Top 10 Books of 2011

1. Bossypants by Tina Fey

A highly enjoyable and quick read, this autobiography (kind of) had me laughing from beginning to end. Like every other woman in America, I'm sure I'd be best friends with Tina Fey if just given the chance.

Stylistically, Fey interrupts her overall story frequently: to give a discourse on the rules of impov, to write a love letter to Amy Poehler, to respond to random posts about her on the internet. There are transcripts from bits of SNL and 30 Rock episodes here and there that I felt were a bit space-filling cop-out (You already wrote these! Or: You didn't even write these!), but I suppose they make sense to have for readers who aren't as familiar with Fey's work but are still reading her book for some reason? The jumpy nature of the book felt a little gimmicky at first, but as I got going, I was a fan. The trick is to approach the book not as the autobiography that it's advertised to be, but as a comedy.

Personally, I had a high interest in the subject matter, as a first-hand account of a career path my Trevor hopes to take. In regard to that, I would've appreciated a little more detail on her Chicago improv years (there was some good stuff, but I would've loved more), but I understand why she'd focus more on 30 Rock and Sarah Palin...things that more of her readers would be interested in.

I was bugged, however, by how much she talked about how unattractive she is. I can appreciate self-depreciation now and then (particularly in an autobiographical setting where it's easy to start sounding full of yourself) but come on. You may have once looked like this/this/this, but now you look like this/this/this, so get over it. Most women your age would love to look like you. You can't make some joke about how ugly you are ever other page and look like you do, I'm sorry. If you feel like looks shouldn't matter as much as they do in television/film, why are you dedicating so much page space to them? 

Also, the book cover picture freaks me out a little. I get the message they're going for, but I'm still glad I was reading this on a Nook and didn't have to look at the cover every time I picked it up to read.

All and all, I thoroughly enjoyed reading the thing and if/when Tina Fey writes something again, I'm sure I'll be reading it. The comedic value alone makes this book worthwhile, but I also enjoyed learning about a person I admire and a business I have a lot of interest in.

2. Bossypants is the only book that came out in 2011 that I've read.

What? I had TV to watch.

How I spent my 2011.

2012 Resolutions

Welcome, 2012! The year I will exercise more and be more generous and save more money and keep my house cleaner and be more productive at work and keep in better contact with my family/friends and consume only the most-worth-my-time when it comes to literature/film/television/music and eat a perfectly-balanced diet and I will be healthy and beautiful and intelligent and everyone will love me but I won't be doing it for their love, I'll be doing it because I am Good.

I will write more. For this blog, oh the glorious posts you will ponder and laugh about and cry over this year! For sketch group, I will be an infinite pool of cleverness! For America, I will write a novel so great that Salinger and Fitzgerald and Melville and Twain and Faulkner and Steinbeck will all rise from their graves for the sole purpose of dying again in shame! I'm sure that novel's here somewhere in this folder of rough outlines and four-page introductions that I start when I'm excited about an idea but never actually want to do the grunt work on.

Like many of you, I enjoy the tradition of setting resolutions at the beginning of the year and then promptly forgetting them. It is wonderful to imagine a great new year ahead of you, but when it comes down to living each day individually, it's much simpler to live 2012 in much the same way as 2011. Feeling guilty is such a drag.

2011 Resolutions Status Check

Last year I said something about eating out less. If it came down to a count, it is probable that 2011 had less eating out than 2010, though I certainly didn't stick to the only-twice-a-week rule. I think will scratch the less-eating-out goal for the upcoming year and instead just focus on eating as healthily and cheaply as I realistically can without worrying about if I personally prepared it or not. Spending a lot of time and thought on food is just not something I care about enough to do.

Around February 2011, I also set a goal to save a certain amount of money per month which was soon modified to "just spend less than we make each month." Our employment situation turned out to be much different than originally anticipated as the year went on and we didn't exactly do too hot.

Money Earned - Money Spent by Month

Came out ahead overall but not by nearly as much as I would've liked. Those summer months when I was working very few hours and then unemployed took a nice bite into our savings.

I have no idea what was going on in March. My first thought was tax return, but then I remembered we only got like $40 back last year. We even took a Vegas trip that month that cost us a fair amount of money. No idea. Hopefully more months like that in the future, though.

2012 Resolutions in Order of Seriousness

1. Save as much money as possible. - Hopefully 2012 will be better than 2011. Particularly with a Spring '13 Move to Chicago in the official non-existent plan book, we need all the money saved up that we can. As long as I can hold down my job, doing some serious money saving should be completely doable this year. Comedy income has been more regular for Trevor these last few months and hopefully sketch group will bring in some money before the year is over. Tylor, who has been living with us since July, should be on his own soon which will lower our food and utility expenses. I've been working my new job for three months now and hopefully hopefully hopefully I'll be working there steadily until the move. It's a much more stable company than my old job, so I don't worry about layoffs, but they're pretty strict about performance numbers and I'm not doing as well as I'd like to be. I think getting out of the holidays and into tax season will make it easier to get payments in the coming months and I'm getting better at being pushy with debtors, so we'll see how things go. The job thing is definitely the biggest cause of stress in my life currently. I'm not used to being bad at my job. Granted, my last job toward the end mostly consisted of messaging Trapper with the occasional drinking of water and going to the bathroom, but I was good at it!
2. Get involved in community service. - It was easy to do community service on a regular basis when I was in high school and there were service clubs and church groups I was involved in. I've done very little by the way of service since 2004 or so, however, and I think it's time to do a little more on that count. There's a community center less than a block away from my apartment that always has stuff going on, so I really have no excuse. I'm going to have to do some research and figure out a worthwhile way to get more involved. If you're doing better than me on this count and have ideas, let me know. I'm pretty serious about this one.
3. Do something to build credit. - I've never had a credit card and always paid cash for any cars or college tuition I've had, so I'm pretty sure the only thing I've got on my credit report is a cell phone bill I was past-due on for a couple months in 2007. Which combined with nothing is likely enough to make me fail any application for a loan or whatever people use credit for. I can't imagine why I would actually need a loan for anything in the near future, but it'll matter big when it matters someday, I suppose. It's silly to me that my having superb bill-paying history for the last few years doesn't count for anything and I have to borrow money to build anything. Even with a credit card, it just makes me feel icky. But it needs to be done. Because I really haven't been taking this whole credit thing seriously. It's something for adults to worry about, right? Oh. I guess I'm one of those now. Oh. I guess I should've started thinking about this when I was 18. Oops. If any of you have any advice on getting started on this, I'm all ears. I'm thinking about some sort of secured credit card because then you're only borrowing against yourself and I'd assume they're easier to get. I don't know why I'm so debt-averse; I remember when I was a kid and my mom explained to me what a mortgage was and I was horrified that my parents had done one of those because didn't they know they'd owe money for a long time? I understand now, of course, but there's just something inside of me that really doesn't like that kind of thing.
4. Eat more healthfully. - No specific rules. Just think about the nutrition of the things I consume more often and give it more weight when making decisions about what to eat. I think I've been better about that the last year or so than in the past and I'll hopefully continue that trend.
5. Keep better in touch with friends/family. - This will probably end up being reflected in lame things like more blog posts, but that's better than nothing, yes?
6. Invest more time in making my apartment look nice. - I really like the idea of a clean and well-decorated house. I very rarely experience that, though. I pretty much only bother getting my house into live-able condition for parties, in which case the place is immediately trashed. I'd like to dedicate more time each week to both household chores and doing projects to add more personality to the place.
7. Exercise more. -  I won't do it, of course. But we'll throw it on here because it would be good for me and I like to imagine a world where I exercise.
8. Learn how to spell "exercise". - Even after spell-check got me with the first one, I spelled it wrong again a mere two sentences later. Maybe this will be the year I get it down!
9. Buy more dresses. - I would be willing to wager there are more dresses in my closet than any one of yours, but I need more. Always.

Christmas Songs

Hate:

• "Santa, Baby" - The main message of this song: "Women are extremely materialistic. The way they can get the sparkly things they desire: Be as sexually appealing as possible to men who have the power to give them what they want." And too many versions of this song are sung in that stupid annoying baby voice some women use when trying to be sexy despite the fact that the voice is only acceptable when used by Alison Brie.
• "The Little Drummer Boy" - The melody is so boring and the song drags along sooo slowly. And, to quote Dave Barry, "If I were taking care of a newborn baby, and somebody came around whacking on a drum, that person would find himself at the emergency room having his drumsticks surgically removed from his rum-pa-pa-pum." I will, however, give a pass to the Bing Crosby/David Bowie version because it is just awesome that it exists (and the "Peace on Earth" stuff spices up the totally drab melody of "The Little Drummer Boy" stuff).
• "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus" - I'm sorry, but the kid is way too nonchalant about catching his mother kissing another man. Makes you wonder what other things the kid has seen Mommy doing.  Also, I'm not a fan of children's solo voices for some reason that I can't quite put my finger on (children's choirs are fine). And it weirds me out when adults sing it, so you lose either way.
• "Christmas Shoes"- Cloyingly sentimental. And it would be better if it was told from the point of view of the cashier or in the third person instead of being all "Look at how I'm a great guy who gave the poor kid money to help his dying mother. That's what Christmas is all about!" And what kind of dying person wears shoes? The woman's probably not out-and-about a lot at this point. Come on now.

Okay-In-General, But Have Lines that Infuriate Me:

• "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" - "You know Dasher and Dancer...but do you recall the most famous reindeer of all?" - Umm, duh? He's the most famous reindeer of all. That's like saying "You've know Himmler and Koch and Goebbels and Heydrich, but have you heard of Hitler? The most famous Nazi of all!"
• "Do You Hear What I Hear?" - "A child, a child, shivers in the cold. Let us bring him silver and gold." - Really helpful, guys. How about a blanket?

Love:

• "God Rest Ye, Merry Gentleman" - Awesome.
• "Sleigh Ride" - Awesome.
• "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" - Awesome.
• "Silent Night" - Awesome.

Life Plan #682

Like most other plans in this non-existent series, this one has been floating around in seriousness for only a few weeks or so and is subject to change. Allow me to talk it out, though.

We are planning on moving to Chicago in a year. A year give or take a few months, because this would be a terrible time of year to move.

Why move?

As you know, my darling and hilarious husband is pursuing a career in comedy. Because we're still young and starry-eyed and unattached enough to shoot for it. And he needs to make people laugh and I need to go to a ton of free comedy shows because I'm with him.

In order to take this thing seriously, though, at some point we need to get out of Utah. It's not exactly a state that's in good touch with the entertainment industry. Short of starring in a Halestorm Entertainment LDS comedy feature (are they even still doing those? I can't think of anything since Church Ball...), Trevor's already about as Utah Comedy Famous as you can be. He's in ComedySportz and has done stand-up at Wiseguys and The Complex...what else is there for this state?

As improv and sketch are Trevor's main comedy loves (stand-up is a distant 3rd), the best next step is going to be to study at one of the big improv schools (Second City, iO, UCB or Groundlings). This leaves us with four options of places to move to: New York, Los Angeles, Toronto, and Chicago.

Why Chicago?

Toronto won't work because it's in Canada and that just makes moving more complicated. Also, it's scarier because it's the one option I haven't been to before, which is enough to cause me to never give it serious consideration. (Trevor has never been to any of the four cities, but he doesn't matter, he's just the talent. What really matters is what I, the logistics person, feel comfortable with. Also, the ComedySportz International Competition for 2012 is in Chicago, so at least he will have been there once by the time we get there?)

Los Angeles has the best weather and the most TV/film opportunities, so there was definitely some debate about moving there, but cost of living, lack of good public transportation, and the general superficial vibe ultimately ruled the city out. Public transportation is definitely necessary for Trevor to get to/from classes/auditions/performances without relying on me. Also, the Second City location in Hollywood isn't wheelchair accessible. Groundlings would probably be the first choice improv school in LA anyway, but yeah, I just wanted to say how lame that is.

New York is the most expensive and doesn't have the best options for improv schools (it's more of a stand-up-centered town, comedy-wise).

Probably the biggest factor is cost of living. Statistically speaking, Chicago means only a 13% cost of living increase for us, which is more easily done than the 35% for Toronto, 43% for Los Angeles, or 55% for New York.

So yes, Chicago. And if we're going to Chicago, we better get Trevor enrolled with the mecca of improvisational comedy, Second City. The list of ComedySportz alumni that you've head of is pretty small (Jason Sudekis, Dan Harmon, Nick Swardson...uhh, there are probably others, but no way there are more than like, five). Second City is a much more established outfit and far more likely to get industry recognition for their performers. The list of Second City Chicago alumni that you've heard of is insanely impressive (Dan Aykroyd, Steve Carell, Chris Farley, Tina Fey, Bill Murray, Jane Lynch, Stephen Colbert, John Belushi, Mike Meyers, etc., etc., etc.). Of course, most people who have studied comedy at Second City don't go on to a life of wealth and fame, but it's still definitely a good next step for trying to make a career out of making people laugh.

Why in a year?

The plan is to save up enough money to survive (and pay for Second City classes) for six months in Chicago without employment. Realistically, we won't be able to do that in less than a year.

Hopefully, once we're out there, we'll find employment quickly and most of the saved money will remain saved, but that remains to be seen. The unemployment rate has typically been higher in Chicago than Provo (currently 9.7% vs. 6.8%), so there is some worry about that, but I think six months should be enough time to find something. If we don't find work and just run out of money, we don't deserve life in the city and will run home to family or something. I don't know. I don't want to worry about that yet.

Second City requires a year of progressive improv training before you can audition for their professional-level classes. Trevor will have reached that point with ComedySportz in January, so that'll be no problem. However, we are also in the process of starting a sketch comedy group with a first show planned for January and we'd like to see that project through for at least several months before leaving. (Yes, I'm saying "we" for this one, as I'm doing a little writing and performing myself).


So yeah, that's the plan. As I discover flaws, we'll adjust. Or come up with something completely different. Doesn't hurt to save up to move to Chicago even if we don't, right? But we will. Because I'd hate for you to have wasted sweet minutes of your time reading this post for nothing.

That's right. It's all about you. Just like you thought it was.

Radio

We listen to the radio all day at my work, so I am much more current with pop music than I have typically been.

Songs I Originally Loved But Have Heard So Many Times I Now Hate Them
"Party Rock Anthem" - LMFAO
"Someone Like You" - Adele

Songs I Originally Hated But Have Heard So Many Times I Now Love Them
"Tonight Tonight" - Hot Chelle Rae
"Stereo Hearts" - Gym Class Heroes

Songs I Hated From the Get-Go
"Moves Like Jagger" - Maroon 5
"Jet Lag" - Simple Plan

Twenty-five

On Monday, I will turn 25. I think this is the first birthday where I've felt a little bummed about getting older. To me, 25 marks when you're really not a kid anymore. And yes, this means a magical drop in my car rental and insurance rates, but is that really worth the fact that I'll likely never be better-looking than I am at this point in my life? And the fact that it's no longer an appropriate age to have still not committed to any sort of semblance of a life plan?

My parents had college degrees and three kids at 25. My dad was working for the same institution he does now. Their life was pretty much set. I know it's a grass-is-greener thing and people tied to careers and families and mortgages envy the freedom of people like me, but I definitely envy the stability of people who've figured out where they want to be and are putting down roots. And the sense of fulfillment that I imagine comes with working towards something.

Growing up, I always figured I'd do the stereotypical Mormon housewife thing when I was older. It's worked for a lot of women that I admire, but turns out it's not my thing. I didn't admit it to myself at the time, but I definitely lived the sad cliche of going to BYU to get married. That's how you fail out like I did, kids.

So I got married and realized having babies sounds exhausting and expensive and is such a tremendous commitment and here we are. I never really knew what I wanted to be when I grow up. So I'll just grow up and be nothing and then die.

Not that being nothing is all that bad, I suppose. I have a job that I'm okay at and allows us to live comfortably enough. We have a roof over our heads and food in our stomachs and clothes on our backs and still can go out and do fun things on a regular basis. It'd be nice to have a car again and maybe nice to own a house and/or have children and/or go back to school someday, but I'm still young enough to worry about those things later, right? I'm still a kid until at least 26, yes?

Slack

Man, I've really been slacking on the blogging lately. I've been sitting on notes that were supposed to be "Series Premiere Thoughts, Part II - Free Agents, Whitney, Terra Nova, Heart of Dixie, How to Be a Gentleman" for weeks now. As well as notes for a post where I ramble about my new job that will likely never see the light of day as most of the opinions expressed in those notes have changed with a few more weeks of employment.

So instead you get this lame post saying that I'm still alive and I am not happy that the weather's been so cold lately and I am otherwise generally content.

And I can't decide if my favorite holiday-time flavor is pumpkin or egg nog. Both so delicious..

And I need to go to bed.

Series Premiere Thoughts, Part I - Up All Night, 2 Broke Girls, The Playboy Club, New Girl

Assortment of thoughts about a few new television shows. I'm trying to watch as many series pilots this week as I can manage. For you, dear readers. Not because I care about actually sharing with you, of course, but because I want you to think I'm on the cutting edge of television knowledge.

Rating indicates likelihood that I'll watch more of the show: 0 = no way, 1-4 = depending on my boredom level and/or popular and critical sentiment, 5 = definitely. Show title picture links to a promo for each show because I'm not rehashing the premise. I don't care about you THAT much.

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Rating: 5

This pilot shows great potential. Will Arnett's and Christina Applegate's characters are unique but relatable. Maya Rudolph's is not so much, but has her moments. I would say the show provided the most genuine laughs of the new comedies I've watched so far. It wasn't supremely funny, but rare is the sitcom that reaches that level with one pilot episode (Community is the only one I can think of off-hand), and I have high hopes that it will come into its own soon enough.

One complaint I've heard about the show is that most of the humor is based on cliches about parenthood that have been played out over countless films/television programs, but I didn't personally find that to be the case. Will Arnett plays out the Mr. Mom trope, certainly, but the writing and acting take a unique enough perspective on it that it didn't feel tired. And when the inevitable diaper-changing scene happens, it doesn't focus on poop, thank goodness.

The one complaint I have have was the story didn't flow particularly well. The end of the episode felt a little forcibly tacked on for some sort of resolution after what was more a compilation of sketches about being new parents than a story.

The best thing about the show was I could definitely see bits myself in both of the new parents. They have their selfish moments and their idiotic moments; they're still kids themselves in some ways. But they love their child and want what's best for her, and in the end, you think it'll turn out all right. It's how I imagine I'd be as a parent. Minus the glamorous job as an assistant on a talk show and lawyer husband. Oh television, why must you always make the career part of the show look so much better than real life?

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Rating: 0

First things first: why on earth do laugh tracks still exist? All they do is remind us how not laughable most of the moments they follow are.

Aaaaand we hit the ground running with a joke where the punchline is "boobs" followed a minute later by a joke whose punchline is "vagina". The charm of Kat Dennings can't save this. Whitney Cummings, why? I've seen her stand up act; I should have known the humor would be based on girl quasi-shock humor. At least now I know not to watch Whitney, the other show Ms. Cummings is involved in. The one that all the buzz says will be inferior to 2 Broke Girls.

Maybe the rest of the episode got better, but I'll likely never know. I turned it off about five minutes in when the other female lead showed up and it became clear that she was 100% rich girl stereotype. Nothing to see here. Move along.

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Rating: 3

This show is lucky I'm a sucker for period pieces. Even if Mad Men weren't as fabulous as it is, there would be a decent shot that I'd watch it for love of the furniture and clothes and little references to news events of the day and such. Unfortunately, thus far there doesn't seem to be much going for the show other than sitting around and imagining what life would be like during the 60s (I'd look best in the emerald green bunny outfit).

The plot is a little ridiculous. Right off you have to suspend reality and believe that a kick from a tiny thing like Amber Heard would kill a grown man. Maybe it was a thing in the 60s to have razor blades glued to the heels of your pumps, and we're all supposed to know this so they didn't bother mentioning it?

Biggest problem of the show is they keep defining the playboy bunny in contradictory ways. It's the job you take to feel empowered. It's the job you take to get raped. "A girl can't be a bunny forever." "The bunnies were the only women in the world who could be anything they want to be." "More lipstick. More cleavage. Lose the wedding ring. Smile more." I understand that there is a dichotomy to these women, but it wasn't explored in any sort of smart way. Just everyone smiling and nodding that "Yep, that's what being a bunny is."

Also, I can't quite put my finger on what the deal is, but something about the show felt...not quite 60s. The men wear the suits and the women wear the dresses like they are costumes, not like clothes, somehow. Maybe I'm just comparing too much to Mad Men, which is hard not to do. I can't expect every period drama to have Matthew Weiner's completely obsessive attention to detail, but still. I think maybe it is the way people talk? There's no 60s slang, no referencing technology that we wouldn't reference today, hardly anything at all dialog-wise that puts the show firmly into it's setting. The one black bunny mentions discrimination, but do we see anything that looks like racism at all? No. We see the homosexual characters being careful to keep their sexuality a secret, but it's hard to feel any real conflict there when I don't recall anything derogatory said about gays or lesbians at all. Hopefully the dark side of the 60s will be explored a little better as the show goes on. The only thing dark at all about the pilot was the involvement of the mob, which so far isn't portrayed as a particularly intimidating group. And is kind of cliche for any film/television program set in Chicago.

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Rating: 4

It's kind of impossible to dislike Zooey Deschanel because she's just that adorable, but I think her character might be the worst thing about this show. I don't blame Zooey, of course; her hair is so cute, after all, and hello, vintage-y summer dresses. But yeah, her character is all over the place in a completely unrealistic way. She's supposed to be an emotional wreck about a recent break-up and she is maybe 50% of the time. In other scenes, her problem is that she doesn't know how to get guys? How does this make any sense? If you want to work a story about a girl being helped along to love with her new roommates, wouldn't it make way more sense that her big problem is fear of repeating the bad break-up she just went through? And then they're asking her how she can be so happy all the time? After watching her cry and watch Dirty Dancing for a week? No sense.

The inconsistencies in personality I'm sure are all attributed to "quirkiness". But I'm sorry, you can't just make your character weird and assume it will be cute just because it's Zooey Deschanel. She randomly sings stuff she's saying, and talks in these funny forced-sounding voices from time to time, among other childish things. It's just kind of...well I don't know anybody like that and it's not funny so why is it happening? The episode ended on what would've been a sweet note if it didn't bug me so much that Deschanel's character was in 6-year-old-mode. "Hey, it the guys entertaining their easily-entertained new roommate" instead of "Hey, they're all sharing a moment."

There was exactly one laugh-out-loud moment for me (a Lord of the Rings reference, of all things), but that's not too terrible for a 22-minute program watched by myself (watching with others encourages laughter, there are studies on these things). Toss on a few other smile-to-myself moments, and I'll say they do okay in the humor department. Certainly not impressively funny, but there's potential there.

Overall, I'd still say I enjoyed the show. The three guy roommates have good chemistry and somewhat more realistic characters. One of my favorite bits was the "douchebag jar" where the guys have to put a dollar each time one of them says/does something particularly douchebaggy. It felt like something many guys I know would set up AND it was involved in some of the stronger humor points. And Zooey Deschanel is still so cute. I hate how much that matters, but it does. Hopefully her character will become stronger as the season goes on.

Sweet Employment

So after a month and a half of moping around, depleting my savings account, and contributing to the federal deficit, I finally decided to get serious about looking for new work last week. Yes, I should've done that back when my hours were cut at my job months ago, but I just needed to mope around, okay?

And low and behold, after only three days of finally being serious about finding work: an offer of employment! The base pay is slightly less than my old job, but commission opportunities should make up the difference. And even minimum wage would be better than what I was getting off unemployment, so I'm not being too picky.

I start on Monday, and I'm definitely looking forward to it. Between starting work and new television seasons/series starting up next week, I'll never be bored again!

Memories of Grandma

My grandmother, Winona Wonnacott, passed away last week. I spent the weekend in St. George where the funeral was held. She was a beautiful, creative, witty, hard-working, loving woman and I (along with the rest of her impressive number of posterity) will treasure her memory for the rest of my life.

When I was a very young child, Grandma and Grandpa Wonnacott were a house more than they were people. When told we were going to visit Grandma and Grandpa, I'd ask, "the stairs ones?" My hometown of Ridgecrest, CA is a small town with very few 2+-story buildings, and as silly as it seems now, at the time the #1 best reason to go to St George, UT was Grandma and Grandpa had a house with stairs and the possibilities of games you could play on those things were endless.

As I got a little older, the house and yard were also endless. While it is a somewhat large house (5 bed, 3 bath) on a decent bit of land, the imagination of youth expanded this to something of near mythical characteristics (There are four different doors to the backyard! The stuff of legends!). These childhood impressions last; even at the age of 24, I still have dreams about going to that house and discovering rooms I'd never seen before or hidden gardens in the yards.

And all so tastefully decorated! As I grew old enough to notice such things, I definitely recognized Grandma was the kind of woman who really took pride in making things look good. Many of my memories of Grandma involve helping in the gardens or with various home improvement projects. She was a hard-working woman who could make a lot out of a little. At the funeral, a couple of my aunts shared memories of her always finding old furniture to reupholster and/or refinish. And rocks! She'd always take home big rocks she'd come across that were interesting colors or shapes and find some way to incorporate them into her yards.

A couple years ago, Trevor and I stayed at Grandma and Grandpa Wonnacott's house on our way back from Christmas with my family in California. While I've seen her at various family functions since, this was the last time I had any significant one-on-one time with her. She decided to skip church that morning and just sit and chat with us for a good long while. She told us the story of her courtship with Grandpa (met and got married during various home leaves as he was in the military during WWII). Her version had a lot to do with how she looked (what she was wearing, whether or not she had lipstick on), which I loved (I may have inherited this tendency to focus my stories on these important details). The best bit of their story is on the day of their first date, Grandpa asked her "Now you're going to do your hair before the dance tonight aren't you?" and Grandma responded "Of course! You don't think you'll be the only fella there, do you?"

Grandma and Grandpa had a sweet long-lasting relationship that gives me hope that there is such thing as lasting love. They were always supportive of each other and making each other laugh during their 66 years of marriage.

She was one of the kindest people I've ever known; her house was open to anyone who needed a meal or a place to stay, and she always took the time to let all of us know how much she loved us.

She wasn't just a ball of love all the time, though. She was also a fiery woman. The frustration she would exhibit trying to get her hair curled right or trying to keep her plants alive or watching BYU sports during a bad game was kind of adorable (old woman anger is hilarious). She had a great passion for the things that were important to her, something I'd really like to emulate in my too-often wishy-washy passive life.

She was a good woman, and I will miss seeing her, but the love I still feel from her will stay with me. I'm grateful to come from the good stock that I do and have her example in my life.

Also, note to my siblings: I call the name Winona for my firstborn daughter.