Funniest YouTube Video EVER!

In Honor of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

I have a dream....

That one day I will have a full time job.
With a lunch break.
And weekends free.
With benefits.
And regular hours.

That I will only work one job.
That I will have holidays off and sick leave.

I have a dream...but for now that's all it is...just a dream.

Awkward

sometimes my life is awkward and i don't know what to do about it.

The Highlights of 2006

January

• I turned 24 on the 16th.
• My friend Sariah had her first baby girl Grace on the 24th.

February

• I went on a week long cruise from the 6th-10th on the Baja California Cruise.
• I worked a lot of extra hours at my Provo job because we were down 2 part-timers.

March

• I had my one year Blogaversary on March 7th.
• I went to my first Opera on March 11th. I saw the "The Magic Flute" at the Capital Theater.

April

• I switched positions at my BYU job in the middle of April. I went from Faculty Delivery Services to the Copy Center. I hated it at first, but don't mind so much now.
• Ashley and Tim had their first baby on the 24th and they named her Natalie.
• I moved to a townhouse on 9th east on the 30th.

May

• I got $30.00 back from my $200.00 deposit from Carriage Cove. I was glad to have moved out of that place!
• I played at the Villa pool a lot and loved life!

June

• The Summer Reading Program at the Provo Library began at the beginning of the month. Our theme this year was "Open a Book, Travel Through Time: Celebrating 100 years of Reading at the Provo City Library" I did a lot with the teen program and even created a blog for part of the program.
• I went to Canyonlands/Dead Horse Point National Park over Memorial Day weekend.
• I went to the Strawberry Days Rodeo on the 16th. This is the rodeo that Sariah and I have gone to for the past couple of years and I love it!

July

• I went to my family reunion in Missouri at the beginning of July. After the reunion, I went home with Ash and Tim to Indiana for a few days. It was so much fun to see them and their house!
• I walked a million steps this summer! I began counting my steps with a pedometer in May and had reached a million steps by the end of July.

August

• I paid off my car at the beginning of the month. It's nice to not have any debt!
• I moved into a house in the Tree streets on the 15th. I love living in this house and only live with one roommate!
• I received my endowment in the Nauvoo Temple on the 24th. This was the biggest highlight and blessing on my year!

September

• My sister that is 6 years younger than me started as a freshman at BYU. It's been so fun to have her out here and to build our relationship as "adults"!
• September 11, 2006 marked the 5th anniversary of the attacks on the World Trade Center. I took some time to reflect on what I was doing that day and what lessons I have learned since then.

October

• October 6th brought me to my 100th blog post!
• October was sort of a frustrating month what with the collections letter from my doctors office and realizing that my car registration had been expired since JULY! But I learned some valuable lessons from these experiences and am thankful that I learned them while I am just in charge of myself instead of others. This experience encouraged me to update my list of places to notify when I move!
• Buck and Caroline welcomed Lincoln into their lives on the 16th. He is such a cutie!
• The last weekend in October I was asked out on a date! This is a highlight for me because I hadn't been out since January!

November

• November brought a fun Thanksgiving weekend at my grandma's house. Grandma wasn't there, but I spent the weekend with my sister and two cousins.
• I was able to see my first BYU football game when they were playing their last game of the season. We beat Utah by 2 points and it was an amazing game!

December

• I received my passport in the mail!
• I escaped the blizzard in Denver (barely) while flying home for Christmas!
• I went cross-country skiing for the first time ever and had a blast!
• I had a really fun New Year's Eve-we ate, played games, and burned stuff! What more could you want?

In summary:
I visited 1 country in 2006-Mexico
I visited 9 states in 2006 (5 of them just on my trip home for Christmas!)-California, Missouri, Indiana, Illinois, Texas, Colorado, Oklahoma, Arizona, Kansas

I have had a very fulfilling year and I look forward to the adventures to come in 2007...I already know that I will be going on a Mediterranean Cruise in September, but I'm sure lots of little things will make 2007 both challenging and spectacular!

Passport

I got my passport in the mail yesterday. Now I can leave the country whenever I want to!!

Sad Tragedy

The story below was posted on ksl.com. I work with the dad of this family. I can't even begin to imagine what this family is going through. Please tell your loved ones to be careful with their little ones and to take their children out of their car seats when they are no longer in the car! My prayers are with this family!

Baby Dies While Sleeping in Car Seat

December 8th, 2006 @ 9:43pm

Sam Penrod Reporting

A tragedy in Utah tonight as a one-year old baby girl dies while sleeping in a car seat. The baby died this evening, after efforts to revive her failed. The baby's death ironically comes on the same day of a new international study, which says leaving infants in a car seat can be dangerous.

We've probably all done it -- you come home from a trip and the baby is still sleeping, so rather than risk waking the baby up, you leave it in a car seat like this while it sleeps in your house. Sadly tonight, a Utah baby may have died from exactly that.

Fifteen-month old Devin Justine Greer was being cared for by a neighbor this afternoon and was left sleeping in her car seat.

Sgt. Spencer Cannon, Utah County Sheriff's Office: "She had apparently fallen asleep in the car seat in the car, but was taken into the home."

The baby girl was sleeping in a bedroom, but when the caregiver went to check on her she was not breathing.

Sgt. Spencer Cannon, Utah County Sheriff's Office: "When family here at the home went into that room a short time later, they found her unresponsive and not breathing, and that's when they called 911."

Paramedics attempted CPR for more than an hour, but it was not successful.

Sgt. Spencer Cannon, Utah County Sheriff's Office: "We have detectives who are continuing to investigate to rule out any foul play, but at this point it appears to be an accident."

This baby's death could be related to what New Zealand researchers today warned is a danger for infants. A new study of nine infants who suffered "life threatening breathing problems " while strapped into a car seat where they were left asleep outside the car. The babies had their heads bent forward while they slept and that restricted their airways.

Janet Brooks with Primary Children's Hospital says the warning about letting babies sleep for long periods of time in car seats is not new, but an important reminder.

Janet Brooks, Child Advocacy Manager, Primary Children's Hospital: "Leaving kids in a car seat too long. If you take them out of the car, take them into the house. They sleep in it, they nap in it. These are all issues, not only for airways but for curvature of the spine, flatness on the back of the head , these are all issues we look at."

While it's not safe to let babies sleep for a long time in the car seat out of the car, we want to make it clear, while in a car it's a different story. There is no question that infant car seats save lives and researchers say may reduce car accident injuries by as much as 90%.

Ann-Marie's Life in Pictures-Here's what I've been up to lately:

Baking Pies with my sister Shelly for Thanksgiving!














Hanging out with cousins! Clockwise from the top: Charisse, Shelly, Me and Melanie!















Making funny faces on Thanksgiving Day!















Sleep over at G-ma's! Charisse is looking hot in a bathrobe while she does her laundry!















Being an elf for the 2nd year in a row for the Provo Christmas Parade!














Getting a new toy that I am loving!

Awesome Game

Did you see the game today! It was so good!!! So intense, but so totally fun!!! Yeah for BYU beating the U!!!

Blast from the Past

Remember this?

I will be an elf in the Christmas Parade on Dec. 2nd on Center Street.

Come support your friendly elf/librarian!

What would your city be like?

The other day I was crusin' the internet and came across this little story...

Here's a fun little game I made up that's really easy to play. We played it while we were sitting around eating lunch but you could easily play it in the car to ease the time it takes you to get wherever you may be going. It's really simple and even my 14 year old played along.

Yesterday at lunch, my 4 year old son, Shorty, and I were talking about the United States and their capitals. (Shorty knows more US geography than a lot of adults I know, It's just a thing he likes. Some guys like trucks or dinosaurs. Shorty likes geography. I know - it's a little freaky to me too.) So out of the blue I just asked him what Shorty-ville would look like? For starters, he re-named it Shorty City. We started with things like what colors the houses would be and went on to discuss what types of stores and restaurants would be in "his" city. And how they would be placed - the playground would be right next to the church. Then we asked his older brother, #1 Son (He's 9 and is not a geography whiz.) what his city would be like. He jumped right in and had lots of ideas. Sweetanlo (14) helped by making suggestions of things or places that they hadn't thought of including. For the record, he'd place Shorty City in the great state of Texas. (His favorite state since his best friend moved there last winter.) Shorty had so much fun with this that he was still talking about it tonight at bedtime. Tonight he said that tomorrow we'd have to talk about our dog's city, which he cleverly named, Lucy Land, all on his own.

It was easy. It encouraged creativity and imagination. No small pieces to lose. Nothing to clean up or put away. It's portable and expandable. It didn't end in bickering or tears. This kind of game works-for-me!

What would your city look like? What would it be named? It sounds like a fun game that kids would really get in to!

Bad Day

I had a really bad day today.

I don't want to talk about it.

Weird

This is one of the strangest movies I have ever watched! I think my mom got this DVD in a cereal box. I brought it home a few Christmas's ago, but haven't watched it until tonight!

It was very much an 80's movie! If anyone want to borrow it...feel free to talk to me!

Librarian Exercise Video

Check out this funny video!

Luckiest

I went to go renew my parking sticker at BYU this week (since it expires tomorrow!) I knew that I need to bring in my registration. So I went to take it out of my glove box and noticed that the date was expired on the piece of paper. I thought, maybe this is the wrong paper...but after checking the tags on my car, I realized that my registration was indeed expired. It expired in JULY!!!

I went that afternoon to re-register my car and wasn't charged a fine for letting it expire so that made me happy. Because I was sure that they were going to charge me something.

I am just so lucky that I haven't been pulled over in the past 3 months! I guess I didn't get the renewal letter in the mail, since I moved since it would have been sent to me.

I am so thankful that I was able to get it fixed and that I was blessed to not have been pulled over and fined. I much rather learn the lesson by panicking after finding out that it was expired rather than paying a huge fine!

100 Things about Ann-Marie on her 100th Post!

1. I went on my first plane ride at age 12 and I flew alone.
2. My parents named me Ann-Marie with a hyphen because they thought it sounded so Hollywood (my mom just recently told me this).
3. Because of the craziness of my work schedule, I can eat a full meal at any time of the day or night.
4. I have had 28 roommates since leaving home for college.
5. I lived with 5 of them for multiple semesters.
6. 7 of those got engaged while I lived with them.
7. I hate the colors red and pink and never wear them! (Except for when my sister-in-law chose pink for her bridesmaid dresses and I had no choice).
8. I am starting to get over my hate for red and now have red curtains in my house.
9. I guess that I just don't like to wear red or pink. I see other redheads wearing pink and I don't think that they look bad, I just think that I look weird wearing pink.
10. Often when I say my name over the phone people think that my name is Emory. They also think that is a pretty name.
11. I don't ever correct them when they think this, because it is usually someone that doesn't really need to know my name at all...let alone what my name really is.
12. I am the president of the VL club and probably will be for eternity!
13. I have incredible friends. (oh wait, you already knew that!)
14. I supervise 4 students at my BYU job.
15. One of my students calls me Ms. Marchant after we talked about nicknames and I told him that I didn't go by Ann.
16. I love the fall season.
17. I hate being cold!!!!
18. 2 of the most lifesaving purchases last winter were a space heater and an electric mattress pad.
19. Sadly now that I have a full size bed, I can't use my twin size electric mattress pad this winter.
20. I am going on a Mediterranean Cruise next Sept. with all of my aunts and uncles and my Grandma on my mom's side of the family.
21. Most of my cousins don't know that I am going yet.
22. The ones that do are jealous.
23. The ones that don't know yet will be jealous.
24. That's what you get for being the oldest non-married girl cousin.
25. There have to be some advantages.
26. I almost never have cash on me.
27. Whenever I do have cash it seems to disappear very quickly.
28. I am currently addicted to Gilmore Girls.
29. I love pumpkin pie.
30. "Elf" is my favorite movie! I could watch it all year round. And I do!
31. As a librarian, my list of books to read never shrinks. It only grows.
32. I am currently reading 4 books at a time.
33. I often read multiple books at a time.
34. No, I don't get them confused with each other.
35. My favorite trilogy of the summer is written my Scott Westerfeld.
36. The books are "Uglies" "Pretties" and "Specials".
37. Read them today! (Ask me if you want to know more about them).
38. I don't like seafood.
39. I will have my car paid off this month!!
40. Quite a few of my best friends either have kids or will soon.
41. I love the TV show "Boy Meets World"
42. My roommate and I currently don't get any TV channels because we don't want to pay for cable and for some reason our rabbit ears don't' even pick up basic.
43. As a kid I took gymnastics lessons and ballet lessons; in college I took a swimming class. I am still not a very good or confident swimmer.
44. I looked like a princess when I went to my junior prom. (My mom just told me this the other day. Apparently someone said that about me and my mom overheard)
45. The first car that I drove was called "The Death Trap" by my mom. It was an old AMC Spirit that my brother bought before his mission.
46. My best friend Sariah named the same car the "Shortcake Mobile".
47. I learned some basic car repairs that were specific to that cars' problems and could get the car running in less than 30 seconds in the dark, when it decided not to start.
48. The repair had something to do with the butterfly valve and shoving a screwdriver into that valve before turning the car on.
49. I have never broken 100 when bowling, but think it's a fun game anyway.
50. I would like to like running, but I just can't. I hate running.
51. My mom tried to teach me to play the piano when I was younger. I didn't want to and so I never really learned.
52. I played the flute in junior high and high school, but was never great at it and didn't really care to be good at it.
53. Often during parades and football half time shows, I would pretend like I was playing my flute, but really just be looking to see what was going on around me.
54. I loved building the sets for the highschool musicals.
55. I enjoyed being in the musicals, but going to build the sets on Saturday morning are some of my favorite highschool memories.
56. I don't like pets. I don't plan on having pets, but if I ever do they will have to be outside pets.
57. I can't stand pet hair being all over a persons house. It just grosses me out.
58. I have never taken out a student loan.
59. I broke my arm in 1st grade. My brother and I were playing circus. I was the human cannon ball. I flew into the air, and then hit the wall. I wrote left handed for a while until my other arm healed.
60. I have a scar on my forehead from when I cracked my head open. I was probably 3 or 4 because we were living in Provo. Someone rang the doorbell to our apartment. I was running around the corner to see who it was an misjudged where the wall was. I had several stitches.
61. I have one freckle on my bottom lip.
62. I don't like roller coasters. I just don't like feeling out of control.
63. I am a Capricorn.
64. My favorite shape is a star.
65. I still haven't had my wisdom teeth removed.
66. I wear a size 2 shoe.
67. I get the majority of my clothing in the children's section.
68. My favorite Disney movie is "Little Mermaid"
69. I have never been to Disneyland or Disney World.
70. I don't know what my blood type is.
71. I have never snow skied. But love to waterski and wakeboard.
72. I don't remember the last time that I went to the doctor for a check up.
73. I love looking at city lights!
74. I think that I look funny in hats, even though I have been told otherwise.
75. I have 5 brothers and 2 sisters.
76. Both of my grandpas have passed away.
77. I can't whistle.
78. I have visited 18 of the 50 states.
79. I have been to Mexico once and Canada twice.
80. I will be getting my passport in a few months! (After I apply and do all of that stuff)
81. Then I will be able to escape to another country when ever I want to!!
82. I like stargazing, even though I don't know very many of the constellations.
83. I think shooting stars are the coolest and it is fun to see a meteor shower.
84. I went to my junior prom, but not my senior prom.
85. I have worked in a library for the past 7 years.
86. I have decided that Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. I love to eat the delicious foods!
87. I like going to Rodeos in the summertime.
88. I've never donated blood. I'm not big enough.
89. I didn't like country music until my junior year in highschool.
90. Now I listen to country most of the time when I am on my own.
91. Although I like all different types of music.
92. I have lived in various housing situations throughout college and after college.
93. I have lived in an apartment, condo, townhouse, and house.
94. I think that living in a house is the best!
95. I have lived with 1, 3, and 5 roommates.
96. Living with 5 roommates was way too much for me! Too many girls and too much drama!
97. I have been white water rafting and kayaking on the ocean!
98. In my family I am the second oldest.
99. I will probably be the shortest.
100. I love the smell of fresh baked bread! And cookies!

I have reached the end of my list and hope that you have learned some new things about me!

Going to Work makes me TIRED!!!

Science Fiction

I have to read 2 Science Ficton books before the middle of November for my Provo job. I am not much of a sci-fi reader... Iin fact I don't know if I've ever read anything that is truly Sci-Fi.

So I am asking for suggestions for good science fiction books.

Does anyone have favorites or suggestions for me?

Nunya

So my roommate needed to take a picture of her pet and her for a contest they are doing at work. The only problem being that she doesn't have a pet!

So yesterday after church we got together to make her a pet. We found a nice rock in our yard and got crafty!

We used cotton balls for the eyes and nail polish to paint the face and spots on Nunya. Leaves made great hair and gills for the pet rock.

Then we took him outside for a photo shoot. Katie took some pictures with her camera of him by the tree and smelling some random roses in our front yard.

Here is a picture of that I took of Nunya at his family reunion.
(click to enlarge)















What is Nunya's full name you ask?

Nunya Bizness

So this week was my sisters first week of college. Since she is 6 years younger than me, it is sort of weird to believe that she is even old enough to be in college! But it is fun to have her out here and to build a relationship with her as an adult!

I remember what it was like to start college...It was fun and exciting and overwhelming, but some of the best years of my life.

People say that if they could they would go back in time and be in highschool again. I would never want that! Highschool was okay, but college was by far better!!! If I could go back I would do college all over again. And I would do it exactly the same way that I did it this time around!

I have made some of my best friends in college and I wouldn't trade my experiences in college for anything!

Google Fun

Check out this book that you can download. You just go to this website and you can download the entire book. www.55fun.com

My cousins and I played the first 2 games last night and they were hilarious!!