Katya Ona Takaya

I have been working on finishing decorating my living room this week and am pretty much done (with the exception of some possible new curtains and a couple more pillows). We took some pictures of the room, which made me think of an idea. My idea is to put together an interior design blog of some sort. What I am wondering is if anyone out there would be interested in reading something like that. I would put tips, trends, ideas, etc... along with pictures. I would also like to set up contests, or something similar, to where people can send in photos of various rooms/places in their homes and then have them judged. I think it would be a fun and interesting venue. Let me know what you think.

So remember the past two years how Obama's campaign slogan was "Change."  He wanted everyone to think that it meant that he would help change the United States, to make it a better place, to bring it back up to where it used to be.  Obviously, since he is now president elect, people bought into his ideas.  But, as he has been in the news, sharing his many ideas and the plans he has for when he moves into office, I have come to agree with his slogan of "Change."  He does want change.  He wants the freedom to change his mind.  He has already stated that the economy is going to get worse before it gets better and that it was going to take a long time...no brainer.  But I thought he was going to fix it as soon as he came in.  Hmm.  He was going to raise taxes for the rich, give to the poor, the whole Robin Hood thing.  Now he is saying that he won't mess with the tax thing until 2011, the year Bush's plan ends.  Hmm.  What other changes does he have in mind?

I am going to say it in the beginning, so when it happens, y'all will be able to remember that I called it.  Obama won the election.  It is a great time in America because the general public voted for an African American to be our president.  He is very charismatic and likable.  Although I did not appreciate the general media because they are completely biased and were the whole time Obama had been in the news.  I feel that Obama represents the "popular kid" at school and  McCain was the "nerd."  Everyone is attracted to the popular, cool kid and doesn't care what the other kid has to say.  My prediction for Obama's presidency is that the economy will turn around, as it always does.  It won't be anything he does, it is just how the cycle goes.  There have been multiple times where the economy has been similar, yet we have always been able to get out.  It is no ones fault but our own.  People spent money they didn't have on things they didn't need and couldn't afford.  So when the economy goes back up, people are going to contribute it to Obama, when it wasn't him at all.  And he plans on taxing corporations.  You think that is going to help the economy and the average Joe?  I don't think so.  If corporations get taxed heavier, they will send more jobs elsewhere, therefore eliminating jobs in the U.S.  And when they have to pay more for taxes, you know that extra cost will be placed on the consumer.  Also, the War in Iraq is not very popular as most people know.  But, it is getting better and has been better than before because it hasn't been on the news.  The news won't talk about it at all if it is going well.  So if the troops come home during Obama's presidency, it isn't because of his foreign policy.  It will have been because they were ready to come home.  So there is my soapbox.

August: To briefly continue from vacation, we made it to Provo and stayed with the Hopkinsons.  Little Kevin is not so little now.  Kevin and my little brother are best friends and took part in the Sensuous Sandwich contest.  If you can eat a 24" sub in less than 30 minutes (I think) you get your picture on the wall and a T-shirt.  Kevin has done it multiple times, this particular instance was about 5 minutes, his best being 4.  Josh ate his in 15 and neither of them looked good.  Then there was my actual graduation.  Elder Richard G. Scott spoke and it was a very good talk.  The best part was when he said that everyone has problems so no one wants to hear about yours.  It was awesome.  Another exciting thing was my graduation gift from my parents, a hammered silver bracelet from James Avery.  

My goodness.  I have not had time to write anything for a while.  My graduation was August 14 and 15, so my family thought it would be fun to make a vacation out of it.  Ryan, Michael, and I drove up to Four Corners to meet up with my mom, dad, Josh, and Karl (one of my best friends).  The only person we were missing was Christopher.  :(  We ran into three huge storms.  We saw a lot of hippies in Flagstaff, but the weather was very nice.  I didn't sweat when I got out of the car at the gas station.  Anyways, we drove to Four Corners, where Ryan had dreamed of playing the classic elementary school game of Four Square.  He pumped up our yellow playground ball just for the occasion.  The stupid thing is that it costs $3 per person in each car to go see the granite slab.  Ridiculous.  And I had to use a port-o-potty.  I hate them.  They smell and I always feel like it's going to tilt backwards and I will get poo all over me.  After Four Square, we packed up the ball and left for our hotel in Cortez, Colorado.  It was nice, except for the cloudy green pool filled with little children.  It was past dinner time, so we were all starving.  $40 worth of pizza later, satisfaction set in.  We all layed down and watched the Olympics (which should have its own section).  The next morning was Sunday, so we went to sacrament meeting at the local church there.  After church we went to Mesa Verde, a park showcasing cliff dwellings.  It was pretty cool and fun to be with family.  I just can't imagine laying on thin mats on rock floors and wearing loin cloths.  Ryan and Karl, however, agreed that loin cloths are the way to go.  We went on a tour of the largest cliff dwelling and the guide talked about balance and nature, and other hippie ideas.  The key word for this trip is "hippy" because there were a lot of them.  At the end of the tour, we had to climb up some homemade ladders.  On one of the tours there is a 30' ladder, but I told my dad I wouldn't climb it.  That's why we didn't go on that tour.  

Michael, Ryan, and I went to the John Mayer concert on Wednesday June 30.  We had decent seats, although Ryan probably would have enjoyed being front row (just to be closer to his, dare I say, man crush).  I don't know, John Mayer does have his good days.  Anyways, we got to the amphitheater just as the the first act was finishing.  I think his name was Brett Dennan, who started at 7:00.  Colbie Caillat went on at 7:50.  She did a really good job and I like the sound of her voice.  It's relaxed and earthy, if that makes sense...but probably not.  And I'm not going to lie, I was pretty jealous that she was wearing a tank top and I wasn't.  It was HOT.  Enough said.  John Mayer was supposed to come on at 9:00.  Ryan and I both commented that we had never seen such long breaks in between acts.  At about 9:03, he came out in all his glory.  The lights went low and every girl was screaming like crazy...especially the girl right behind us.  A guy came out, put a guitar over his shoulder, and started to sing.  I was really confused for a few minutes as I tried to figure out who was singing.  Here is the description of the person who was on stage: shaved head, baggy black tank top, black cut off pants, and tennis shoes with the biggest tongue I had ever seen.  Well, it was in fact John.  I was expecting at least a t-shirt and jeans.  I decided later he was probably just trying to keep things interesting while on tour.  Dressed up or not, he was awesome.  He played "Say," which I really like.  He wrote it for "The Bucket List," a really good movie that made me cry, cry, cry.  John also played a new single (which features Herbie Hancock) called "Stitched Up."  It's a fun song and sure to get your toes tappin!  Ha.  But really, you should check it out on itunes.  Then, as if the concert wasn't enough, there was a potential for two fights to break out.  Both involved people standing while everyone else was sitting, making it hard to see the stage.  

I am no stranger to the nursery program.  Ryan and I were nursery leaders in our ward in Provo for 6 months.  It was not uncommon for us to be the only adults in there with about ten kids.  But these were no ordinary children; they were first borns of BYU parents.  If you don't know what that means, I will explain.  One little girl would point and make an "oo-oo" sound, much like that of a monkey, indicating that she in fact wanted that particular toy.  One little boy would stand in the middle of the room, mouth partially open, with drool dribbling down his chin, and eventually onto his clothes.  We were warned when we first came into the nursery that he ate crayons, so he only got one during coloring time.  One day he was using a purple crayon, and the next thing I knew, he was drooling purple.  I wiped his face off with a paper towel and noticed chunks of crayon on his tongue.  I told him to open his mouth and I wiped off what I could.  There was another little boy who had a complete change in attitude when he came back from Christmas break.  He was a fairly mild mannered boy who turned into a terror.  He was taking toys from other kids, bashing their heads into the Fisher-Price play house, and hitting.  At one point I took him out of the room, sat him in my lap, and crossed my arms over him so that he couldn't move.  He wasn't too happy.  I tried to tell him that he wasn't being nice, blah blah blah.  Then Ryan popped his head out of the door and said, "It sure is fun in here without Isaac."  At the end of nursery that day, Isaac was the last one waiting for his parents.  Ryan then found it appropriate to say, "Isaac, do your parents not love you anymore?  Is that why they haven't come and picked you up?"  I'm pretty sure Isaac didn't know what was going on, so he should still grow up and be fine.  If anything, maybe he needed a little tough love now and then.