Why is my blog named Katie and Suzanne?

It seems people have found my blog...making it no longer a place where I just write things to myself with no one but me and occasionally my mother reading the entries. Since that's the case...and since things at work are a little slow today, I thought I'd answer the often asked question: Why is it Katie and Suzanne?

One day in college I was passing through the bookstore when I saw they were having an art signing by Greg Olsen. He was still pretty new and exciting back then and I thought this would be a great chance to get a nice piece of art signed and then keep it in my hopechest for when I had a house to decorate. I bought a matted print of one of his paintings of Christ and waited in line and pondering what I should have him sign on my picture. I didn't want to have it say Katie Rockwood since my name would change if I got married. I didn't want it to say just Katie since it's pretty common and how would people know it was really mine. Katie Suzanne would be perfect. I met him, he was very nice and funny and personable and he signed my print. I was so excited to show my roommates. I went home and pulled it out for them, "Check out what I got..."

Candi looked at the signature and read outloud, "To Katie and Suzanne... is that because you have split personalities or something?" and laughed at me. Grrrrr... She still sends me Christmas cards and other stuff addressed to Katie and Suzanne Rockwood. I still have it of course. It still isn't framed, still sits in my hopechest, and it still makes me laugh when I see it. It's not up mainly because I'm lazy, not because of the botched inscription. Maybe someday I'll have a daughter and name her Suzanne and say it was for both of us. And then maybe someday I'll learn to speak a little clearer and not mumble so much...

New Years Resolutions

When my house was robbed one of the things they did was pick up my nightstand and dump it out onto my bedroom floor. It just blended in with the rest of the regular mess but I decided the other day to finally straiten it up. In the pile of junk I found a piece of paper where I'd written my new years resolutions for last year... or maybe even the year before. It doesn't really matter because as I read it over I realized I had done...none of them. How lame is that?! So I thought I'd put this year's resolutions on my blog where I'd be reminded of them more instead of in the back of my nightstand drawer under the stack of birthday cards I buy people but never send. Since I like cooking so much, I made myself a bakers dozen of them (in no particular order):

1. Visit all my doctors
2. Visit a new country or state or take a class (photography, art, cooking, music...)
3. Read my scriptures and go to the temple more
4. Find a new outdoor sport to get into
5. Memorize one of my favorite poems
6. Buy at least 2 major furniture/home items I need (bed, TV stand, piano, new floors, fence, security system...)
7. Drink more water and eat less candy
8. Exercise to the point I notice a significant difference in appearance and endurance
9. Hit 1000 geocache finds
10. Improve my manners and be nicer. (less sarcasm and more compliments)
11. Go to bed and wake up earlier
12. Donate more clothes, shoes, and other stuff I don't need
13. Keep my lawn mowed, my driveway shoveled, and my house dusted.

I don't think my new outdoor sport will be water skiing in Argentina because I stink at it.

Christmas in California

I've finally worked at Myriad long enough to earn holiday pay between Christmas and New Years so for the first time in years I was able to spend a significant time at home for the holidays. Jailynn's family and Nate's family were both there and we had a lot of fun. Mostly playing at the beach, eating lots of really good food, geocaching, hiking, along with some other fun things thrown in... as well as Katrina's baptism which I managed to take no pictures of. I guess I was too busy writing my talk for it.

Christmas Eve

Clam chowder at the end of the pier

Geocaching in Santa Cruz till mom said no more!

Fresh Delicious Yummy Mouthwatering Crab for dinner. Katrina didn't agree...

but everyone else did and we ate it all up...

Dad pulled out the banjo and sang the grand kids some of the old songs he sang us when we were kids....

...including this one....wait what? That's a song you sing to kids?

Nate jumped in with some John Denver songs on his guitar and got us back on track.

Christmas

All the old stockings from when we were kids...plus a few

Jailynn's birthday in Carmel and Monterey.

The Tolls were late getting there due to this incident...

Carrie and Simon on Carmel Beach

Kris and Josh on Carmel Beach

Kjirsten and Katrina on Carmel Beach

Fish tacos at Phils in Moss Landing

...and calamari for Harrison

And of course a mint chip roll cake from Baskin Robbins! It wouldn't be a birthday without one of those!

I believe there was some geocaching thrown in there along with afternoon tea and scones at The Tuck Box in Carmel and a mad dash for Dippin Dots on Cannery Row.

Another Beach Trip with the Tolls in Santa Cruz

Kjirsten and Katrina not making faces. What's going on?

While geocaching at the beach we saw a million raccoon prints. It looked like a herd of monkeys.

Ice Cream at Mariannes after a tasty dinner across the street at the Santa Cruz Diner

Geocaching with Jailynn along Westcliff (this is Jailynn not me, I know it's hard to tell from behind)

look close for the beach chair on the rocks...how would it be to live there...

One of my favorite houses along Westcliff Hiking in the Redwoods

The old lyme kilns were cool. We climbed all over them and inside too.

There were roots growing through the rocks inside and it looked really neat

Can't go anywhere without a little geocaching too...dad signing the log

Other entertainment by Simon: He got in my room and stole my shoes... Maybe it was Simon who stole my car too...