Welcome to Lara's World

Hi family and friends,

Welcome to my blog. I had heard of "blogging" here and there in snippets of conversation and from the media, but it wasn't until my friend Andrea showed me her blog that I really got the complete picture. I really started to enjoy getting to know my friends better from this communication but I was also reluctant to start my own. (I really, really, really hate to write - so maybe I'll blog about that another time.) Then I read an article in a magazine about virtual family reunions and how families can use all the new technology that is now available to keep connected. And since I had thought of publishing a family news letter once a month (my goal for the past 6 years now) I thought this would be the best medium in which to accomplish all of that.

Several of my friends created a "100 things about me" list. It was really fun to learn new things about people I thought I already knew pretty well. So, I have decided to do the same myself. Hope you have fun reading :-)

100 Things About Me

1. I was born breech - feet first and without any help from the doctors.

2. I am the first born child to my parents.

3. I am the only girl in my family.

4. I have three brothers.

5. I used to have blond hair, just like my children have now.

6. I have lived in Provo, Utah; ??? (too young to remember), Mississippi; ??? (too young to remember), South Carolina; Springville, Utah; Melton, England; Cheyenne Wyoming; Springville, Utah; Ryhl, Wales; Liverpool, England; Sale, England; Warrington, England; Blackburn, England; Manchester, England; Urmston, England; Lancaster, England; Springville, Utah; Spanish Fork, Utah; and Spokane, Washington.

7. I have traveled to: England, Germany, France, Switzerland, Vienna, Luxemburg, and the Czech Republic.

8. Someday I would love to travel to Hawaii, Russia, and Australia.

9. When I lived in England as a child, I had an English accent.

10. When I attended Kingston Middle School, while I lived in England, I had to wear a school uniform. It consisted of a grey skirt, a white blouse, a green neck tie (with yellow K's on it) and a green v-neck sweater. And long hair had to be pulled up.

11. I had to take a bicycle class and take a bicycle test in order to ride my bike to school in England (just like a driver's ed course and test!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

12. My mother is from London, England.

13. My mother met my dad while he was serving his mission in England.

14. I served a mission to Manchester, England.

15. I met my husband, Chris at one of my best friend's wedding. So Chris and I first layed eyes on each other at the Timpanogos Temple.

16. My friend had tried to set me up with Chris but at that point in my life I had vowed to never go on a set-up date again!!!!!! Good thing I got another chance!!!!!!!!!!

17. Okay, this is way harder to do than you think! I must be boring.

18. I now have brown hair with natural grey highlights. (see #5)

19. I am 5' 71/2" tall.

20. I will never reveal my weight. But I will thank each of my children for permanently adding 10 extra pounds after each pregnancy.

21. I currently have three children: Chad (6), Halle (4) and Sean (2).

22. I married that last greatest eligible bachelor!!!!!! (see blog title)

23. In High School I always had very long fingernails and painted them bright and wild. (You would never know that now.)

24. Of all the places we have lived when I was a child, we always lived just close enough to walk to school. I have never taken a school bus, except for field trips.

25. I studied two years of French in High School (and one year in middle school). But all the French I can remember to say is "Shutup," and "Where are the toilets?"

26. I always wanted a baby sister, so when my second brother, David came along, I used to dress him up as a girl and call him Davina. (Sorry David!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

27. When my mother announced that we would be having one more sibling, I prayed and prayed that it would be a sister. When I found out I had brother #3 I cried all day long. But as soon as I was able to see and hold him, I forgave him for being a boy.

28. When I was a kid my favorite TV shows were Wonder Woman, The Bionic Woman, and Charlie's Angels. Now when I watch those shows I laugh hysterically.

29. I am now addicted to watching Lost and Heroes.

30. While giving birth to Chad, Chris and I watched the first Survivor finale on the TV in the birthing room.

31. I was the Barbie Queen. All my friends came over to my house to play Barbie's because I had a ton of Barbie toys. (Now Halle is carrying on the tradition).

32. My mom was an only girl, I was an only girl, and so far Halle is an only girl.

33. When I was a pre-teen my favorite books were the Chronicles of Narnia. The whole set of Narnia books were given to me from my Grandma and Grandpa Hansen. I read them over and over and over again. I read The Lion, the Witch, and the Wordrobe to Chad and Halle and then took them to see the movie.

34. My favorite book recently is Charles Dickens's David Copperfield.

35. My favorite books to read are English novels and fantasy.

36. I haven't really been into reading for a very long time. I used to love reading.

37. I hate writing.

38. I graduated from BYU with a double major (microbiology and biology teaching) and a double minor (chemistry and zoology).

39. I tried to balance my brain a little and for one semester decided I would minor in English. The reading was okay, but I couldn't take the writing. It drove me insane.

40. I will never write or publish a book.

41. It took me forever to graduate because I liked too many things.

42. When I first started BYU I wanted to be either a veterinarian, a school councilor, or a dentist.

43. I got my first real job as a 6th grade science teacher at Springville Middle School.

44. I hated my first year of teaching and came home crying almost every night.

45. I absolutely loved my second year of teaching and cried every day for a year after I quit teaching to become a full-time mom.

46. I discovered that it is a lot easier to teach 200 students every day from 8:00 am to 2:30 pm than take care of a brand new baby 24/7/365 1/4.

47. Spelling is not my talent. So forgive me if you find spelling mistakes!

48. I love bacteria. (see #38)

49. I hate fungus. I especially hate that they put in in the "produce" isle of the store and consider it a vegetable. It has it's own kingdom. It is not a plant or an animal. And, I refuse to eat them if at all possible.

50. I also refuse to eat seafood. (Except tuna fish from a can that has been canned in oil.)

51. I also do not eat anything with an exoskeleton. (Crabs, lobsters, spiders, grasshoppers, etc.)

52. I thought I was a pretty picky eater until I met my husband. I'm glad I met someone that has the same dislikes that I have. (Although my husband will eat fungus, and I did too on one of our first dates when he ordered pizza with pepperoni and mushrooms - the things you will do when you are in love.)

53. I am also not a tomato person. I didn't like ketchup until I was about 10. I didn't like pizza until I was in college, and I didn't eat spaghetti until I tried my mother-in-laws to die for recipie, and I only like "Stoffers" brand lasagna. As for tomatoes in salads, they do make a nice decoration and add color to the plate.

54. I did try octopus once. It was disgusting.

55. Right before my mission I had a class on parasites. Most of these parasites can be found in South America and Africa. Right before I sent in my mission papers, all of my other girl friends were being called to South American missions. I was sooooooooooooo grateful that I was called to serve in England.

56. I don't always make my bed in the morning. Okay, okay, to be truthful, I rarely make my bed in the morning. (Sorry mom and Jeraldine.) But it really bugs me when my kids beds are not made.

57. It wasn't until I was a mature adult and looking through a cook book that I discovered that you didn't need a mix to make cake. You could make it from scratch!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

58. I play the piano. Just good enough to help out at church once in a while. And yes, it is now one of my biggest regrets that I didn't practice more and quite lessons while in High School.

59. I play the flute. I would love to play better. (See #58)

60. One summer in Jr. High I taught myself to play the clarinet and saxophone.

61. I tried playing the fife.

62. I would still love to learn how to play the cello and the harp.

63. I am not a good singer. But for some reason most people think I am musical.

64. I took ballet, dance and gymnastics when I was much younger. I had to quit gymnastics when we moved to England. I really wish I could have done more with gymnastics. I loved it and now my daughter is taking gymnastics. I have a lot of fun watching her.

65. I was on the school netball team in England. (Kind of like basketball, but you are not allowed to dribble, and you can only go in certain areas of the court, depending on what position you play.)

66. I did track and field in elementary, middle, Jr. High, and High school. When I was younger, my favorite events were the 100m, long jump, and high jump. In Jr. High and High school I ran the 100, 200, and 400m. I thought I was pretty good (fastest and second fastest in my school). But after meeting my husband (a track coach) I found out I pretty much sucked at running. (My times were not that good.)

67. I wish my husband had been my track coach! He is awesome at helping young people find their talents and helping them set goals and grow in their achievements. (Unlike any of the coaches I ever had.)

68. My name "Lara" means "famous." My parents named me from the movie, "Dr. Zhivago."

69. I have a song, "Lara's Theme."

70. My middle name is "Joan." Joan is the name of my maternal grandmother. But I called her Nanny.

71. Joan Charsley and my mother are my heroes. Joan joined the church after allowing two missionaries (one being my dad) to teach her about the Book of Mormon. She joined the church soon after, the only one of her family. My mother, Pat, was not interested at the time and also engaged to be married to someone else. But at my Nanny's baptism, my mother felt the spirit and decided to investigate the church too. When she gained a testimony, she too wanted to be baptised. Her fiance gave her an ultimatum, him or the church. My mom was baptized. And the rest is my family history.

72. My maiden name is "Hansen." This name comes from Denmark. My great, great Grandfather, Christopher V. Hansen was one of the Mormon pioneers who settled in Utah.

73. From my Grandma's side of the family I am related to LaVell Edwards. (He is my grandma's cousin.)

74. I am now a "Caviness" which from the example of my husband and my in-laws means having grace and flare, doing things right, and don't forget just a little bit competitive.

75. Wow, I am 3/4 done with this blog. Have I said anything you didn't want to know yet?

76. My Grandma Hansen is wonderful at geneology. For a while I was very worried I wouldn't get married and not get a geneology book. My grandma put a huge geneology book together for each grand child. We get it as a wedding gift when we are married. It is one of my most prized possesions.

77. I love boating and water skiing. My grandpa Hansen taught me to water ski.

78. My mother taught me to embroider, cross-stitch and knit.

79. I taught myself how to crochet. I love to crochet.

80. I can still do a backflip and a frontflip on the trampoline (and I am willing to prove it).

81. I am domestically challenged. My house is still mostly pre-decorated from the previous owners.

82. I am a Mr. Bean and a Dr. Who fan. (Yes I really do have that British Blood in me.)

83. I hate the cold. I wish that there could be three seasons instead of four (no winter).

84. I hate shopping. I'd rather go grocery shopping than clothes shopping.

85. I have green eyes.

86. I still get those #*%&@* zits.

87. My right big toe always pops when I walk barefoot.

88. I hate being barefoot. I am always wearing socks or shoes.

89. I love having my back massaged.

90. I hate it when anyone touches my feet.

91. I got to see the Womens Short program at the National Ice-Skating Championships held here in Spokane. (Thank you Chris -- it was a great night!!!!!!)

92. In Jr. High one of my friends offered me drugs. I said, "No thank you, I am not sick right now." Later that year in health class, I finally clued into what she was offering me. Thank goodness I was clueless.

93. I have had pet ducks, a pet turtle, and lots of pet cats.

94. I gave up six cats when I married Chris (he is allergic and not too fond of cats). That is how I knew it had to be true love.

95. I love sugar. I eat vegetables because I know they are good for me, I don't ever crave them.

96. I avoided high school dances like the plague.

97. I had my first kiss at 23 years old. (see any relation to #96?)

98. Chris has a great story about our first kiss. (He doesn't like my version.)

99. I honestly thought I would never be married or have kids.

100. I gave up a 4-year full-ride scholarship with the airforce.

Yea! I am done. I am sure that after a good nights rest I will think of 100 better things to say than what I did. But that is what you get.

I hope that my next blog doesn't take me 3hours to do like this one.