V-Day (A Little Late)

We wanted to have big plans for Valentine's Day this year, start the morning off with breakfast and then think of something really fun and special to do for the rest of the day. But come Valentine's Day morning we still weren't sure what. Zeniff did come down for breakfast but by the time we actually cooked, ate, and cleaned up was already 1:00 p.m.! We still hadn't thought of anything spectacular to do so we headed down to the gym to work out for awhile. It was so fun to go with Zeniff since I always have to go to thy gym alone. In fact I have to beg him to come work out with me at all! By the time we got back from the gym and actually got ready for the day it was almost dinner time, and now we were both too tired to want to go anywhere or do anything. We ended up making dinner at home, exchanging gifts, and then watching TV for the rest of the night. Nothing spectacular, but it turned out to be the perfect day!

Valentine's Day Breakfast

Heading to the Gym

We tried something a little different this year for our gift exchange. The beginning of February we decorated valentine's boxes, just like in elementary school and then we gave our decorated empty boxes to each other. Then the rules went as follows:

1. Return the box to the other person, filled on February 14.
2. Stay under the $5 limit, including supplies.

It was a little challenging, but so much fun!

Zeniff's Gifts included:

• A couple of his favorite candy bars, wrapped in a valentine's motif
• 10 'Love Coupons', for back massages, cookies, etc.
• 220 pieces of paper with different reasons why I love him, which I made him read
• Me playing the guitar and singing "1234 by the Plain White T's"

Natalie's Gifts included:

• Bouquet of Tulips
• My favorite candies - individually wrapped
• An oil painting of a field of daisies (one of my favorite flowers), which he painted
• A photograph of a piano that Zeniff took in college, which I have been practically begging for a copy of for 3 years!

Mexican or Arab? You Decide.

My boyfriend and I have been dating for 3 1/2 years now and it never ceases to amaze me that every time I mention his name to someone for the first time, I have to repeat it twice or even three times. If we ever have to put our names on a waiting list somewhere, we always use my name just for simplicity sake. When he's picking up an order and they ask for the last name, it's "J-A-S-S-O" pronouncing the letters only, not a word. His name? Zeniff Jasso. Generally speaking, when ever I have introduced him to someone, the next question always follows: "So Zeniff, is that right? Were is he from?" Zeniff is from Mexico. He has lived most of his life in Dallas, TX but was born and spent the first 8 years of his life in Mexico. I see it. He looks hispanic, we eat a lot of tortillas, beans, and rice, and he speaks mainly spanish with his family. Once a few years ago someone asked me where he was from. I answered Mexico, and they said "Mexico really? I was thinking that he was from some Arab nation." Arab Nation? I see Mexican, but I don't see Arab!

It wasn't until a couple of weeks ago that I finally began to see where my friend was coming from. We went snowboarding and were taking a break, goofing around in the lodge with the camera. Later that night, when I looked at the pictures I finally began to see what she had been seeing all along.

I only wish that I had a picture of him in a sombrero to compare this to! And for those of you still wondering how to pronounce his name, go back to your high school spanish class and say this: Zeniff Jasso "[Suh-neef] [Haw-soh]"

Not Your Typical Accounting Equation

+

=

DISASTER!!!!!

(Yes i'm speaking from experience)

Goals for 2009

It has been a few years since I have officially made new years resolutions and acutally wrote them down. I have decided this year is as good as any to change and that publishing them on my blog will hopefully motivate me a little more to accomplish them! One of my goals this year is to be more well-rounded, so I've tried to set goals in 4 different areas: Physical, Educational, Social and Spiritual.


Physical: This was probably the easiet area to think of something as I think most new years resolutions have a tendency to focus around our phsical well being. I had a lot of grand ideas and actually had to narrow it down, but I have committed to run 350 miles in 2009. At first I was considering something a little more lofty like 500 miles, but when I did the math, I realized that I might be being a little overly optimistic! 350 miles in a year, averages out to just over 6.5 miles per week.


Educational: This was a little more difficult for me because when I thought education, I immediatly thought school. But then I realized that education can be gaining more knowledge in about any area of study. Refelcting back on my college days, I realized that I had become quite proficient at the piano about the time I graduated, and sad to say, I haven't learned a new song since my senior recital. In 2009 I would like to learn 2 new piano pieces. Not just learn and stumble through them, but actually learn and memorize them as I would for a recital. I'm nost sure which pieces yet but I'm toying with the idea of either Beethoven's Sonanta Pathetique or Moonlight Sonata (all three movements of each).


Social: Probably my weakest area. I'm not sure I'm ready to commit to anything too drastic like meet one new person every day or turn into a "social butterfly," but I've managed to come up with something that will hopfully enlarge my social circle. One of my biggest weaknesses is keeping in touch with old and new friends. I'm horrible at emailing or calling, and silly as it sounds, I get nervous asking someone to 'hangout." I definatly have a tendency to sit around and wait for the phone to ring. So for 2009 I plan to strengthen relationship with old and new friends. Maybe give them a call to hang out once in awhile or have lunch. So if you're one of those 'old friends' reading this.. you can hopefully expect a phone call or at least and email from me within the next 11 months! :)


Spiritual: I have to admit, my spiritual goals are a little to personal to be publishing on my blog, but basically they include strengthening my testimony of specific gospel priciples and attending the temple.


I hope that 2009 will be a succesful year full of many acheivements!

Designated

All my life my parents have always encouraged me to get as much education as possible. That was probably the driving force that actually made me finish school and get my degree. Since graduation, Dad has still encouraged me to continue my education and has specifically mentioned adding as many "letters" behind my name as possible.

For the last couple months I have been working on a couple of self-study courses and have officially become "designated." In October I completed a Professional Bookkeeper (PB) course, which was specifically designed for someone to open their own accounting service from their home. Something that I am looking into doing once I have a family etc., or maybe even sooner. The course ended up being fairly simple, and mostly a review of my undergraduate classes. I managed to finish in just over a month and scored a 99% on the final exam! (I don't think I ever even got that high on an actual college exam. Amazing what practical "real life" experience can do!)

I took a short break after the Professional Bookkeeper course before I started working to become a QuickBooks Specialist (QS). QuickBooks is an accounting software. I was under a time constraint to finish both courses before the end of the year if I wanted my work to pay for the tuition, but I did it I completed the QuickBooks course in 10 days!

So there you have it! My official professional title is now "Natalie Tangren, PB, QS."

Operation SSS

This year is coming to be known at the year of surprises. It first started with Dad's surprise 50th birthday party last May. Then for Zeniff's birthday I surprised him with 2 plane tickets to Dallas to visit his family. Operation SSS (Super Secret Sam) started back in August. My favorite cousin Sam and I were visiting on the phone and had this great idea that he would come out for Thanksgiving this year but better yet, we weren't going to tell ANYONE that he was coming!! Sunday night before Thanksgiving Sam flew into Salt Lake. I picked him up and then we headed straight to Moab arriving at almost midnight. We did have to fill Nichole in on our scheme -- but only because we needed a place to stay! Monday morning we went around surprising the family... Grandma wasn't as surprised as we thought she would be. Dad was in total shock and couldn't stop laughing and hugging Sam. (I personally think he was trying to hide a few tears too). Then Mom just started bawling! It was a great surprise. I only regret that I didn't video tape the whole thing!

Family Symphony

About 2 months ago I bought a cello and I have been teaching myself to play. Over the weekend my sister Sarah and her husband came up to my house for dinner. In the middle of preparing dinner I remembered that I had found this arrangement of Cannon in D for Cello and Piano. We looked over the music for a minute and then wa-lah -- The first attempt of a family symphony! ENJOY!