What's Christmas Without Music

I thought I'd make a list of my favorite Christmas cds and songs. Pretty boring I know but hey, I've been listening to them for two months now, I have to get it onto paper sometime! Here's they criteria for the albums, it has to have only good songs, no cds where you put it in just to listen to one song, the whole thing has to be good. The criteria for the songs is pretty straight forward, it just has to be a great Christmas song!

Best Christmas Albums (in order, from my favorite to, 'favorite but not as much' and so on...):

1. Carpenter's Christmas

2. Celine Dion's These are the Special Times

3. Josh Groban's Noel

4. Brian Seltzer Orchestra's Dig that Crazy Christmas

5. Mannhiem Stiemroller's Christmas in the Aire

Other Songs of Note (in no particular order):

1. Sleigh Ride by Leroy Anderson and His Orchestra

2. You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch by Thurl Ravenscroft

3. Linus and Lucy by the Vince Guaraldi Trio

4. Baby it's cold outside by Martina Mcbride with Dean Martin

5. Santa Baby by the Pussy Cat Dolls

6. It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year by Andy Williams

7. White Christmas by Bing Crosby

Tis the Season to Keep Secrets

Christmas time is great, there is no other time of the year quite like it. Let me illustrate. When else in the year can you blatantly lie about where you have been for the past three hours or why you lock yourself in your room for hours on end?? Never! Owing to the recent change in how we give gifts, this year seems to have many more secrets than usual, many of which are mine! Mwahahaha!! I really can't wait for Christmas to come but I have so much to do it might help if it could scoot back a few weeks. Since I can't post any pictures of what I'm doing you'll just have to take my word and believe that everything is awesome! Come Christmas I'll do a 'leading up to Christmas' post and show all the pics of things coming together. Till then use your imagination (especially my family, good luck guessing guys, you'll never get it!!). Merry Christmas!

The Arboreal Abode

Last night there was a surprise. I had quite a rotten day yesterday and there wasn't much hope of it getting better. My parents had a gift certificate to The Tree Room up at Sundace so they decided to take me on a date. First of all it was so pretty up there. I've never been to Sundance, I board at The Canyons, so the whole thing was new. They had Christmas lights all over the place and were making snow up on the mountain, basically it was perfect. We got to the restaurant and were seated.  I've never been to a nicer restaurant like that so the whole thing was new to me. There were no children screaming, no loud music. It was just calm. They started off the meal with some meat (I don't remember what it was called, something french) 'compliments of the chef'! Wow! It was amazing, to say the least. Then came the bread with nuts and berries in it, keep in mind I haven't had bread in three months...HOLY COW!! It blew my mind, it was out of control how good it was. I ordered the blackened cod, my dad the duck and mom got the chicken. My cod came in a very good, mild sauce, black rice, edamame, and, get this, rose sprouts! It reminded me in the movies where they bring out the plate and it has three bites of food made into an elaborate decoration! There really was more than that but it looked and tasted fabulous! I also had a piece of my dads duck, what a shocker!! I've never had duck before and so I expected it to be about like chicken but actually it was more like a cross between beef and pork! Here comes my favorite part...dessert!! I had a strawberry-rhubarb cobbler! Ya, me, I know it's amazing, me of all people! Words cannot even describe how good it was. That's absolutely what they eat in heaven, no doubt in my mind! To wrap it up it was a great night, the food was out of this world(!!!!), and it really boosted my spirits. Thanks Mom and Dad!

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year

As Christmas approaches ever closer I find myself getting ants in my pants and shirt and anywhere else ants can hide. Here's a list of my favorite things about Christmas time:

1. Watching my Pandora stations suddenly begin playing Christmas music. (I created the first one in early October!! Now I have five or six!)

2. Hearing one of my favorite Christmas songs come on ANY radio station and getting the willies, especially when I'm working on Christmas secrets;)

3. Talking to Britta and Quinci about what they want from Santa.

4. Counting the days left till the big day.

5. Thanksgiving day!! I can't wait for the food, I'm eating like a normal person!! ha ha

6. The day after Thanksgiving, going to see Santa come to the University Mall (this is one of my favorite days of the year)!

7. Setting up the Christmas tree and looking at all the ornaments we've collected over the years.

8. Decorating the house.

9. Unwrapping the advent calender...things...and trying to get the typewriter. Don't ask me why but that's the most coveted of all the doo-hickys ha ha

10. Seeing all the festive foods and...smelling them! ha ha

11. Watching Christmas movies; The Santa Clause, White Christmas, Miracle on 34th Street, Elf and Holiday Inn (thank you Welch family!) just to name a few!

12. Christmas Eve, anything we do!

13. Never, ever, sleeping on Christmas Eve night, sorry little story, last year my parents wanted me to sleep so bad that they gave me a whole Unisom to try to help. The plan backfired miserably! I ended up wired all night long! Thank you mom and dad ;)

14. And of course Christmas day, just being together!

Well there's a list of a few of my favorite things about Christmas. I had to cut the list down from 9,678,564,364 but you get the idea. Happy Holidays!

The Christmas Bug

The bug I am speaking of is not the bug that ruins Christmas by keeping us bent over the toilet or curled in a ball, no I would never talk about a bug like that (but just fyi I've already dodged one bullet this season, Britta and my mom both got the flu this week and guess who didn't?!). The bug I'm talking about is the one that nips you in the rear and makes you suddenly NEED to buy presents, decorations, food...pick your poison, it affects everyone differently. But for me it causes me to need to completely deplete my bank account...I mean go Christmas shopping ;)! So this year after we drew the name of our 'person' (the receiver of our gift), my parents made a proposal. Why not, instead of spending a lot of money on the gifts why not spend a lot of  time? As a result of that proposal we kids are now limited to ten dollars and we have to create whatever is to be given. Surprisingly we are all so excited about this new change and, out of sheer need, have become scavengers, don't be surprised if you get a call from one of us begging for scrap fabric, wood, anything really!

Carving

One of my favorite things to do during Halloween is carve pumpkins. I spent hours agonizing over which pattern would be perfect. This year I spent so much time debating that I didn't carve my pumpkin till Halloween night. The patterns weren't as hard as I would have liked and I didn't have quite as much time as I normally do (we were off to go trick-or-treating with the girls) but even with the rush and simpleness of the pattern I was very pleased with the results!

Getting all the patterns put on right (It's three sided!!)
Poking the pattern onto the pumpkin. Feverishly trying to finish before we leave!The finished product! Jack Skellington......Zero, his dog......and Sally, his true love!

So all in all a very successful carving session!!

The Game of Life

The past few weeks I've had an awful lot on my mind, and seeing as this is this closest thing I have to a journal I thought I should put those thoughts down for posterity's sake. The topic at the forefront of my mind has been trials. Everyone has them, and I believe everyone needs them but that in no way takes away from the difficulties that are or lie ahead. As I looked at the hand of cards life has dealt me as of late it is often all I can do to stay sane, and yet as I play this game of life in those times when I cannot continue playing alone all I have to do is look over my shoulder and there is the Savior telling me how to play. With him I cannot lose. Although I have a perfect game-plan I sometimes insist on doing it alone, and when I can play no more then I look to Him. I wonder sometimes why I don't save myself the trouble and rely completely on Christ. But invariably there are times when I look to Christ and he says, "You can play this hand, you have the knowledge and I trust you." How humbled I am in those times to have the trust of the Savior. With Christ as my guide I cannot fail. Elder Holland said, when we suffer, often times that is when we are closest to God. While some suffer because of choices they make, my suffering was not my fault. At times I was tempted to blame or feel angry at God, like he had left me, but I can tell you this, I have never felt Him so close. He never left my side. As long as I left my heart open and humble He would come, with comfort and peace. How comforting it is to know I have a Savior who descended below it all, who knows exactly how I feel and can offer strength. When I was in seventh grade we were required to write a Shakespearean sonnet and as my mom was bedridden at the time I wrote it for her never knowing or hoping that it would apply to me but as life often does, it surprised me.

Trials
Above you like a mountain it towers
Never ceasing, ever changing, it looms
Nothing stops its everlasting power
Leaving in its path a wake of gloom
Relentlessly you fight the evil foe
Tirelessly you travel to the peak
Emanating a soft but powerful glow
Despite the fact that hope seems rather bleak
Dodging through the intricate web it weaves
With one purpose in mind you carry on
You realize now that it is just a key
You understand that it is almost gone
Even though the road ahead looks so long
You understand this trial made you strong
To my mom
Who never lost that glow

It is said that it takes enormous heat and pressure and time to make a diamond. The same is true of people. As we fight our way through trials, collecting scrapes and bruises on the way we become diamonds over time. As I look back on this trial and the things I have learned I hope I have allowed even the smallest part of me to shine a little brighter.

Welcome BACK to Hell!

Well here we go again! Am I just a gluten for punishment or am I crazy?! Does anyone know a good psychologist I think I have a death wish?! For the past few days I have been getting really nauseated for no apparent reason so we decided to call the 'doc' and ask her if it was normal for a person to suddenly regress. She said it was and I was probably just 'getting rid of some toxins'. Great, just the 5 words I didn't want to hear...So...(menacing music) I decided to go through another liquid cleanse. I know, I know, I need my head examined, but hey it's like a band-aide, rip it off quick and it only hurts for a second, or in this case survive on liquids and get the toxins out quick! So this morning I had fifty ounces of the avocado breakfast shake and I'll probably have fifty more for lunch. For dinner I'll probably have fifty ounces of the ABS (see previous sentence)! So in all that's over a gallon of the darn stuff! That can't be healthy, wait maybe it can...But I do need some variety so if anyone has any, or knows anyone who has any, vegetable shakes or juices that they KNOW are good, please I'm begging you on hands and knees, pleading from the bottom of my heart let me have em! I really don't want to live on that cursed shake three meals a day for the next who knows how long!! I looked through all the recipes we have and gagged just thinking about the finished product! I'll probably end up eating em anyway, what else is new, I do have quite a strong gag reflex remember? So I could probably do it...but I surely don't want to! Well, see ya on the other side!

Tag

3 Names you go by -
1) Ammon
2) Ammo
3) Spam

Restaurants I love - (lets assume for this one I'm still a normal human being who eats people food)
1) Cafe Rio
2) Macaroni Grill
3) Anywhere Chinese

3 Trips to plan on this year -
1) Hopefully a trip to the MTC and after that who knows where!!
2) Disneyland...I wish!!
3) Some place awesome haha

3 Things you want badly
1) To get all better
2) To be a surgeon
3) To go on a vacation with my fam before I leave

3 Pets you have/had -
1) Peach, Britta's hamster
2) Scout, the evil cat
3) We had a cat named Josie something like 15 years ago

3 Things you did yesterday -
1) Watched General Conference
2) Went up to Tooele
3) Was nauseated

3 Things you ate today
1) Avocado Breakfast shake
2) Avocado Breakfast shake
3) Avocado Breakfast shake

3 Fears -
1) Honestly, don't laugh, normal food! Now that I've been doing this diet for a while I'm really scared if I have anything normal it will make me sick!
2) Someone I love being hurt.
3) I don't know... I try not to be scared of very much...

3 Things you plan on doing today -
1) Cleansing
2) FHE
3) Possibly playing some boardgames

3 Things you plan on doing tomorrow -
1) Cleansing
2) Cleansing
3) Cleansing

3 Favorite Holidays -
1) Christmas
2) Halloween, especially our family party
3) Fourth of July

3 Favorite beverages -
1) Water
2) Water
3) And umm.....water

One More Day...

You know that Diamond Rio song One More Day? The one that goes, "One more day, one more time, one more sunset baby I'd be satisfied. But then again you know what it would do leave me wishin' still, for one more day with you." I submit that my 'you' is salmon. That's right, you heard me, salmon. The fish that risks life and limb every year to spawn up-river. That's the one. I'm sure you are quite baffled at this strange revelation, give me a moment to explain and it will all make sense. Last night was my 19th birthday and, because of my current diet restrictions we had salmon. It was the first time in three weeks that I had a cooked meal and, even though it isn't exactly on the 'acceptables' list we made an exception on my birthday. The smell alone was enough to put me into a euphoric trans! I was literally shaking at the idea of having a hot meal! I couldn't hold still, each moment seemed an eternity, how much longer could it take, it's been cooking for at least four years, get it out already!! Needless to say my birthday dinner was the greatest thing since sliced bread, which incidentally I also can't have. It was a great birthday! I got a sweet jacket and some long sleeved shirts, all from my favorite clothing store, Hollister, as well as some of their cologne. Tanner gave me Brisingr which is the latest in the 'Inheritance Cycle' (Eragon and Eldest so far), which is one of my favorite series. To top it off for dessert we had the famous or, depending on who you talk to, infamous, chocolate avocado pie. Some don't like it but even if I wasn't on the Alkovorian Express I still think it's good! The only disappointment I had on my birthday was that I wish I was just about ready to go to the MTC, but each day brings me a little closer so that'll be here in no time!

I couldn't eat another bite!As you can see the red and yellow peppers are my favorite

Mmmm....Basmati rice

Even Hollister's tissue smells good!

Stylin' aint it?!

Alkavorian

That's what I am...an alkovorain. Sounds kinda cool doesn't it?! Like something off Star Trek. Or maybe some super race with magical powers and the like! Ya know, I think I can feel magical powers comin' on! I'm just about to the three week mark and things are going pretty darn good. I think I'm starting to get used to eating like this. The breakfast shake is getting better and better all the time and the salads are great! The only things I still have trouble with are the dinners. They don't have any recipes I like so it's really tough. If I had my way I'd just have salads and cut up veggies for lunch, dinner and snacks. That does get a little monotonous after a while though and I feel like if I don't have a change I might go insane, but it's working so hey I'm gonna shut my mouth and enjoy the ride! This week started Monday when I woke up to excruciating back pain. Turns out church just about broke my back! So I started doing some stretches and things to help it and it got more sore. Turns out my muscles, or the lack thereof, didn't want to do anything! Then my mom had the great idea of visiting Ken and Robins pool. That felt SO good! The first day I basically just floated around and relaxed. The next day I was able to do more so I swam the length of their pool a few times. The following day, yesterday, was the same story, and guess what, my back is so much better than it was. It still hurts, especially when I sit up for a long time but it's much better than it was! I'm so happy I'm feeling better! I haven't felt this good in a year, and everyday gets a little better! I guess it's time to get that muscle back!!

Sentimentality

Well here I go, delving into the deep dark places of my soul. Maybe clear out some cobwebs...its been a while since I've been in there. Hopefully nothing moved in while I was away! I'm not exactly the most communicative person there is but I suppose it's good to share now and again. This last week I went with my mom to pick up the kids from school and we had to stop at a neighbors to drop something off and Quinci ran in. As she ran in I could not believe how big she was!! She wasn't a little child anymore. In that moment as I watched her run, in her fashionable clothes and hip hair, she grew up. Memories flooded back of her growing up. I couldn't help but miss the chubby little baby she was, watching her learn to walk, talk, read, write. It was more than I could bear!! But at the same time I love the girl she has become! I turned to my mom and said, "They shouldn't be allowed to grow up. I can't handle it!" Just wait, you thought that was sappy, it gets better! Later that night I was doing something with Britta and she ran out and came back with a blank piece of paper on a book and a pen and said, "Ammon, what do you want to do for your birthday?" I listed off a few things and as I said things she would 'write' them down and say something like, "Ya, that's a good thing." or "I don't think we can do that." Wow, I don't know what happened, something must have gotten in my eye, I could not handle it! It was so cute! she continued to ask the rest of the family and 'wrote' down their answers. She, like my Quinci was growing up! My two little girls were grown up! Man am I sentimental or what?! What am I gonna do when they are my own kids?! I gotta get a grip on myself, I'm falling apart at the seams!

Anniversary

Today is the year mark for me being sick! Wow I can't believe it! There have been really hard times and tears shed but there have also been some really great times. Times of growth and increased strength. Testimony building experiences and Priesthood blessings. If I could go back and change it, I don't think I would, I couldn't part with all the knowledge and strength I have gained. It will bless me and carry me through future hard times. As I look ahead to the future I am so excited for what's out there! A mission, marriage, college, medical school, a family! I sort of had to put all those things on hold this past year while I tried to sort out this illness. It's been almost two weeks since I jumped on the 'ph bandwagon' and everyday I get a little stronger, feeling a little better and everyday those dreams come a little more into focus. It's so awesome to feel a little better all the time. I think I am living on cloud nine! It's like a dream. I must say for how bad eating this way can be I would eat a lot worse than this if it gave these kind of results! I can't believe I'm saying that, me, who griped and moaned for days about how bad it was! I guess sometimes seeing is believing right?!

Phew!

Well it's over!! The cleanse that is. I know I said I was shooting for ten days but seven was more than enough. I thought I'd go back and review the week and add some photos. All in all it was pretty bad. I was sick as a dog, the shakes were pretty bad, but there is a plus side! Starting about Saturday night I started feeling a little better and by Sunday I was just about back to how I was feeling before I started the fast. But not quite. I was really quite surprised at how good I was feeling and that really was a very welcome, very unexpected bonus!! I'm really hopeful for the future. If this keeps up I'll be runnin' around in no time! So in the end it looks like it will be worth it! Whenever I talk to someone who is having a rough time I always say, sometimes the hardest things for us to do are the best things for us. I suppose it is always easier to dole out advice than take it, especially when its our own. I always think of the analogy of being inside the refiner's fire. It's not comfortable to be inside the furnace and sometimes it feels too hot to bear, but invariably the hottest times are the times we learn the most. Adversity is the best teacher! It's never fun but if we allow ourselves to be humble and keep our eyes on Christ we will become a much better person!

These are the ingredients to my least favorite shake, the 'no cream tomato soup'This is the abomination finished! It's all I can do to gag it down!The tools of the tradeNone of this would be possible without our trusty 'Vitamix' hmmm maybe one day it will turn up missing! ha ha

A Ray of Light

Seeing as my last posts have been rather depressing and degrading I thought I might take a moment to reflect on a burst of light that shone through the clouds of life. A few months ago I was just as sick as usual and so I was unable to go to church. The rest of the family got home and I was laying in the living room reading when Quinci came up to me, out of the blue and said, "Ammon, will you baptize me?" I was stunned to say the least! I fumbled for words for what seemed an eternity, before incoherently mumbling something like, "Are you serious?" She said she was and after another moment of fumbling for words I said I would absolutely love to! As she walked away I got a painfully large lump in my throat at the realization of what had just happened, she had asked me to be a part of one of the most special days of her life! I choked and got a grip on myself. I began to think about what that would entail and I began to have doubts such as: I can't even sit up and now I have to do that and more? Shouldn't her father do this? Is he going to be jealous of me?...But before I had gone too far I got a hold of my thoughts and realized that I was letting myself ruin the moment so I decided to worry about all that later. So fast forward to August 30th, the big day! We were both so excited, and amazingly I wasn't so concered with the physical concequences it might have. We went to the church and both got changed. She looked beautiful and radiant! During the opening remarks I just kept looking at her, I still couldn't belive she had asked me! When I walked down into the font I don't think I have ever been that nervous in my whole life! I was shaking I was so scared! After the baptism I got to help confirm her, having just been ordained an elder a few weeks before. It was such an amazing testimony builder to me of the truthfulness of the gospel and the power of the priesthood! It will always be one of the best days of my life!

It Got Worse...

Ok, apparently I should have knocked on some wood. Aside from feeling like death warmed over yesterday I have now become so sick of the gruel I call food I have taken to trying to skip meals in order to save my poor, dying taste buds. I suppose one plus side to this whole rotten episode is that my gag-reflex is now so incredibly strong. I don't mean to brag but I suppose I could swallow just about anything you could throw at me, enjoying it would be another matter altogether, though. Today was better than yesterday, lets hope that this marks an upward trend, although, it's too soon to tell. I have found my 'favorite' (I use the word liberally, more like least un-favorite) recipe for the shakes I've been indulging in for the past five days...five days, has it really been that short...it seems more like five decades or even five millenia!! Anyway back to my least un-favorite recipe (its the 'bat poop' one I spoke of in my last post). Its called the 'avocado breakfast shake'. Sounds a bit like bat droppings doesn't it? It's the only recipe I've tried so far that is marginally human tasting, it looks and tastes more like something you would slop into a swine's trough! But it's the best I've got. The others would do well to never be seen on earth ever again! I can't wait for monday when I can eat some nice solid food!! When I say nice I mean green vegetables of course, I'm sure it will be better than what I'm enduring now so I'm counting the minutes! Keep on keepin' on!

It Cant Get Much Worse...

Well...its Wednesday...I was right!! This has, without a doubt been the worst three days of my life! I mean I was too sick yesterday to even post! I was too sick to even roll over! According to my mother, she thought i was either gonna die by midnight or she was going to kill me (apparently I was a tad ornery)! But, amazingly I'm still alive...so they tell me! I've decided avocados, along with pretty much every other green vegetable, were put on this earth to torment and ruin our lives. I used to be a big fan of said aberrations of nature but after 'living' on them blended into creamy goodness that, according to one third party observer, looks like it "came out of a bat's butt"! I hope to have some pictures up in the next few days and maybe some recipes for those of you who have a death wish! I'll keep ya posted...

Welcome to Hell

I have officially entered the realm of 'bloggers'. I guess tradition dictates that my first blog introduces me to the world wide web. There's not much to tell, unless you count that for the past four years of my life I have visited every medical specialist on the planet...check that...every specialist EXCEPT a gynecologist!! Not one could seem to tell what was wrong with me, so they would send me home with a little white pill, cross their fingers and say, "I hope this works!" None of them did, and after several trips to the hospital I just about gave up on the medical system. Then I met an angel in the form of a plump German woman. Dr. Marietta Bergdorf. Say that ten times fast...She practiced medicine in Germany for close to twenty years and then hopped across the pond to find that if she was to work in the United States it would have to be under the title of 'alternative medicine'. Well I saw her for several months and miraculously she seemed to fix all my problems. I was healthy again. A lean, mean, healthy workin' machine! I felt great for a few months. Then early in September 2007 I donned my tool belt to head out for work and something didn't feel right. I decided to lay down for a minute to see if I could start to feel a little better and here we are a year later. I never did get feeling better, in fact I got feeling quite a lot worse! Obviously Dr. Bergdorf's magical cure wasn't so magical...so after seeing many more specialists the past year, I have once again given up on traditional medicine (I should have stuck with Dr. Bergdorf) and turned to the 'Ph Miracle'. This week marks the start of my ten day liquid fast, which includes, exclusively, vegetables. And not even all vegetables, only the kinds your mother tells you to eat cause "they're good for you", but the taste tells quite a different story. Having heard stories of what lies ahead of me I have concluded that, if I live through this week, which seems unlikely, I should be able to run faster than a speeding bullet and leap tall buildings in a single bound. In all seriousness I am excited for the weeks to come, I'm confident this may be the answer to the health questions I've been searching for!