26 moments

Last year I posted 25 moments for my birthday.
I loved looking back and recapturing the best moments.
Maybe it'll be a tradition.
Yesterday, I turned 27. Here are 26 moments from my 26th year.

1. Visiting Home (from Taiwan)
Fall is my favorite time in Utah, especially at USU.

2. DWYSYWD

I promised my Grandma years ago that no matter what, I would sing at her funeral.

'No Matter What' meant traveling 14,000 miles that week. A deal's a deal.

3. Siblings United
This funeral was the first time that all of my siblings have been together.

How is that possible?

Lisa's a bit older than the rest of us and she grew up back East.

She visited before Trina was born and then when Mick was on his mission.

Every vacation or reunion since, someone was missing for various reasons.

4. Traveling around the beautiful island of Taiwan

5. Planning our trip through Southeast Asia.

Lady Business Meetings after work, crowded around our kitchen table in our cruddy Taiwan apt.

Tanier would delegate assignments, Hanna and I hardly did anything....haha.

Oh T. I'm sorry.

6. Holidays Overseas

Penny did NOT like the Pumpkin Pie at our Thanksgiving Dinner in Feng Yuan, Taiwan.

Celebrating Christmas in a Buddhist Country was weird.

No Christmas Trees. No Holly. No Lights. No Santa. No Bethlehem. Never again.

7. Singapore

Loved this country.

Eating some traditional Malay food with my right hand ONLY.

Left hand is for going to the bathroom. duh.

8. Cankles

The second day of backpacking, I got a severe sunburn that resulted in cankles for a week+. Here we are at the steps of the Batu Caves in KL, Malaysia. Those steps were numbered to infinity.

Elevated Elephant Legs

I have never been that uncomfortable.

9. FRIZZ.

The humidity in Asia had a fiesta everyday with my hair.
I mean, really.

10. Epitome of GROSSNESS
This next one is really hard to share...but I think about it often.

Moving to Taiwan caused a lot of complications for me....the stress, culture shock, humidity,
change in diet, schedule, medications, etc etc made a MESS of my face.
Cystic acne is not funny, it hurt to wash my face, to touch it and even to sleep on.
This photo isn't that bad and hopefully nobody will ever know the extent of it.
The worst part was looking in the mirror and being disgusted by my appearance.
I've edited EVERY photo I own and all that hit the worldwideweb...minus these few.

It wasn't just acne, but my face broke out in rashes every few days.

Needless to say, I think I'm allergic to Asia.

Thanks goodness for American Dermatologists, I'm almost good as new.

11. Thailand
Onto happier things. Thailand is my personal heaven.
I'll never forget the excitement I had every morning to wake up...so I could eat.

curry.fruit.roti.

Ziplining through the jungles near Chiangmai is a must. coolest place on earth.

12. Cambodia

How else would you transport pigs?
13. Hong Kong

I was so hungry the night I went to dinner with some hong kong locals.

When they brought out this food: I looked at Tanier. laughed and then shed a few tears.

Cow Organs. Chicken. Pig Intestines. Sausage and Beef. Still not sure which is which.

The next day they took us to eat again.
Meatballs and Fish Balls. Grossest stuff EVERRRRRR!
We refer to meatballs as 'the fetus' (white blob with a meatball surprise inside!)

Eating it to be polite. gagging and then quitely spitting it into the garbage.
14. TANIER GLAUSER

Tanier was my roommate and fellow teacher in Taiwan. It wasn't friendship at first sight, which is what I love the most. I was a pill when I got to Taiwan and she didn't enable my bad behavior. But as we learned more about each other, we became the best of friends. She has been the most stable and reliable friend to me this year. I absolutely adore her and I'm thrilled she's flying in to chillax this weekend. xoxo

15. The Great Wall
You must go. It really is incredible.

16. Beijing Treats

Eating Snake...

...and then dry heaving it.

17. Teaching the cutest Asian Kids.

I miss those nose pickers.

18. Cabin Time.

I love this photo-when Amanda saw my thermals AKA 'little boy pants', she fell to the ground laughing..and then so did I. And I wanna say she even wet her pants. It's not that funny, but I LOOOVE friends that laugh at everything. Makes life bearable.

This same night, I bet Amanda $10 to swallow a Tablespoon of cinnamon.

(not physically possible).
I'm evil. What a great weekend.

19. Chalk Festival

This day was so much fun with Liz, Heather, Brandon and his friends.

Sweet pic, right?!

20. Road trip
Visiting Pa in Spokane with my sis and cuz

My Grandpa is the cutest thing in the whole world. He's hard of hearing so we email and he says the darndest things....like duffer and sprite. mmmmmuah I love him.

We had so much fun trying on Grandma's jewelry and clothes.
We laughed. Then cried. Repeat. This trip was one for the books.

21. Easter.
It's the best holiday. Outlaws vs. Inlaws is always a healthy rivalry.

Adult Easter Egg Hunts, who would've know they'd be so fun!

22. Duck Beach over Memorial Wknd 2010
I wouldn't have missed it for anything!

23. Trip to LA
We ran into everyone we knew from DC.
Who knew Huntington Beach was going to be a remake of Duck Beach?

24. Trip to SF
I had never been and was itching to go. The architecture is amazing.

I fell in love....except that it was FREEEEZING. Hated that.

We dropped by Lake Tahoe on our drive home.

Never go on a roadtrip without an ipod. Noted.

25. Sky Diving

Holy Macaroni. Exhilirating.

26. TOU 1/2 Marathon
I've never had someone cheer me on at a race before. Having someone at the finish line was so fun. These two sisters are great for me. Thanks for your support ladies.

A friend asked me a few weeks ago what I'm passionate about. I've come to a few conclusions. One of them is birthdays. They're really important to me, not just mine..everyone's.

Overall, it was a great day.

I received lots of funny messages and then had Thai for dinner with friends.

It has been one incredible year. Bring it #27....I'm ready!

worst KISS experience ever!!

I work part time for ReAL Salt Lake.

It's fun-I chill with Kyle Beckerman at the post game parties

(to ensure that he stays hydrated and happy!).

What a hunk!

I'm in love with the players, they're all great with the public.

...

Occasionally there are concerts at our beautiful, new stadium.

Paul McCartney rocked my world a few weeks back!

...

And then KISS came to concert last week.

Lucky for me, I was in charge of their personal suite that night.

Gene Simmons comes out of the make-up room in his satan get up.

Walks into the staff suite...

...brushes my face, gives it a little pinch and says,

"Well you're cute..."

Winks and walks away.

...and then I threw up a little in my mouth.

Xiao Long Bao

I went to the sports doctor to figure out the problem with my knee.

We couldn't find a solution so...

no marathon for me this Saturday.

A small part of me wanted to wuss out of this race...

and when I found a reason, I caved to the laziness.

Not cool Tabbi! Better luck (with your goals) next time!

...

On to happier thoughts.

Have you ever tried Xiao Long Bao(soup dumplings)?

I'm obsessed....but I haven't been able to find them in SLC.

Any recommendations?

...and while I'm on the topic, I'm craving hot pots.

I hear there's one in Provo called Four Seasons. I need to go there.

'Hot Pot' is a pot of (spicy) bouillion that you cook your noodles, chicken, veggies, seafood, etc. You throw it in, cook it, devour, repeat.

Delicious=Hao Tzu!! And so fun=Lèqù!

Sniper: Deadliest Missions

Okay, that was the coolest thing ever.

The History Channel did a great job re-enacting sniper stories.

However, I was NOT a fan of the gushing/exploding blood.

I've heard this story several times but it was so cool to see it re-enacted.

In middle school, my dad told that story to my class.

He told how his arm was trapped underneath the downed helicopter.

He pulled out a knife and started slicing away the skin around his elbow to 'cut' himself loose.

Only to realize that all he needed to do was let go of his gun.

Major Perkins--what were you thinking?!!

My dad emailed me this morning to clarify a few things about the story.

This explanation will only make sense if you've heard my dad's story or watched the show.

But I'm pasting it here so I'll remember it.

And let's be honest--who journals anymore?

My blog keeps track of things for me now!

...

"As the helicopters landed, the VC opened fire and one man wasn't able to get on the other helicopter. Once we were in the air--I learned that and told the other helicopter to get him. They did, but has he jumped in, another jumped out and the helicopter took off. So then we went in to get him--but we were shot down. I jumped as were crashing but was crushed by the helicopter. The men rolled the bird and pulled me from beneath. Ed did as portrayed in the program, but 2 cobra gunships also put down fire. When they ran out of ammo they landed, with their tails towards the enemy--still under heavy fire. The first loaded with survivors sitting on the stubby winglets (under which hung the rocket pods) and one man draped across the gunner's lap.

Bernie tried to help me to the 2nd bird but I was so broken up and in shock that I couldn't hold on to that short winglet (3 feet) and told him to lay me back down. He did and put a grenade in my right hand. He got in and as the helicopter turned to leave, Ed jumped off and yelled to the pilot that he wouldn't leave me to die alone and returned to lie next to me. He killed 2 more VC after the helicopter left (about 30 feet aways). Then another helicopter landed--after the departing pilot radioed that Ed was still down there. He was under heavy fire but got us out of there. The program got the facts straight but left out other details. The producer knew all the facts but was limited in time and was focused on the sniper issues. Ed faced down 30 or more VC and whipped them. He received no award except for the Purple Heart--as he was wounded as he fired from his position on top of the helicopter."

...

Can you imagine having a helicopter crash on you?

My dads a tough guy, but it's only skin deep.

He's really a teddy bear.

A big thanks to Ed Eaton for his heroic act that kept my dad alive April 3, 1969.

History Channel

As many of you know, my Dad's a Vietnam vet.

He was interviewed months back about the situation of April 3, 1969 where he was trapped in a downed helicopter and his company sniper, Ed Eaton, saved his life.

Tune in tomorrow to hear his story (and others') on the History Channel.

'Sniper: Deadliest Missions'

September 14 at 6pm and 10pm

TOU 1/2

The TOU 1/2 was my toughest race yet.

Mentally, it was easy.

Physically, I was a mess.

I was still feeling under the weather...

and my knee was screaming from mile 5 on.

Random...

Have you ever noticed 'Old Man Rivers' at every race?

These characters are generally:

80 year old men.

wearing long blue/grey striped socks.

velcro strapped shoes.

and a mesh hat.

Try as I might, they always outrun me.

My friend Neal and I, glistening at the finish line.


A big thanks to my sisters Jen and Tawna for cheering me on.
It reminded me that Perkins Girls Rock.
This devastates me, but if I can't find the problem with my knee--
I won't be running the TOU full in a few weeks.
I think it's my IT band--any suggestions?

Perkins Reunion 2010

I'm the 6th of 7 kids and its hard to all get together.

Two summers ago, my parents started a reunion for our siblings.

The first year they went to Fish Lake, I was stuck in DC.

Last year they went to Yellowstone, I was stuck in Taiwan.

This year I made it to the festivities! Yahoo!

Day 1 we went to Lagoon with these krazy kids.

The swings used to be my favorite ride.

But I almost lost my lunch on it this year.

I enjoyed riding all the 'big kid' rides with my nieces.

My 6 year old and 8 year old nieces are the bravest.

Lib never cried and we rode big rides til the park closed.

I'm certain I didn't ride the colossaus til I was 12.

I hope they'll always be bold and brave.

Did I mention we wore matching tshirts?

The epitome of awesome.
we hung out as a big group for a minute.
then a group of us split off to Lagoon-a beach.
Best idea. I love the lazy river.
Tubing is my favorite...especially with my nieces.


Day 2 we went to Bear Lake.
Soaked up the sun. Watched the cousins play.
And ate lots of food (thanks mom).

My niece Abbie is always fighting off my love.
Someday soon she'll warm up to me.
I hope.

The Perkins Girls and the Tolman Boys
(only thing missing here are the Fisher Boys).


My favorite photo from the weekend.
Lib rocks my world- always so happy and sweet.

Thanks for the effort on everyone's part to get together.

Love ya'll Perkins Clan!!

Bucket List

I've been wanting to go skydiving for years.

My pops was a paratrooper so he encouraged me growing up.

I finally got the nerves...

Getting decked out in our power ranger suits.

"To Infinity and beyond...."

We were excited but FREAKING out!

My guide, Argyle, was NOT amused with my questions/fears/photos.

Argyle: "We haven't killed anyone in days. You'll PROBABLY be fine."

Another guy: "Argyle's narcoleptic. If he falls asleep en route, smack him. He SHOULD wake up."

They were teasing me the entire plane ride...
and then Argyle pushed me out around 12,000 ft.
Which was perfect--I didn't have time to panic.

We were freefalling (que tom petty song) for about a minute.

My stomach was in my throat..but it didn't feel like falling.

I only remember the wind and that it was breathtaking.

...and that the parachute gave me a wedgie!

The best part was flying after the chute came out.

.......

A big thanks to Josh Westover for these pics.
I met Josh months ago and by happenstance..
..he went skydiving same day/time we did!

The TOU 1/2 marathon is manana.

I've been so siiiick all week and am expecting my worst PR.

But I'm no quitter.