AO semifinal and final

I didn't watch either the second semifinal or the final. But I totally wish I had. I was just so tired and could not stay awake. Next year I really need to look into geting ESPN and tivo.

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The second semifinal was between Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray. It took just under five hours to complete this match. Novak won.

Here are their stats ...

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Then the Australian Open 2012 Finals were between Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal. I really tried to stay up for this match but the problem is we sort of had an impromptu party at my house that night so I was awake the whole time I was planning on sleeping. So when everyone went home around 1am I planned on staying up and watching the finals which were scheduled to begin at 1:30am. But I could not keep my eyes open. I needed sleep. lol.

Anyways, this final was the longest final in history. Not the longest match just the longest final. It lasted seven minutes shy of six hours.

Novak Djokovic won his third Australian Open. :)

Here are the stats ...

Novak and Rafa.

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And in case you were wondering how this Open has shaken up the ATP Rankings ... It hasn't.

AO Semifinal: Roger vs. Rafa

The first semifinal of the Australian Open was played last night. I had to watch it. My two favorite guys in tennis. How could I not watch it. Whenever Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal take the court against (or with) each other I always try and watch it. The match was played at 7:30pm Australian-time. So 1:30am Utah-time. (I just love the time difference. *said sarcastically*) I made a plan and stuck with it. I went to bed early and got about four hours of sleep before I woke up at 1:15am to settle in for a long match. I knew it would be long because these two great guys always battle it out on the court. I love the on-court rivalry that Roger and Rafa have. It's epic. Anyways, the match was so intense but totally awesome! I was always rooting for Roger because I love him. But I also really like Rafa so I was torn at certain parts. lol. The first set had a tiebreaker (with Roger winning) and it lasted 57 minutes. The second set went to Rafa. And the third set also had a tiebreaker with Rafa winning. That third set was so intense. I was yelling at the computer and willing Roger to hold his serves and break Rafa's. (But he did really listen to me. lol.) I was pretty downhearted for a minute after that set. But I mustered my will and happy thoughts and directed them toward Roger. I really wanted him to do good and win. At one point the commentator said that if Roger won then Rafa wins as well because everyone will know that he put his all into the match. But if Rafa won then Roger loses because he just loses. That was his mindset at least. And I have to disagree with that thought. I think that whoever wins the match between Roger and Rafa put all their energy into it. No one really lost. But I guess it's an opinion that I don't share. lol. Before the match started when the commentators were analyzing the match and making all their predictions and all that fun stuff I did agree with something they said. They said that this match would be great because there was no pressure of actually winning the Australian Open. It was just a semifinal so it could just be really good tennis. And it was! I painted my nails early on just so that I wouldn't be tempted to bite them during the match. lol. (They are a lovely shade of gold.) Something random and fun was that it was Australia Day so during the match they actually had a break while the fireworks were set of for the celebration. I don't think it helped or hindered either Roger or Rafa. They did get a little bit of a respite so they were ready for the rest of the set.

Rafael Nadal def. Roger Federer in the semifinal of the 2012 Australian Open.

So stats ... 

It was a great 3 and a half hours. lol.

AO update

The Australian Open is going well. There are two more matches to be played before we find out who is playing the two semifinal matches. Novak Djokovic and David Ferrer play today's day quarterfinal match. And Andy Murray and Kei Nishikori play today's night quarterfinal match. And the winners of those two matches make up the second semifinal. We already know that Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal will be playing one of the semifinal matches. I was hoping that would be the case. I always like watching those two play. But I also always root for Roger. I like him a tiny bit more then Rafa. lol. The semifinals aren't played for a day or so. I really hope that they are on tv here and I can watch them because if not I'm gonna be sad. I am pretty sure that CBS Sports broadcasts the finals on tv but I can't remember if the show the semis as well. I miss having ESPN. lol.

BTW, writing down the results of the draw on the print-out has been really fun. I am definitely doing it for the other majors this year. :)

Australian Open 2012

The 2012 Australian Open started this weekend. Since Australia is six hours ahead of me in terms of time, it was Monday for them but it was Sunday night for me when the tournament started. I did some prep work beforehand. I decided to print out the men's draw and keep track on paper. I did want to listen to Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal play their matches but I was tired around 11pm when they were getting ready to play. Well, Roger had a night match so it was more like 1am for me when he played. But Rafa played a day match. They both made it past the first round. I wasn't too worried about them not making it. I read their post match interviews today. It's very interesting reading the interviews this year. The politics of tennis is changing. And the press is gonna ask about it. (Rafa already told the press he won't talk anymore about it. Only tennis.) I think that things do need to change. The players need more of a say in what goes on with these tournaments. They need a player's union. Especially for the US Open with all the rain that goes on there. I think last September is when all this talk started. I'm sure this year will be very interesting to watch the behind-the-scenes of tennis as well as the actual tennis this year. I am hoping that Roger can get on top of things this year and win a few majors. In terms of ATP rankings, as of today, Monday, January 16, Novak Djokovic is #1 with 13,630 points. Rafael Nadal is #2 with 9,595 points. Roger Federer is #3 with 8,010 points. And Andy Murray is #4 with 7,380 points. So I'm not sure if Roger can overtake Novak unless Novak is having a bad year. Which I'm pretty sure he won't. But we'll have to see what the future holds in the world of tennis.

Catch-All Stand

I have been wanting to make a simple catch-all tray for my nightstand for a while now. The other day I got the inspiration I needed to go get the supplies. I saw this picture on Pinterest and I knew that's what I wanted to make.

Source: sarahortega.com via Krysta on Pinterest

So I made a trip to the Dollar Tree and picked up a couple of plates and smaller bowls. The bowls are more like pasta plates or salad plates. They are shallow bowls. I like that it has that bowl shape but it's still flat. I also got several short, clear candle holders.

I glued the candle holders to the two bowls Saturday. I glued them opposite of each other. One has the base at the bottom and the other has the base glued to the bowl. I like both looks. I stuck a pile of heavy books on top of each and I let them dry for a couple of days. Overnight would have been fine but I did the gluing on a Saturday and then didn't get to the project until Monday (today). (You can see in the photo below how I glued them "opposite" of each other.)

I decided not to glue the bowl to the plate because I'm not sure if I want it in the center or off to the side. I'll just set it on until I decide for sure. I have been having it off to the side and I really like it that way. I can place my rings and earrings and small things in the bowl and the larger things (like my keys, mail, glasses, or whatever) on the plate bottom.

Before ...

Before ...

After.

After.

I like it a lot. It fills the space back there quite nicely. And I like having two tiers. It gives me more room and I won't clutter the rest of the nightstand too much. lol.

P.S. Someday I'll upgrade that lamp.

Saturday Songs

After six months of doing Saturday Songs every Saturday I have decided I won't be doing that anymore. With work and all the things I have going on I just don't have time or energy to create those posts. Sorry if you really liked them. Maybe they'll come back someday.

Holidays and Rooms

So I have been really bad at updating my blog. lol. And I have things to talk about. Like Christmas and my room and the bathroom and um ... yeah that's about it.

So ...

Christmas was fun. Since it was on a Sunday we had church. Steven and I went to our parent's family ward. They had all the children doing a program. It was only sacrament meeting so that was nice. (It's always something like a program / just sacrament meeting whenever Christmas Day falls on a Sunday.) It breaks with our tradition though of staying in our new pjs all day. We have to get dressed for church. lol. Oh well. I got so fun stuff. As a last minute addition to my Christmas list I put a new stereo / CD player on there. And I got one. I didn't expect to get one so that was a surprise. This one is cool because in addition to the five CD changer it has a place for a MP3 player hookup, with a little shelf to keep it while it with the stereo. That really nice. It's an AUX cable hookup so it works with any MP3 player. I got a new shirt and jeans. But they were both too big so Mom and I exchanged them. Mom's gift (the reason for the exchange) was a new shirt and jeans. But I also got a new spring dress (which is striped and actually really cute), a teal cardigan, and a couple of new tank tops. My older tanks are too small. I still need to go back and see if the have any whites there. They were out of my size when I got the pink and black one. I feel like I got something else while we were there but I can't remember. Shirt, shirt, dress, jeans ... Oh well, I got a new slip too but that doesn't really count does it? lol. I got lots of small things too. I got a puzzle (which we put it together already), socks, candy, a super bright flashlight, a couple of pairs of earrings, popcorn ... Chad/Amber gave me an adorable Thumper (the rabbit from 'Bambi') stuffed animal. It's official Disney merchandise (or so the tag says) so he looks exactly like Thumper and he is really soft. Steven gave me a Barnes and Noble gift card. I'm saving it for one of the books I want in paperback. If I use it wisely maybe I can use it for two of them. But I haven't looked to much into that because I'm not ready to read any other books yet. (I'm almost done with The Two Towers.) One of my Grobie sisters sent me a gift to. We can do that because we live in the States. It's more difficult to send our Europe sisters gifts because all that international stuff. We send cards though. (I say we but I have yet to send anything to anyone. I'm such a bad friend. I've known them for about three years and I have never sent a card. Bad Krysta. lol. I've never had extra money. But I'm working on a Groban stash so I can use that. Random. I know.) Anyways, Theresa sent me a bag that she was planning on donating to Grobanites for Charity but I asked for it instead. lol. She sent my goodies to. Like chocolate, a yo-yo, some nail art things, oh and she sent Josh. I LOVE that part! It was so unexpected. It's a Straight to You tour pass with a fabulous photo of Josh Groban on it. I hung it on my door. It makes me smile. From the Grandparents I got a handmade lovely, fluffy (seriously it's so soft) scarf and hat, cute Santa Claus salt and pepper shakers, and money, among other things. I think that's about it for Christmas.

The bathroom has been painted and tiled and has been waiting for the shower glass to be put in for a couple of weeks. Last week, Thursday I think, the guy came and put the glass in. It's done now. And the bathroom looks so much nicer now. Dad made the shower slightly larger because he wanted to get rid of the gap between the shower and the counter. It's nice to not have that gap there. Spiders would die there and Brian and I were to lazy to vacuum them up. lol. But I really seems like the shower is bigger. I probably has to do with the glass not having stripes on it too. It's clear, minimal frame, two-way swinging door, shower now. It's really nice. I also like that the walls are darker and not so crazy yellow. I never liked getting ready in there because it had odd lighting. But now I don't mind it. My next task with the bathroom is to organize the drawers and underneath the sink. I saw some nice, clear divider things at Target yesterday that I want. I can't buy them yet but I wanted to organize it all soon anyways. (That is on my to-do list for tomorrow morning.) I have to remember not to expand my stuff over to the other three drawers because Eric is going to want space when he gets home next month. I'll see what I can do. lol.

Speaking of organizing, my room is pretty much done. Yeah, I know I've been saying that for a while. But this time it's true. I just have aesthetic things to do now. I have a box of magazines to sort through. But it's in a box so it's not as much of an eyesore as when they were in piles on the floor or in a laundry basket. And I'm covering all of my books to be white. But I need more gift wrap from the dollar store. More about that project when I'm finished. :) I have found that I have a lot of t-shirts that I still don't wear so I'd like to sort through those (again) and get rid of some of them. I was thinking I'd put them all in a box and if I wear it during a month period it gets kept and put in the drawer. The other ones get donated or have to have a really good reason for staying. I thought I had paired it down enough before but I still feel like I have tons of shirts. lol. I never really had a spot for my laundry baskets in the other room and I made sure that I have a spot for them in this room. Guess where I put them? My laundry basket sits in them, which is in my closet, next to my extra hangers. (Did you know I have different hangers then the rest of the house? I wanted my own non-mismatched set. So a few years ago I bought my own. It's really nice. lol.)

Let's see ... It's a new year! 2012! That's big. It's doesn't seem like it should be 2012. I graduated high school in 2006. And it certainly does not feel like it has been six years since then. ... I don't really have any major goals for this year, just I renewed vigor to do the old goals. Read scriptures daily, pay tithing, blog, be happy. This year I did want to actually do some of the creative stuff I have in mind. Actually, the white book thing is the first thing I'm doing with that. I might read Shakespeare this year but I have a feeling not so much. I have several other books I'd like to read this year so I have a feeling I won't get to those this year. I still want to read them someday. lol. Also this year I am hoping that I can keep my room way more organized, and clean, that before. So far I'm liking it so that should be okay to do. Before I would not have space and I would get bored so things ended up on the floor. As far as the actual year's events go ... I have two wedding scheduled so far, a niece being born, Eric comes home next month, and I have the tennis Opens already in my calender. (The Australian Open starts on Monday. Yay!) Who knows what else is going to happen this year. lol. Steven, or I, could get married. But I don't foresee that happening. Maybe, maybe, engaged but not married. lol. (Neither one of us is dating at the moment, just so you know.)

Um ... Saturday Song posts. I was going to mention those. You may, or may not, have noticed that I haven't posted any this year yet. I'm still debating on if I want to do that weekly or just monthly. I am leaning more toward monthly because I don't know if I have enough songs in mind to do 52-ish of them. I'll look later this week and see if I do or not. If I do then I'll most certainly post last weeks post as well as schedule several of them for the future.

I think that all the topics I wanted to talk about. Unless you want to hear how my reading of LOTR has been going? lol. (I still super fun, btw.)