Happy Blirthday to Me!

Yesterday was my one year anniversary of being a blogger. I had this really great post all written up and I was just putting the finishing touches on it, when my Yahoo! browser decided enough was enough and it shut down on me. Yes, those screams you all heard last night came from Reno. I was so upset! It was really good! I was too tired to sit and try to do it all again, so now I'm a day late, but here goes anyway. I doubt it'll be as good, but I'll certainly try.

I have really enjoyed being a part of this blogging world. I have made new friendships and rekindled old. I have learned a lot about other people (including some people I thought I already knew really well!), and I hope that others have enjoyed reading me and maybe learned one thing. Even if it's just "Llamas eat grass." Although I guess that would actually come from Aiden, not me. Anyway...

I want to share a little something that I have learned from each of you this past year, so I'm just going straight down my links list. At the end, I will mention some other blogs I enjoy, but haven't linked to them (yet). Thanks for such a good first year everyone!!

Alyson -- I learned to never write in a moment of anger about your husband. Oh, and that our boys are most definitely related (the whole Star Wars thing clinched it for me).

April -- I learned that crayon on walls will bleed through paint, so you still have to scrub off the crayon. (This is advice I may need these next couple of weeks!)

Heather -- I learned to be proud of being a stay-at-home mom, a homemaker, and a housewife. It's a hard job, but it's completely worth it.

Jen the Mom -- I learned that I'm not the only one who is adept at blowing up a casserole dish full of the dinner that we were about to eat! Oh, and that it's good to think, no, to know that you are hot while pregnant.

Karen -- This is the hardest one, because I think I have learned the most from Karen! I have learned how to appreciate the flowers I see in people's gardens, found some good music to listen to, that it's okay to be an adult who loves Harry Potter as much as, if not more than, you own child, how to pick a good dry cleaner for my umbrella, and the difference between the words jealous and envy.

Erica -- I learned that as much as I loved being 17 and 18, I sure don't want to be in that stage of life again! Instead, I would rather live vicariously through Erica and hear of all her adventures and experiences.

TexAngel -- I learned that some friendships, no matter how old, will never die. We lead such different lives in many ways, but we are still friends. Yay! And it's good to be proud of you Southern heritage (although I guess I'm not really Southern. I just lived there for a few years and picked up a thing or two).

Dana -- I learned to never try to vaccuum up frozen corn that your kids have mashed into the carpet. It will just ruin the vaccuum! I also learned that I wish I had spent more time with you that year we were at Ricks together. You are so cool! Why didn't I see it then? My huge loss.

Cara -- I learned to 1) not take myself too seriously, 2) sometimes a mohawk may just be the way to go, 3) it's cool to get Naked in the grocery store, 4) sometimes you just need a break, and that's okay. It doesn't mean anything serious is going on, but you need a break, so take one! 5) pie is good and probably essential to total world denomination. I can NOT wait to hang out with you (or should I say harrass you??) when we are living in the same city! :)

Timber -- I learned how important it is to think eternally, rather than just for the here and now. The Gospel gives us such hope and puts so many things into perspective, Timber is able to be so positive all the time. I'm striving to be like her.

Sariah in Vancouver -- First of all, all Sariahs are just the coolest people ever! Actually, I pretty much knew that, but this Sariah has just helped reaffirm it. I learned not to be scared of meeting someone new, and that Mr. Universe isn't the only complete Lord of the Rings freak out there.

Kris -- I learned how to show total and complete love to my family, yet still be sarcastic with the world around me. Hee hee. Oh, and that Calgary isn't the perfect city to live in (although I still love Calgary. Sorry Kris! But then again, I just go to visit.)

Julia -- I learned that Julia and Paul are absolutely perfect for each other, that some people have goofier lives than I do, and that having a gaggle of girls doesn't necessarily mean that you are avoiding dirt and mud dragged in everywhere, rocks up noses, or loud, unexplained, sudden noises.

Lura -- I learned that Lura really can do it all: go to grad school, have a baby, entertain visitors while pregnant, have a husband in Iraq, and live with her mother-in-law. However, she can't post very regularly. Hmpf. ;)

Therese -- I learned that some people lead very funny lives. And if you ever get a call in the middle of the night from Canada and the girl sounds drunk, then she and her roommates have been havaing waaaay too much fun again. Offer her a cheeseburger and get off the phone. (This hasn't happened to me, but I have read her blog enough to know this is quite a common occurance!!)

Laural -- I learned that it's okay to get completely frustrated with the hard situation you're in and that it takes everything you've got not to kick someone in the head when they say "Everything will work out". Yes, I know everything will work out, but we sure get sick of hearing it!

Allrie -- I learned that even though I haven't lived at home in 11 years, my mom is still "collecting kids" by becoming friends with my friends.

Kenyon -- Ken is still very new to the blogging world, so I haven't had a chance to learn a whole lot yet. However... Kenyon has introduced me to some really cool music!! Thanks for letting us all listen to it on your blog.

And now a "shout out" (heh, could I be more '90s??) to the blogs I love to read, but haven't yet linked to on my sidebar: Perpetual Chocoholic, People Say Stupid Things, Post Secret, and Waiter Rant. Now, there are many other blogs that I visit here and there, and a lot of them are secondary blogs of a lot of you, so I'm not going to mention all of them. I just wanted to mention those four if you need some good reading.

Once again, thanks everyone, for a fun first year. I plan on doing this for a while, so I hope we'll all still be here for a while. Thank you for all the agreements, advice, arguements (discussions??), and laughter. And now, back to regular blogging.