Time, Once Again For a Top Ten List! Da-da-da!

My dear readers,
It has been far too long since I posted a top ten list.  So, here it is...Jessie's Top Ten (Not Really) Important Life Tips.  They may not be life changing, but they will help you not look crazy:

10) I say it every year, yet no one seems to listen: your shorts/skirts should NEVER be wider than they are long.  Especially if you are a man.

9) Socks+shorts+sandals= Florida Retiree.  Not a good look for anyone!

8) Always be super nice to whoever is making your food...

7) Read the fine print on your coupons and return policies.

6) If something doesn't make sense in your head, do not say it out loud.  It's going to make even less sense coming out of your mouth.  (I speak from personal experience on this one...)

5) Your boss and your co workers are NOT your therapist.

4) It is ok to let people see you cry when you are angry; it scares them into doing what you want.

3) If you tell someone "I love you," and they respond by saying, "Oh...Ok,"  you probably should never say it again.  (This comes from my BFF Lindsay Davis.)

2)  Never mix peanut butter and cheese. (Again, I speak from experience on this one.)

And finally...
1) Own your strengths...and your weaknesses.  If you only acknowledge the former, you will be a narcissist and no one will like you.  If you only acknowledge the latter, you will be a chicken, unable to get anything done, and no one will like you.

I believe that appreciation is a holy thing, that when we look for what's best in the person we happen to be with at the moment, we're doing what God does; so in appreciating our neighbour, we're participating in something truly sacred.

~Mr. Rogers

He was my favorite to watch as a kid.  And he had a BA in music, and a Masters in Child Development, so that makes him cool in my book.  Daniel the Striped Tiger was my favorite character from the land of makebelieve too.

(Did you know that his Mother made him all those sweet sweaters?)

Hiking

So here is part one of what I did this weekend. Kiana, my awesome new-ish friend from school and I went on a hike to celebrate the fact that we both took the GRE and did pretty darn well! We were in the same prep class, and work in the same research lab, both are total Harry Potter nerds, and are both getting ready for Grad school. She is pretty much bomb.com.

Girls Camp

I got the opportunity to go to Girls Camp as a leader this year.  For those of you who don't know about Girls Camp it is awesome.  My church takes all the girls ages 12-18 camping for a few days.  We hang out, do crafts, learn how to cook out doors, eat lots of junk food, sing silly songs, and laugh...a lot.

I didn't really enjoy it as a youth.  I like being clean too much.  So when they asked me to go as a leader I was a little hesitant...until I found out who I would be working with.  The other adult leaders (esp. the camp director) are a-mazing!  You never realize as a participant how much work goes into planning something like this.  We had to come up with outdoor/camping friendly crafts (not as easy as you would think), food, tuck-ins, t shirts, spiritual messages, etc. for about 50 people for 4 days!  That is a lot.  Luckily  we had a rock-star food committee and awesome young women's presidency (headed up by ma mere) to handle a lot of that stuff.  It was wonderful to get to know the YW in the ward better too.  I got to be better friends with some, and really started friendships with others.  They were all super amazing; they totally stepped up when we needed them to help out, and hardly complained at all.  Even when we 'got the opportunity' to serve the camp ground we were staying at by staining a million mile long wood fence in the blazing July heat, they toughed it out and got the job done.  I loved camp!

My crazy mom.

Sweet Megan!  She is one of the girls who I really got to know at camp, and now we're pretty much bff.

My cute 4th year campers.  I got the honor of escorting these lovelies on an over night hike.  We slept out under the stars and had a grand time!

Crafty!

It's finally happened...I have been bitten by the craft bug.  Actually, it comes more out of necessity than anything else.  It is cheaper most of the time to make things yourself than to buy them.  Take exibit a for example:

I made myself a bag for my yoga mat!  I am taking yoga classes at school this fall, so I figured I would probably need something to carry my mat in.  I think it turned out pretty good, if I do say so myself :)  I got the pattern here.  It is super easy.

My next project is going to be a messanger bag.  I found a super cute pattern for free online here.

It has been cool to find all these awesome blogs where people show you how to make such cool things!  There are some crazy creative people in this world.  Love it!

What are some of your favorite crafty finds on line?

The Ultimate Crime Fighting Team

Here is a challenge for you.  Five TV characters from five different shows.  You must have a team leader, a tech person, a forensics specialist, an interrogator, and a muscle man to run down all the suspects.

My brother, sister-in-law and I were talking about this today and here is what I came up with.

Team Leader: Agent Aaron Hotchner from Criminal Minds.  He is the strong silent type who can keep a team running smoothly.

Tech Person: Abby Sciuto from NCIS.  She is amazing with computers, a genius at identifying mystery substances, and can help out with forensic too.

Forensics Specialist: This one is a total no brainer...Dr. Temperance Brennan from Bones.  Hello, she is the world's best forensic anthropologist.  She can figure out how anyone died, no matter what!  And she's a genius, and she is hilarious.  Never on  purpose, of course.

Interrogator: Another no brainer.  Dr. Cal Lightman from Lie to Me.  He can tell when someone is lying to him, but knows how to get them to tell the truth.  He is just willing enough to break the rules, without going too far.

Muscle: David Sinclare from Numb3rs.  He always gets the bad guy, and he's super hot.

In case were wondering, here are Cory and McKenzie's picks...
Cory said:
Team leader- Gibbs from NCIS
Tech- Penelope Garcia from Criminal Minds
Forensic- Dr. Brennan from Bones
Interrogator- Cal Lightman
Muscle- that guy from Burn Notice

McKenzie said:
Team Leader- Grissom from CSI
Tech- Penelope Gracia from Criminal Minds
Forensics- Dr. Brennan from Bones
Interrogator- Sydney Bristow from Alias
Muscle- the guy from Leverage

Nonsense wakes up the brain cells. And it helps develop a sense of humor, which is awfully important in this day and age. Humor has a tremendous place in this sordid world. It's more than just a matter of laughing. If you can see things out of whack, then you can see how things can be in whack.

~Dr. Seuss