A LOT TO TAKE

I've had a lot to take in lately. A lot has happened, and a lot is still happening, and this leaves me with ZERO time for recording (and blogging) all of it. That's kind of why I posted those 100 things finally. {I started that list in SEPTEMBER '08, and have slowly added until now. I was going to post it on some monumental occasion, but instead it was posted as a place-holder.} I'm sorry, but it's a lot for YOU to take. So read it in bits, and then by the time I'm above ground again (i.e. with time to record/blog well & stay up-to-date), you won't feel like you've missed much since there was so much to read before. (right?)

Oh, I'm also sorry for the GIGANTIC text on my 100 things. Some Blogworld Glitch messed it all up and even though I selected the smallest option available, it is still ginormous... Oh well. It makes it seem longer, which means you can read it over a longer period of time. (?)


H A S T A L U E G O

100 THINGS

1. I hate wasting things. Food, paper, cardboard, ribbon & wrapping, jars, sometimes wrappers: all hard for me to throw away.
   
   
2. I can't remember the last time I got bored. Really.
   
   
3. I am the oldest and I am bossy, (sorry, I stole that one Ashley).


4. I rarely wear make-up.


5. When I do put on make-up, I usually do it while driving.


6. I'm very good at steering with my knees.


7. I've moved like 14 times, but the last the first 11 times were before the age of 5.
   


8. I lived in London for a few months.


9. I lived in the Dominican Republic for a long time.


10. When watching internet videos, I have to wait for it to buffer. I can't stand watching little videos in stalling bits.


11. In 1991, I lost a tooth & my dad took me to the BYU Bookstore to buy a journal. I have avidly kept a journal all through high school; my parents had to tell me to stop writing. I still love it but rarely get to it.


12. I really like fruit. I delight in strawberries, peaches, blueberries, mango--all in their season.


13. When I got back from my mission, the first 'new' things I remember noticing (even when landing to the US Airports) were Vitamin Water, and the new bottle/packaging of Dasani water.


14. I am studying Graphic Design, (yes, with intitial caps) and I love it.


15. I am a typography snob.


16. I like my watches to be cool-looking, wearable in the shower, and wearable to bed.


17. All my current watches are from Ben, the watch expert, so they are high-class, antique, and not wearable in the shower or to bed.


18. I got a 2 on the AP Art test in high school. (Didn't pass.)


19. I didn't take art until senior year.


20. Since I was little, my father always encouraged drawing. He bought us all sketchbooks to take to church along with our scriptures.


21. I don't cook. Not because I don't like cooking; I just never make it a priority. I never make the time, so I end up not doing it.


22. I want to be a good cook. (But obviously not enough, since I don't want it enough to make it a priority?)


23. I've only ever had two real jobs: an admissions secretary at BYU Law School, and a student designer for BYU Department of Visual Arts.


24. I hardly ever use a computer that isn't a Mac.


25. I love wrapping gifts and packages. I consider it a hobby & a talent.


26. Pre-mission, I only wore Tevas. Post-mission, I only wear Chacos.


27. I don't mind my cereal soggy.


28. When my mom was pregnant with me, her middle-of-the-night craving was Rice Chex. Now among my favorite cereals.


29. I call Chapstick "lipchap" because I thought it was cool when a Canadian girl in the freshman dorms said it. I can't even remember her name. :(


30. When I first fell for Ben, I had no idea he nor his family was 'artsy'.


31. I like things tidy.


32. I like my beverages with plenty of ice. It's a Dominican rub-off I'll gladly admit.


33. I tear & fold my toilet paper neatly on the perforated line. I get it from my father.


34. I have a strong, deep will/desire/motto to never
    lie. I used to cheat on tests until one day in high school, I connected that it was lying. It's sad that it took so long, but I haven't ever cheated since that epiphany.


35. I don't own a curling-iron, straight-iron or a blow-dryer.


36. I often pop my knuckles & my neck & my back. Ben & I often pop each other's thumbs.


37. I also didn't pass the AP Spanish test. I blame this on the lunchladies that were making a racket during the recording section.


38. In an end-of-year assembly of senior year in high school, friends and I rigged it or me to spin the 'Wheel-of-Torture' where my fate was cutting off my long braids. I donated them to Locks of Love. I have since cut off another 15-inch-long braid and it is still sitting in the medicine cabinet. :( I kind of want to sell it.
    


39. I really really really like Press N' Seal. It's amazing! Magic.


40. I love festivals, fairs and the like. I always am up for the State Fair, the Farmers' Market, Utah Arts Festival, Greek Fest, Festival LatinoAmericano... I didn't make it to many this year. :(


41. I really like my name. All of my names.


42. My middle name is Cherie, after my mom's middle name.


43. I used to have a few warts on my hand as a child. I got rid of them once I could stay consistent with a Guatemalan/Mayan cure my Grandma taught me of dabbing morning saliva on it. Sounds gross, I know. But it worked! No painful freezing/burning process!


44. I really like sour candies and tart drinks & desserts.


45. I don't like olives but I wish I did so I could live up to my nickname, Olive.


46. I grew up drinking a hot barley drink called Pero, and I love it.


47. During every General Conference, I make Bingos for all my siblings.


48. I hate walking barefoot at home on hard surfaces (non-carpet). I keep a pair of house-flip-flops. Another Dominican-ism. Sometimes I still shower with them.


49. I thoroughly wash my dishes. Very thoroughly. Ben pointed this out soon after marriage.


50. From the time I was in Kindergarten, dishwashing was my chore. Nine years later, when we moved into a home with a dishwasher, I was relieved from my duty. I never learned to load a dishwasher, and I still trust my own dishwashing more.


51. I love jewelry. A lot.


52. I love foreign films. I used to come up and see them at the Kimball Tower when I was in high school. I like documentaries and independent films too.


53. I love hiking. Provo has such a great deal of hikes surrounding. I want to do more.


54. I'm a very slow reader.


55. I sang "Look at This Stuff"... with red-sprayed hair & a mermaid outfit and won the talent show when I was in 2nd grade.


56. I performed at Lamanite Week in a Bolivian dance on my 9th birthday. I performed in BYU Lu'au in the Samoan section, near my 21st birthday.


57. I'm half Guatemalteca. I've been to Guatemala twice: once at the age of 3, once at 8.


58. I designed a logo for the Freedom Festival Baby Contest when I was a freshman in high school.


59. I sang in the High School choir. I love singing in choirs.


60. I danced for a local multicultural dance group called ROC from 2004-2005. We toured twice: to Indian Reservations in Arizona and New Mexico; & to Las Vegas, LA, Riverside, & Laie, Hawaii. LOVED it.


61. Usually if I try to take a nap, I lay there thinking about everything I could be doing instead.


62. Utah Lake, as mucky as it is, holds a dear place in my heart: Jumping off the bridge in our clothes was a favorite high school summer pasttime. Shooting firecracker/bottle rockets off the dike across the ice was a favorite New Year's memory, and the back road was where Ben & I said our final 'goodbye' before I entered the MTC. (Sunrise)


63. I love my wedding ring and I love getting compliments on it, though I must admit I sometimes feel embarrassed when people talk about how big it is. I worry that 'big' isn't really 'me'. But I don't feel embarrassed about the design. It is very me and I really love it! (Thank you Richard Beech)


64. I've never been East of Texas: except Miami for a night on my way home from the DR, and the airports in Miami, Chicago & NYC.


65. That actually is not true now- I just got back from NYC!
    


66. One of the first bonding processes for Ben & I was his instruction in longboarding & longboard-making. He allowed Jenna & I to use his father's wood shop. (Thanks, Kurt!) Jenna made a tetris board, and I made an avocado.


67. I really like avocado. I like how they look, I like the color, and I will eat them alone, or with anything else. I think it makes almost any meal BETTER. I've even tried it in a strawberry smoothie... (not my favorite).


68. I don't like to wear socks to bed.


69. I've never liked boots. My parents had to do lots of sweet-talking to convince me to cover my feet well in the winter.


70. I'm pretty good at doing little girls' hair.


71. I wish I were better at doing my own hair.


72. There are no more little girls at my house. :(


73. I don't know how to say no. I must think I can do everything, and I usually wear myself out trying to do so. I've tried to fix this, but I think it's just my lot in life: to have too much on my plate.


74. I'm okay with that. I like being busy and having responsibilities, just as long as I can have frequent breaks.
    
    
75. I really enjoyed living with roommates--like I LOVED roommate life.
    


76. I love my in-laws! I admire each of them and agree with others that they are celestial. I could not be more proud to be a Knudsen and I love to be around them and to follow their examples and to be with them... I love them.
    


77. I LOVE my family. I love the way we act with each other, I love how we criticize & covet design. I love that even though we micro-manage, it has taught us to be resourceful. We depend on each other a lot since we're often forgetful. We live/work/study within a few miles of each other and use that to our advantage for car/cell/food exchanges & needs. We pay for stuff for each other back and forth and assume it all evens out. We eat anything (well, maybe except for Carmen). We like to bum around and watch movies. I like to watch them play the interactive videogames (I can't say I really love it--yet.) We make fun of each other. We draw. We share stuff. We aren't afraid to ask questions. We're super comfortable with each other which sometimes leads to showing a lack of respect, but we repent and forgive. And sorry. This isn't a 100-things about my family. But my family is what best defines & describes me...


78. I've written and performed puppet shows.


79. I'm kind of picky about spelling, grammar and punctuation. I think I got it from my father.
    


80. I usually keep long nails. Kind of just as habit from when I was younger.


81. I left my journal in Guatemala when I was 8. When it was finally mailed back, there were bookworm holes in the cover. I LOVED learning that bookworms were real.


82. I'm not much of a bookworm. I'd like to read more books, but, like cooking, never really make the time.


83. I use my iPod for design file storage WAY more than I use it for music.


84. I own a letterpress, and hope to put it to good use. But I mostly have reserved it as a post-graduation project.


85. I text with both hands.


86. I'm a morning person who acts as a night owl too often.


87. I was part of Dixon Middle School's Student Council, Provo High's Student Government, but not a part of BYUSA.
    


88. I can do handstands and back-handsprings.


89. I feel naked if I'm not wearing earrings.


90. I distinctly remember the specific moment in my early teens of feeling full-fledged, in-depth LOVE for The Beatles. There is no doubt I'd have been one of the screaming girls if I lived 1n 1965. I have the Anthology #2 commemorative album memorized.
    


91. I was raised to believe dark chocolate is a delicacy. I still believe it.


92. I used to be really allergic to mosquito bites.


93. I like spinach pie because it, also, was a delicacy growing up.


94. I own a minimum amount of shoes. I hate wasting those too.


95. I love playing soccer - a little too much. I don't love watching soccer enough.


96. Since I got my driver's license, my family has tended to rotate through automobiles. Thus, I've been blessed to drive the following: a '90 Dodge Caravan, a '96 Dodge Caravan, an '86 Toyota Tercel (hatchback), a '96 Nissan Stanza, a '97 Ford Econoline "Disco Van", an '89 Diahatsu, a '97 Honda Civic, an '85 Honda Civic, a '96 Toyota Camry, and sometimes the Mazda pick-up and the '00 Ford Focus. Oh, and now Ben lets me drive his '03 Mazda Protogé 5. (I'm kind of guessing on years, here. I welcome corrections).
    


97. My favorite drink of all time: Odwalla's Superfood. (Not any other brand of Superfood is suitable. I'm talking the thick, motor-oil-like stuff by Odwalla.)


98. Previous career goals before I learned that graphic design was made for me: Actress, Architect, Window Display Designer. (That last one was suggested by some personality/skills test I took during freshman year of high school.
    
    
99. My favorite color was red when I was little, purple when I was a bit older, then pastels, then those 80's mixes of fucsia & teal, then I could never decide and said the rainbow was my favorite color. Until one day in high school I noticed I had a lot of green clothes and always leaned to choosing green. I can now say with confidence that green is my favorite color. But that doesn't mean I don't like anything else...
    
    
100. I love Benjamin Clark Knudsen more than anyone or anything in the whole world.
     

THE INFORMATION AGE

Ben stopped in his tracks the other day to comment about the times. "Think of all the internet has brought us. Just in the last 20-30 years. That's why it's called the Information Age."


Thank You, Kurt:

By Artist Jean-Luc Cornec

Thank You, Rob & Georgia:



Thank You, Keenan:

Thank You, Calvin/Meg:


Just look at all that information from the internet.

UN AñO ENTERO

Papá & I at my Homecoming. Photo Courtesy Les Broadhead. Thanks!

Today marks ONE WHOLE YEAR that I have been in HOME from my mission in the D.R.
(Yesterday was the anniversary of leaving the DR. But if we all remember correctly,
some Houston airport couldn't handle the snow and so I kicked it with the missionaries in Miami for a day and night. Then I got to come home the next day. Tomorrow marks the anniversary of seeing Ben again. Wow, what a year. . .)

To celebrate, I went to the MTC today to sit as an investigator for some
Spanish-speaking missionaries in training. I love how it brings back memories.
I'm also going to dig out my missionary agendas & my diario
to contact as many old Dominicans friends tonight as I can.

For blogging purposes, I want to give a shout-out to my companions:
Hna. Jensen, Branigun Scoffield Field, Emily Harvey,
Cammie Beckstead, Mariela Parra, Gaby Delgado, Rachel Taylor,
Sarie Carr, Naiomi Dee Sheppard,
KC Martin, Aura Diaz, y Lorena Rivas.

Les quiero mucho y les agradezco por su paciencia y amistad.
Ustedes son una gran parte mis memorias favoritas.

... y un testimonio, por qué no?
Sé que hay un Dios poderoso que tambien es nuestro Padre.
Nos ama como hijos y quiere que aprendemos cómo ser mejores--aún perfectos.
Sé que esto requiere dolor y errores a veces, pero que todo es parte de un plan divino.
Por eso nos ha dado su evangelio.
Vivimos en un tiempo de revelación. Hay un hombre elegido con la autoridad de dirigirnos en la tierra. Si tenemos fé, sabemos que al seguir al profeta, estamos siguiendo a Él.
Sé que Jesucristo vive. Murió por nosotros para darnos otro "chance" (say it like a Dominican). Claro! Así es más justo! Nos da misericordia.
Hay una iglesia organizada por Él. Es para nuestro progreso. Es para nuestro bienestar!
Claro que voy a hacer todo lo que la iglesia me requiere por que todo viene de mi Padre,
y sé que soy su hija.

Wish I could share this just as often as I did a year ago.

PA'LANTE!

BEN LOVES GAS PRICES

This post has remained a 'draft' since the beginning of November!


After grocery shopping one day, Ben gasped at the 'low' gas price and asked that I pull over so that I could take a picture of him with the amazing price to show his Kurt & Becky. It was an amazing price. Then.

I filled up today for $1.67 a gallon... and contemplated this summer when it got into the $4 range. (Right?) Hard to believe now.

It's all relative. Even if we don't understand.