked up one of these gems at Bed Bath and Beyond last week.  Clearance priced $4.99 plus 20% off coupon.)

Room in Antigua where a noise machine would have been helpful.  The birds and bugs were loud all night.

4.  Whether you are going on a day trip to Park City or museum hopping in Paris staying hydrated is extremely important.  When flying they might not let you bring your own water through security, but you can bring your own bottle and fill it up at a drinking fountain.  If you're like me though, you might get sick of just water after a couple days, so bring a few flavor packets.  I love this kind in particular and they are usually on sale at Walmart.

All three of us could have benefited from more hydration that day.  Sentosa Island Singapore.

5.  Worried about having enough space?  Well, I've found a great tool for making extra room.  I know you've probably heard of them before, but did you know that spacebags makes travel bags that just roll to seal?  They do!  Jon and I will be testing them out for the first time this trip, but we've loved the ones that store our items at home and know that it will be helpful for them to shrink our clothing even smaller for that one suitcase.

These boys are lucky to have moms who pack for them and drive them across the country to visit me, in one car with 5 people and luggage for all of them. Photo from North Carolina last summer.

6.  Headed overseas?  Make sure to bring a few of your favorite snacks in your bags.  It may seem silly and I know some of you will say, just sample the cuisine of the country you are visiting, but really, sometimes I just miss American food.  Two years ago when we were in Asia we were really missing a good burger, so we headed down to McDonald's for a burger and spent much more than planned just to get a taste of home.  This time I'll be packing my favorite all fruit roll-ups and a few chewy bars to save some money.

Our drink bags at McDonald's in Thailand.

7.  Make a list and check it twice... or thrice... or however many times you want.  This is what I started way back in June a list of all of the things I need to bring and what they are specifically.  I print out a copy to go in my bag and once I've arrived at the location when I am packing up to come home I use it to make sure that I've got all of my belongings.  This will be extra handy when I am staying with my sisters in Park City.  I'll know for sure if they have taken any of my favorite shirts.  Haha.

Luckily we had matching shirts when we stayed with Beth in Vegas.

8.  Leave some things at home.  I know that organizing your purse does not seem that important when traveling, but going through and taking out all non-essential items from your wallet and purse is always a good practice.  In Jamaica last year I brought only the essentials, license, passport, cash, and one card for emergencies.  That way if my purse did get stolen, I didn't have to worry about cancelling a million cards or restarting memberships.

Really awkward pose, but it's the best shot I have of my tiny travel purse.  That lumpy shrub is supposed to look like an elephant at Ahyutaya in Thailand.

9.  Always charge your camera before you go on a trip and make sure to bring the charger with you just in case.  There are so many trips where I wish I had more photos but I don't because I forgot the charger.  Making your list will also help you remember to pack this and to bring it back home.  Replacing a battery charger can be quite expensive.

Riding in a helicopter over Hoover Dam.  One of the only pictures from the weekend cause I forgot the camera charger...

10.  It never hurts to pack a skirt.  Or long pants for that matter...  You never know when you might need them.

Long skirts were a requirement to visit these temple grounds... I only had shorts.

Long pants were required for men here as well.

So... try packing for a trip... or taking one for that matter.  They are refreshing and wonderful and offer opportunities for embarrassing photos.  I'll probably be absent from bloggerdom for the next two and a  half weeks since my family gets here on Friday and stays until we leave for France on the 23rd of July.  I promise to have awesome updates about trying the Red Banjo Pizza parlor in Park City after my family visits and having really delicious European chocolate when the Hamiltons get back from France.  For now, just have a great couple weeks and tell me about your favorite trip or item to pack.