Only 60 more to go!

Thanks Jenny. I needed to post something.
Out of the 99 things, I've highlighted what I've done in pink.

1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6.Given more than you can afford to charity
7.Been to Disneyland
8.Climbed a mountain
9.Held a praying mantis (yeah, right. those suckers are mean)
10. Sang a solo (though I probably shouldn't have)
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14.Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Been to the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables (when we were kids)
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20.Slept on an overnight train (I havent been on any train)
21.Had a pillow fight
22.Hitch hiked (it was in Alaska and that makes it ok)
23.Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24.Built a snow fort
25.Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41. Sung Karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant (no, but that sounds nice)
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud (MUD BALL!!)
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie (It was a stake missionary video)
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia (Where's the Visited Brazil question?)
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle (Heck I was the one driving!)
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person (26 years in Az and nope, I havent)
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life (Missions count! Those are spiritual lives!)
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club (They wouldnt let me)
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person (No, though Eddie talks so much about it, I feel like I have)
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee

Happy Boo Year!

Because Ben and I were getting over the flu, we all decided to stay in for a quiet family New Year's celebration. Eddie and I agreed that Ben could take a late nap and then stay up as late as he could. And let me tell you, that little trooper stayed up till midnight and then some! He was having so much fun that he didn't even want to go to bed. He busily played with his toys till midnight, talking on his toy car, which I guess he deemed his new cell phone, to his girlfriend Abby and his grandma, Nana. It was adorable. All you could understand was ".....[baby talk, baby talk, baby talk]... Hi, Abby!....[baby talk, baby talk, baby talk]... Hi, Nana!....'Kay, bye!" After the countdown, Eddie got out some of those party poppers. We were a little weary as whether we should even pop them since we didn't know how Ben would react. Eddie gave it a try and much to our suprise, Ben wasn't scared. In fact, he loved them. He cracked up and threw himself on the floor laughing at the noise and the streamers going everywhere. I'm sure it helped that he was tired and a little slap-happy, ya know? I think we all were.

P.S. The title is Happy Boo Year, because Boo is one of Ben's many many nicknames.

P.P.S. New Year's resolutions? Yeah, we don't do that I guess. Eddie doesn't believe in them and I am too busy to think about more goals to set up for myself. Not satisfied? Hmm, how about our hopes for 2009? We hope we can have a safe and great year, go to the temple more, and have another baby. :)

All about the Eddie

ALL YOU'VE EVER WANTED TO KNOW ABOUT EDDIE:

What is your husband's name? Edward G. Moure (c'mon, ask me what the G stands for...)

How long have you been married? 2 1/2 years. :)

How long did you date? We dated for 6 months before my mission. Our relationship was "on hold" during that year and a half. So much so that we were engaged 4 days after I returned. We were married 6 weeks later.

When did you meet? First in high school, then years later at a mutual friend's get-together.

What were your first thoughts? "He is so cute... doh! I have a boyfriend."

What/where was your first date? It wasn't an official date. He took me to do rock-wall climbing and then we went to play vball with everyone at church and then went to Denny's at 11pm with Little Heather.

How old were both of you? I was 21 and he was 20.

When did he/she meet your family? Um, I'm not sure. I think we all played Apples to Apples together and he won my dad over with racial self-deprecating jokes. Haha.

How old is he? 11 months younger than me.

Who is taller? He is by about 4 inches. He still doesn't like it when I wear my stilettos.

Who can sing best? Eddie can and it's not just because all my Brazilian companions called him a Backstreet Boy... hehe...

Who is smarter? Depends on the subject matter. He is excellent with history, government, politics, etc. I excel in English, math and the arts.

Who does laundry? Just me.

Who does the dishes? I put them in the dishwasher and Eddie puts them away. Teamwork!!

Who pays the bills? He does. I can't bring myself to do it. Really, I can't. I'm in charge of one bill a month and I still don't like to pay it. Is there a disorder for that? Pretty sure it's called Financial Phobia.

Who mows the lawn? What lawn?

Who cooks dinner? I would say 50-50. We love breakfast foods and tacos; he makes yummy chorizo w/ eggs, over-cheesys, Mr. Miyagis and taco meat. However, I have been cooking more lately... in fact, I made some super yummy meatball subs on Sunday!!

Who is the first to admit when they are wrong? Usually Eddie, but I am trying to be better.

Who kissed who first? I say that I did. He disagrees. I really did kiss him first though. He took too long to do it.

Who wears the pants? Hmmm, I think Eddie lets me think that I do (he calls it "choosing his battles") but I really do believe that he is the patriarch of the family and I respect that.

Adaptation of the Mind

Yesterday as I was driving home from work with Benjamin, I thought to myself: "Nikki, you and Ben should plan a day to go to the park." Well, at second glance at this thought, something struck me. I had to plan to go to the park? Ok, ok. I like to plan things, alright? That part I knew. But was this helping me get more done? You know, it was then that I realized that my constant desire to have things planned out was actually keeping me from getting things done. Huh. By demanding that it all be planned out, I was constantly pushing activities out of today and into tomorrow. It was then that I decided. "I don't need a reason to go to the park. It takes a reason not to go and I don't have one of those. We're going to the park, Ben." And go to the park we did. :) The End.

I survived Black Friday!

The whole week of Thanksgiving I was sick. Heck, I didn't even get out of bed on Wednesday. However, I had promised myself that I was going to participate in Black Friday and get up early to do some shopping no matter how many DayQuils I had to take. :) I forgot to buy Nyquil that night and consequently didn't fall asleep until about 12:30am. My alarm clock promptly woke me up at 3:30am. Amazingly, I was able to fall out of bed, shower, and head out the door by 4:15am. I picked up my friend, Tiffany, and together we waited in line at Target for an hour before they opened at 6am. Good thing we got there when we did; about 100+ people arrived shortly after we did tripling the length of the line. The time was passed by chatting about perspective deals amongst ourselves and our fellow linewaiters. I have to admit I was scared as we were let into the store; some people had a vicious killer look in their eye as they ran toward the special deals of the day. Aside from the lady who repeated rammed my ankles with her cart while complaining that I needed to "push my way through" the 50-something carts that were blocking in the aisle, I had a good time. We successfully shopped Target and Walmart. I have to admit though that I was exhausted by the end of it. Of course, that didn't stop me from going to the outlet mall later with Eddie. Hehe.

All in all, not a bad experience. My secret? Stay away from the stores anywhere close to the mall. We went to the recently built Target and Walmart out on Lake Pleasant Pkwy and I think that is what saved us. Smart thinking, Nikki.

"I don't feel so good."

This whole past week I felt like I was coming down with something and the funny thing is I watched it happen to Ben at the same time. We both started out with runny noses, stuffiness, aching, and now yucky coughs and an overall crappy feeling. Just in time for Thanksgiving! Yay. Last night, I was up with him at about one in the morning. He would cough so hard that you could hear it scratch and strain his throat muscles. He would put his hand on his neck, look at me with sad, sad eyes that were full of tears, and whimper a dejected: "Oooh..." Broke my heart. I don't even think I care anymore if I am sick; I just want my baby to feel better.

Where's my opus?

This morning I drove to work alone. I normally carpool with Eddie and Benjamin, but today is Eddie's day off so the boys stayed home. That meant that I could listen to whatever music I wanted. This would typically consist of Christmas music (you know, I had a nightmare last night that they stopped playing Christmas music? Talk about scary!), but since they were on commercial, I popped in my Ultimate Yanni CD. Yeah, ok, I'm lame, but I like it, ok? As I was grooving to my Yanni music, my mind began to wander and tangentilize (real word?). Ever have that happen? It happened to me.

Anyway, I thought about what it took to compose such beautiful music and what a gift that would be to hear a song in your head and be able to express it on paper in notes and sheet music and then create it with a 50+ piece orchestra. How amazing would that feel? I don't know if any of you have directed an orchestra or choir, but I had the opportunity to do that in Brazil for a Christmas concert we put on at the local mall. There were hundreds of people watching and I was able to direct a missionary choir that I had helped organize and put together. I remember the feeling of standing up in front of all these people. I felt so accomplished. Then I thought of Mr. Holland's Opus and August Rush and how with their music, every piece of their life brought something different and something unique to their life's work: their Magnum Opus (Charlotte's Web fans, you know this phrase). How many people can say that their whole life culminated to one encompassing masterpiece? Can you imagine?

So this morning, I decided that I want a Magnum Opus. I guess I still have some years to determine what it will be exactly. Will it be through music, words, or art? Maybe it will be through my children or my patients I will see when I'm a counselor.

What will yours be? What part of your life can you make your greatest masterpiece? What is your Magnum Opus?


magnum opus n. A great work, especially a literary or artistic masterpiece. The greatest single work of an artist, writer, or composer.