Happy Day!

So today is my last day of working before CHRISTMAS! Yay! It is seriously dead on campus. The building I work in is locked. No one can come in for me to help them and if someone calls and needs my help I can't leave the building because then I couldn't get back in...basically I am no good here. Anyways I was looking for something to do/watch. I went to hulu and I was all caught up on my shows so I started browsing through other things I could watch. And it turns out that Miracle on 34th Street was on hulu! Yay! That is one of my favorite movies. I used to watch it all the time when I was little. Not the old black and white one but the one with the little girl from Matilda! I LOVE that movie. I felt really stupid I was really emotional when the streets were filled with people cheering for Santa...so moving! Seriously!

Now that I've been on a blogging kick for two days...I don't know how good I'll be over the holidays but just wanted to wish everyone a

Merry Christmas!

The Spirit of Christ!

I am a BIG fan of mormon messages...short, sweet, and uplifting! This one really emulates the meaning of Christmas! Enjoy!

Shocking

So this is so shocking to me I couldn't put it with the other post. It deserved its own. For a little history on well...me...I am not a huge action movie girl. Mostly I just like romantic comedies...not very adventurous in my movie choices. Any ways...this weekend my sweet sweet roommate invited me to spend the weekend at her house in Kaysville. On the way down she asked me if I wanted to go see Avatar with her family. I chuckled a little and was like...um...ok sure! I didn't know what the movie was. I thought it was that cartoon thing that people watch. I was not prepared for the most amazing movie EVER! Holy cow! I am pretty sure I felt every emotion that is possible! It was incredible! I loved it! The whole movie made me kind of hate the human race and want to be a blue person but that is ok! And the planet they lived on was called Pandora so now every time I go to Pandora to listen to music I am reminded of the kind blue people that lived on Pandora! If you haven't seen it...go see it!

Little Update!

I haven't blogged in nearly forever and I don't have time to go back and update you on every detail (as I know you are all just sitting at home waiting for me to update my blog...you have NOTHING better to do, I know!). Also my computer crashed so I am computer-less so no pics...sometime I'll put some up but not now...now you just get to read!

My Health
So turns out I didn't have giardia...the disgusting medicine just made me incredibly sick for a week and then when it was gone I felt no better! Lame! So I went to the doctor's a couple more times. They didn't really know. Put me on medicine for an ulcer...it helped a little but I went to Disneyland and forgot my medicine and it wasn't really any different and it's basically fine now. I don't really know if it was an ulcer or not but yeah...not really an update because there is nothing to update I just wanted you to know I didn't have giardia!

Disneyland
The family went to Disneyland this year for our family vacation, which is usually in the summer but don't get me started on that! ;) love you mom! It was so fun, I haven't been in a couple of years and I felt like a small child at certain points. We participated in the pin trading business. It was probably the most fun thing I have done in basically forever. At first I didn't have pins and I was just helping the little kids but I seriously COULD NOT resist any longer, gave in and got pins. Such a fun trip! We did do other things but that was my FAVORITE part!

Thanksgiving
For Thanksgiving this year I went to my dad's house. He moved to San Diego this year so Bri and I went down and spent some time with him and his family.

[[pre-story!]]
We drove down with a friend and his sister, who happen to live 15 minutes away from Disneyland. Because I am in school I couldn't go the whole time with my family to Disneyland and I had an extra day on my 3-day pass. So Bri and I figured that we only had to buy one ticket and we were so close we took this opportunity to explore our inner child. This is the same friend that let us stay at his house for my birthday trip back in June and we stayed two nights there before heading down to my dad's. On a side note, this is the nicest family in the whole world. They just let us stay with them whenever and every morning there is delicious homemade breakfast waiting for us and they just let us take one of their cars the whole day to Disneyland. Anyways....it was so fun to go to Disneyland again! We only had one day but we made it count. We were exhausted because we drove the WHOLE night before and then got home and woke up 2 hours later and left for the park. So not much sleep, I was a little grouchy in the beginning but it went away after a while! :) Our day was pretty average: rides, parade, fantasmik, etc. Funny story though: so I had never been on the new Nemo ride until this trip. I went with my family first and we waited until the night time because the line was so long and it was the END of the day and I was exhausted and it was dark and I pretty much just slept through the whole thing. So when I went back with Bri I wanted to go again and actually stay awake but same thing happened...long lines...night time ride...two hours of sleep...literally slept the whole time. I think I need to go one that one during the day! ;)

For those of you that don't know I have two little sisters on my dad's side, Gaia and Greta. They are so cute! It was so much fun to spend such a long time with them. We mostly just hung out at the house and relaxed a lot, a couple nights I was in bed before 9 o'clock. I felt REALLY lame but it was MUCH needed. The day after Thanksgiving Bri and I went to the outlets that are close to my dad's house which also lie right on the border of Mexico. And I mean RIGHT on the border...like the back of the outlets is a HUGE wall and the exit you take warns you 5 million times that it is the "last U.S. exit". It was quite the experience. We looked for a parking spot for a hour and a half...RIDICULOUS! And then because it was so close to the border it was kinda sketchy and a little scary at points but we survived. However, after all of that we didn't even get any great deal...oh well, I went in knowing that but it was just the experience that was fun! We went to a couple more stores after that...nothing too exciting. We went to breakfast one day with the whole family and it was right on the beach and it was BEAUTIFUL! It was so fun!

Currently
Unfortunately I am still in Provo, I'll be here until the 24th (Christmas Eve...just in case you didn't get that). I have to work. It has been killing me. It is incredibly boring. Today I did better at keeping myself busy with actual work so I feel productive but yesterday I almost died of boredom. It's not like a secretary really has much to do when no one is here to do menial tasks for. I have been making up projects for myself! Haha. Someone will appreciate it I'm sure! Anyways the only thought I have today is about Christmas music. I am a firm believer in Christmas music during December. I have my radio station in my car permanently set on the Christmas station (there are actually two I switch between on commercials) and on my Pandora I have a Christmas station. It is wonderful I feel so spirited. Today however I had my music playing most of the day and while there are a lot of Christmas songs...there really aren't. There are a lot of different artist and they do different renditions but there is not that many songs. Which is fine for a 4 hour work day. There are plenty. But I have been working 8.5 - 9 hour days these past two days. There is not enough Christmas music to fill up the time. I started hearing the same song by the same artist and I started getting a little sick of it but I feel like such a Scrooge listening to regular music. I just turned it off. It'll be better tomorrow! :)

Note to reader (if you made it all the way down here): I thought I wasn't going to give you every detail...clearly I can't help it! Sorry I rambled on forever, I just got so excited reminiscing! lol!

Twenty-two

So I started a new class this second block of the semester and it is BY FAR my favorite class! I get to work in the BYU preschool and basically just play with children! It is so fun but today I over heard the funniest conversation, here is how it went!

Child: How old are you?
Teacher: 22
(more talk about how the teacher is 22)
Joey: My dad has a 22
Teacher: Your dad has a 22?
Joey: Yeah, my dad has a 22.
Teacher: What is a 22?
Joey: You know like the gun a 22

Haha. I don't know why but this made me laugh so much and I was just sitting at another table over hearing it! Funny children...how this 4 year old even knows what a 22 is is beyond me! Haha :)

The BIG 1-3

So this is my 50th blog post...I figured it deserved a little something special...or I guess a little something special deserved it! So here is to my favorite red headed brotha!

This month is such a special one,
it's birthday time for you!
I'd really like to celebrate this happy day with you!
SO
Zipp-a-dy A and Heidi-ho
there's something we must to.....
We'll sing a song that we all know.....
Happy Birthday
TO YOU!!!!

Happy 13th Aaron!

(this picture was last summer so it really isn't up to date but I think he is so cute here....not really what a 13 year old boy wants to hear but its ok I don't think he reads blogs anyways! But look at his RED hair and all is freckles...such a cute boy!)

And isn't it ironic...don't you think?!

So about 5 weeks ago now Bri and I went to this BEAUTIFUL lake! It was such a great get away! It was a little blessing sent from above and I tried to truly capture its breath-taking beauty but it was not capturable (at least my my camera). This picture does not do it justice but it was so great and we had a TON of fun in the water!
Now that really isn't that ironic thus far! However the beauty described above has led me to the recent discovery of this...Thats right people, I have giardia. Now for those of you who don't know what this is we're going to have a little lesson. I didn't know what it was until the doctor said that I might have it. So it is a parasite that you get from fresh water that lives in your small intestines. It come from either fish or human poop and is ingested. So apparently I don't swim with my mouth closed and some fishies were pooping in the lake and I swallowed it! GROSS!!!! Just so you get a better picture here is what a giardia looks like and here is what my small intestines look like (ENJOY!)


My stomach hurts like HECK! I wish these stinkin bugs would get out of my gut! I have had most of the symptoms for about 3 weeks now. Tomorrow is my final day of antibiotics which I am so grateful for because they make my mouth have the NASTIEST taste you could dream of. I constantly have some kind of candy in my mouth to get rid of the taste. I can't wait for all of them to be gone!

On a funnier note my mom is SO paranoid about this now. She keeps telling me that she is going to duck tape her mouth when she goes to a lake next and I am not allowed to take even baths anymore and she is afraid to drink out of drinking fountains. It is quite humorous!

I know I haven't blogged in a while and now there is this VERY uplifting post...I hope you all enjoyed it thoroughly! Hope you are all doing well! :)

Pumpkin Pick-up!

My calling this semester is FHE mom and so far it has been pretty fun. It is a little tough because we have ZERO budget...I'm not sure where it went but whatever. So I kinda of have to be creative with my activities and thus far it has been good. This past Monday my group and another group joined together and it was SO GREAT! We decided to get 6 pumpkins to carve and make sugar cookies to decorate. After said events were complete we doorbell ditched them to different people in the ward. Great plan and was very fun!When me and another mom (pictured above) decided to do this I immedately thought of the sugar cookies we make a Christmas time as a family! They are my favorite and I was STOKED to make them! They turned out SOOO BAD! They were disgusting. I mean there were a few people who have apparently never had a good cookie that ate like 20 but in my opinion they were BAD! So my mom is going to teach me how to make them when I go home because clearly I am challenged! I'm really excited!

During the activity I felt like a real mom, I didn't get to really participate in the activity at all because I was running around the whole time. I was running from the basement (where the pumpkins were...outside) to the kitchen (1 floor up) ALL NIGHT! I just ran up and down and up and down and up and....you get the point. I thought I was going to die I was so sweaty. After everyone left I was EXHAUSTED I laid down on the couch in a friend's lap. She was playing with my hair and all the sudden her hand was getting stuck...there was FROSTING IN MY HAIR! I couldn't believe that was the tipping point...I experienced motherhood for 1 hour of my life :) haha! It was actually really funny and I couldn't believe I had frosting in my hair considering I frosted only one cookie AFTER everyone left! lol

Today was a day just like any other

I have been trying to upload a really funny video of my roommate ALL DAY and it won't let me! So I just wanted to let you all know my frustration! Uh!

Anyways! I had a day off today from school and work! It was so nice...I slept in WAY too late and then I did some stuff around the house and now I am going to work on some studying. It has been a very productive and relaxing day! The laundry is done, the kitchen is clean, and I am well rested! Hope you all had a great day as well.

Updated!

I feel its been a while since I have posted and now you are all caught up on the ins and outs of my life! Hope its an enjoyable journey reading it! Love you all! Hope you are having a fabulous life!

"Happiness does not come by chance, it comes by choice"! Don't know if that is really the EXACT quote...something like that though! Words to live by!

Gen Con!

Conference was SO great this weekend I really loved it! I loved a lot of the talks here are some general take away messages I got from it:

• Love those around you and show that love for them through word and deed.
• The Book of Mormon is TRUE (Holland's talk was SO powerful!).
• Be better, always strive to do better, we can always do more than we are doing now.
• SERVICE!!!!
• Repent.

I loved all of the talks and I thought this conference was much more reprimanding and telling us to be better. I have a greater desire to do better in my life, be better, and help those around me to be better as well!

New Phone!

I got a new phone this week and it is really awesome! I haven't had a new phone in years...the last really new phone I got was in 2007...not really that long ago but I was REALLY sick of it! So I got a new one and I am LOVING it! It is really cute, and little, and light, and super fun to find new things out about it!

Hawaii

Ok so here is my official post about Hawaii! It was such a great trip! It was so fun to be around family for an extended period of time because I didn't get to go home at all this summer. I am so grateful for Grammy and Papa for taking me and enabling a WONDERFUL time to be had by all. On top of everything I got to have a little break from school! It was very nice! Any of you can go and read a detailed list of the things that we did on Ashlie's blog so I am going to tell you the top 10 things (in my opinion) that happened on the trip. Also I didn't take as many picture as Ashlie but here are a few of my favoites along with a link to see them all for your viewing pleasure!

TOP 10:

1. I flew there and back by myself so I had a different experience on my planes than the rest of my family. On the way there I sat next to quite possibly the nicest woman I have ever met. It is a big gamble flying by your lonesome and I have done it quite often and never really had a bad experience but this woman was a blessing. No one wants to have a bad experience for 5 and a half hours. This woman was born, raised, and currently still lives in Hawaii (kinda cool!). Anyways she was not overbearing...she slept, I slept, we chatted a bit, we laughed at The Proposal together, she shared some history about Hawaii with me. All in all she was great. She even gave me a list of the places I should go while I was there. We didn't go to any of them BUT it was very kind
2. One day at the beach we looked through the sand and found some of the SWEETEST rocks and shells! They were really cool! We started a mini rock/shell collection!
3. 3 words...Cheeseburger in Paradise. This place was delicious and it was even better because it really was a cheeseburger in paradise.
4. Stairs story: There is no way to fully capture the funniness of this story but seriously take my word for it...it was hilarious. If you don't know what I'm talking about check out Ashlie's Blog!
5. The Hawaiin sunsets...breathtaking!
6. Being with the family: It was so great to spend time with each of them. They are all so crazy! I got to know all of them a little better this week! So many many good times!
7. Being so very very close to the beach. If you know me you know that I LOVE the beach and really any body of water. I would live in the water if I could...but I can't. So it was really great to be able to be so close to the beach and go any time I wanted!
8. Wearing a bathing suit for 80% of the time I was awake during the day. For most of the same reasons stated above. I could go in the water at ANY given moment!
9. The bee story: Really again if you haven't already heard it please read it on Ashlie's blog....so funny! I can't really explain to you the humor and it probably seems really mean but watching her FLAIL around while none of us knew what was going on will be an image I have in my head for a LONG time to come!
10. Last but not least...this went in like descending order...this is really the number one reason. Ms. Abigail Eilmas. It was so fun to be able to spend time with her and meet her little personality. I haven't got to spend much time with her yet and it was so great. She is the cutest little thing. We had a lot of fun...I taught her to relax (put her hand behind her head and just lay there basically! lol). She got pretty good at it though. Toward the end of the trip when we were playing I'd tell her to relax and she'd put her hand up behind her head. She is such a sweet baby. I miss her. I wish I could spend more time with her

All in all it was a FABULOUS trip! Couldn't have asked for better! :)

Hawaii!

So Hawaii was so stinkin fun! I had such a good time. I don't really have time to update you on all of the ins and outs of the trip BUT Ashlie has done a fabulous job of capturing all of the moments very well. I'll update this weekend with pictures and some stories after I finish all of my tests this week. BUT until then! Enjoy the this HILARIOUS post!

Hawaii 2009

The Home Stretch!

It's about 4:30...I have a half hour of work left and as I was sitting here studying for my quiz that I have in my next class I was thinking about Hawaii because I am so excited! I have only one more class before Hawaii! I don't have any classes on Tuesday so I just have one evening class at 5 and then it is Hawaii preparin time! Which basically means put all bathing suits into a suitcase and go! :) I really can't wait...not only to be in HAWAII but to get to spend some quality time with mi familia! I have been getting some pretty funny mass emails from them...it is going to be a GREAT week!

Seeing Stars

Seeing stars is a really weird experience. It has only happened to me twice in my life, that I can remember, and today was one of those times. In my bathroom there is a glass shower but it is one of those showers that you can't really see through and so Bri came into the bathroom this morning and I didn't see her right away and I looked over and there was someone in the bathroom I screamed and jumped so high it was crazy! And then when she left I started seeing stars it was the craziest experience. I think seeing stars is really really weird it is just like the cartoons describe it...except smaller...much smaller stars! Haha. That is what happened to me today and it was really funny! Hope you all enjoyed the story!

My Lack of...FASHION!!

I know so many of you are thinking that its impossible and believe me, three years ago I would be right there with ya but the unthinkable has happened! Haha! ;)

As I was walking to class with Bri today we were discussing our wardrobes and how pathetic they are. Bri has told me a couple of times lately that she realizes that we REALLY need new clothes because she has never liked her clothes but she could always find something in my closet...no longer. She is even tire of my clothes. It is really sad when someone else gets tired of wearing your clothes and they can't find anything in your FULL closet to wear...its just kind of depressing. She brought up a good point. This is the first year and I didn't get back to school clothes. It is depressing to go to school and not have new clothes. I realize that it is time for me to grow up and its not like adults get back to work clothes (mostly because there is no "back to work"...its just work). Nevertheless I am a little depressed about it. I wish I didn't care about a higher education and could just spend all my money on looking FABULOUS! Haha...not really...but sometimes! I can't wait for it to get a little colder and be able to pull out some of my OLD sweaters and feel like I got new clothes! :) It POURED today so I think it is coming soon!

ALSO! Hawaii in 9 days! YAY!

Rekindling Friendships

Last night my roommates and I had a party at out apartment and invited a bunch of friends and people from the ward. It was a lot of fun. We had some chips and dips and everyone came and mingled it was SO fun! There were a lot of people I don't even think I saw half of the people that were there but it was so fun. A lot of our friends that we hadn't seen in a long time so it was nice to see people and catch up. I met a lot of new people as well, I remember about 5% of their names! lol! So all in all it was a big success and we all rekindled a lot of friendships.

Week 1

It's the end of the first week of classes and all in all it has gone pretty well. It has been a little stressful and I have worked more than I expected. Today has been a long day...I had class at 9 and then right after from 10-4:30...I worked, and it wasn't like it usually is...there was SO much to do. But my classes are going great! I LOVE my stats professor...he is a hoot! He made a Brian Regan reference today so he is pretty much my hero! I am looking forward to this semester, I think it will be good! I also got a calling yesterday to be on the FHE counsel, that should be fun! I have a TERRIBLE headache and am starving but all in all its going great! One week down fifteen more to go!

On a side note...I'm going to Hawaii in 19 days!!!

New Beginnings

So there was a little birdy crying in my apartment about how I haven't blogged in a while...not quite sure because she knows everything that is going on in my life right now but I decided to update the rest of you wonderful people! :) So...lets see, school started on Monday. Classes are going really well. I only have really hard one that I think will be a little tricky, it is an English class so it will just be tricky to learn what she wants from us. Other than that I have gone back down to just 20 hours a week and it is so nice, the work day just FLIES by...that could be in part to the work that have though. It has been much busier since school started. I can't really think of anything else very interesting that any of you would be that interested in hearing. There is a piano in my apartment and I have been playing it quite a bit...teaching myself how to play...I am not very good and I can only play songs that I know the tune to (because I can't count) and they can only have one sharp (I just upgraded to that...I used to have to play ones that didn't have any sharps or flats! Yay me!) but I am learning. I get a little better each day and it is really exciting!

OH! My new ward is great...there are so many people. My last ward was kind of inactive and really small, this ward is COMPLETELY opposite which is good but the first week was so overwhelming. All of the people are really nice. I think I am going to have a really good time here!

That is all for now! I hope you enjoyed it! :)

Irreverence

Yesterday Bri and I decided to go to the temple and there was some funny things that happened that somewhat disrupted the sacred reverence in that holy place. I did my best to laugh silently and at time had tears running down my face.
To paint you a picture:
1. Bri and I get our jumpsuits and the Provo temple is so busy that they always run out of our sizes. I am not a fan of short ones so they always give me ones that aren't short but I guess the women just gave Bri hers this time. I walk out from my stall and I see her and immediately all I see is a big Samoan man. Her jumpsuit is not only so big I could have fit in there with her but it comes up to about mid-calf! I could not stop laughing...she look so funny. When we sad down it went to about her knees! Hahahahahaha.....
2. So then we are in the confirmation room and suddenly I am exhausted and I can barely hold my eyes open. I sit down and about 10 minutes in I am STRUGGLING! I am like half asleep and half awake but I can't open my eyes (it wasn't good). And all of the sudden I start to fall sideways, and I make this really weird moan/sigh sound. OMG...all I could think about was how loud it was and how embarrassing that was. I could not stop laughing at myself THAT is so embarrassing. I finally got over it and just couldn't do anything but read while I was waiting because I would start to laugh hysterically.
3. A girl that was in the confirmation room with us came out later and sat next to me and asked me if I fell asleep and told me that it cracked her up and she couldn't stop laughing...then I felt really bad for disrupting every one's peace in the temple. I am horrible.
4. After I do my baptisms I rinse off and then I go to my locker where apparently I picked the wrong one and it was broken I sat in my stall for like a good 2 minutes trying to get my locker unlocked and the whole time all I could think about was the fact that I was going to have to go home in my towel but then I finally got it open.

Moral of the story: Get enough rest before you go to the temple! :)

Such is Life

I am really not a fan of working full time. I am however a fan of money and ya know...not starving to death and stuff like that. I am very grateful for my job, especially in the country's economic situation, but I really don't like working full time. It is my last week before school starts and I go back to just 20 hours a week. I have never really been excited for school to start but I am right now. I am going to be less busy when school starts...crazy! Only 3 more days of full time work (for at least 8 months)! Yay!

On another note. This weekend I got pretty much moved in. I have a few more boxes to unpack and some organizing to do. Hopefully all of that will get done today! As soon as everything is pretty much done there will be pictures! :) Everything is coming together very nicely!!

Lunch Time!

My mom has been in town for education week and it has been so much fun. While I have my opinions on education week and the HAVOC it wreaks on the BYU campus I am so glad my mom has been here. I have gone to lunch with her during my scheduled time with her. It is kind of weird because she is here but she isn't necessarily here to visit me, its just a perk! ;) But I have to schedule all the time that I want to spend with her, that ok though! But we have been having a great time. This is us at lunch, she was really proud of her smile and then she saw the picture and was disappointed. Its ok...we had a great time!

"Opportunities come, and then they are gone"

Lately I have been realizing that I need to be happy in the things that are going on in my life right now and not look to the future to solve the things I feel are not right in my life. I have been thinking about this talk that President Monson gave in last October's conference. Here are some highlights and some quotes I found particularly inspiring:

Finding Joy in the Journey

"You pile up enough tomorrows, and you'll find you've collected a lot of empty yesterdays"
-The Music Man
"For what doth it profit a man if a gift is bestowed upon him, and he receive not the gift? Behold he rejoices not in that which is given unto him, neither rejoices in him who is the giver of the gift."
-D&C 88:33
"Whatever hour God has blessed you with, take it with grateful hand, nor postpone your joys from year to year, so that in whatever place you have been, you may say that you have lived happily"
-Horace

Round Two!

So last night my mom took Bri and I to dinner and a movie. We went to Red Robin and this particular restaurant has so many memories for the three of us (plus Kelsey). One of the first times my mom met my roommates from last year, Kelsey and Bri, she took us to Red Robin. I wasn't as good of friends with them as I am now and my mom didn't know them at all. She was trying hard to impress them but things just went a little awry...she ended up spitting soda all over the two of them and tripping and falling down the stair on the way out. All in all she has been the butt of many jokes! Haha. But last night she redeemed herself, all liquid stayed in her mouth and she learned to walk :) we had a great time!

My Make-up Quandary

So I have decided in my life to not be SO dependent on my make-up...some days I just don't have to wear it. Haha...this doesn't happen often BUT some mornings are just a little busy and I don't have time for my make up and it really isn't a big deal to me because I am not trying to impress anyone at work. So this leads me to some problems...I know that I look better with make-up on...most people do. If we didn't, we wouldn't wear it. That being said I don't think I really look that much different with or without make-up...my eyelashes are pretty dark and pretty long on their own so its not like my eyes disappear.
HOWEVER
Last time I didn't wear make-up a woman at work asked me if I was feeling alright because I looked pale and flushed. I had to inform her that I just wasn't wearing any make up. Apparently the natural me looks like I am about to barf.
Now to the real reason for this post is because this morning I didn't have time to put make up on because of an really annoying alarm that was going off in my room for like a half hour or something but I didn't know what it was let alone that it was mine because I had never heard it before. I packed up my room last night and apparently in the process turned on the alarm on my iHome and it was going off at like 6:15 this morning. So finally at 6:30 when I realized that it was coming from my room I had to start going through boxes to find it. Needless to say all of my nicely organized and packed belongings are not longer that way. Sorry...tangent...back to the make-up. So I was just sitting in here and a guy that I work with comes in and asks me if I am feeling alright because I look like I have a cold.
UH! Seriously what is the deal...I don't wear make-up and I look sick. MAN! This is ridiculous...I am DEFINITELY wearing make-up tomorrow!

Happy Birthday Abigail!

Today is my niece Abigail's FIRST birthday! I am so sad that I am not at home. I REALLY REALLY wish I was there. I hope that sweet girl has a great birthday! She is getting so big, every time I see her she has grown up so much! I love her and miss her...especially today!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ABBY!

8 WHOLE dollars!!!

A while back I signed up to participate in some studies. You get paid for the studies and it doesn't take too long. So yesterday I did my first one, it was kind of weird and I didn't really get it but I hope that I helped them a little. And I made my self eight bucks! Yeah! If any of you follow my picture blog, this was going to be my picture before I went to the MTC and decided that was a better story!

My accomplishment!

So on Friday at work I was so excited because I spent HOURS cleaning out my paper shredder and fixing it because it didn't work and I really needed to use it. I took some picture because I was so proud! Now not so much but on Friday I really wanted to blog about it but the Internet doesn't work in my apartment and I didn't have my camera with me yesterday. Now it really isn't that exciting but I was so proud of myself then and so I figured I'd share some of the pictures I took because it was a really big project!When I look back on this I think it is so funny because I was SO happy that I had done this. Simple pleasures!

Before:
After:

The room when I was done:

The tools that I used...I had to get creative. The box opener worked best!

The poor pen that was destroyed! Good thing I didn't try to use my finger!

Pictures

Here are the pictures of my new place that I will be moving into in a short 13 days! (I gotta get packing!!). Just a word of caution I had NO make up on yesterday (it was a rough morning) so that is why I look so beautiful in these pictures!

All coming together!

Most people have had their housing for next semester set up for months. At the beginning of the summer I realized that since EVERYONE already housing I should probably start looking into it. I realized it but I didn't really do anything about it. Every time I talked to my mom on the phone she would ask me if I had found housing yet and the answer was always no...I hadn't even looked let alone found anything. I don't really know why I wasn't that concerned but I wasn't and I just kept thinking that something was going to just appear. About 3 weeks ago or so Bri and I finally started look and researching and realized that we had kind of messed up because pretty much everything was gone but I wasn't stressed I knew we would find something. Well that attitude lasted me right up until Tuesday when I realized that I had to be moved out of my apartment in two and a half weeks and was actually going to be homeless. I started to panic and was REALLY stressed. So now let me get to the point of this post

...drumroll please...

Brittany finally has a place to live. The condo/townhouse contract was signed today and the first half of a fairly hefty deposit will be delivered tonight to make the whole thing official! I am so excited. I feel really good about this place. I hadn't felt good about any of the other 40 billion places that I looked and I can't wait to move into my new apartment in two weeks and one day when my contract at the Branbury is officially over...man did I wait until the last second!

I am going to go take a picture of it from the outside today...it is so cute! Stay tuned!

RAIN!

Yesterday was the typical bi-polar Provo weather. Ever since I have been back it has been really hot and it has finally been summer. I had to walk ACROSS campus yesterday during work and it was SO HOT I thought I was going to die. That is why when I was leaving work and saw the outside completely wet I was SO shocked. I couldn't believe it was raining. I don't think we have made it through one complete week with no rain this summer. I truly couldn't believe it. This picture doesn't do it justice. It was out of control, the wind was blowing and it was pretty much pouring. This summer has yet to really feel like a summer in Provo...

Time for an UPDATE!

So I haven't blogged in a while. That last post is kind of depressing...I'm not sad to see it go! Nothing really exciting has been going on in my life so that is part of it but also I have been sick for like two weeks. It is kind of killing me. I think I am getting over it now. But when I went to the doctor's he said that it could last up to THIRTY days on and off...shoot me now! AH! Oh well...I am learning to function pretty well while feeling like crap and it has been better the past couple of days which is good!

IN the middle of being sick I did get to take a trip home. While it was a little bitter sweet (more bitter and less sweet) because we didn't get to go to Disneyland...it was a really fun trip. I spent the majority of my time is HOT, SWEATY, STINKY, GHETTO Bakersfield, CA!!! This is where Aaron's baseball tournament was. It was a lot of fun to spend time with my family and relax a little bit. The baseball was also fun to watch...while they did lose...it was fun to see Aaron play. He is such a good ball player...MUCH better than I ever was! lol!

Unfortunately I didn't take any pictures. One....it was too hot, I tried to move as little as possible. Two...I really didn't feel well and taking pictures is really not what I wanted to do. The only pictures I took were at John's INCREDIBLE pizza-something...it really wasn't that incredible and it is small children (and my mom ;)) on bumper cars! lol. Random choice of pictures on my part...whatever!

I also got to spend some time with Ashlie on our long drive home from Bakersfield...we just talked the whole way, it was really nice to be able to catch up with her. And then I got to spend a day with Amber and Derek and Abigail! I hadn't really gotten to see Abby much during the trip and it was really fun we went to a birthday party and we got swim. She is such a cute girl! I miss her lots! All in all it was a great trip, it was one of the first times that I have been home in a while when I was not ready to come back to Utah. Don't get me wrong I love my family and I love being home but it is usually nice to come back and get back to my life and my things...I really didn't want to leave. I thoroughly enjoyed myself this past week! Unfortunately it is back to the real world!

Seriously?

That is really the only word I have to describe the past two days...MAN its overwhelming!

When it rains it really does POUR!

Picture of the Day

So I am going to be doing this new thing. Sort of like a journal but in blog form. I am going to take a picture of something that has to do with my day. Anyways I am not going to go on about it here. I explain in more in my POTD (picture of the day) blog. That blog is actually going to be private but you are more than welcome to look at it. Just let me know if you want to see it and I will add you to the list...I just don't want the whole world being able to see it!

My New Blog:
My Beautiful Life

I am proud to be an American

This 4th of July was one of my favorites! With a group of my friends from my ward we went to Rock Canyon Park and made a huge slip 'n slide and it was so incredibly fun! I went down it a million times. Here are two videos if you want to look at the pictures you can check them out here. They are great. I would have uploaded them but I am getting sick of uploading things on here right now.

**Disclaimer: there may have been a little incident that is mentioned in this video. All facts that you hear are true HOWEVER it was simply a wardrobe malfunction, sort of like the Janet Jackson Superbowl incident. After that though everything was well...shirts were put on and no one was hurt. Also look at the amount of people spectating at the bottom and just remember the comment that is shared in this video...talk about embarrassing! lol!



Ok this next video, a guy in my ward had my camera and he didn't know he was videoing until about second 32 on the video. So if you want to get really sick watch those first 32 seconds otherwise skip to second 32 and you kind of get to see us. It is just a different angle and we decided to go down train style for this one!



After this we got hosed off and as we were proceeding to leave Bri found 2 worms in my hair...either that or it was one worm ripped in half...either way no pretty. So we went home and showered and got ready for fireworks. There are pictures from the fireworks in the album above! It was pretty fun. We sat in the median of the road on University Parkway on a little grassy area. It was a perfect spot and we got to see all of the Stadium of Fire! A great time was had by all!

Stacie and Jeff's Wedding

Last Saturday was Jeff Lewis' wedding, I went and took some pictures and at the reception Bri, Natalie, and I just had some fun with the camera. Here are some highlight if you want to look at all of them click here. It had been a long day and we were kind of crazy...just as a warning!




I was being an animal for the camera!







We had a chicken fight on the bridge.






Notice our discussion about how the next event is going to play out. We are going to reenact
the cutting of the cake/feeding to each other bit. Please also notice the large size difference in the pieces of "cake" that we are holding. Not only that but Bri didn't like the chocolate stuff on top so I had to wipe it off.



WOW! My hand: nicely putting the cake into Bri's mouth. Bri's Hand: flat covering my face smearing nasty chocolate crap all over my face.





Oh my goodness! You got it ALL over my face!





Its ok though...it all ends in laughs! :)






This little guy kept growling at everyone...I decided to growl a little back!





And he could not escape my superior strength!






Then we went inside for some water and Nat and Bri shared a tender moment.






The centerpieces were pretty fun to take pictures with as well!








Happy wedding day Jeff! Peter joined in on the nonsense a little too!





There are some really funny








Craig really wanted me to stop taking pictures of him. He told me I was being as annoying as my mom...

Matchy Matchy Outfit Squared

Its so great to have a Best Friend to show up to church separately and end up wearing almost identical outfits!

Flipping FUN!!!

Last night I went to the tumble gym with a big group of friends. I haven't been there for about two years and it was a GREAT time. I have been a little hesitant to go in the past because of my back but I decided that I would go this time and just be careful. Unfortunately, I am really not good at being careful in this place. I by no means can do anything cool in this place but I couldn't help wanting to do all of the cool stuff that everyone was doing. At points I had to talk myself out of doing the crazy stunts that everyone else was doing. There are a million things to do though. There is a huge foam pit, two very bouncy tramps, these cool bungee cord things (idk what they are for but you harness yourself to them and do flips and stuff), along with many MANY more very exciting things.

I FINALLY learned how to do a round off. I think I have been trying to learn since I was like 6 but I finally mastered it last night. It was probably the happiest day of my life :) lol. I could do a front and a back flip into the foam pit but I am much better and much more confident about a back flip...I tried really hard to get more than one but the best I did was 1 1/4...kind of pathetic I know but it was so GREAT!

Also I didn't take a single picture so there is nothing to show for it. You are just going to have to take my word for it that it was so so fun! :)

She works hard for the money!

Today at work has been very boring (hence this completely pointless post, feel free to stop reading now if you have a life but I am really bored!). I have actually had quite a bit of work...well more than usual and I got everything done in a very timely fashion, which is great except that most of the day was filled with nonsense. Today I had my laptop with me at work today and I got really bored and started talking pictures of myself...I really am a big dork! lol. This is how I feel about work:

So bored that is the biggest smile I could muster up!

AH!! Let me out of here!Peace out! Please let me leave soon!
And then there is this...this is my whining face...pleading for the day to be over soon!

Moral of the story: I need some excitement in my life! :)

Transformers 2

Last night Bri and I went to see Transformers at the midnight showing. I still haven't really figured out why, we both love the movie but neither of us are DIE HARD fans...we could have actually got sleep last night and seen it today or something. Haha, oh well! It was a REALLY good movie, I loved it!
Funny story: movie theaters are always awkward unless you are the first person there because if you sit right next to someone, sometimes in our society it is just not socially accepted. But we wanted good seats so we got there and there were plenty of open seats but all of the middle ones were taken, everyone knows that the middle is the best. So we went to a row where there were only two boys and they were in the middle but a little off center is ok, better than the far end. So we ask them if they are saving seats and they are (dang it!) but they weren't on the opposite side of them so we went over to the other side. Now I was solely concerned with my seats, the boys weren't horrible looking but I'm just not the type to pick up a boy at the movies. So I sit down right next to the guy (when there are plenty of seats open and I could have sat one seat over) and Bri was definitely shocked by this but just went along because people usually just humor me and my randomness. As soon as I sat down I realized that maybe this was a little awkward because I don't know these boys and this could look like I was interested but I definitely wasn't. Fortunately they were nice, we became pretty good friends after sitting there for and hour and a half waiting for the movie to start. Never found out what their names were but they were fun guys and it was a fun night. However today I am a little bit wiped out! Three hours of sleep just isn't enough! :)

1 year older and wiser too!

This weekend was one for the books! I seriously have the BEST friend in the whole world. She planned this trip for my birthday with some surprises and it was SO much fun. We left on Wednesday morning at about 8 and then got home Sunday night at midnight. It was a long trip and it was exhausting but it was SO much fun.

Day 1 (the birthday day!)
I was under the impression that we were going to California only to be greatly surprised when we stopped in Vegas to stay at a beautiful resort. It's a really funny story because I was pretty oblivious to everything and had no idea this was coming. I also was sort of sick and was not feeling well. I had thrown up the day before we left and was not doing my best. So after we stopped for lunch Bri asked me if I would drive. I sort of felt like dying and driving was the last thing I wanted to do but I really didn't have a choice because she would not ask me to drive unless she really needed me to. So I am fully expecting to have to drive the nest 4 hours to California, but to my GREAT surprise we stopped a short 5 minutes away. We were a little bit off the strip in a really nice family friendly resort. It was so fun. They had 3 different pools and a lazy river. It was fun we hung out there for a little while, went swimming, and then hit the town. We went to check out the outlets and they were pretty sweet but we didn't have much time there. We made reservations for dinner and had to get to them. After a VERY expensive VERY gross dinner we walked down the strip to the fountains at the Bellagio. They were beautiful, we were going to hang out there for a little while but we were both pretty much hating the strip and all of its dirtiness, so we headed back to the hotel.NOTE: when we were at the pool I was not doing so well, my legs were convulsively shaking and I thought I was going to throw up. So there are so cute pictures of me chewing my pepto bismol!

There are some funny pictures in there. Notice in the top left corner there is a picture of Bri and I's reflection while we were riding down an elevator. She apparently was not aware of the picture being taken, she looks very unhappy. She really did have a good time! :)

Also while we were in Vegas there was this hilarious sign in the bathroom. I mean it really wasn't funny at all but I found it quite amusing! It said and I quote "Drinking wine, beer, and other alcoholic beverages during pregnancy can cause birth defects". Haha. Only in Vegas are you going to find a sign like that.

Day 2
This day was equally if not more fun than the previous day. We woke up fairly early in the morning and went swimming for a couple hours. Then we had to pack up and be out of our room by noon. We found this super cute little place to eat on the strip called Serendipity 3 (it is very much like the place from the movie serendipity. It is so cute, we have not stopped talking about it since we left! lol. After lunch we headed to Cali (for reals this time). One of our really good friend's family lives in Laguna Hills and he graciously offered his home to us. We were kind of nervous because he wasn't going to be there and we have never met his family but he claimed that "we would never meet a more hospitable people". After meeting them, they were just that. Couldn't have asked for nicer people. So we arrived at their house that evening and then the two of us headed to the beach. It was pretty late so we just sat on the beach by some fire pits and admired the beauty of the ocean for a couple hours.
Day 3 (the beach day!)
This day was great we went to two different beaches, the first one a definite favorite among the both of us. Then we went to see The Proposal, it was good...not great. We both loved the people in the movie but the movie itself was not all it was cracked up to be. And after the movie we went to BJ'S!!!!! It was a very relaxing fun day.

Before viewing these pictures please be aware that not one drop of make up was placed on our faces and we have some SERIOUS beach hair.
Day 4
This was the last real day of our vacation, we went and visited my dad because he just moved down to San Diego and was only about an hour and a half from where we were. This was a depressing day. Not only was it the end, it rained almost all day. We wanted to go rent a jet ski and have some fun but for numerous reasons it ended up not working out. We went to Coronado Island with my dad, step mom, two sisters, and aunt. We spent the better part of the day there. We took a ferry over to San Diego and had lunch on the shore, we then walked around this fun place that had lots of little things to do. Then we went back to his house and hung out there for a while. After we left them we were driving on the freeway and saw the temple so we stopped at took some pictures and then we went to this cute Italian restaurant and headed home.
Day 5
It was the end. We were not ready to go back to Provo and have to work and basically just NOT be at the beach. I am pretty sure we complained about it all the way home too. But we got up in the morning, took our time getting ready, ate breakfast, said goodbye to the family, and were on our way.

It was such a fabulous trip! I wish it wouldn't have ended so soon but I guess it is back to real life now! I have a ton more pictures so if you want to see them click here!

Happy Early Birthday to ME!

My mom sent me a package for my birthday (Wednesday!) and first she told me I could open it whenever I wanted, so that meant the SECOND that I got it haha:) But then she later told me that I had to wait until Tuesday, then when I actually got the package she just couldn't wait for me to open it and told me I could open it sooner! Yay! I opened it last night (all by myself, I was the only one home, it was a little depressing) and it was so great! She is the best! I love her so much. She sent me some pretty great stuff. She got me a super cute shirt and a gift card. There was a card that everyone signed, I loved it. The card cracked me up because Aaron is such a teenager and he thinks he is so funny! Everyone was being so sweet and telling me they missed me and loved me and happy birthday. And he said "everyone is like oh, I miss you. But we just saw you like 2 weeks ago so happy birthday" (or something to that effect). I actually laughed out loud to myself when I read that. Such a brat, but I guess it is true! Haha. There was the cutest confetti in the package and apparently my mom went to a special store to pick that up along with some silly string! I took a couple of pictures of myself, but it was just awkward and I wanted to open it so I didn't take many!Jason painted this super cute monkey for me! I think it is the cutest thing! And it is hanging on my fridge now!

It was a GREAT birthday package, I loved it. This is going to be my first birthday away from my family and it is a little weird but this was a great little birthday away from home! Thanks mom! I love you!

For the Love of Cookies!

My roommate Stephanie works for a company called RISE where she works with foster kids, she is assigned a child and spends time with her. Yesterday they planned on going swimming but the pool they were supposed to go to in Salt Lake kind of fell through so I suggested that they come to our pool at our apartment complex. She thought that was a great idea and was telling me about how she wanted to do more stuff with her here but it so hard because she lives in Salt Lake so that is two trips to Salt Lake in one day. I told her that I would come home from work and measure out stuff to make cookies and have it ready for them when they got back from swimming if she wanted. She was very excited about this and eagerly said she would love that. I didn't get any pictures of us actually making the cookies but I got some set up pictures!
The little girl was so excited to make cookies she thought it was great especially when I told her she could mix it with her hands! We made cookies and at them of course, then they watched some of Hairspray and I went to the gym and then me and Steph took her back home. This little girl was so sweet I can't imagine the life she has had, and despite all of that she was happy, a very typical 11 year old girl (who LOVES Zac Effron lol). She made me SO appreciate my family and all of its dysfunctionalities! So I just want ALL of my family to know how grateful I am for them and that I love them!