Wednesday, July 16, 2008

Happy 89th Post!

I’ve got a confession to make. The original plan was to make my 100th post extra-special, but I finished my new blog design way sooner than I expected to, and I just couldn’t wait the extra month or so it would take to reach 100 before unveiling it. So, to commemorate the fact that I’m basically a graphic designer, I’m orchestrating a SURPRISE GIVEAWAY! Never mind that it only took me about 20 minutes to create the header with the help of Adobe and Paint. I spent lots of time thinking about it and I’m pretty pleased with myself. Anyway, the winner of this SURPRISE GIVEAWAY will make out with a spectacular prize, not to exceed $20 worth of stuff. But it’ll be great stuff. In fact, it will be a little care package of “Jessie’s Favorite Things”, possibly comprising of, but not limited to, the following:


My All-Time Favorite Gum: Orbit Bubblemint (It’s like bubblegum, but it’s minty too! Get it?)

My All-Time Favorite Saturday-Afternoon-in-the-Dead-of-Summer Snack: Jamba Juice (gift card)

My All-Time Favorite Lip Balm: Vasoline Lip Therapy (Hope I didn’t get your hopes up too high on that one.)

My All-Time Favorite Use of One Dollar: iTunes gift card (obviously for more than one dollar. But the songs are a dollar each. That’s the point I’m making here.)

My All-Time Favorite Book: A slightly used copy of Twilight (Okay, so maybe I’m just trying to pawn it onto someone else so it’s no longer on my bookshelf. I still feel conned every time I see it sitting there.)


Here’s how you become eligible to win this glorious prize. At the end of this post, there is a long list of “Have You Evers”. Your task is to skim through them until something jumps out at you. Could be something you’ve done, something you want to do, something that reminds you of a story – anything. Then, leave a comment that tells us about it in a little more detail. It’s a really long list, so there’s bound to be something on there that speaks to you.


See? It’s about you AND it’s about me. YOU elaborate on something off the list, and I randomly choose the recipient of the Jessie’s Favorite Things care package.


I’m going to leave the contest open for seven days, because there are certain people that read my blog that don’t have consistent internet access. This time next Wednesday, I’ll choose the winner (by way of drawing a name out of a hat).


Hint: if Jon is the only person that enters, he AUTOMATICALLY wins.
Another hint: Don’t get too used to this giveaway thing. It’s reserved for only very special occasions, like unveiling new templates, 89th post celebrations, and the such.


Ready, go.


Have You Ever…?


Swam with dolphins?
Climbed a mountain?
Held a tarantula?
Bungee jumped?
Stayed up all night long and saw the sun rise?
Seen the Northern Lights?
Grown and eaten your own vegetables?
Touched an iceberg?
Slept under the stars?
Changed a baby's diaper?
Taken a trip in a hot air balloon?
Watched a meteor shower?
Had an uncontrollable giggling fit at the worst possible moment?
Bet on a winning horse?
Asked out a stranger?
Screamed as loudly as you possibly can?
Held a lamb?
Seen a total eclipse?
Given the eulogy at a hamster’s funeral?
Hit a home run?
Adopted an accent for an entire day?
Watched wild whales?
Stolen a sign?
Backpacked in Europe?
Gone rock climbing?
Gone sky diving?
Visited Japan?
Called your own daughter “Jerry”?
Alphabetized your CDs?
Sung karaoke?
Fainted?
Gone scuba diving?
Gone to a drive-in theater?
Taken a martial arts class?
Been in a movie?
Been a member of Papa Roach?
Made cookies from scratch?
Won first prize in a costume contest?
Gotten a tattoo?
Rafted the Snake River?
Got flowers for no reason?
Performed on stage?
Gone to Thailand?
Broken both wrists at the same time in a cheerleading stunt gone awry?
Bought a house?
Been on a cruise ship?
Followed your favorite band/singer on tour?
Consumed your own weight in candy within a 24 hour period?
Walked on the Golden Gate Bridge?
Had major surgery?
Thrown away pet hermit crabs that weren't dead, just hibernating?
Lost over 100 pounds?
Petted a stingray?
Broken someone's heart?
Helped an animal give birth?
Won money on a T.V. game show?
Gone on an African Safari?
Fired a revolver?
Fallen off a horse ?
Been attacked from behind while rollerblading, fallen on top of the person, inadvertently broken their femur, then skated away?
Had a snake as a pet?
Hiked to the bottom of the Grand Canyon?
Slept for more than 12 hours at a time?
Visited all 7 continents?
Eaten sushi?
Slid a coin into the roof rack of the family vehicle before a cross-country drive and watched everyone slowly go crazy from the rattling?
Had your picture in the newspaper?
Parasailed?
Eaten fried green tomatoes?
Killed and prepared an animal for eating?
Skipped all your school reunions?
Gone to a foreign country and contracted a seemingly incurable ailment?
Been elected to some sort of office?
Sold your own artwork to someone who didn't know you?
Shaved your head?
Caused a car accident?
Saved someone's life?



16 comments:

  1. You had me at "Twilight." Love the new design!

    OK, I will share one of my fainting stories. It was in the temple. Adam and I had been married for about a year, and decided to do sealings in the Provo Temple. After about the gazillionth one, I stood up, and passed right out. Ha ha! I went to get a drink of water, and I come back in, and everyone was snickering. You married people know the next question. When was I due?!?!? That's right, I can't get sick, pass out bcause it's hot and I'm on my knees, without being pregnant.

    That experience makes me nervous everytime I go into the temple, as I'm worried I'll pass out again, and spill the beans that I'm not pregnant, just HOT!!

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  2. I have to admit that I once called my own daughter "Jerry".

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  3. where do i even begin? changed way too many diapers, but i can say that norah was the first, besides one random, totally grown-up poo diapers of mason's that scarred me for life! thrown away hermit crabs, i think i just scared nors by my outburst when i read that! make cookies from scratch please--is there any other way?
    oh and i think my fingers have been raw from shelling garbage bags full of peas from the garden. but the feeling of running your hands through a gigantic bowl of freshly hulled (ha) peas is the best....
    and i have broken too many hearts to claim just one...what can i say? i'm a real heart breaker. this is long. i better win just for the time out of my day to respond...

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  4. My wife told me I needed to comment thus placing her in the first place position in receiving the 89th whatnot goodies. Shall we begin?

    1. No, I have not swam with dolphins, but I do enjoy swimming with Shamu.

    2. Indeed, I have climbed many mountains, but not as many as Charlie. He is the mountaineer in the family.

    3. Fortunately, I have not held a tarantula; but living in the Philippines, I have had my share of holding things that were not pleasant and swimming with things that were far too parasitic for my comfort.

    While in a flash flood, an old man told me "not to pee while wading through the water because a parasite could swim up your weenie." Interesting . . . he actually used the Tagolog word for weenie. Not knowing that Taglog had such a word, I went home to look it up in the dictionary.

    4. I have not bungee jumped myself. I have seen, however, a friend bungee jump in Vegas. When he hit the water below, the cord snapped, and he nearly drowned to death. I can laugh about it now.

    5. Indeed, I have stayed up all night and watched the sun rise the next day. It's happened quite a bit, actually; however, I never tell Kelsey when I do stay up all night in fear of her making me take out my contacts. I usually leave them in for months at a time.

    6. Kelsey will not let me go to Fort McMurray to witness the magnificent display of lights. But I have seen Frequency (good show by the way). They had northern lights in that movie.

    7. LOL. Please . . . who hasn't grown and eaten their own vegies? I bet Corinne has tomatoes on her roof in NY.

    8. Sadly no. No ice-burg touching here.

    9. Yes.

    10. Yes.

    11. Mmm . . . no.

    12. One time when Kelsey and I were watching the hit TV show LOST, we watched Hurley experience his own meteor shower. But no, I have not personally seen anything shower down from the sky, except rain. However, I have seen more the lack thereof than anything.

    13. One time, I was passing the sacrament, as a righteous little deacon boy who had never done anything wrong in his life, and this guy sneezed a massive loogie all over the bread. Not knowing what I should do, I quickly changed trays with the deacon beside me. To this day, I am not sure anyone noticed the man and his array of flem landing on the bread, but everyone saw me laughing and thought I was so "unworthy" to do so.

    14. I wish.

    Okay. Kelsey says I'm done.

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  5. i think jake wins. in turn, i win. thanks. please send it to the p.o. box.
    oh and i like how he failed to acknowledge acquiring any weird diseases while traveling to a foreign country...

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  6. Oooooh. A married couple tag team. Can I make up a faux child to share a memory?

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  7. OH. MY. GOSH. I think I finally figured out how I can comment on your blog! Hallelujah!! I have filled no less than 7 notebooks with comments I've been intending to come back and write once I figure this out so get ready! Or discontinue your blog. Which ever you feel most comfortable with. ANYWAY, I'm writing to you from the world's oldest computer courtesy of the University of Chicago basement computer lab where I'm pretty sure any second I'm going to get stabbed. But I digress. Now it's on to my have you ever. I am going to go ahead and go with "Have you ever changed a baby's diaper?" I indeed have, and thank you for asking, but it wasn't that exact question that struck my fancy. It was that question that made me remember how I have changed a 21-year-old's diaper. Remember when I had to babysit for the girl with cerebral palsy and had to change her diaper every 30 minutes? Because I do. And I bet that's a have you never that not too many other people have experienced. And I'm happy for them. I'm sure I'll be back soon. Can I comment on this more than once? Because I didn't finish your list before I started writing this. yeah, I'll be back. I apologize in advance for the nuisance I will now forever be on your blog. P.S. That Courtney G. picture made me laugh out loud. But I guess the girl in the computer lab doesn't watch SYTYCD because she just stared at me with hatred in her eyes. Maybe next time.

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  8. I have 3 words for you: Dirty Little Slut. And you know why. BUT, not everyone can say one of those experiences was specifically written for them.


    Just for fun, I have done the following:


    Climbed a mountain

    Bungee jumped- In Canada, I threw that in there for Jon

    Stayed up all night long and saw the sun rise

    Grown and eaten your own vegetables- We were child slaves--we had to weed our grow boxes of squash, corn, radishes, etc.

    Slept under the stars

    Changed a baby's diaper

    Watched a meteor shower- were you there for the Mia Maid acitivity at Sister's Campbell's house where we slept on the trampoline and there was a huge meteor shower?

    Bet on a winning horse (please see Keri's post from Memorial Day weekend)

    Had an uncontrollable giggling fit at the worst possible moment- this is a really long story, but it's about our favorite person "J" (the one the "awful personality" note was about) I'll spare the other bloggers and send you a message on Facebook

    Asked out a stranger- how about been asked out by a stranger (WalMart worker to be exact)

    Seen a total eclipse

    Gone rock climbing

    Sung karaoke- "karoke" as Mr. Nagel would call it

    Gone to a drive-in theater-where I met Bryan

    Won first prize in a costume contest- heck ya! Last year Bryan and I went as Mario and Peach

    Rafted the Snake River

    Got flowers for no reason

    Performed on stage

    Broken both wrists at the same time in a cheerleading stunt gone awry- and this is why you would be a dirty little slut

    Bought a house

    Been on a cruise ship

    Consumed your own weight in candy within a 24 hour period- most likely

    Eaten sushi- I threw up

    Caused a car accident- does it count if it was with myself?

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  9. That post was a lot longer than I intended it to be.

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  10. Too bad CJK needs to keep reading the list because she has, yes she has, given a eulogy at a hamsters funeral...can we all share a moment of silence for OREO...ah hem, well I'm sure she'll elaborate on that one. It may just win her the grand prize. Also, why are all the questions catered specifically to everyone else you know except for me hooker??? How am I supposed to win? I'll keep scouring the list and racking my brain to see what I can come up with.

    P.S. I updated my blog. I dedicate it to you.

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  11. i haven't had a giggling fit, but i blew out my diaper pretty bad in the middle of sacrament for all the world to hear... does that count?
    p.s. i LOVE jamba juice... thanks auntie jessie!!!

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  12. Jessie, what were the results of your hair poll?

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  13. I almost had to change someone's diaper while rafting the snake river. Did I mention the Grade 6 election? "Red, White, and Jon!" Really won the crowd over with my prize winning speech, which I borrowed from a hamsters eulogy. Killed thousands of poor innocent animals and eaten many. Walked on the Brooklyn Bridge and I gotta say it was cold...on my face. Fired a revolver, no, but used the lead pipe in the billiard room once. Last but definitely not least, I did win a vinyl record of Heart's Greatest hits on Spelling Bee. My job was to unscramble words with two other girls, but being a shrimp, I could only watch my team members finish the puzzle in time. How sad?

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  14. First of all, I feel sad for Jake. No northern lights? or meteor showers? in your whole life? I have actually jumped off of a glacier into glacial water, does that count? I think it should since I almost drowned from the cold minus 8000 degree water knocking the breath out of my body! I was scheduled for a hot-air balloon ride in grade 2, however, my people cancelled at the last minute (and by my people I mean my teacher, and by cancelled I mean apparently it was "too windy" to go up in a balloon. Wimps.) Funny the walmart stranger asking out was mentioned, I have been proposed to by a stranger while I was working at walmart, he even got down on one knee and offered me a 25-cent ring. I have converted Jordan to alphabetizing dvd's, it's really quite practical. When I was in grade 6, I decided I was going to give myself a tattoo. I drew kokopelli on my arm with a pen, and I traced over it many many times a day every day for about a month, in the hopes that it actually would turn into a tattoo. I was sadly disappointed. I watched a horse give birth. It was gross. I've killed a few animals, unfortunately a couple skunks that were hiding in the bush and that Jonny swore to me were rabbits. I have never shaved my head, but I always worry that one day while I'm in the shower I'll start thinking about other things, stop paying attention to what I'm doing, and, with razor in hand, I'll start shaving my head instead of shaving my legs and washing my hair. I just saved Nolie's life, he was choking on a wood chip that was about an inch long (I guess he thought it was chicken). Thank goodness I was forced into taking cpr classes for 5 yrs. And that's all I have to say about that. The End.

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  15. My dad's whole life he'd wanted to see the northern lights. He'd traveled the world - been to Norway, been to Russia, Korea, Mongolia. We went to Alaska when I was 8 and the main goal of the trip was to seen the northern lights. It was cloudy the whole time.
    Sometime around October of 2001 we were driving back from Milton-Freewater at night and I was staring out the window. I noticed some glowage in the sky, but at first thought it was just the lights from Milton (keep in mind that we live in THE MIDDLE OF NOWHERE so you could see a flashlight from about 80 miles away). But then I noticed they were moving. And changing colors. I immediately pointed it out to my parents. I thought my dad was going to cry! He'd spent nearly all of his life wanting to see them, going all over the world in hopes of achieving his goal, and then, fifty years later, he's driving home in Oregon and sees them! It really was amazing. I read an article about the Aurora Borealis a few days later - it was such a crazy night that even people in Georgia had seen it!

    Amazing!

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  16. Wow, can I just say Jessie, most of your fans are very long-winded. And don't think I didn't notice your rafting on the snake river comment, Johnny. I only peed in my pants a LITTLE during that trip. Like only a couple drops.
    One time I fell down the stairs at home and hit my head so hard that I fainted. Apparently corinne and jessie came running when they heard me fall, but just stood there laughing as i had a seizure and fell the rest of the way down the stairs while unconscious. I guess it was pretty funny. Thanks guys. Thanks.

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