Bill, Char, Brighton, Cole, and Savannah!

14,600 days of life... Many been FANTASTIC... some, not so great.
But to celebrate my 40th, Billy really thought about what my favorites are. He surprised me and it was wonderful.

He took me to the movies to see Arther, (Fun!) and then we went to dinner at Simply Fondue.... WHICH I LOVE!!! 2 1/2 hours with nothing to do but eat, socialize and laugh! Good times!!! However, appearently some people do not love to be "stuck" at a meal for over 2 hours, and my husband is one of those people, so this special dinner was an extra special gift to me. I loved it. (Dad, I thought of you. I am sure you would have HATED EVERY SECOND OF IT!!!! My dad is definitely one of those people who do NOT love to be "stuck at a meal for hours at a time.)

They have a new really cool way to cook at the fondue places.... you do traditional fondue for the cheese and dessert courses, but for the entree, you can choose to grill it. Healthy and FABULOUS!

Thanks to my hunnie, it was a really fun day.

First, I am so lucky to be alive, and I am crazy in love with my husband Billy and my three babies! Thank you Heavenly Father for sending me to the Gates/Bodell/Brown/Whiting Family to live. I am so thankful for my siblings, cousins and extended family!

I have a few friends who have done their list of 100 random things about themselves. I would LOVE to read a list from my grandma or my mom when they turned 40. So here goes…

1. I love anything with a bow. If I can tie a bow on it, I am the first to sign up to do it!

2. I am Never without:

A bottle of water (yes, even in church on Fast Sunday… I don’t usually drink it, but I have to know it is there.

3. A good chapstick, and by good, I mean not waxy, (ugh!) not made with beeswax and peppermint (I am allergic to that combination). So my 2 favorites are Kiehls and Natural Ice.

4. I am rarely without:

A good historic romance novel

5. A little baggie of dark chocolate covered almonds and milk chocolate covered raisens. (Henry’s are my favorites.)

6. I love doing the laundry. I feel like a successful housewife when all the laundry is clean and put away.

7. I hate doing the toilets and mopping floors. ICK!

8. My cousin Nicki got me addicted to Cherry Coke Zero…. It is definitely my guilty little secret! I don't do it everyday, but when I have it, I LOVE IT!

9. I have my son in gymnastics so that someday he can do flips and back handsprings after he scores a touchdown!

10. I love to feed my babies like a bird, from my mouth to theirs. (It makes my husband crazy!)

11. One of my all time favorite movies is 50 First Dates.

12. Most Adam Sandler movies make me cry… LOVE HIM! They all have such heart!

13. I love coconut flavored anything. I will lick coconut sunblock and candles “just to see” if it might taste as good as it smells. To me, it is worth the risk. I honestly believe someday it will pay off.

14. Whenever I am sad I make homemade chocolate chip cookie dough. I seldom bake the cookies. It is the making of the dough that makes me feel better.

15. If I am really upset, I will go to the movies by myself. It is my best therapy!

16. I LOVE scrapbook retreats. This is my special “splurge”!

17. TV is great. My favorite reality shows are:

Survivor

18. Amazing Race

19. Anything with a pagent (from Miss America to Toddler in Tiaras)

20. American Idol

21. Cupcake Wars

22. My favorite sitcoms are:

Modern Family

23. My other favorites are:

Castle

24. Grey’s Anatomy

25. Off the Map

26. I once spent three weeks in Europe with my family and my husband, and it was perhaps the funnest 3 weeks of my life!

27. I love my job. Kids Are Music makes me really happy.

28. Baby ears is my favorite game.

29. I adore spending time with my Grandma and Grandpa Bodell. Doing anything.

30. One of my favorite role models is my Aunt Pam. She has amazing leadership skills. I would love to be more like her.

31. At night before I go to sleep, I have to watch an episode of either Friends, MASH or recently Will and Grace.

32. I can happily read a cookbook from cover to cover in a day or two.

33. I am not the type to have lots of friends, but the friends I have… I dearly love! Right now, my closest girlfriends are Julie, Sue and Carrie.

34. I dig Rosie O’donnell. I f I could spend a day with anyone in this world it would be her.

35. My favorite church calling was teaching Relief Society. My worst would be teaching Sunday school.

36. Broadway musicals move me in a way I can’t even begin to define. Sitting in the theater, hearing the overture begin… it is my heaven!

37. I am really bad at keeping in touch with people, but I still feel like they are close dear friends. A few that come to mind are:

Jayne Ford, my best friend from kindergarten through 2^nd grade. I still remember her phone number 35 years later.

38. Monica Memmott, my best friend in high school.

39. Charlene Bassinger, my first ever college roommate.

40. Angie Jepperson, my best friend after college.

41. Phyllis Bulleigh, my favorite roommate ever.

Although I have not spoken to any of these girls (women) in many years, I still often find myself thinking, “I wonder what xxxx would think about this?” and find myself wanting to call them.

42. Ever since I got my son cole, I LIVE FAITHFULLY according to my planner. Before that, I rarely wrote anything down on a calendar. Now I can’t even imagine it.

43. Gastric Bypass... One of the best decisions of my life.

44. I talk to my siblings, at least one of them, every day. Very often I talk to 2 or 3 of them in a day.

45. I only see some of them yearly, and that is if we are lucky.

46. I miss them desperately.

47. My favorite candy bars are Kit Kats and Twix.

48. I hate anything with nugget! Milky Way and Three Musketeers. YUCK!

49. I rarely wear make-up.

50. At church I will wear mascara and chap stick.

51. For Kids Are Music shows I will sometimes add foundation, eye shadow and occasionally colored lip gloss. (Occasionally)

52. I always clean my house in my unders (my G’s), so if you stop by, give me some time to come to the door, cuz I am up racing to put clothes on! (sorry mom and dad, I know you hate that!, But read the next one, just for you!)

53. I ALWAYS wear “close toed shoes”…. Even when I am only in my unders… so yes, tennis shoes and unders are a normal for me. This is because my mom told me that you cannot be successful in life at anything if you do not get up in the morning and put on closed toe shoes. It must have stuck, because I have been this way for years!

54. My first job when I turned 15 was waitressing at Bob’s Big Boy. (My dad or mom would drive me.

55. My next job, after I had a car, was catering on weekends for my Uncle’s Frank Startup and Harry Schultz.

56. This job is what lead me to eventually dream of getting a

57. Dergree in Recreation Management from

58. BYU

59. And going to work for Marriott Corporation, ending at

60. The Ritz Carleton Laguna Niguel as a wedding planner.

61. My favorite job ever was my dream job of being a sales and catering manager at the Standford Park Hotel in Palo Alto California. Amazing boutique hotel… great perks, small company. I loved it!

62. I left that job to marry the love of my life,

63. Bill Johnson

64. I was hired as a Flight Attendant for Southwest Airlines, which I still consider one of my greatest goals ever met. I turned it down to get married. Best decision ever.

65. BYU’s Academy For Girl’s made me into the woman I am today. I literally changed my life.

(me and Nicki, first day of Academy for Girls, 12 years old.)

66. EFY was great also, but not anything like Academy.

67. My cousin, Nicki Patterson was my best, closest friend the entire time I was growing up.

68. My sister Amy became my best friend in high school and we have remained close ever since.

69. I roomed with Amy and Mitzi while I was at BYU, but at different times. These are my very favorite BYU memories. I wish I had more of them.

70. I served a mission in Southern Georgia.

71. While there I ate road kill, but I did NOT like it.

72. I was served squirrel but could not eat it.

73. I ate and enjoyed Alligator.

74. My daughter Savannah is named after my favorite area… Ridgeland is the city, in the Savannah Zone. So beautiful!

75. My son Brighton is named after Brighton Beach in England. In my historical romance novels, Brighton is the perfect place they go to visit the ocean and vacation. I dream of going there someday.

76. My son Cole is named after the hero in a historical romance novel, “”For the Roses” when 4 orphaned boys become brothers and raise a little sister they name Rose. Still one of my favorite book sets.

77. My husband thinks he thought of Cole’s name, but since he never reads my blogs, I am safe to write that in here.

78. Growing up I always planned to marry an Eagle Scout, Returned Missionary. Bill is neither of those, but he is the best member missionary and scout merit badge leader I have ever seen. Shows what I know.

79. I am very spoiled. My husband loves me and for the most part dotes on me. (In an amazingly great way.)

80. My favorite memories from high school are:

81. Being in the musicals

82. Dating Eric Dekarver

83. Creative group dates

84. Being on the cheer team. (I really loved my uniform. I would wear it around today if it wouldn’t be weird.) (And yes, it would be weird.)

85. I wish I would have paid more attention in Seminary. My teacher was Brother Holzaphfel and he was amazing and I totally took him for granted. I thought all seminary teachers were that amazing. What I wouldn’t give to have the opportunity to learn from him now on a daily basis.

86. I love lists! Shopping lists, to do lists, any kind of a list!

87. I hate taking my kids to the doctor. It makes me physically ill to think about it. Too many REALLY BAD memories of Cole’s first 3 years of life.

88. The worst year of my life was 2006. It was so bad that I used to go through 2-3 boxes of Kleenex a week, and often 3 cordless phone batteries in a day trying to get doctor appointments and health insurance authorizations for Cole.

89. This year was so bad, we did not even have a Christmas tree. We did not have a Thanksgiving dinner or go trick or treating.

90. This was the year I learned what eternal families really meant.

91. This was the year I learned how much I love the Relief Society and the sisterhood I find there.

92. This was the year I learned that my very favorite thing to do in life is to sit at home with my husband and babies and enjoy a night at home, together.

93. I am very thankful for my uterine cancer, because it forced me to understand God’s amazing plan for my family.

94. I love putting together spiritual thoughts with the perfect handout, gift and of course, bow.