The Jordies: Highlights from the 2011 Awards

It's January again.  A time for reflection on the past and resolutions for the future.  This past year for me was . . . well . . . it was a year and I lived through it.  There were some good times and some bad times and probably many things I would do differently if I could.  But as I looked back on 2011, instead of the typical "year-in-review" or "New Year's Resolutions" that one might expect, I found myself hosting an awards show of sorts in my mind of some of the most awesome things that I experienced this year.  And so I decided to share the winners of these most prestigious and highly sought-after Jordie awards with all of you.  To the winners - congratulations!  You made my year a little more awesome!  If you aren't mentioned, it's probably because I forgot about your contributions of awesomeness and I'll try to catch you next year.

And the Jordie goes to (in whatever order they happened to pop into my head as I was writing this):

For "Best Movie That I Have Been Meaning to See Forever and Finally Got Around to Watching and then Immediately Purchased from Amazon Because it was That Awesome":  Lars and the Real Girl

For "Best New Recipe Discovery Which Led to the Discovery of a New Favorite Cooking Blog and Many Other New Favorite Recipes" (Courtesy of Gentri Fairbourn and ourbestbites.com):  Fresh Fruit Bruschetta with Orange-Honey Cream

For "Best New Favorite Television Series That Stephanie was Right About and I Should Have Started Watching Sooner":  Bones

For "Best Phone Application that I Use More Times a Day than I Care to Admit":  IMDB for Android

For "Best Place I Went on Vacation in 2011 (And it Still Would Have Been the Best Even if it Weren't the Only Place I Went on Vacation in 2011)":  The Knight Residence - Kirkland, WA

For "Best New/Old Friend Whom I Didn't Keep in Touch with for Too Many Years But with Whom I Am Now Happily Reacquainted and Just Beginning to Realize How Truly Awesome She Is":  AnnMarie Saunders

For "Best People to Spend an Afternoon Baking Mint Brownies or Soft Ginger Cookies and Goofing Off With":  Emily, Owen, Ava, and Isaac Huff

For "Best Self-Arranged, Produced, Performed, Sound-Engineered, Designed, and Distributed Premiere Christmas 'Album' that I Found Buried in a Pile of Old Cassette Tapes and Listened To for the First Time in Many Years":  Treuse (Featuring Kimberly Roderick Maycock, Sarah Passey Roberts, and Myself)

For "Best New Favorite Musician Thanks to Old Navy Playlists, Alisa Larsen, and an Episode of Bones":  Adele

For "Best Thing to Do on a Monday Night at 9, Hands Down":  Castle Parties

For "Best Way to Organize A Closet So You Know Which Colors You 'Need' to Buy More Of":  ROY G. BIV, with Many Thanks to Old Navy

For "Best Kind of Friend Who Will Accommodate My Crazy Schedule and Agree to Meet Me in My Car in the Parking Lot of Old Navy on My Lunch Break Just to Have a Chance to See Each Other for a Few Minutes Before She Leaves Town":  Ashley Champlin Stott

For "Best and Most Awesome Family Members Who Don't Think Going To Harry Potter Midnight Movie Premieres (or the Many Hours Sewing Costumes, Re-Reading/Listening To All Seven Books, Making HP-Themed Movie Treats, and Waiting in Line on the Very Hard Floor of the Movie Theater) Is At All Weird or Insane and Who Participate With (Almost) As Much Excitement as Me":  Grandpa, Grandma, Mom, Shannon, and Austin

For "Best New Family Tradition Developed in 2011":  Sunday Night Family Dinners, "Amazing Race" Screenings, and Games with Davinn, Tanell, and Jakob Donnell

For "Best Nintendo Accomplishments that I Achieved Pretty Much All By Myself":  Completing both the SNES and Wii Versions of "Donkey Kong Country"

For "Best Neighbors Who So Kindly Let Me Borrow Their DVDs of All Seven Seasons of The West Wing Over the Summer So I Didn't Have to Wait for Netflix to Send the Discs One-at-a-Time Because I Had Become Instantly Addicted":  The Hansons

For "Best Book I Re-Read For About the Millionth (Okay, More Like Fifth or Sixth, But I'm Sure I'll Get Close to a Million Someday) Time":  Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

For "Best Across-the-Street-From-My-Driveway Neighbor Who Cares Enough About Me and My Safety to Buy a Side-View Mirror to Replace the Broken One on My Car and Offer to Help Me Fix It":  Scott "Dad" Cannon

For "Best People to Throw a Bachelorette Party For/With":  Yeon Mi Kim Hicken, Alisa Larsen, Megan Richards, Mariska Romney, and Melissa Cannon Hislop

For "Best People Who Always Receive Me With the Warmest Kind of Welcome Even When I Just Drop In On Them Unexpectedly":  Shelby, Annie, Skyler, Aria, and Xander Ferrin

For "Best Way to Sabotage Any Homework Plans I Had for the Last Two Weeks of Fall Semester":  Discovering "How I Met Your Mother" on Netflix

For "Best Ward Full of the Best People Whose Love and Service I am So Extremely Grateful For Every Single Day":  Foothill 1st Ward, Logan Utah East Stake

For "Best Reason to Get Up an Hour Earlier on Thursday Mornings":  Voice Lessons with the Incomparable Laurie Hart

For "Best Sister Who Gave Me Rides To and From School Sometimes and Often Accompanied Me on Trips to the Grocery Even Though She Usually Didn't Want To": Shannon Dora Burgess

For "Best Little Brother Who Listened to His Sister Despite His Initial Instincts and Made Me Very Proud By Trying Out for and Getting a Lead in His High School Musical and Totally Rocking It as Sir Harry in Once Upon A Mattress":  Austin Draper Burgess

For "Best Big-Little Brother Who Was the Only Person to Honor My Birthday Wish for a Pony":  Colin David Burgess

For "Best Mom in the Whole Wide World (Even Though Sometimes She Steals My Clothes)":  Danielle Wright Burgess

For "Best People I Know Whom I Love So Much and Without Whom my Life Would Be in Shambles":  All of You!  Thank you for sharing your support, friendship, time, talents, helpful tips, interests, listening ears, mornings, afternoons, evenings, late nights, living rooms, kitchens, guest rooms (or in the case of Eloise, your own bedroom), televisions, recipes, children, and most especially your love with me this past year.  You have been with me through some of the best and worst of times and I appreciate it more than I could ever say.  Thank you so very, very much.  I LOVE YOU!