♥ Livin' The Dream ♥

So long, Farewell...

2010-02-23T09:23:00.001-08:00

ok, so i realize that my blog is still thanksgiving.... BUT i don't care. too much work to change it. especially since i leave TOMORROW morning for the MTC. i can't believe it is already here! time sure does fly. pretty soon i'll be home and wonder where the 18 months went!

so just in case you want it, here is my MTC address:

sister shanna pelphrey
ohio cleveland mission
provo missionary training center
2005 n. 900 e.
provo, ut 84604

i will give my family my address for my first area, so if you want that, check in with them in about 3 weeks.

i am off to finish the last 7000000000000000000 things that have to be done before tomorrow....

see you in 18 months!!!

ONLY ME......

2009-12-12T16:13:00.000-08:00

ok, so this is random, and it would only happen to me. i have a viral infection that is attacking my eyes... pretty sweet, eh?? they are red, swollen, and feel like they might explode. it really is the weirdest thing. but like i said, it is something that would only happen to me. i wish this picture did it justice, but here is a glimpse

this is day 3

going crazy...

2009-11-22T21:04:00.000-08:00

so not too much going on here. just workin. BUUUUUUUT... just so you can all wait and wonder and wait and wonder and go as crazy as i am... my mission papers are in and now i'm just... yep, you guessed it - waiting and wondering and going crazy!! it's only a matter of time... i will post it as soon as i get my call!

viva las vegas!

2009-10-27T13:01:00.000-07:00

a few weeks ago me, nikki, becca, and her roommate casey went down to vegas for the byu vs. unlv football game. we drove down saturday morning, played saturday afternoon, and then went to the game. it was a good game and fun to see the cougars win.

before the game

the very next weekend, i went BACK to vegas for the utah vs. unlv football game. different group of people, but just as fun! we left late fridy night, played again all day saturday, and then went to the game that night. sunday we got up and went to church and then came back home. i never thought i'd see the day that i cheered for the utes...

at the game

work has been interesting lately - our recruiter has been having us dress up as vampires and mummies. mostly we just didn't want to go out and spend money on costumes.... soooo.... we made our own. with coflex (what we wrap the arm with after donating) and toilet paper

day 1 as vampires

day 2 as coflex and tp mummies

we smeared paint on our faces

the boys

sorry sorry sorry

2009-10-02T19:36:00.000-07:00

i am horrible at blogging. life has gotten so crazy lately i hardly have time to sit down. it has been months since i have had a friday night to just hang out at home with my roommates. so we are sitting here watching the byu football game and i decided to update the blog real quick. i'll try to be better....

first matter of business: the mission papers have been started!!! it is crazy to think that i turn them in just over a month from now. time flies....

now on to the adventures of shanna:

labor day weekend a group of us went down to st george to do a little rock climbing and other adventures. it was such a fun weekend and went by waaayy too fast. here is a breakdown of the weekend:
saturday 6 am: leave for st george
1 pm: rock climbing for a few hours
7 pm: iggys for dinner and to watch the byu game
sunday 9 am: church
3 pm: naps
6 pm: fat mans revenge hike
7 pm: st george temple walk
monday 9 am: more rock climbing
12 pm: lunch at in-n-out :)
2 pm: hike angels landing in zions
head home

here are some pictures from the weekend:

brooke, lindsey, me

on the way down from a climb

fat mans revenge

st george temple steps

belaying rachel

the group at the top of angels landing

the view from the top

next weekend its off to vegas for the byu v. unlv game! i'll blog about that later...

africa pictures!

2009-08-20T15:30:00.000-07:00

i had the hardest time trying to decide which pictures to post - i took SOOOO many. so this is a brief collection of some of the pictures. it should give you a feel for the trip.

this trip was absolutely the most incredible thing i have done up to this point in my life. i got to spend 3 weeks in ghana, africa. my volunteer placement was in a school called suzzy mother care. i taught the class of 6 and 7 year olds. they were such sweet kids and i fell in love with each of them.

my perspective on so many things changed while i was there. i wouldn't go as far as to say i am a totally different person, but i definitely have changed in some aspects. the things i learned there are things that i will never forget. the people in ghana are so happy and content. my intention was to go there to see what i could do to help - but i never expected for it to be the other way around. i truly consider the people there to be angels that were placed in my life to teach me some of the things i need to know at this point in my life. although i will probably never see any of these people again, they really will be a part of the rest of my life.

Make a Smilebox slideshow

manti pageant and 4th of july

2009-08-20T14:14:00.000-07:00

nikki andi drove down to manti for the manti temple pageant. i had never seen it before and it was amazing. it made for a really late night, but it was totally worth it. about halfway there, we decided (and i still have NO idea why...) to get out of the car and get on top of it. so we did. super random.

on top of the car

on top of the car again

manti temple

waitin for the pageant to start

on the 4th of july nikki and i met a group of friends from my old ward over at the mtc field for fireworks. it was fun to hang out with everyone again. the stadium of fire fireworks sucked, but we played some fun games and just had a lot of fun.

messin around after the fireworks - we eventually got a full pyramid, i just don't have a picture of it

love these boys

i'm not sure how this started... but it was funny

lark, tanna and i

californ-i-a

2009-08-20T13:54:00.001-07:00

now on to our trip to california. tacy, nikki and i decided we would take a spontaneous trip down to california for the weekend. it was quite a fun weekend. tacy flew on her first airplane, we went shooting at the shooting range, spent some time at the beach, got henna tattoos that turned out horrible, had a bonfire at the beach, went to the newport beach temple, went to the long beach aquarium where we went on a sea life cruise, went to the museum of tolerance, made dry ice bombs, and lots of other fun excursions.

yep - we made matching blankets

shooting at the shooting range

henna tattoos that looked like poop on our feet

bonfire at the beach

at the long beach aquarium

embarking on our cruise

the only sea life we saw on our sea life cruise...

Round-About-Campout

2009-08-20T13:29:00.000-07:00

i have a lot to catch up on. i'll start with the illegal sleepover that i wrote about in my last post. so the undisclosed location was a roundabout in provo. yes - we slept in the middle of the roundabout. it has a bunch of trees and bushes and rocks around the outside, and there was a small space just big enough for the 4 of us to squish in there. and i'll tell ya - we were squished. there was a huge rock that i was laying on, so i went to move it and what did i find?? oh, just a HUGE spider...

we slept right behind those rocks that i am standing in front of

o yes we did

the 4 of us

40 days...

2009-06-01T16:35:00.000-07:00

Ok, so I've been horrible at blogging lately. I got so caught up in school and work that this just had to wait a while. Now I'm just trying to figure out if there is anything worth blogging about... my life gets kinda boring sometimes. And what I mean by that is that I haven't taken pictures of anything in a while. But that will all change soon...

My biggest news right now is that I leave for Africa in 40 days!! Yep - 40 days. So crazy!!! I am so excited to go. It has been a dream of mine for years, and it's finally happening! I have almost everything ready to go - I just have to get a few random things - a mosquito net, some clothes, fill my malaria prescriptions, along with some other things.

More exciting news. I am coming down to California for a weekend with 2 of my best friends. We just decided to take a trip, and the beach was on the top of the list. We fly in Friday morning and fly back Tuesday night. It will be much needed trip for all 3 of us.

And last, but certainly not least: we are sleeping outside tonight in an undisclosed location - which is probably illegal. So my next post might be all about being bailed out of jail. But hey - makes life interesting right?? :) Pictures to come...

Birthday Fun!

2009-02-19T15:39:00.000-08:00

Monday afternoon, Tanna took me to lunch at California Pizza Kitchen for my birthday. I hadn't been there in forever and it was soo good! It was nice to just be able to sit and talk for a little bit. Even though we're roommates, we both have pretty crazy schedules and hardly ever see each other.

Tanna and I

I haven't cared much about my birthday this year, so I wasn't really planning on doing anything too special. But I have some pretty stubborn friends who didn't think that was such a great idea. So Melissa took me to lunch (sorry, no pictures) and then later that night, Tanna planned a little dessert night and had everyone come over. She made a cake and we had some other little snacks out. It ended up being way fun and I was able to see a few people I haven't seen in a while! I don't have pictures of everyone, but here are a few from the night.

Rachel, me, Nikki and Tacy

Dave, me Chad and Rod

Taya and I

Milinh and I

It was way fun, and even with only a few hours of sleep I still managed to make it (almost... only 4 hours left) through a 12 hour day of school and do well on my test today!!

Birthday = Girl's Night Out :)

2009-02-08T13:06:00.000-08:00

Last night, some of my friends from work and I went to dinner and a movie to celebrate Tacy's birthday. A few of us have gotten to be pretty good friends and we try to do stuff together outside of work, so a birthday was the perfect excuse :) We went to the Pizza Factory for dinner. I had never been there, but it was SO good! The breadsticks are to die for, and the pizza is amazing. Then we went to see the movie He's Just Not That Into You. It was a little different than what I was expecting, but it was a cute movie. I don't know that it will be one that I watch over and over, however. But it was a fun night. After 4 long work days and one long school day, it was good to go out and take a break!

Nikki, me, Tacy (the birthday girl), and Rachel

My First Sticks!

2009-01-13T22:01:00.000-08:00

I tried to post a picture of a needle, but for some reason it was just showing up as a bunch of random letters... so nevermind. But I did my first needle sticks at work today! It was the longest day I've worked so far - 14 hours - but it was so fun! I am only 3 sticks away from being completely trained and able to do everything on my own. It has been an extensive training process, but I have really enjoyed it and have learned so much! My trainer told me today that I was going to be sticking and I felt like I was going to throw up... I was so nervous! But she talked me through it all and I did it! I was able to get in 8 of them. It really isn't bad at all! A totally random post, but I was pretty excited about it!

Thanksgiving

2008-12-01T22:45:00.000-08:00

So I should be asleep since I have to be at work at 6:30 tomorrow morning, but I am doing this instead....

Last week, Kelsey, Nate, and I were able to drive home to California to spend Thanksgiving with our families. The trip went really well. We wanted to leave at 3 AM, but as it was, Kelsey and I didn't go to sleep until 1:30. So we slept until 3, woke up and threw a few last minute things together, got gas, picked up Nate, drugged up on some caffine pills and hit the road. I will NEVER take caffine pills again. They were lifesavers on our trip, but I have never felt so jittery and hyper in my whole life. It did make the trip more interesting, however :) It really is amazing to me that in less than 12 hours we can drive through 4 states and be somewhere totally different. And it's crazy that in 18 days we will get back in the car and do this again... Anyways.

Kelsey and I at 4 AM... don't look too close

Thanksgiving morning my dad and brother went and played in a Turkey Bowl over at Country Hills. Megan and I went to watch. It was pretty fun to see everyone play. They even had a little kids game goin off to the side. It started raining pretty hard for a few minutes and some of the guys got pretty muddy. I was bummed we didn't have a soccer ball. That is one of my favorite things to do - soccer in the mud/rain.

Turkey Bowl

That night, we drove up to my aunt and uncle's house for turkey dinner. I unfortunately don't have any pictures of that, other than this one of me and Paige, my cousin's daughter. She is a riot.

Paige and I

Friday was just a day to relax and hang out. Kelsey and I babysat for a couple hours that night, which again, I don't have pictures of right now. Saturday, Kelsey and I were able to go to lunch with the cute Bailey family - thanks guys, we had a blast!!

Brynn and Kelsey

Brynn, Braden, Christopher

Brynn and I

And Sunday we were able to go to Sacrament Meeting before hittin' the road again for the drive back to good 'ol Provo.

If any of you went to college, you probably either had, or a least heard of a "quote wall", or in our case, a "quote dash". Notice the BAND-AID sticking the NAPKIN to the dash... probably the most white trash thing ever. But it served its purpose.

Yes... I Am A Professional

2008-11-06T18:04:00.001-08:00

I finally got around to getting a job. You'd think that I would have been more on top of that, considering I am in my second year of college and have never had a real job. But anyways... I am officially employed. I work at Mountain Star Blood Services as a phlebotomist. It's a blood donation center and as my job, I take the blood pressure, the temperature, do the blood sample where they stick you in the finger (I think that's worse than the donation) and ask all the questions about medications and travel and all that jazz. Then I do all the prep work and take blood also. Right now I am just in training, so it's A LOT of bookwork and paperwork before I can do the hands on. But I will get to start going on blood drives next Thursday, so I am way excited about it! We rotate being "in-house", which means we stay at the office, but for the most part, we load up the van and go do blood drives. So most days I will be out, and they said I'll probably be working about 20-30 hours a week, but only 2 days a week, so it makes for long days. But I am really looking forward to starting the REAL stuff soon!

The scrubs and the badge MIGHT be the coolest part!! :)

We Like to Party!

2008-10-31T12:52:00.001-07:00

I'm a little behind, but last weekend 2 girls in our ward had their "golden birthdays". So they had a big party, which we had to dress up in black and white for. It was pretty fun. They rented out the clubhouse and had food, "mocktails", lots of balloons, dancing, and fun stuff. One of the girls' hair caught on fire when she was blowing out her candles... luckily it was put out quick. We didn't stay the whole time, but it was fun dressing up and getting out for a little bit!

Me, Kelsey and Tanna before the party

Girl's Night

2008-10-25T12:40:00.000-07:00

It's been a while since the girl's have been able to get together, so we decided to have a little Halloween party. We decorated haunted houses, carved pumpkins, ate food, and just had girl talk. It was so fun and relaxing to just hang out and have fun.

The food table :)

Decorating haunted houses (L to R: me, Jessica, Becca, Amanda)

Carving pumpkins (L to R: Kelsey, Amanda)

Kelsey and her pumpkin

Kelsey and I had a little too much fun shopping for the party - we even bought Halloween pants...

Football, Firetrucks, and More Football...

2008-10-24T13:52:00.000-07:00

Last weekend, my friend Ian, my aunt Kristine, and I all drove up to Boise, Idaho to visit my grandpa. We left Friday morning and got there in time for lunch. We then went and visited the cemetery to see my grandma's grave. I haven't been there since the headstone was put it, so it was nice to see it. It is up on a hill and has the most beautiful view of all of Boise. After that, we just hung out and visited for the rest of the day. Saturday was pretty much the same thing. We had a football game on from 10:30 in the morning til about 9:30 that night... Ian and I were able to get some studying in during halftimes, and that night we had our first attempt at making a cheesecake... it's not the easiest thing in the world, but it was still fun and super good!! My other aunt Carol, and my cousin and his wife and kids stopped by, and it was way fun to see them. Sunday was Grandpa's stake conference, so we went to that. Then we came home and got changed and Ian and I went to the Boise Fire Department to hang out. My cousin Jeff is a fireman and offered to let us go on a ride-along on Sunday. Nothing too exciting happened. They only got one call the whole time we were there, and someone had just accidentally pulled a fire alarm. It was cool to see them in action at the station, though.

Grandpa and I Sunday after church

In the fire truck in response to the call

The front of the fire truck

Today's activity for mentoring was a tour of the BYU football stadium. It was pretty cool. I've been there for games, but I've never seen the stuff we got to see today. We were able to go into the locker room and see how things work in there. Then we got to go onto the actual field, which they were painting for the game tomorrow. And last, we got to go up into the press box and see the view from up there. It was pretty neat. The kids seemed to have a blast - especially the boys who dream of playing football for BYU one day. It was pretty cute.

The view from field level

PYM Mentoring

2008-10-03T13:46:00.000-07:00

Every Friday for an hour, Kelsey and I do something called PYM Mentoring. They bus in a bunch of sixth graders from Timpanogos Elementary School and we get to spend an hour with them. These kids are considered "at-risk" kids and some of them have behavior issues. We are each assigned to a kid that we are with each week for the rest of the school year. The girl I was paired up with is Charlie. She is the sweetest girl! It's been so fun talking to her and getting to know her. We actually have a lot in common and it has been so easy to get along with her. This week we did a scavenger hunt on the BYU campus. We went into different buildings and saw fun stuff and had to write a few sentences about what we saw. Each week something fun and new is planned. So far, it's been such a fun experience and I am so excited to spend an hour a week with her! :)

Music and the Spoken Word

2008-09-28T21:41:00.000-07:00

This morning I went on kind of a double date (does it count if it's on Sunday??) up to Salt Lake to see Music and the Spoken Word. It was in the old Tabernacle, which I had never been in - we took a little tour through there when I was younger but I barely remember it. It was so pretty and it was amazing to think that it was built so long ago! I guess this program is the longest lasting program on the radio - it's been going on for almost 80 years and today was their 4,124th performance. The Mormon Tabernacle Choir sang and the Temple Square Bell Choir played with them. I think the bells were my favorite. I love the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, don't get me wrong, but watching them play the bells was incredible. They sang a few songs, including Somewhere Out There from the movie An American Tale. Then they read a little something about the importance of handmade gifts. I thought it was pretty cool. They had all been before, but it was my first time and I really enjoyed it. That might have to be something we do again!

Body World Exhibit

2008-09-27T13:12:00.000-07:00

Some of you may have heard about the Body World Exhibit. It's been in Vegas for a while, but it just came to Salt Lake and it's in The Leonardo. One of my teachers was talking about it and said it was way neat, so I decided to give it a go. Kelsey and I got up this morning and drove up to Salt Lake. We had tickets for 11 AM, and it took us about an hour and a half to get through the whole exhibit. It was incredible. What they have done is they have taken cadavers and plasticized them. They have some of them positioned doing way cool things. There was a dancer, a guy jumping hurtles, and some other fun stuff. We weren't allowed to take anything in - no phones, cameras, not even purses. So I just found this picture online, but this gives a good idea of what the displays looked like. They had other things there too. They had hearts, brains, spleens, lungs, and all kinds of cool stuff. They even had a grown and baby camel there too. They had a baby section, which was kind of weird, but also really neat. They had fetuses from different stages of the pregnancies. The whole thing was such a cool experience. If any of you have the chance to see it, I highly recommend it. It gave me such a greater appreciation for the body and how intricate and perfect it is!

An example of a display

FRUSTRATION!!

2008-09-24T19:42:00.001-07:00

So I just changed my background and now I can't seem to figure out how to change the color of the boxes where the posts are and all that... Does anyone know how to do that?? I'm getting really frustrated...

Spontaneity...

2008-09-24T17:23:00.000-07:00

Last night, my roommate and I were bored and were trying to think of something to do that didn't cost money. Randomly, she suggested we drive up Provo Canyon and look at the lights. So we jumped in the car and drove up. It took us a good 20 minutes to get to a place where we could park and look out, but it was so worth it. The pictures don't do it justice, but it was gorgeous. We could see SO far. We even saw the Mt. Timpanogos temple from up there. The pictures aren't as good as the actual view, so just use your imagination :)

The view to our left

The view to our right

Tanna and I (we tried to get the lights in the background but it didn't work out so well)

Recovery Night

2008-09-20T22:22:00.000-07:00

So Kelsey and I both had long weeks and decided to give ourselves a night to recover. And to just be girls. So we went to TGIFriday's for dessert and drinks (strawberry daqueri's...virgin). Then we came home and painted our nails.

Then we made face masks and did facials. It felt so weird! It was just banana and oatmeal but it made our faces feel so good! If anyone wants to try it, it's just 1 banana and 1/3 - 1/2 cup of oatmeal. So fun! Cute, huh?

Then we did a workout video... lame, I know. But fun! We will not be posting pictures of that, however.

That's about it for the night. We have 11:30 church in the morning, and now that it's already 1 AM, it's time for bed!

College Life

2008-09-17T08:26:00.000-07:00

I forgot how much I love college life until I came back. I miss being home too, but it's so fun up here! There is always something going on and never enough sleep! But it really is such a fun time of life.

My roommate Tanna and I had some of our guy friends from our ward over for dinner last week. We made lasagna, rolls, salad, and Italian soda for drinks. It was so fun! They are really sweet and super funny! The next night, they brought us each a bouquet of flowers and a thank you card! It was so sweet. We have had the flowers on our table ever since.

Thursday night, my cousin Glenn sang at this place called Muse Music. It's like this little cafe/performance place. Tanna, Kelsey and I went to watch. He was the first one and got about a half hour to sing. There were 3 people after him, but we didn't stay for any of them. I was able to see some of my other cousins there that I haven't seen in a while - it was fun to see them. After the performance, we went back to my apartment and made cookies (for no reason other than just to make them), and watched Enchanted... I know - totally a kid's movie, but we love it!

Glenn singing

Kelsey and I

Tanna and I
Friday night, the 3 of us again went to the annual Rock the Block party that they have in the Cafe Rio parking lot. There are usually tons of people there and they have a live band and stuff. It's pretty fun. But it was getting cold and there were too many people there, so we only stayed for about an hour. But I did run into a bunch of people who I haven't seen yet since I've been back, so it was good!

Kelsey, Tanna, and I on the way to Rock the Block

Catch Up!!

2008-09-10T09:23:00.000-07:00

Sorry it has been so long since I've updated... Summer got crazy. I know you all know how that goes. So here is my attempt to update on things since the last post. Sorry for the picture overload.

In August, we went out to the river and stayed at the Avi hotel for a few days. It was such a fun, relaxing, and hot week. We got a new raft to take since our old one popped and the new one is so much fun. It has spots for 4 people - 3 of them are like bucket seats and the one on the back is just a place for someone to kneel on the back and hold on to the handles. It's hard to stay on back there since there is no seat, and we lost a kid more than once. It was so fun tho.

One time we figured out how to make it stand vertical, and that became our new favorite thing. My dad would drive the boat into the wind, slam on the gas for a few seconds, and then just let go and it would make the wind push the raft totally vertical. It was an accident at first, but then it just became one more thing we could do. The video is of Brandon and Joey. Megan and I did it too but we didn't video tape it. The video is a little bumpy - riding in our boat is not a smooth trip. So sorry about the lack of focus.

Laying out on the raft by the beach

2 weeks ago we all drove up to help me move into my new apartment. I still can't believe the summer is over and I am in my 2nd week of school! Where did the time go?! I am living in Belmont this year, which was actually the last place I wanted to live. For those of you who know anything about the kind of people who live here, you know why. Not everyone is like that, but pretty much. But so far I like it. My ward is fun, although much older. The bishopric is awesome and tries to make everything so fun. My roommates are way fun and we have gotten along really well. And the apartment I live in is super nice. I actually have the master bedroom, so I have a huge room and my own bathroom. I feel pretty spoiled and definitely blessed.

My bathroom

View #1 of my bedroom

View #2 of my bedroom

View #3 of my bedroom

Family room

The kitchen

So just like in every other place, living in Provo has its ups and downs. But one of the ups that I absolutely love is the opportunity to hear General Authorities so often. Last Sunday was our Regional Conference. 135 stakes were invited, and within those boundaries, there were 400,000 members. Obviously not everyone could fit into the Marriott Center on campus, so it was broadcast to a lot of people, but we were fortunate enough to go to the Marriott Center and be there for the conference. It really is such an amazing thing to be sitting there and realize that an apostle is standing there, in the same room as you, speaking to you. There were a few other speakers, Elder Jensen and President Monson's daughter, but the last 2 were really the ones that impacted me.

First we got to hear from Boyd K. Packer. I love hearing him talk. He has such a fun sense of humor and had us laughing quite frequently throughout his talk. He talked to us about a lot of things - I didn't feel like his talk had a specific point - but he did mention a few times that Satan only has power over us if we let him. And he also talked about faith a few times. It was a good message that kept us entertained and was also obviously very uplifting and insightful.

President Dieter F. Uchtdorf was the last speaker of the conference. He was amazing to listen to. The first thing he did was get up and bear his testimony of the truthfulness of the gospel and gave his witness that President Monson is truly the prophet of the church. It was so powerful. He have us 2 questions to ask ourselves: 1) What am i doing personally to increase my testimony of Jesus Christ and Heavenly Father? and 2) What am I doing personally to strengthen then institution of marriage and family? Another thing he talked about a lot is being converted and how conversion is a lifelong process. He gave us 3 things that we should do to help in the conversion process: 1) Have a current temple recommend, 2) Study the word of God daily, and 3) Speak with Heavenly Father daily. It was a great talk and really got me thinking about a lot of things, and gave me a new resolve to be a better person.

As if it weren't enough for us to hear from President Packer and President Uchtdorf, we were also blessed to hear from Elder Jeffrey R. Holland that evening at a CES Fireside, which we also had the chance to go to. It was also in the Marriott Center, and while there weren't as many people there, it was still packed. Elder Holland is probably one of my favorite General Authorities. His talk was amazing. I don't know how he did it, but he had my attention every second of the talk. His whole focus was on Joseph Smith and his time in Liberty Jail and drew a few parallels with those experiences and our own experiences in our own "Liberty Jails". Here are some of the Lessons from Liberty: 1) Everyone will be called upon to face trying times, 2) Just because difficult things happen does not mean we are unrighteous, 3) In the midst of difficulties, the powers of heaven can only help us if used in righteousness. He said some things that hit me and really affected me. I think my favorite thing that he said came at the very end of his talk. He said: "Bad days come to an end, faith always triumphs, and heavenly promises are kept." The whole day was a testimony builder to me and I am so grateful for the opportunities I have to be here and to listen to these wonderful men of God.

As for school, I am going to the BYU Salt Lake Center right now until I have enough credits to transfer to BYU to do their Nutrition program. I have class on Monday and Wednesday. Mondays I have Book of Mormon with John Bytheway (how cool is that?!?), and Nutrition, and on Wednesdays I have Microbiology and Chemistry. I also have an independent study psychology course. So school keeps me pretty busy, but I am loving it. As awful as the drive is, I love the Salt Lake campus and the classes are great. The teacher seem to know what they are talking about and the classes are small. I think there are only 9 people in my microbiology class. So it is a good opportunity to learn and ask questions. Much better than a class with 200 kids.

All in all, life is good! I love my apartment, my ward, my school, and just being here. I will try to be better about blogging now that I am back in a routine. Sorry for the overload. If you made it to the bottom of this, you are awesome!!

Boom, Boom... Baby! (as said by Megan)

2008-07-23T14:48:00.000-07:00

My dad and brother and I went to the shooting range this morning over in Brea. It was way fun. I have shot a gun before but I had never done it in a shooting range. It's a pretty cool set up. You attach your target to these clip things and then move the clips back as far as you want them and then you shoot. We started with an actual target-shaped thing and then changed them to a diagram of a man. Different areas on the body are worth different points. We shot 2 different guns that my dad brought - one was a revolver and I'm not sure what the other one was... it was the kind that the police use. The revolver is so much heavier!! It was pretty cool to finally get the hang of it!

Shootin the revolver

My target when I was done... not bad for the first time using a target!

Brandon shooting his revolver

My dad shooting the police gun

Nanny Diaries

2008-07-22T10:38:00.001-07:00

I finally downloaded my pictures to my computer from this summer so far. At the end of May, I moved in with my cousin, Kendi, her husband, Scott, and their 3 kids, Lindsey, 7, Kalli, 5, and Sydney, 2, to nanny for them for a few months. It really was so much fun! We watched movies, played games, went to lunch, had cooking class, went to the aquarium, had a lemonade stand, and did a lot of fun things. We had lots of fun and funny moments and a bunch of cute pictures. Here are a few...

Kalli, Sydney, and Lindsey

Craft Day

Kalli painting the lemonade stand sign

Lindsey painting the lemonade stand sign

At Temple Square in Salt Lake

Touching the sting rays at The Living Planet Aquarium

At the aquarium

Boredom...

2008-07-19T19:44:00.000-07:00

So I really have nothing to write about. I guess that's not true. What I really meant was that I have no new pictures to post. I have been slacking when it comes to taking pictures. But here goes...

So I moved home for the summer and so far have been enjoying it. I miss the beach so much in Utah!! So it's nice to be able to go whenever I want to. It's weird being home tho. I will only be here for 5 weeks or so - that is such an awkward time frame. It's too short to really get involved in anything, like get a job or volunteer for something, but it's too long to just be on vacation. We try to think of things to do, but sometimes it gets redundant. And plus, we are trying to not spend any money. So if you have fun any ideas, let me know!! Or if anyone needs babysitting, I would love to do that too!!

So maybe I really do have nothing to write about cause I can't think of anything else right now. But hopefully something fun will happen that I can write about!!

It's Been A While...

2008-06-02T10:16:00.000-07:00

It's been quite an eventful few weeks and I'm way behind!! So here is my attempt to catch up...

Friday night, our stake put on this big stake activity in Springville at one of the presidency member's homes... it was amazing!! They had a BBQ, 2 hot air balloons, a live band, a bonfire with smores :), volleyball, dancing, hayrides, and a bunch of other random games and stuff. Karissa and our friend Sherry and I got to go in the hot air balloon. We didn't get to stay up there very long because there were so many people waiting, but it was still way cool! After that we ate dinner, then we got a fun group of people from the ward together and went on a hay ride around the town, singing random songs the whole way (I think the driver was gettin annoyed). Then we made smores and danced the night away. It was way fun! We have the best stake ever!!

Me, Karissa and Sherry waiting for our turn in the balloon

The three of us in the balloon... sorry it's blurry

The week before that, I got to drive down to California with my best friend Breanna to watch the Bailey kids for a few days. We drove down on Tuesday, went to the beach and got our nails done on Wednesday, and started watchin the kids on Thursday. It was a super fun weekend with lots of fun activities- we went to Chuck-E-Cheese, made crepes for breakfast, went to the LA zoo, tried to make pyramids in the family room, fed the ducks at the park, and took tons of pictures!!! We loved every minute of it! Thanks Danielle for lettin us come watch them!!

Breanna and I in the car

One of our attempts at making a pyramid... We were never successful - it's pretty hard to set the camera on the couch, have somone press the button, run over and try to make a pyramid before the timer goes of in ten seconds... We were laughin pretty hard!!

The whole gang at the zoo. We were glad to have Megan, Brandon, and Joey come with us :)

Another change is that I am now living in Kaysville. My cousin lives there and I am nannying for her for the summer. It has been so fun being there and I am looking forward to the rest of the summer!

I think that's about it for now! We went on a hike that I will write about later, but I will wait til I can get pictures up first!!

A Night on the Town

2008-05-16T11:41:00.000-07:00

Last night Karissa, Andrew and I drove up to Park City for the evening. We went to the outlet centers up there and did a little shopping. Ok, not a little - a lot of shopping! Andrew wanted to go into the Nike store, so Karissa and I went to a few others while he was in there. We finished our shopping... and he was STILL in there. So we got the camera out. If you're ever bored, get a camera out. It solves all your problems. We had so much fun and were laughing way hard taking a ton of pictures. Finally he finishe and then we drove to Main Street and had dinner. We were planning on going to The Pizza & Noodle restaurant, but it was closed. So we ended up going to a place called Hungry Moose Grill. Here are a few pictures from the night!

Karissa and I waiting for Andrew

Karissa on the merry-go-round
Me in the helicopter... getting out was the hard part!

A random moose on Main Street

Just girls being girls...

Up, Up, and AWAY!!

2008-05-10T08:49:00.000-07:00

Last night, my roommate and I had the awesome opportunity to fly in a little 4-seater airplane! One of her friends is a pilot and he offered to take us up for a little while. It was so cool! We started at the airport in West Jordan and flew up to the Salt Lake airport, where we landed and then took off again and flew back to West Jordan. Then we just flew around and looked at everything from the air. It's an amazing view. It started getting dark while we were in the air so we got to see the sunset from the air too. Pretty cool!!

Karissa and I lookin real stylish with our headsets on!

The plane controls... So confusing

The pilot, Andrew, gettin the plane ready

Salt Lake temple from the air :)

Sunset from the air... it was incredible

Road Trip, End of Semester Blues, and Being... a Mom??

2008-05-06T09:39:00.000-07:00

Last week, some friends and I took a road trip to celebrate graduations for some and the end of another school year for others. We left Friday evening after graduation and drove down to California to spend the weekend at the beach! Saturday we spent all day on the beach, Sunday we went to church, had a picnic at the Newport Beach temple, and had a bonfire at the beach, Monday we went to Six Flags and my wonderful parents had us over for dinner, then Tuesday we went back to the beach for a few hours, went to BJ's for pazookies, and then headed back to Provo, pulling into the parking garage at 4:30 AM... It was such a fun weekend and it made me realize how much I miss California!!

The group (L to R: Aaron, Stephanie, Ashley, Johnny, Keith, Lindsey, me)

Overall, I felt I was pretty prepared for college. Although I miss home, I wasn't as homesick as I thought I'd be, school was how I'd imagined, and I feel that I have been able to adjust fairly well. The one thing I was not prepared for, however, was the changes that would take place at the end of the school year. It's kinda sad how you get so close to people in the ward and at school and in your apartment and then everything changes. People move, get married, graduate, go study abroad, or other things, and it's like you have to start all over again. Move into a new apartment with new roommates. Be in a new ward with new people and new callings. New classes with new teachers and new people. I don't mind any of this - I like change and the challenges that come with it. I don't have a problem with what's starting. I guess I'm just sad about what's ending. This last year was so amazing. I love college and the college life. I met so many amazing people and made so many good frienships. And it's just weird to think that everything is different now. I know everything will be fine, and I'm sure I'll make new friends and have just as much fun, but for right now, it's kinda sad! :(

It's blurry, but these are of some of the amazing peope in my old ward!

Ok, so I'm not really a mom. But I did get hamsters! We've been wanting to get an apartment pet for a while, and we thougth about getting the little baby turtles, but I went to the pet store and asked about them and they are apparently illegal to sell in Utah. So I got 2 little hamsters instead. They are so cute and way fun! I think one of them was sick because all he did was sleep and I never saw him eat or drink. I actually went in this morning to feed them and he was dead. But the other one is still goin strong and so funny to watch!

Isn't he cute?!

Omniture Throwdown

2008-04-17T16:37:00.000-07:00

Last week, my roommate Karissa and I, along with 2 of her friends, went to the Omniture Throwdown in the parking lot across the street from the football stadium. The object was to get as many people together as possible to play rock, paper, scissors at once and get into the Guiness Book of World Records. They needed 800 people to make a record and from what we were told, over 1,500 people registered. It was actually quite comical to see how worked up some people got over losing a little game.

Hip Hop Date

2008-04-08T13:46:00.000-07:00

Friday night I went on a group date with a bunch of people from my ward. It was seriously the funnest thing ever. We all dressed up as "thugs" and walked up to BYU campus and made up a dance and filmed a music video. It was hilarious. People kept giving us the strangest looks. After we filmed the video, we went to IHOP for dinner... Where we got even more strange looks. But it was so fun! Here are some pictures from the night...

The girls...

The guys...

The group...

We had to get our "formal" picture in!

America's Prom Queen... KATELYN!!

2008-03-31T22:57:00.000-07:00

So the girl in the picture with me, Katelyn, is one of my best friends. She is such a sweetheart with an amazing personality. And there's this show on ABC Family on Monday nights (I'm not sure what time.. It's different here). It's called America's Prom Queen. It's kind of a cheesy show - lots of high school drama. But Katelyn is on it! I seriously love watching it because it's so funny. At the end, America votes for who they think America's prom queen should be. I know it's lame, but turn it on and watch it if you have a chance! And vote for Katelyn!!

Finger Painting Gone Crazy!!

2008-03-21T09:16:00.000-07:00

Last night my friend Jess and I had kind of a double blind date. Let me explain... Jess's brother in law wanted to set Jess up with his cousin. But they didn't want to make it a date, so they both decided to invite people. Well... they each only invited one person, therefore making it kind of a double date. It ended up being really fun though. We first went to Jason's Deli for dinner and then we made a stop at Walmart to figure out something to do. And what was the activity we decided??? : Finger paint!! I really don't think I've done that since kindergarten! So we got that and Uno Spin (fun game if you've never played it). So we finger painted for a while and created some pretty brilliant "masterpieces". But for whatever reason, and this happens every time paint is involved, it didn't end up staying on the paper. First it was somone putting paint on someone else's paper, then it was their arm, then it was their face. By the end of the night, we had completely painted our faces. I know we look strange, but who can take a serious picture when their face looks like that???

Some of our "masterpieces"

Ya, don't ask....

Umm...??

Carrie Underwood and Keith Urban concert!

2008-03-18T18:41:00.000-07:00

Last Thursday, my sister and I had the opportunity to go to a Carrie Underwood and Keith Urban concert at the Honda Center. We sat up in the last section, but since it's not that big of a place, the seats were still pretty good. And my camera has good zoom :) It was an amazing concert and they both sounded so good live!!

Carrie Underwood

Keith Urban

This is a video of the song they sang together in the middle of the show. I had never heard it before, but it's a good song. They were so fun to watch together. Sorry about the video taping job. It's hard with just a camera all the way zoomed in!

This Is Too Funny!

2008-03-04T12:21:00.000-08:00

If you are looking for a good laugh, look no further! My roommate showed me this the other day and I was laughing SO hard!! It's an Ellen Degeneres show where she tries out the Hawaii chair. It only takes a few minutes so watch it! It's hilarious!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yrdsLIOj898

Spring... and other Randomness...

2008-03-01T09:54:00.000-08:00

I cannot even begin to tell you how excited I am for spring to come!!! I loved the snow for a while, but now I'm just ready to be warm. Yesterday I was actually able to wear a short sleeve shirt and not worry about a jacket! It was so nice. The last few days have been beautiful. I don't know what it is about good weather but for some reason in just makes me so happy. Hopefully it will stay nice!! Although the weather forecast for today is rain/snow... Can we ever get a break?!? O well, just a few more weeks...

Last night, 2 of my friends from home 3 other girls and I made dinner at Jessica's house and hung out there for a little while. Then the other 3 girls left and Jess, Chrissy and I were going to go out to Salt Lake and see a movie that started at 9:30, but Jess had to finish a paper before we could go anywhere... So needless to say, we missed the movie. But we just went to Blockbuster and rented a movie, made a stop at the store and got some food and ice cream and headed back to Chrissy's for the movie. It was fun to be with girls from home. It kinda made me feel like I was in high school again.

Jess being studious and writing her paper... Maybe I should take some lessons...

Chrissy catching up on the latest fashions. I actually have no idea what she was reading.

And then there's me being my usual self... drunk. Ha! Just kidding... It's just sparkling cider, mom, I promise :)

BYU Volleyball and 101st Ward Intramural Soccer

2008-02-22T21:07:00.000-08:00

A group of people from my ward and I all went to the BYU Men's Volleyball game against Stanford. The game was pretty intense and they ended up having to play all 5 games. Although it was close, BYU ended up winning! The picture is of Sherry, me, and Jen at the game. There were other people there - we just didn't get pictures of everyone!!

The volleyball team after warm up right before the game. They played so well!!

This is a picture of the soccer game. We ran from the volleyball game to see the last 2 minutes of the soccer game. When we walked in the score board said 0 to 11... We weren't quite sure whether we were the 0 or the 11. But we ended up being the 11, making us undefeated so far! Hopefully in 2 weeks I'll be out there too! :)

<3<3 HEART ATTACK <3<3

2008-02-17T18:38:00.000-08:00

I was supposed to babysit for the Johnson's on Valentines day, but due to illness, we had to postpone. So Saturday night was our Valentines day. My wonderful roommate stayed up way late one night and helped me cut out a million hearts.... ok, not a million - but it felt like it!! Then on Saturday, Eliza and Mylie and I decorated some of them and heart attacked Whit and Melissa's room. For those of you who don't know what heart attacking is, it's when you tape hearts up everywhere. It's like being toilet papered... only with hearts. At first the girls didn't quite understand it, but once they got the idea they were so excited! I didn't think we would come close to using all the hearts but they hung up every single one. It was so funny to watch them run around and hang them up as fast as they could- they were sure that their parents would come home any second. I told them that when they came home they couldn't tell them anything because it was supposed to be a surprise. But Mylie was way too excited. As soon as they walked in the door Mylie says, "Mom, Dad - there is something in your room!! Hurry! Go look!! Look what we did!!" It was too funny!

Mylie putting up hearts

Eliza putting up hearts

Part of the room we heart attacked

Mylie decorating hearts

Eliza decorating hearts

Sorry the pictures are backwards... we did decorate them first. And the girls were playing "dress-up", hence the dresses they are wearing :)

HAPPY VALENTINES DAY <3

2008-02-14T19:34:00.000-08:00

Happy Valentine's Day to you all. Or Happy Singles Awareness Day, whichever you prefer. So funny story about my day... Due to the fact that I don't have a Valentine, I was supposed to babysit tonight to allow some friends to go out for the night. But, I didn't end up doing that because they all got sick last night. Soooo... I decided to settle in for a night by myself and just get some things done that I have been putting off... like laundry. And dishes. So I was doing the dishes and there was a knock at the door. I go to answer it and there are 2 good looking men standing there in suits with a rose and a stick of Laffy Taffy. They introduce themselves and tell me that they are my home teachers and give me the rose and the candy. I invited them in for a minute and we were just talking and getting to know each other, when one of them asks me to go to the stake Valentines dance. Let me just give you a visual.... I am in blue sweat pants, a gray UVU sweatshirt, minimal make-up, and my hair is up on top of my head in the messiest bun you've ever seen. He says he's leaving in ten minutes to go to the dance. Not happening!!!! Had I maybe had an hour to get ready and a day to shop for an outfit, I totally would have gone. But I didn't. It was a nice gesture though.

But anyways... I hope you all enjoyed your Valentines Day!!! Love you all! <3

Gotta Love FHE

2008-02-12T11:27:00.000-08:00

Last night for FHE we combined with another group to do somewhat of a service project. We made and decorated Valentine's cookines and then ding-dong-ditched people's apartments in our ward and left cookies on their doorstep. It was a pretty fun night - cookies, frosting, candy, love songs playing in the background - you know, the whole shebang. Here are a few of the pictures!

Computers are Retarded...

2008-02-06T21:32:00.001-08:00

So I just got on my blog and for some strange reason, my last 3 posts have been deleted... no where to be found. But my computer has been acting up lately. I probably pushed a wrong button or something and it spazzed out. Who knows. But o well, it wasn't anything too important. I'll update later about my trip home, but right now it's time for bed!!

Christmas, New Years, and Cold Water...

2008-01-01T19:01:00.000-08:00

Well I tried posting some pictures from my Christmas break, but my computer won't cooperate. I'll keep working on it and hopefully I'll get some up soon.

I was fortunate enough to go home very early - I flew home on December 15th. It was nice to be home and see everyone, even if it was only for a week. December 21st, we packed Christmas in the car and made the 17 hour drive to Boise, Idaho to spend Christmas at my grandpa's house. We go there for Christmas every other year and very much enjoy spending time with family and having a "White Christmas". This year was somewhat hard, being that my grandma was not there to celebrate with us. But we still tried to enjoy ourselves, nonetheless. On the 27th, we packed up once again and made another 8 hour drive to Medford, Oregon to see my brother Ryan, his wife Kelli, and my new niece, Kayden. We spent a few days there and we were able to get a visit to the grandparents in as well. Kayden is the cutest little girl!! We drove back home on the 30th and all went to bed!!

New Years Eve was spent a variety of places. We went to the Kershaw's for snacks and after a while, us kids left and went our separate ways. I stopped by my friend Kaleigh's house and was able to see a few people I haven't seen since graduation, which was nice. But by 10:00 I was feeling tired and by 11:00 I was in bed. Lame, I know. But really, what's the big deal? Another year, so what? We've had 2008 of them...

Unfortunately, the fun had to stop some time and I made it back to Utah this morning - barely. We left the house a little late and then the driver (I won't mention any names - some of you may know her. She goes by mom most of the time...) got on the freeway going to the wrong airport. We got there with less than ten minutes to spare. But I'm back. And surprise, surprise - our water heater is broken. I turned the water on to take a shower, but after running it for about ten minutes, it was still cold. So I called the management company... But they are closed for New Years. I guess one day without a shower won't kill me...

Merry Christmas!

2007-12-24T18:52:00.000-08:00

MERRY CHRISTMAS!! I cannot believe that it is Christmas Eve already!! Where does the time go??

I hope all of you are enjoying this wonderful time of year and really letting the Christmas spirit come into your hearts. I am always amazed at how this time of year always makes me so aware and grateful for everything that I have. It especially brings an awareness to me of the love our Savior has for each one of us and helps me to remember and appreciate Him on a different level. I am grateful for the gospel in my life and for the knowledge and blessings it brings to me. I am grateful for the birth of Jesus Christ, who was born in a manger many years ago and for His perfect example. It is my hope and prayer that we can each take time to ponder on the life of Christ and remember that everything He did, He did for us. He knows and loves us individually and His tender mercies are upon each one of us. I wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a safe and Happy New Year!!

Winter Wonderland!

2007-12-04T17:16:00.000-08:00

All day Friday it was rainy, cold, and miserable. We were all getting kind of annoyed that it was so cold but it wasn't snowing. THEN... Saturday morning we woke up to our very own Winter Wonderland. I couldn't believe how much snow there was from just a few hours! It snowed all day Saturday, and somehow, that made the cold ok. Here are some pictures of what it looked like outside my front door!!

A Tribute to My Grandma

2007-12-01T20:56:00.000-08:00

I wanted to write a little something in honor of my Grandma McMillan who passed away this morning at the age of 81.

She was an incredible woman and was loved by so many. She was a loving wife, the mother of 5 children, grandmother to 19 grandchildren, and great-grandmother to 19 great-grandchildren. She did many great things in her life and was admired and respected by many. Not having her here with us will be sad, but having the knowledge of the gospel and the Plan of Salvation makes the loss easier and brings us much comfort. I am so gratful for that blessing in our lives.

I am grateful for my Grandma and for the impact she has had in my life. She has influenced me more than she knows and I can only hope to be like her someday.

Thank you, Grandma. I miss and love you.

Winter!

2007-11-28T19:17:00.000-08:00

So it seems that winter has finally come here in Utah. I woke up this morning to a weather forecast of 27 degrees as the high today. I loved it, but this means I will have to do some shopping :) O well.

Thanksgiving break was nice. Very relaxing and it was good to see people that I haven't seen in a few months.

The semester is coming to an end and the stress is comin on. I have a ten page research paper due on Monday, and three finals to start studying for. It will be a very interesting few weeks. Can you die from stress?? I hope not...

Well, I am an aunt now!! My half-brother's wife Kelli had the baby. It was a little girl and they named her Kayden McKenzie. She was three weeks early so she was only 5 lbs but there were no complications and bot Kelli and Kayden are doing well. I will get to see them after Christmas, so I am excited about that. And excited to spoil her!!

Well it's my night for dinner tomorrow so I need to go do a little grocery shopping!

6 DAYS!!!

2007-11-13T17:30:00.001-08:00

K so I just wanted to get on real quick and say how excited I am to come home!!! Only 6 more days!!! It will be so nice to come home and see everyone and just relax for a little bit. I can't believe I have been away from home for 3 months! Thank you all for the support you've given me while I've been away. It has helped me be ok with not being home! See you soon!

Life is a Rollercoaster

2007-11-10T17:25:00.000-08:00

LIFE is a rollercoaster- and a never-ending one at that. Don't get me wrong, I am absolutely loving life right now. School is going great, the weather is still nice, my ward is way fun, I have amazing friends, and life is just great. I do, however, feel like these last few weeks have been GO! GO! GO! and no time to just sit and relax. There has always been a test to study for, a party to go to, a paper to write, an FHE to plan, visiting teaching to do, dinner to make, working out to do, the usual around-the-house things, plus some bigger things on top of that...like stalker-boy in our apartment... and other various things. And maybe it's just me, but I have been TOTALLY thrown off by daylight savings time this year. It gets dark so dang early and I start getting tired when it gets dark! That's not so helpful when it gets dark at 5:30... SO anyways... Needless to say, I am exhausted and SO looking forward to coming home for 8 DAYS for Thanksgiving!!! The holiday couldn't have come at a better time for me :)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MEGAN!!!!

2007-11-08T10:56:00.001-08:00

So I am going to copy an idea I got from a friend and wish Megan a HAPPY 16TH BIRTHDAY!!! I can't believe she is already 16.... Crazy how time flies. I have had so much fun growing up with her and have so many good memories!! She is one of the most entertaining, beautiful, fun, outgoing, and considerate people I know and I miss her SO SO SO much!! Happy Birthday Megan!! I hope you have an awesome SWEET 16!! Can't wait to see you in a few days!! I LOVE YOU TONS!!! <3

...Mid-Morning Visitor...?

2007-11-03T15:15:00.000-07:00

So when I say mid-morning visitor, what I really mean is early morning... as in 4 AM. Last night, my roommate and some of her friends fell asleep on the couch watching TV and she woke up this morning when she heard someone walking around the apartment. He walked over, looked at everyone who was asleep on the couch, picked up a set of keys off the coffee table, crouched down behind the couch, and then walked out. So she woke everyone up to take them home, and realized that he had picked up her keys off the table... So now this random person that no one knows has a key to her car AND to our apartment... Comforting thought, right?... Not so much... She was able to use a friend's car to take everyone home. So then she came in and woke me up to tell me what happened. Needless to say, she slept in my room with me. Except neither of us could go back to sleep. So as I said, a random man has the key to our apartment and Mataya's car... obviously not the safest situation in the world. So we called the University Parking Enforcement and asked them to boot her car so that if he tried, he wouldn't be able to drive away in it. Then, because it's Saturday, we had to call the emergency number for our management company and tell them what happened. She was understanding and called a locksmith to come change the lock and deadbolt on our door and make us all new keys. Unfortuately, I was home by myself during all of this and was scared out of my mind that he was in the apartment. I think I probably checked the closets and bathrooms about 17 times (Apparently once wasn't enough). Thankfully, the locksmith came within about 2 hours and was able to replace the locks. We have now decided that the door stays locked 24/7...

Just Be Happy

2007-11-01T19:47:00.000-07:00

Halloween was pretty fun. Mataya, Sarah and I dressed up as eskimos-the perfect costume for a Utah night. The costumes were way cute. Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures because my camera is broken and in the process of being fixed. So just use your imagination! :)

So I had a revelation the other day that I wanted to share with all of you. Ready?? Here it is: Just be happy. I know, I know. Good, huh? But seriously... A few weeks ago I was having kind of a hard time and found myself in about a week-long bad mood. One night, I was laying in bed trying to figure out how to feel better and it hit me- I just needed to be happy. So I got out the book by John Bytheway called How To Be Totally Miserable (pretty much the best book in the world and absolutely hilarious). Along with making me laugh, it helped me put things back into perspective. It was a reminder that happiness doesn't deliver. You make yourself happy. "Happiness is a decision, not a destination." It takes more work to be mad than it does to be happy, just like it takes more muscles to frown than it does to smile. It was a simple little thing, but it has made the biggest difference. Every day I wake up and tell myself to be happy and so far it has worked. So the moral of the story: Just be Happy!

Halloween, already??

2007-10-30T19:35:00.000-07:00

I cannot believe that it is already the end of October! Even more, I can't believe I haven't been home to California yet!! I thought for sure I'd have to go home at least once before Thanksgiving...

The weekend was a good one. I think I say that about every weekend... I guess they are all just good :) Friday was Mataya's birthday so a big group of us went out to dinner at Texas Roadhouse. I had never been there, but the food was amazing. And the rolls... MMM MMM MMM!! Saturday I mostly just studied all day. And did a little cleaning. Sunday was church and then I went to my cousin Becky and her husband Matt's house for dinner. I haven't seen them since I've been up here and they live like 5 minutes away. So it was nice to visit with them and catch up.

FHE went really well last night. We had a pretty good turnout. One of the guys in the group gave the lesson and did an awesome job. Then we moved all of the furniture out of the way, taped trash bags together, and all sat down and carved our pumpkins. We had Charlie Brown and the Great Pumpkin on in the background and TONS of food... pumpkin dump, cocoa pebble rice krispies, pumpkin bread, birthday cake (2 people had birthdays) and orange milk (regular milk with orange food coloring). It was just a fun night and everyone enjoyed just being able to relax and get to know people a little better.

Well, as of today, I have one test down and 2 more to go. Plus an English paper. But I got my math midterm out of the way today, so that has been a huge relief. I'm just keeping my fingers crossed that the rest of the week goes well.

Tomorrow is Halloween!! Mataya, Sarah and I got these cute Eskimo costumes. I'm not exactly sure what we are doing tomorrow night though... We'll figure something out. We have institute and then I think we will just end up party hopping so hopefully that will be fun. Unfortunately, I'll have to be home somewhat early so I can come home and study for my Biology test on Thursday. Lame, huh? O well- that's life!

Tagged...

2007-10-26T13:44:00.000-07:00

I got Tagged! Here it goes!

Jobs I've Had:
1. babysitter??...
2. never had a job
3. none
4. nothin
5. nada

Places I've Lived:
1. Fullerton, California
2. Placentia, California
3. Provo, Utah

Foods I Love:
1. anything Mexcian
2. Salad
3. Malt Shoppe burgers

Websites I visit:
1. Yahoo.com
2. Blogspot.com
3. UVSC.edu

Places I'd rather be:
1. Vacation
2. At the River
3. Reading
4. California

Movies I love:
1. How to lose a guy in 10 days
2. The Illusionist
3. Hitch

TV Shows I watch:
1. I don't watch tv...ever

People I tag:
1. Megan Pelphrey
2. Brandon Pelphrey
3. Susie Kershaw
4. Sara Blume

Welcome to College...

2007-10-25T20:50:00.000-07:00

So I've decided that all my teachers got together and decided to make everything due in the same week!! Ok... so maybe that's a little dramatic, but still- I'm pretty sure that's what happened. And here is why I think that: I have a math test tomorrow, math midterm Monday and Tuesday, english paper due and psychology test Wednesday, and biology test Thursday. Plus the normal amounts reading and homework. I don't know who my teachers think they are- they act like it's their job to teach us or something... Welcome to college...

But life is great. I'm still loving it up here and keeping very busy, which is good. FHE is going well- we combined with some other groups and went ice skating last week and are having a Halloween party this Monday. I'm excited for that. We're going to carve pumpkins, watch a Halloween movie and eat lots of yummy food :) And have a lesson of course. I'll let ya know how that goes.

I finally got around to getting a gym pass this week. I got 5 free sessions with a personal trainer so I'm looking forward to that. My first session is Thursday morning at 8... A little early, but that's ok. Gotta keep the "freshman 15" off!!

Only 22 days and I'll be home for Thanksgiving!! But who's counting??? As much as I love it up here, it will be nice to come home for a little bit. I think after just over 2 months, it's finally starting to hit me that I'm all the way in Utah... I think maybe the cold weather and snow might have something to do with it...

Being away from home has definitely taught me many important things. For example: there are 2 things in this world that never seem to stop. Laundry and dishes. I'm sure there are other things, but these are the things I have noticed. You can get all caught up on laundry in a day, but as soon as you go to bed, there is more laundry to do. Same with dishes. I think maybe I'll just stop eating and wear the same clothes for a week at a time.

Well, study break is over. Better get back to cursing my teachers... (OOPS- did I say that out loud??)What I meant was- doing some homework!!

PICTURES!

2007-10-19T14:48:00.000-07:00

So I'm still retarded and can't figure out how to add the pictures to the post. So the pictures are all at the bottom...just keep scrolling...

2007-10-17T13:40:00.000-07:00

Well it's been a while since I've written anything and so much has happened. I spent General Conference weekend in Salt Lake and it snowed all day Saturday! It was so fun.

I didn't have school last Thursday or Friday because of Fall Break so I went back out to Salt Lake to spend a few days with the Johnson's. The girls and I had so much fun. We made some cute Halloween crafts. I took some pictures and will post those soon.

Last weekend, Mataya, Sarah, Mike and I all drove to Las Vegas to meet up with Mataya's and Sarah's families and to go to the BYU vs. UNLV game. We left Friday afternoon, got there and went to the fireside that the players and their families have the night before the game. A few of the players and the coach and his wife spoke. It was a good meeting. After that, we went to Chili's for dinner. Saturday we went to Circus Circus for a little while with Sarah's family and rode all the rides there. Then we went back to the hotel, got ready and went to the game. When the game was over, a group of about 15 of us went to In-N-Out for dinner and then went to the Stratosphere and going on the Big Shot ride at the very top. It was SO high, but way fun. Sunday we drove home. The drive that normally takes about 4 1/2 hours ended up taking us 6! We had the craziest thing happen on the drive. We were driving up the highway and all of the sudden, the cars in front of us start to swerve. Then we see a car coming straight for us, going on the wrong side of the highway! It was a good thing Mike is a good driver and got out of the way in time!

This week has been crazy so far - tons of homework, studying, and tests. And something going on every night of the week - FHE, Institute, visiting teaching, study sessions, Halloween parties - it's endless. And to think that when I moved up, I was worried about being bored!

I finally took my camera in to get the pictures developed. It will be ready on Friday so I'll have pictures up by this weekend!

QUOTE FOR THE WEEK: "Kind words can be short and easy to speak but their echoes are truly endless." -Mother Teresa

2007-10-02T11:34:00.000-07:00

Another good weekend has come and gone. Friday night, Sarah and her roommate Kelcie, and Mataya and I went to the "Rock the Block" party for a little while. It was way fun, but there were SO many people there it was almost overwhelming. We got back to Sarah and Kelcie's apartment at 12:30 AM and made pancakes and started a movie, but then decided to turn it off and go home because we were all falling asleep!
Saturday morning I drove out to Alpine and went to breakfast with Becca Groesbeck. It was cold, rainy, and super windy when I was driving out there and when we left the restaurant to go back to her house it was snowing!! It didn't stick... But still - it snowed! Then I drove to Salt Lake and it was snowing there too. And sticking. It was so cool to look up at the mountains from the freeway and see snow on the rooftops and trees and everything. I can't believe winter is almost here....
Sunday was a typical Sunday. Then, after church, 2 of our guy friends came over and made us dinner. They made haystacks and turned out so good! They made brownies for dessert and even had a centerpiece!!... Kinda... (They broke a branch off a tree in our courtyard and put it in a glass of water). It was pretty funny. I'll post a picture of it later.
Monday was a typical Monday as well. It was cold, so my roommate and I decided to make homemade chicken noodle soup for dinner. It was the perfect meal for a day like that.
Tonight, when everyone gets home from school/work, my roommates and I are making dinner and hot chocolate and driving up Provo Canyon for a picnic dinner and to see the colors. I haven't seen it yet, but apparently the canyon is just beautiful at this time of year. I'll take pictures and post those too... eventually! I'll update on that tomorrow!

QUOTE FOR THE WEEK: "A person who never made a mistake never tried anything new."
-Albert Einstein

2007-09-27T14:48:00.000-07:00

So I have to say that these last few days have been very interesting. Monday night went well. Our lesson was about overcoming the "Goliath's" in our lives and the group was very willing to participate in discussion, so that was good. Tuesday morning, I woke up with really bad stomach pains. I waited for a while to see if they would go away and when 5:00 came around and I still couldn't stand straight, my roommate decided to take me to the emergency room. 7 hours and a million tests later, they figured out that I have another cyst on my ovary that is bleeding... So at 12:30 AM, they sent me home with a prescription for pain killers and said to take it easy. So, Wednesday I took it easy. I stayed in bed all day and decided that was enough! Wednesday night I went on a double date with Mataya and these 2 guys. They drove us up to Spanish Fork canyon and made us dinner over the fire. They brought a gun with them so we took turns shooting the soda cans they brought. I was the first one to hit one!!! :) We sat around the fire and talked and made s'mores until about midnight and then headed home. It was a really fun, relaxing evening and it was nice to be out of bed!! Today has been pretty laid back as well. Just takin care of some make up work and studyin for some tests! This weekend should be pretty fun. There are a few parties tomorrow night that we might stop by and then Saturday I'm goin out to Salt Lake to watch the Relief Society Broadcast with Melissa and her family. So I'm looking forward to that. I'll update on my weekend later!

2007-09-24T10:24:00.000-07:00

Ok, it's cold!! It's 11:30 and it's only 47 degrees outside! It's going to take some getting used to, but I am so excited for the winter!
Well, this weekend was great. Friday night, Mataya, Sara and I went to a party at the "Hollywood House" (don't worry...it was a good party) for a little bit. There were SO many people there, I could not believe it. Then on Saturday, I went to the BYU vs. Airforce football game with Mataya and some other people. It was pretty fun... and then it started raining. And actually, that was fun too - except for the fact that it was cold. We got drenched! We took some fun pictures... I'll post those later. After the game, we went out to dinner with Max Hall and his family at Fuddruckers. I had never been there before, so I was impressed. After dinner, I drove out to Salt Lake to spend the weekend with the Johnson's again. It was such a fun, relaxing weekend.
Today it's back to the busy life. I have school, FHE at 7:30 and a biology study session at 8:30... We'll see how it goes!!

2007-09-18T14:14:00.000-07:00

This past week has been a pretty good week... Except for Monday. The weekend was relatively calm. I spent Saturday out in Salt Lake visiting the Johnson's. We went to the park, colored some pictures, made some iron-bead masterpieces, and went to their ward bbq. Sunday was church. After church I picked up Mataya from the airport and later that night we all went to ward prayer. We were going to have a game night at our apartment Sunday night, but after realizing that we had no games, we decided to postpone it until next Sunday. Monday was a rough day. I had a cold shower, burned my hand on the straightener, and no matter how hard I tried, I could NOT concentrate in any of my classes. Just one of those days, I guess! Then as I was doing the dishes, I cut my finger and couldn't get it to stop bleeding. Then my roommate called me and told me that my car had been booted downstairs in our parking garage (long story)... but the guy was still there so if I hurried down, he would take the boot off. So I ran downstairs with a towel around my bleeding finger, and had to pay $50 to get the boot off. Provo parking is brutal!!! That night was FHE. For those of you who don't already know this, I was called to be the leader of my FHE group. My co-leader's name is Eric and I think he will be fun to work with. FHE went really well right up until the very end. We had brownies and milk for refreshments. And that would have been great except for the fact that the milk was expired and tasted horrible! I took a drink and had to try not to spit it out all over the place. When I asked if anyone else thought it tasted funny, they said yes but they were all waiting for someone else to say something! Thankfully we had another gallon and served that. Well, as you may know... sour milk doesn't settle well, so I ended up getting sick and was up all night. Why I was the only one who got sick remains a mystery. But Monday is over now and for that I am grateful and today is proving to be a perfectly normal day. Knock on wood!
O ya... I'm blonde now! I got my hair done and I decided it was time for a change. So I went blonde. It's not too blonde, and she weaved it into my brown color. I will put up pictures as soon as I can!
Word of the day: RINGXIETY. Yes, that is a real word. The definition is hearing a cell phone ring or feeling it vibrate when it isn't ringing or vibrating. I am doing a short presentation on it in Biology tomorrow. It should be interesting!

2007-09-12T20:05:00.000-07:00

So after 3 weeks, I decided that a 7 AM institute class was way too early. So yesterday I switched it to Wednesday nights at 7 PM. Mataya (my roommate), Chrissy Wishart, Jessica Burnham and I are all in the same class. Tonight was my first night and I think I am really going to enjoy going. The class is Teachings of the Living Prophets and I think I am going to learn a lot from it. I am looking forward to discussing General Conference in class when that time comes.
I made meal #2 tonight - Cabbage Salad. It turned out pretty good. I didn't have class til 12 today so I decided to get up this morning and make dinner so we could eat when Mataya got home from work. So everything else was done and I start making the dressing and realize I didn't have one of the ingredients. So I had to go to the store in the middle of making dinner... which annoyed me to no end. But it all turned out great. Tomorrow night is BBQ beef sandwiches :)
If anyone has good recipies, give me a call... I would love some ideas!!

2007-09-10T21:26:00.000-07:00

Well, I made my first meal tonight! It actually turned out much better than I thought it would and I thought it was way easy. I made chicken enchiladas and I was anxious to see how they would turn out, considering I have never made them before and I was having people over. I have a biology test tomorrow so two guys from my class came over and had dinner with us and then the 3 of us walked to the library to study for a few hours. Then we came back to my house for brownies. It ended up being a good night, despite the fact that I'm way nervous about the test tomorrow.
I picked up a disposable camera today so I will start taking pictures and get them up soon. Sorry for the delay... I'm workin on it!
I realize this entry is short, but I'm exhausted so I'm off to bed. I'll update later!

2007-09-08T12:59:00.000-07:00

I cannot believe I have been in Utah for 3 weeks already! Time is going by so fast! But things are going well. All of my roommates have moved in now and we all get along pretty well. Mataya moved in a week ago and Karissa moved in on Monday. Liz and I have been here for a while already. I don't see Liz or Karissa much because they are working and going to school so they are gone a lot. But Mataya and I have been hanging out quite a bit and have gotten close already. She is such a sweet girl. As soon as I get my camera fixed I will post some pictures of the apartment and my roommates.
The social scene of college is starting now. I went out on a double date Tuesday night. Karissa and her boyfriend and his roommate and I went to a movie. It was pretty fun. Then on Thursday night, our ward had an "ice cream social". Our bishopric went to the creamery and bought ice cream and we all just hung out and ate. It was fun to get to know some people in the ward on a more casual basis.
This weekend, Mataya and I drove up to Kaysville to watch my cousin's 3 girls while her and her husband are out of town. We're havin a blast. We had a picnic lunch at the park today, Kalli has a soccer game at 4 and then we are having a pizza and movie night tonight. I have to admit... it feels kinda strange driving 3 kids around in a mini van...
O and speaking of kids... I will be an aunt in December! My half brother Ryan and his wife are pregnant with a little girl. I am so excited to spoil her :)

2007-09-04T13:09:00.000-07:00

Last Sunday was my first Sunday in my new ward. We don't meet til 1, and that's not my favorite thing, but it was still good. I think it is a very well balanced ward and I am looking forward to meeting people in the ward. We have to walk to church, which isn't a big deal except that from my apartment to the building, it's up a hill... I'm not looking forward to that when it's snowy and icey. It will be an adventure! The other thing I am having to get used to is meeting in a classroom. It's a little distracting when you're trying to take the Sacrament or listen to a talk and there is a huge periodic table behind the speaker. One of the guys in the ward told me that he and some of his friends used to make words from the letters on the periodic table when they got bored..... Then Sunday night, I drove out to Kaysville to my cousin Kendi's house and slept there and Monday morning we got up and drove out to Pineview Lake for the day. I wakeboarded a little and woke up this morning unbelievably sore!! But it was still fun. Then I went from Kendi's house to Jake's house and hung out with Jake and Dan. We didn't do much - just watched some movies, but we had fun. This morning, it was back to reality... and speaking of which... I have biology to do.

2007-08-30T15:17:00.000-07:00

College!! Holy cow... It's crazy! But I love it. My first day was a little... should we say overwhelming...intimidating? Yes. There are SO many more people than high school. But it's awesome. And I am continually amazed by the mountains. Haha. I'm not real used to looking out my window and seeing them! It's beautiful. I can't wait til they're covered in snow... kinda. But anyways. I love my classes and my teachers. It's funny how I actually ENJOY going to school now. I will go to my ward for the first time on Sunday so we'll see how that goes. It should be good. So far I only have one roommate who has moved in. Her name is Liz. She is way sweet. She is a year older and goes to UVSC as well so she has been able to help me figure out what I'm doing. We have a lot in common, which should be a good thing. O, I payed my first bill yesterday... that was weird. Never done that before. But it wasn't so bad! There are so many things I had never noticed before. I had no idea my parents did that much for me! I had to go buy a cable cord for my internet by myself!! Never done that either! Haha. But I am loving the independence. Although I did just realize for the first time the other day that no one is here to tell me to go to school. I actually have to do that for myself. Kinda hard sometimes when your laying in bed and the alarm goes off. But it's all working out. Well, I've got an English essay to finish... WOOHOO!

2007-08-18T14:21:00.000-07:00

Well, tomorrow we leave Idaho and make the 5 hour drive back to Utah...Won't that be fun?? It's crazy how fast time flies. But I'm excited. I move in and will be on my own in 2 days!! Weird... O by the way, for those of you who know him, my brother Ryan and his wife Kelli are pregnant with their first child. She is due December 20th. It's a little girl!! We are all so excited for the new addition to the family. I will be an aunt now! It's pretty cool to say that, if I do say so myself. I'll post some pictures when she is born...Hopefully I will have figured out how to do it by then! I'm slightly technologically challenged... We'll see how it goes!

2007-08-15T20:56:00.000-07:00

K, so I really have no idea what I'm doing on this thing. It will take me a while to figure it all out... Sorry! Well, I'm in Idaho at my grandparents house til Sunday. Then Monday I will move into my apartment and Wednesday I will start school! It's all a little scary, but I'm sure it will be just fine! It was pretty hard to pack my entire life in a few boxes and drive away. But now that that part is over, it should be smooth sailing... At least I hope! Well, I've been in the car for 2 days now and I'm exhausted so I'm gonna go. I'll get on soon and update you on my life changes!