Last Night

Last night was exactly what I needed after a long stressful week and 5 hours of calling people asking them about their political opinions. I was also put on a survey where one of the questions that we were required to ask was asking them to confirm their gender. People usually get offended at that one (I agree it's a stupid question) They think that I can't tell if they are male or female. So when I got home my ladies and some other friends went to Wingers. I haven't been around or at my apartment that much this semester so I really needed this. Katie and I shared my favorite food: boneless buffalo wings drenched in ranch, and a pie that had mint ice cream, oreos, fudge and, whipped cream. I definitely enjoyed the catch up time, it was perfect.












Tonight Jill and I are going to the Collegiate Dance Showcase. We are both sad that we aren't in it this semester. It has really just been too busy with school, work, and some other things. Lately I have been dying because it feels like I haven't danced in forever!! Not since August. I have class at the time that the teacher up here teaches classes and her other classes are early in the morning when I am usually catching up on assignments. I saw this picture and it brought back all the memories of high school when dance saturated my life. I miss that.

Crazy Semester

So many things have happened this semester I don't even know where to start. It has been fun living with my friends at Tuscany and I will never forget all the good times!

We went to Craigo's Pizza for Lyndee's 21st birthday!










































































































This is at our ward party, for Halloween this year we were hobbits from Lord of the Rings!
Shelly was Frotto, I was Pipen, and Jill was Sam: hence the pillow stuffed in her shirt. We used black cobwebs to put fake hair on our feet and chest, disgusting I know. ha if I wasn't already dating someone at the time-I probably would have been really embarrassed to be seen by the ward boys, but it was fun to get all gross. The downside was that the hair-sprayed on hair on the feet kept falling off and I would find it random places.



















Sick!! At least the hair stuck to one foot.



















The whole group on Saturday night. I'd say we did pretty good, we have almost every character! First we went to taco bell and got lots of crazy looks, and I ate taco bell for the first time in years...it was gross. Then we went to a dance party! After that I ditched my hobbit costume and watched a movie with Jared who was feeling sick, sad, it reminded me of last Halloween when I was sick. We watched "The Others". Overall, I think it was a pretty successful night. I had a ton of fun, it was the best college Halloween yet!























 We went to the haunted mill, it's not Halloween without a haunted house-I love being scared! We watched "The Ring" which wasn't as scary as I remembered it. We went to a demolition derby-where a bunch of people with old cars crash them into each other and the last one standing wins. It was a fun place to people watch. I have learned a lot, looking back I would have done a lot of things different. I have made a lot of mistakes.I think at this point in my life I need to focus on being ready to take big steps and move forward with faith and I feel like now I am finally ready for that. That is the main thing I have learned.

There are so many directions my life can go right now and I am going to have a lot of big decisions to make! I know everything will turn out right though and that everything happens for a reason. One of my favorite quotes right now is one by President Gordan B. Hinckley it says:

"It isn't as bad as you sometimes think it is. It all works out in the end. Put your trust in God, and move forward with faith and confidence in the future. The Lord will not forsake us. He will not forsake us. If we will put our trust in Him, if we will pray to Him, if we will live worthy of His blessings, He will hear our Prayers."

There have been so many instances especially up here at college that I have seen my prayers answered. Sometimes it is even something that I have wanted to pray about, but figured it wasn't big enough or important so I didn't pray about it, but it was answered anyway because the Lord knows our thoughts and desires. ah, I am just growing so much here at school and I am so grateful to be here, for the people I have met, for the relationships I have had, for the things I have learned, and for the experiences I have had that have shaped me into who I am today. I think writing this out is more for me than anything ha, but I know that everything will work out, faith is key!

Home!

I came home on allegiant air, it flies straight from Idaho Falls to Mesa! Let me tell ya, I am never going back to driving, the plane ride was 1 1/2 hours instead of 5 hrs to the SLC airport and then flying home. My wonderful family came and picked me up (mom, dad, ally, ashley, and brooke) and we went to eat at Oreganos! It felt so good to have real food, I used up too much money at the beginning of my semester so I ended up eating PB sandwiches and cereal for like 2 weeks. Then the next day we went to Slide Rock! I love that place, did dad follow through on the tradition and rip his shorts again you ask? Nope! He wore two pairs and they both survived.

We picked blackberries by the bridge and I ate a few...then dad said that people pee onto them from the top of the bridge and I lost my appetite. We had a perfect spot right by the end of the slippery slide and saw enough wipe outs to give my abs a work out, people never learn that it is not a good idea to walk on algae...who doesn't know that? ha

Other highlights of the week:
*Harry Potter 7 Part 2-Best movie ever!
*hiking
*Mimi's cafe

We went to wet and wild this Saturday and it was so fun, Me, mom, dad, and Ally went during the day and came home and then Brooke, Ally, and I went back and went on one ride before lightening started and the park closed down. Good news is...we got a rain check so we can go back sometime next week.

Sadly, Ashley had to go back to Hawaii last Monday, and I will miss her!! I am glad that I was able to come home early enough to see her for a couple days though.

Expelliarmus

So my roommates were obsessed with HP. Very Obsessed. (Don't get me wrong I loved them, it was just funny) Some facts about the semester:

*we watched at least 2 HP movies a week
*Each room in our apartment was a different house (Slytherin, Griffindor, etc)
*they had authentic wands purchased online
*The Hogwarts crest resided in our living room

Have they converted me? maybe. I probably know every spell there is now, so I would watch out if I were you...

Palladio Escala

I took a ballet class from my amazing teacher up at byui and she told me about the collegiate dance team doing a ballet/clogging dance, and so I joined the dance! It sounds like a weird combo, but it looked really cool. There were SO many rehearsals, but the end result and being on stage again was worth it, it was tons of fun!

The end of this semester was such a relief! I got a lot of hard classes out of the way though and next semester should be easy! I am going to be a lab TA for my Anat & Phys teacher. I am so excited to be roommates with Jill, Lyndee, Katie, and Shelly this semester. I will have my own room, which will be weird. I kind of like having a roommate to stay up late talking to. Anyway-this semester overall was a success and I loved my harry potter loving roommates and will miss them so much!

Spring Semester

I am finally posting pictures of my apartment! I am staying at Nauvoo house this semester and I love it!! They are brand new and I have the nicest roommates! Sadly I haven't taken that many picture yet this semester, but I will post the ones I have. So this semester it seems like I have had a lot of boys I don't like ask me out and text constantly and I have had to try very hard to be nice and not just blow them off like I used to do. The process of getting them to finally get the hint is longer,but it's okay. I still am waiting for the liking to be mutual, it's always better that way.

The picture is at Cade's house. We decorated easter eggs and then watched Harry Potter 7 Part 2. Cade's egg says E=mc2, go figure haha.

Here's a quick update on the semest so far:

1. Lyndee had a BYOB party-Idaho style-Bring your own Boy. I was stressed that whole week and couldn't think of who I wanted to bring, and then I thought of Christian, I invited him and it was super fun, he's a really nice guy and very cute ;) We had an amazing dinner and played lots of games, it was so fun!

2. For Jill's b-day we went to a restaurant called "Jill's place" in St. Anthony, it was so fun to spend time with all the girls and celebrate the best friend in the world Jillian Price!

3. We have lots of roommate game nights which are really fun, I have the nicest/funnest roommates they are all so great!

4. Study dates, those are always fun...

5. New work-out plan-Jill, Lyndee, Hailey, and I went running the other night and it was way fun! I am starting a new work out schedule to get in shape and get nice abs, yes.

6. We went to body world! It was the most amazing thing I have ever seen, lots of real people's muscles, bones, and body organs on display and preserved, I loved it.

7. Saturday night we watched J. Biebs, Never say Never, I have a new respect for him, such a cute nice kid. I have beiber fever folks. Ally, if you want to buy me the cd, you know the address ;)

8. Pointe/Clogging dance- I am in the collegiate showcase and am doing ballet in a pointe/clogging dance! Jill and Hailey are in the clogging part, it is so fun to go to be able to be in the same dance as them and have the styles mixed, it is flippin' awesome.

9. Life is good, although it hailed last Friday and it is the middle of June, why do people willingly choose to live in Idaho? I am still trying to figure it out.

Back to School

So I am finally back up at Idaho for the spring semester. This semester started very good, I love my roommates, and my apartment is new and everything is clean and pretty! The classes I am taking are Microbiology and the lab which is a separate class, Psychology, Child Development, Book of Mormon, and Jazz Dance! So far these classes have been really stressful, Each one has lots of quizzes, most before every class, and like 40 pages of reading for the next class, so when you add all that up it turns out to be a lot! I have been studying a lot at the library with Jill and Cade.

Thursday Night I went to Cade's and played sting ping and games, then on Friday hung out with Jill and the new roomies, Saturday I studied the day away, got really good fro yo with my roommates, and then went to Cade's and decorated Easter eggs and watched Harry Potter 7.

Then Sunday was Easter! I love this day to reflect upon the life and resurrection of my Savior and I am so thankful for Christ and all He has done for me and continues to do to help me in my life.

We had a big Easter dinner and went to some guys apt in our ward to play games. So it has been fun! Today I just took my first psych test and it went really good! In micro lab this morning we studied slides with blood, bacteria, yeast, hair, and fruit fly wings, it was awesome! Although it is probably going to get pretty stressful, I know that everything is going to be great and I love being a student!

My Worst Fear

I love the spring here, but they bring the grossest, worst, and most scary bugs, mosquito eaters! Ew just thinking about them makes me squirm. They are worse than spiders because they fly and chase you everywhere! There never seems to be a way to keep them out of the house and really one of the reasons I am excited to go to Idaho is because it is too cold there for them. I freak out whenever I see one and always hurt myself trying to get away from them. One time one flew at my face at the dinner table and I ran backwards not realizing that the dishwasher was open, I tripped over it and sat on all the dishes barely missing a fork, ouch. Another time one was attracted to the computer screen and I stubbed my toe, tripped over the computer chair and rolled to the ground. Tonight I went to get a plate and one was in the cupboard and flew at my face! They really are horrible, I would rather be bitten by mosquitos than have these nasty things flying through the house searching for me. I don't know where the one flying in here went and I can't stop looking over my shoulder ha

Happy Birthday Mom!

I have the best mom in the world, really I do. She is so beautiful, kind, unselfish, caring... and April 1st was her birthday! Mom sends us a package every month when we are away at college, She would wake up and make us a nice breakfast every morning before seminary, without her I wouldn't have been able to ever do ballet classes because she helped me pay! I also would have probably starved up at college! This break from school has been fun because mom spoils me and takes me out to eat and we get redboxs and watch them during the day, I love you so much mom, you're the best!! I am going to miss you when I go away to school!

Kade

I will miss this little cutie when I leave for college in a few weeks! I have had the priviledge of watching Kade every Friday when he gets home from preschool while Brooke goes to nursing school. Kade is so cute and sweet and is always saying the funniest things. We took trips to McDonalds for ice cream, fed the ducks, played Lego Star Wars, Wingo, and Candyland, made playdoh, played store, croquet, and watched movies. I am glad I got the chance to grow closer to Kade and I will miss him when I leave!

Grand Canyon

So it's pretty sad that I have lived in Arizona my whole life and never been to the Grand Canyon. Dad had the idea to go on a little family vaca there a couple weekends ago so we loaded up the car and drove to Flagstaff. It was really gorgeous and I am glad a got to see it finally. We hiked a little bit of the Bright Angel trail which was really pretty.

Pizza Pizza

A couple Sunday's ago I made a favorite recipe of ours, Barbeque Chicken Pizza. It is a lot of work to make and takes a lot of time, but it tasted so so good!! It's kind of a weird shape though. I am trying to perfect my cooking skills...

Go Suns!

Sun's Game #1: Sun's vs. Bobcats
I am a lucky girl! I was able to go to 2 Sun's games this season so far. I wanted to go so badly and so Brooke and Cody bought me a ticket and I went with Ethan, Rhett, and Cody, they are so nice! It was so much fun and cute to see how into the game Rhett gets yelling "defense!!" at the top of his lungs and watching intently. Ethan is not a big Sun's fan, in fact he hates them haha, so he cheered for the Bobcats. Sun's lost this one, but it was still so fun!

Sun's Game #2: Suns's vs. Utah Jazz

This was the best Sun's game I have ever seen! I loved it. My favorite part of being at a game is when the lights go out and it is pitch black and then lights start flashing, with music, and the players are announced. I was so happy I almost cried, having season tickets would be so amazing...when I am older! We convinced Dad to get us tickets for Valentines Day and we went with Mom, Ally, Dad, Cody, Ethan, and Rhett. Rhett made us all cute little signs that said "Sun's" really small and he waved his excitedly, he is such a big fan! Ethan and Cody were cheering for the Jazz. It was a close game, but the Sun's won by 1 point! 102-101! Ethan was crying when they lost which was funny, he is so competitive. We were all hyped up on cotton candy and cookies that by the time we got in the car we crashed. It was a great night! I think we are going to get tickets to one more before I leave!

Ethan doing a thumbs down for the picture haha!

Holiday in the Sun

I have been waiting to post about this glorious trip until I felt like blogging, blog posts are exhausting for me, it's like a chore, but I need to keep my life documented so I can make this into a book! I think I am just going to give a general summary of the trip because the days all seem to blur into one there, and I was born with an exceptionally bad memory, here goes starting with the ever exciting airport. Oh and it's kinda detailed just for my own memory to remember it. :)

After an exhausting week of finals I reached the Salt Lake City Airport at 2pm for a flight at 7:50pm. I saw one of my good friends Ali there and she was in the same terminal, so it wasn't so bad talking with her until her plane left and I was informed that my plane was delayed 2 1/2 hours. I was so sick of being at the airport I was about to cry, but thankfully I discovered a starbucks and got a mint chocolate chip frappachino instead. Finally I boarded my plane and Brooke picked me up in Phoenix since the rest of my family was already in Hawaii. When we got to her house it was a little after 1am and I had to switch all my bags into a carry on because, as you all know dad, he didn't want to pay baggage fees haha! So by the time I got packed, showered, and prepared it was 3:30am and I got 1 hr of sleep before waking up and going to the airport for an early morning flight to Honolulu.

When I got to the airport and got to my terminal it was about 7 and then I was informed of something that no one wants to hear when they are about to board a 7 hour flight over the Pacific. The plane was being delayed 3 hours because they needed to wait for a part to arrive that was on another plane and then they needed to fix our plane so we could take off. The time slowly ticked by and I people watched and played episodes of full house on my lap top. Once we were on the plane I happened to have a cute Hawaiian boy my age sitting next to me and we talked for awhile so the ride went quickly. I get the best luck on planes because I have never sat by anyone weird (knock on wood)

Once in Hawaii I changed into my swim suit in the airport bathroom and was picked up in our cute jeep rental car and we were headed straight to Sunset beach!! It was so great to see Ashley since it had been a year! We went back to the condo after the sun went down and enjoyed dinner at Ted's Bakery. I think I could live on their pulled pork bbq sandwiches and never get tired of them. We also got a Ted's Chocolate Haupia pie-soo good!

We celebrated Dad's birthday at the beach and with another pie...
I love dad! I am thankful for how hard he works for our family and for lending me some money for college so I can attend while I am young, ha! you are the best!

One day we went paddleboarding over in Halewia for the day, me, Ally, and Ashley paddled under this bridge and into this river-like area and we found a rope swing. We took turns swinging off of that which was really cool. We also saw lots of turtles poking their heads up next to the boards. We had Killer Tacos for lunch and then just relaxed on the beach, this was one of my favorite days.

Another day we went surfing! This was after my parents left and we went to Castles with Ashley, Lowell, Katie, Jake, and Jeremy. It was so fun, but the water was choppy and so it was hard to paddle out. I got pretty smashed up as the waves kept flipping my board and then my fin jabbed my arm and left a bloody bruise with a big lump that is still on my arm, it won't go away ha.

One day we went to Wiamea and sun-bathed and dove into the big waves and rode them, with Ted's Bakery and Sunset Cake for lunch.

We ate at Waialua Bakery for lunch(Best sandwiches in the world and coconut cookies) several times and of course got Matsumotos shave ice!

On my birthday we went downtown to Waikiki and went on Sheila's boat, it so fun and as we were coming back in they stopped the boat and we were able to jump out and swim in the beautiful blue water. We then went to Dukes and had Nacho's for lunch and the traditional Hula pie. After that we went shopping and got some cute Christmas pajama shorts and necklaces. We headed back to Halewia and ate at my favorite restaurant in the whole world- Halewia Eats. I always get the pad thai and it was heavenly. Then we got a Ted's chocolate haupia pie and ate it back at the condo while watching a Christmas movie. It was perfect.

Christmas day was spent at the beach and we had a nice dinner, it was a great way to celebrate Christmas and I wouldn't mind spending every Christmas in Hawaii!

We went to the macadamia nut farm, the Dole Pineapple plantation, and the soap factory which used to be the sugar mill that my grandparents worked at when they migrated over to Hawaii in the 1900's. We also met up with some Hawaii cousins that we had there and it was fun to meet them and talk with them.

After two weeks my parents went home and I got to stay with Ashley for an extra week and half! It was fun going to the beach, eating good food, going on bike rides , and meeting her super fun roommates and friends.

On New Years Eve we went to a party at the Red house for an hour and then went to a party with Jeremy and his roommates and some other girls. New Years in Hawaii is incredible. It was bigger than any Fourth of July I had ever seen and smoke covers the whole island. As we were standing on the street lighting off fireworks and sparklers someone 15 ft away lit a HUGE one that probably almost blinded me, burst an ear drum, and scared the heck out of me and ash, ha if a bomb ever hit me I imagined it would be something like that. Then we had apple cider and headed home at about 1:30am. When we arrived home Ashley's friend jake and his other friend Nate were sitting in Ashley's house waiting for us. They wanted to hang so we were up until about 4:30am playing cards. I was a little scared off by his friend when he stated his age, 30! um no thanks....

One night when we were hanging out with Jake we went on a bike ride and we went and picked up his friend Lowell (tall, dark, handsome, and muscular)-this is why I need to move to Hawaii. Ashley is probably rolling her eyes as she reads this because I had a crush on all the cute Hawaiian boys, but come on who wouldn't! She must be used to it. Anyway we went to Jake's house and hung out, then we went on the roof and we looked at the stars. Then we went to Ashley's house and we watched surf movies, it was a very, very good night. ;)

On one of my last days in Hawaii we attempted to hike out to Chinaman's hat. We started to, but then decided we should just wait until we had better shoes or boards to paddle out because the coral was so sharp it was torture walking out there.

Ashley took me out to this really nice restaurant, Halewia Joes and we had a really nice dinner there it was so fun to get dressed up and eat at such a nice place right on the ocean :)

Beau and his mom came on my last night and we went out to Halewia Eats and then had Ted's Pie again. By this point though it was hard to enjoy because we discovered it has trans fat so we could only eat a little without feeling disgusting. what a shame...

As I wrote this out now I realize how much I talk about eating, I probably sound like a pig. ha