Day 6 -

Favorite Super Hero and why.

So, I'm not very creative. I do like super hero movies, but I don't really have a favorite. If I had to choose I think I'd choose Superman. Shh, don't tell Jerry. He has this debate with all his brothers and nephews. He thinks Batman, and yes he is a great superhero. But I secretly (or not so secretly since I'm publishing this on the world wide web) I agree with his brother Devin. Maybe it's cause I would love to fly and have super human strength.

So there you have it.

Day 5 -

A picture of somewhere you've been.The most exotic place I've been was Ireland. I went when I was in college and I loved it. It was beautiful. The picture above is of the Cliffs of Moher. Gorgeous! Below is the Blarney Castle. So cool. You go to the very top. Lay on your back and lean over a little gap (don't worry, there are a couple metal bars there to catch you if you fall) and you kiss the bottom of the rock on the castle, exactly where thousands of other people have kissed, and you will suddenly have more eloquence. That's my secret. That's why I'm so eloquent.
I love traveling and some day I'd love to see more of Europe. Scotland, Germany, France, all of it. I'd love to travel to other continents too. Don't know if it will ever happen, but it's good to have a dream right?

Day 4 -

A habit you wish you didn't have.

Hmm, I have a lot of habits I wish I didn't have, one of which is that I'm very hard on myself. So because of that I'll try not to give you my whole list, and point out things that you hadn't noticed before.

One habit I wish I could break is worrying over little things. I get stressed out and lose sleep over the tiniest things, usually things that work themselves out. Worrying that something I said was taken the wrong way, worrying that I was too obnoxious at a get together, worrying about how I'm going to get everything done on a busy day. (I spend so much time worrying that I have even less time to get things done) I think sometimes I feel like if I don't put the worry into a project it won't turn out. Jerry is very good for me with my worrying - at times. He is more laid back and can let things roll off his back more. He just tells me to relax and things will be fine. It's good, but in my stressed out/worried mode I get more irritated and think, "How can he just be so relaxed about this??" Poor guy:) Usually things do just work themselves out and I realize I didn't need to worry in the first place.

Day 3 -

Picture of you and your friends

Holli, Nicole, Jaime, Me, and Sunni in front. (taken in 2005)

I've been friends with these girls since middle school. They are some of the most amazing chicks I know :) We all are unique and so very different from each other in ways, but also so similar in others. Being friends with girls for almost 20 years is a way for someone to really know you, your positive attributes and your flaws, and they still love me. Yes, they know all the dirt on me! We all lived together one summer in West Yellowstone in one little cabin. Even with personality conflict, and fights over the dishes and whose turn it was to buy toilet paper, and boys, it was still a wonderful summer that has bonded all of us. At the end of that summer we had a plan to buy some land and eventually build a cabin on it. (It would be a prerequisite that our husband would have to be handy in some capacity to be able to help build the cabin.) Didn't happen, but we do all try to get up to West Yellowstone together whenever we can. Now we are spread out from Las Vegas, to Utah, to Kansas, but we all still love each other and try to get together at least once a year to continue making memories with each other. Love these girls!

And of course my very best friend is Jerry. From the first time I met him I was so comfortable and completely myself. He is the person I can confide everything in, the person who has seen me at my very best, and my very worst. I love being with him.

Taken in 2003 - at Temple Square.

Worst Christmas Song

I have lots of favorite Christmas songs. To be perfectly honest I like pretty much all Christmas songs. They are beautiful, fun, and just mean Christmas. I don't know if I can pick my very favorite, but I LOVE the Christmas Song by the Carpenters. (I love the whole Carpenters Christmas album) I also love the same song by Nat King Cole. I love Sleigh Ride, German Christmas music, Santa Baby, I even like "I want a Hippopotamus for Christmas" etc. lots of favorites.
But there is one Christmas song I hate. I always have. I heard it today in the car while I was bringing Hayden home from school. I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus. Hate it. The reasons are probably so silly, but still, I don't like it. Why would mommy be kissing Santa Claus? Mommys only kiss daddys and their kids. I don't like little kids thinking of Mommy cheating on daddy with Santa. And, um, hopefully there are no small kids reading this blog, but it also gives away the whole secret of Christmas because it's telling kids who Santa is.
Yes, probably really silly reasons, and kids don't really think about the lyrics like that, but I did. And I was pretty young. Young enough to "know" but still young enough that the song bugged me then, and it still does.
So, what about you? Any favorite Christmas songs? Any Christmas songs you don't like?

Day 2 -

The meaning behind my blog name.

I think the blog name, The Ewell Family is pretty self explanatory, then the whole "Welcome to our world" just means that my blog is a place where I write about my life, our life, and "our" the Ewell family's- world. Over explaining??

Honestly, the blog address is pretty dumb though. I was trying to be witty and clever, and "welcometomyworld" was already taken so that's why I added my name at the end. I should have just gone with something pretty basic. But that's what happens when I try to be creative:)

Ready for another 30 days??

Even though I lost creativity towards the end of the month, I kinda liked doing my 30 days of Thanksgiving. So, now I'm stealing an idea from my friend, Melanie and doing another 30 days of posts.
So, in my formal teacher talk, here's the agenda.


day 1- recent picture of you and 15 interesting facts about yourself

day 2- the meaning behind your blog name

day 3- a picture of you and your friends

day 4- a habit that you wish you didn’t have

day 5- a picture of somewhere you've been to

day 6- favorite super hero and why

day 7- a picture of someone/something that has the biggest impact on you

day 8- short term goals for this month and why

day 9- something you're proud of in the past few days

day 10- songs you listen to when you are happy, sad, bored, hyped, mad

day 11- another picture of you and your friends

day 12- how you found out about blogger and why you have one

day 13- a letter to someone

day 14- a picture of you and your family

day 15- put your ipod on shuffle: first 10 songs that play

day 16- another picture of yourself

day 17- someone you would want to switch lives with for one day and why

day 18- plans/dreams/goals you have

day 19- nicknames you have and why you have them

day 20- someone you love.

day 21- a picture of something that makes you happy

day 22- what makes you different from everyone else

day 23- something you crave for a lot

day 24- your last five facebook status'

day 25- what I would find in your bag

day 26- what do you think about your friends

day 27- why are you doing this 30 day challenge

day 28- a picture of you from last year and now, how have you changed since then?

day 29- in this past month, what have you learned

day 30- your favorite song

And since this month has 31 days I'll try to think up something for New Year's Eve.

So we begin.
Day 1 - A recent picture of yourself and 15 interesting facts about yourself.


I don't know if you'll find these facts interesting, but they are facts.
1- I am named after my great grandmother Sarah Ellen, and Sarah (Sariah) from the bible.
2-I worked in West Yellowstone for 3 summers during college and loved it. West Yellowstone is my second home.
3-I play the flute. I started college as a music major and played through college and was even in the marching band at USU. I HATED being in the marching band, but now when I watch college football games, or hear the marching band practicing on Saturdays I love it. I did get to go to Ireland and play in the St. Patrick's day parade though, and that was awesome. But thank heavens my girlfriend, Sunni went too, otherwise I would not have had as much fun because I wasn't really close with anyone in band. The main reason I majored in music was because of a scholarship, and I didn't really know what I wanted to do. I loved playing the music, but I felt very out of my element because I didn't really have a lot of friends and as much as I love music it wasn't my life like it was for the other majors. (and I don't mean that to sound negative to anyone.) So after my sophomore year, after completing all the hard theory classes I changed my major to Elementary Education with a music minor.
4- It takes me a while to warm up in new situations and be myself around strangers - unless I have someone with me that I know well and can already be comfortable with. Then I can be very outgoing, verging on annoying:)
5- I have cysts on my head, they are hereditary. I guess they are my Mormon horns. I am getting 2 out of the 4 removed on Monday and I'm excited. I know this is gross, but I want to see what they look like (outside of my head). I told Jerry that and he was disgusted. haha.
6- More on the dermatology subject, I have a division sign on my left cheek. yes, I know that's what you'll see next time you look at me. It is 4 little red dots that look like a division sign. I asked the derm. dr about it and he said it is probably burst capillaries and there is nothing really I can do about it. They bug, even though even when I point it out to people they say they hadn't even noticed. GOOD. I have had a couple students, in their complete innocence ask me about them. One cute student I had said she knew I loved math the most because I had a division sign on my cheek. So maybe others don't notice it, but I see it and if I could have any plastic surgery it'd be to get rid of those dots. Silly huh. (I don't even think there is a plastic surgery that could help it though) So I'll deal with it.
7- I love strolling down memory lane, and I love having something to look forward to. When I'm organizing closets and find the journals I might as well stop the project for 2 days because I get caught up with reading all my journals, remembering the memories, laughing at my drama, and also remembering the pain of certain times as if it was yesterday. I love looking through old pictures, and watching home movies. I also love counting down to fun things. Presently I'm counting down to Hayden's birthday, then the next weekend because I just decided to go to Utah for my family Christmas party, and then counting down to Christmas. (Which is still being counted down to right along with the others) I need to learn to live in the moment more.
8- My primary love language is words of affirmation, from the book "The Five Love Languages", I love that book. (I think I've mentioned that before on here) I love hearing compliments - it's not that I'm egotistical (at least I hope not) but it really makes me feel loved. That might be one reason I love my birthday so much (which could be another fact, but I think everyone knows that about me) It's not about the presents - although I won't turn them away, but I love people remembering me and telling me happy birthday.
9- I actually enjoy going to the dentist, or doctor appointments. Call me crazy. I find it nice and relaxing. Hate the stress of scheduling it, and getting child care taken care of. But once I'm there, I kind of like it.
10- I love my wedding ring. Size, color, cut, (ok, that's not really that interesting, but I looked down and saw it, so I thought I'd say it.) I'm not a huge jewelry person. I wear 2 rings regularly, my wedding ring, and another ring I got from my brother and sister in law probably 12 or 13 years ago. They bought it in Mexico, I think, for me. I usually wear earrings, well, until my girls found my jewelry box and now I am missing most of my earrings. I've started wearing necklaces more, but I still feel very conservative in my jewelry. I feel so daring if I wear a new flashy necklace. I'm trying to wear more to spice up my wardrobe a bit:) (Sad that that's a conscious thing huh.)
11- When I was young I used to entertain my sisters' boyfriends and friends with the dumbest things. I thought it was so cool that I could lay on the floor, arch my back and poke my tummy out as far as possible and I looked pregnant. Oh, if I only knew then that I wouldn't have to try so hard to look pregnant when I got older I would have enjoyed laying flat, and being flat :) I'd dress up like characters from the Farside comic, I'd do my impression of Shaggy, from Scooby Doo, I'd make crazy faces, and do weird voices. Ok, so I do still do some of that. I haven't grown up much.
12- I have a very addictive personality. I get in a routine of something and it stays that way. For example, my bedtime routine is the same every night. Clean my eye make up off, wash my face, apply moisturizer, brush my teeth with hot water, and floss. I get addicted to tv shows, foods, easily too. Part of that is due to the fact that I'm a creature of habit. I make a list every morning of things to do during the day. I usually eat the same breakfast every morning. So I'm boring. When I was an early teen I ate cheerios with raisins for breakfast every morning for years. I went with my oldest sister, Mary to the university one time while she was making something in a pottery class, I think, and I even made myself a breakfast bowl that said, "Cheerios and Raisins" on the outside, and I wrote on the bottom of the bowl on the inside, "Yum, yum. That was good."
Because I have such an addictive personality I have never gambled here in Vegas. I know I get addicted to fun things, and it is too easily available to go gamble here in Las Vegas.
13- I am a magnet for strangers looking to share their life story. Total strangers seem to gravitate towards me as I'm standing in line for the bus, or returning my cart at Smith's, walking down the hall of the mall, you name it. So many times I'll run into the store to get something quickly while Jerry is waiting in the car. When I get back I have to explain to him that it took longer than expected because the lady getting milk at the same time started telling me that her daughter lives in Minnesota and it is so cold there this winter that they have to all buy new coats, even her twin boys that are only 4 years old. And they are identical twins that still only the parents can tell them apart by a small mole on the neck....
14- I tend to give long, detailed, versions of things - so with several friends it is common to say, I want the Sarah version, if you mean it's a juicy story and you don't want to miss any detail. When I was teaching to get the students to add more details to their stories I'd tell them stories, and I love telling stories. So one year it became a routine that after spelling tests we had a 5-10 minute time period before our special so it became, Funny Family Story Time. My students loved hearing the funny stories and I loved telling them in grand fashion. It was like my own little performance time.
15- Hmm, last fact, lots of pressure.... I think one of my favorite things in the world is having my hair played with. Pulled lightly. Umm, best feeling. Love it.

Ok, I'm cheating, here is one more interesting /annoying fact about me.
16- I am habitually late. I really don't try to be, I just think I can do amazing things in a short amount of time. Like getting all kids ready, out the door, buckled, and to church in 10 minutes. HA, I should have learned by now it takes 10 minutes just to get out the door. So, I did set my clock ahead in my van to try to motivate me to get places faster, thinking I had less time. But it doesn't work. I know it is fast, so I look at it and tell myself that even though it says 11:30, it isn't yet, and I have a few more minutes. The problem is that I don't really know how many minutes fast it is so I am still late. Sorry. Maybe that's a new year's resolution I can work on next month.