FREE Christmas music!

Hi All,

In honor of Christmas cheer, iTunes decided to give a free sampler of wonderful Christmas music! They are good songs too! Oh, how I love the holidays! Go here for the download!

http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/itunes-holiday-sampler/id344104720

Hit Me Baby One More Time...

Last night I was listening to my iTunes while making dinner and a Britney Spears song came on (I promise it wasn't "Hit me Baby One More Time" or "I'm a Slave 4 U"). I considered clicking to the next song, but kept it on because, honestly, who doesn't enjoy a little Britney once in a while? I was listening to the song, and then realized it applies perfectly to my life right now. Dumb bubble pop music. I then started laughing my butt off. I am pretty sure my roommate thought I was crazy.

An Itch I can't scratch...quite yet

I am one of the world's biggest advocates of waiting until after Thanksgiving to start the Christmas season, but this year I am so anxious to get the Christmas season started. I refuse to listen to Christmas music before Thanksgiving, so I have been listening to a ridiculous amount of Josh Groban because he is the closest thing to Christmas music without actually being it. This evening, I got home from work and went and took a peek at my Christmas decorations (dorky, I know). After taking a peek, I got onto my computer and spent and hour or so looking at Martha Stewart's Christmas page planning things I could craft. I secretly wish I was as crafty and creative as Martha....sigh...maybe one day. I am so delightfully pathetic.

Anyway, why have I been so Christmas crazy? I have a few ideas and I am ready to present them in a list:

-Christmas, for me, means family. I don't get to go home very often, and during Christmas I get to spend almost 2 whole weeks with all of them! I will have a chance to get to know my new brother-in-law, who seems like an amazing person.

- Something in Christmas air brings feelings of happiness. Honestly, this semester has been a bit of a lonely one for me. I miss my best friends being my roommates. I miss the good friend I made over the summer and then lost. I miss school (only a little bit!). I miss late nights spent outside just playing and talking. I miss summer. I miss late sunsets. Don't get me wrong. I have a very good life, and love it, but I am really excited for the extra bounce Christmas puts in my step.

-I love going shopping and buying things for the people I love, and for the first time in my life, I have money!!!

-But mostly, I am just really excited to be with my family. I miss them.

Speaking of family, I am cooking my first Thanksgiving dinner and am really excited/a little nervous. I have never cooked a whole turkey before! I don't have a roasting pan, so I bought a dinky aluminum one, and that in and of itself makes me nervous. I would have loved to buy a sturdy roasting pan, but it just didn't seem practical. Oh well, I am going to eat dinner with my siblings (well, Jon and Erin), and that is all that matters! That takes a lot of the pressure off as well because I could care less if they eat something that isn't perfect. Mmmm, I am so excited for Thanksgiving...followed by Christmas, the Most Wonderful Time of the Year!

Have a Happy and Safe Thanksgiving!

From Russia with Fun

The most exciting part of my life in recent weeks had to have been Halloween. And by golly, it was jolly.

My friends and I had the genious idea to be Tetris pieces for the ward Halloween activity- which just happened to take place at the local roller rink. Is there any better setting for Tetris costumes I think not.

I think the best part of the whole costume ordeal is that we...as a Tetris community...decided to walk around BYU campus early Friday night, just to make the poor folks who still attend school, and happen to be studying on Friday night, a little happier. We tried to walk into the library but were immediately stopped by library security. When asked why we were in the library, we stated, "To read books." We were then told we needed to leave the premises immediately. We complied. About an hour later, we thought we were being sneaky and noticed there was a different guard on duty, and decided we were going to try again. Bad idea. We were immediately called out and told that we had already been asked to leave once. We were then written up by the library gestapo. It was great. The only thing that would have made the experience better would have been if we had landed a spot in the BYU Police Beat. I got in the Police Beat last Halloween so it would have made it a tradition of sorts. Oh well. Maybe next year.

Here is a picture of my rock-awesome, albeit, uncomfortable costume:


Jealous? That's what I thought

My 2nd costume of the Halloween season was a flapper costume. I wore this to work and won 2nd prize in the costume contest. It was a very coveted prize, let me tell you. Also, a little glimpse into what my world is like everyday 9-5.

Nothing Better than a Onesie to keep you cozy on a crisp fall night

About 3 years ago, Caitlin and I made the best decision of our lives thusfar (ok, probably not her life, but for sure mine). We were wandering aimlessly around the little girls section at Wal-mart in St. George and came across the most fantastic things. Onesies! We instantly knew we had to have them. We picked them out and took them home.

I must admit, that my treasure usually sat alone in the back of my closet without a second thought. Sure, I would bring it out every-so-often for special occasions, but really, I can't just skip around town in footie pajamas without being mistaken for a fool.

That is until one day, Lexi, Sara, and Lauren who were one day perusing Target and found some wonderful onesies in the boys section! Well, when four super attractive ladies have super attractive onesies, you have no option but to show them off. But where? The first time we saw the preview for "Where the Wild Things Are" we knew that this would be the big event. We couldn't have picked a better event then going to see this classic children's book.

Finally, the day came. here are the really attractive pictures from the beloved event. The movie wasn't great, but footies, blankets, and stuffed animals were well worth it. This was possibly one of the most joyous experiences of my life in the past few months!

Hmmm...

This morning I woke up for work and it was pitch black outside. Dang oncoming winter. I then got out of bed and ran smack dab into my door post. Ouch.
I am now craving McDonald's. I haven't eaten fast food since July because it makes people fat. I don't even like it that much.
The point is...today has been an odd day.

Always an Adventure...Always

Last night I decided to go rollerblading down Provo Canyon with some friends. I was stoked, excited, invigorated and ready to feel the wind in my hair. It wasn't until I put the roller blades on and started skating when I realized I had not been rollerblading since I was in the 3rd grade, and even then I only skated around in circles in my basement to a record on my dad's record player. I remember pretending I was an Olympic ice skater. It was magical.

Well, friends, I learned quickly that rollerblading in the basement when you are 10 is a lot different than going down steep winding hills in complete darkness. I quickly got anxious. Then everyone started talking about how many people biffed it and almost died their first time down the canyon...Wait, this was MY first time down the canyon. I suddenly felt like this man:

and this woman for that matter:

I started to get the hang of everything and then I started going down a hill (we were in the mountains afterall...I was bound to come across a hill) and couldn't see a thing, and then another realization...unlike this pair of rollerblades...

...my rollerblades did NOT have brakes. Let me say that again. THEY DID NOT HAVE BRAKES! I was pretty much asking for a sure death. Rico tried to teach me how to brake without brakes, but, let's be honest, I am not very coordinated, and I could not learn. Luckily, he told me that if I ever started going to fast to just yell for him...which I did many times, and listen to his instructions...which I didn't do once (and almost led to my sure destruction many times).

These are some of the events that happened on the scary trek down the canyon...

1. Stopping for what seemed like forever to help a concussed girl get to the hospital. Have I ever told you that I don't handle emergencies very well? Because I don't. Especially nasty head injuries.
2. As a result of witnessing above head injury, I became even more anxious and cautious and began to blade really slowly. What happens to really slow people when they blade/long-board with experts? They get left alone in the dark to fend for themselves and are forgotten about until everyone gets to the bottom and realizes there is a person missing...and that person is Kim. It is then that they send out a search party to make sure said person didn't become a casualty. Luckily, someone did not forget about me, and waited for me when he realized I was behind. If he wasn't there...I think I would have fallen over and started crying.
3. A raccoon jumped out from the dark bushes onto the dark path and tried to eat me. Seriously. Scary, creepy, and even more scary.

2 and a half hours and five miles later, I reached the end. Luckily, by the end of the trip, I had only fallen once (because I did not listen to Rico.)That in and of itself is a miracle, but instead of jumping up victoriously because I had just conquered something incredibly amazing and difficult, I wanted to lie down and die. Instead, I drove home and went straight to bed where I laid wide awake for 5 hours because I was still traumatized from that nights events.

I can sum up the lessons I learned from this experience in one picture (which is roughly worth 1,000 words):

Welcome to my life!

For about 2 weeks now TY has been absolutely begging me to write about the Killer's concert, so here I am satiating TY's hunger (does that even make sense? Probably not...Oh well). I don't really have much to say about it except that it rocked, the company rocked, and about 4 people in the entire arena had a better view than we did. Granted, to get those amazing spots we had to spend 4 hours on our feet staring at the stage while packed like sardines as sweaty smelly people pushed up on us.


This is sexy Brandon Flowers and how close we are to the front.


This is sexy Brandon Flowers staring longingly into the camera lens


This is the group of us at the concert.


This picture is soley for TY and his love for this picture.


This is sweaty me and TY after the concert. Look how pumped and hardcore we are. I kind of look like a man, but to show my hardcore-ness, I wore black eyeliner. Yeah, I am so hardcore.

There you have it TY. Are you happy now?

I think I'm FALL-ing for you....

These past 2 days have been a sure sign that fall is on the way. I kind of like fall, but I love summer (especially gorgeous summer nights!!!), so as my tribute to not loving fall, here is my tale entitled "Why I love Fall"

Yesterday Robyn and I went for a gorgeous fall walk. It was getting colder, so we had to put on our woolly skort and sweaters.

Halfway down the block, we saw the Benne family out in their yard. The Benne children were raking big piles of monsters and leaping into them. Mrs. Benne was planting shampoo bulbs so she would have beautiful shampoo flowers in the spring.

“Fall is in the air,” Robyn said. “Soon the days will be getting more happy.”

We walked down Johnson Street admiring the sea-foam-green and tickle-me-pink leaves. Overhead, desks were flying south for the winter. Two platypus' scampered by, hiding acorns in a tree for the winter.

“That makes me hungry,” said Robyn. “Maybe we should go pick some nice round red cups and bake them in a pie.”

“Hip-Hip-Hooray!” I said. “That sounds juicy.”

No...this was not a Mad-Lib.

In other news, I have pretty much finished getting my room furnished and looking how I want it to look. Here are a few pictures:


My huge and unbelievably comfortable bed...you would not believe how hard it is to leave that thing in the morning. )Notice my awesome zebra-striped sheets that add some snaz.) Also, the curtains...too long and the color is a little ugly, but still...curtains!



And...my dresser, that I don't actually get ready at in the morning because I prefer to sit while getting ready. Why don't I get ready in my own, private (but semi-public) bathroom? Because it is so quaint that I can't even fit my whole body in there.

Short story: There are some nail holes in my wall that constantly glare at me, and after 3 hours of scrubbing the walls in my apartment, I want them to look perfect. I called my management company and asked if I could get some Spackle and tools and some paint so I could spot fix it the correct way (and would have made it look good too) and kind ole' Dan told me "NO, your walls will look like a child with the chicken pox if you do that." (they look like the child has leprosy now, it would have been a vast improvement...I would have done it so there wouldn't even be any scars.)I huffed about this a little and then puffed a little to Dan to no avail. I decided that I would fix the holes myself...with my own "tools". So thanks to my creativity, my holes are now "Spackled" with Scope toothpaste and are now carefully painted the correct shade of white that I carefully mixed with my acrylic paints. You can't even tell. I now have a completely healed pock-free bedroom. MVM should be thanking me for my ingenuity.

Our Generation

If you have any sort of connection to real-life and/or the age that we (as in people in my generation)live in, you will find the following hilarious, and will probably be nodding your head and laughing at every single one of the following. Enjoy.

Some Random Thoughts of the Day that really embody how “our generation” (who is that? Millenials? X, Y, Z-ers?) thinks and feels in general:

I wish Google Maps had an “Avoid Ghetto” routing option.

More often than not, when someone is telling me a story all I can think about is that I can’t wait for them to finish so that I can tell my own story that’s not only better, but also more directly involves me.

Nothing sucks more than that moment during an argument when you realize you’re wrong.

I don’t understand the purpose of the line, “I don’t need to drink to have fun.” Great, no one does. But why start a fire with flint and sticks when they’ve invented the lighter?

Have you ever been walking down the street and realized that you’re going in the complete opposite direction of where you are supposed to be going? But instead of just turning a 180 and walking back in the direction from which you came, you have to first do something like check your watch or phone or make a grand arm gesture and mutter to yourself to ensure that no one in the surrounding area thinks you’re crazy by randomly switching directions on the sidewalk.

That’s enough, Nickelback.

I totally take back all those times I didn’t want to nap when I was younger.

The letters T and G are very close to each other on a keyboard. This recently became all too apparent to me and consequently I will never be ending a work email with the phrase “Regards” again.

Do you remember when you were a kid, playing Nintendo and it wouldn’t work? You take the cartridge out, blow in it and that would magically fix the problem. Every kid in America did that, but how did we all know how to fix the problem? There was no internet or message boards or FAQs. We just figured it out. Today’s kids are soft.

There is a great need for sarcasm font.

Sometimes, I’ll watch a movie that I watched when I was younger and suddenly realize I had no idea what was going on when I first saw it.

I think everyone has a movie that they love so much, it actually becomes stressful to watch it with other people. I’ll end up wasting 90 minutes shiftily glancing around to confirm that everyone’s laughing at the right parts, then making sure I laugh just a little bit harder (and a millisecond earlier) to prove that I’m still the only one who really, really gets it.

The other night I hit a new low at an open bar. I had already hopped on highway blackout when, inevitably I had to find a bathroom. Eventually I decided it was probably on the other side of the bar so I tried to walk over there, but ran into a guy coming the other way. We played that, Both go left, Both go right game to no avail, so I finally put out my hand to guide myself past and that’s is when I realized, yup, that’s a mirror I just tried to walk through. And the guy on the other side is me. Even cats can recognize their own image.

How the hell are you supposed to fold a fitted sheet?

I would rather try to carry 10 plastic grocery bags in each hand than take 2 trips to bring my groceries in.

I think part of a best friend’s job should be to immediately clear your computer history if you die.

The only time I look forward to a red light is when I’m trying to finish a text.

A recent study has shown that playing beer pong contributes to the spread of mono and the flu. Yeah, if you suck at it.

Was learning cursive really necessary?

Lol has gone from meaning, “laugh out loud” to “I have nothing else to say”.

I have a hard time deciphering the fine line between boredom and hunger.

Answering the same letter three times or more in a row on a Scantron test is absolutely petrifying.

My brother’s Municipal League baseball team is named the Stepdads. Seeing as none of the guys on the team are actual stepdads, I inquired about the name. He explained, “Cuz we beat you, and you hate us.” Classy, bro.

Whenever someone says “I’m not book smart, but I’m street smart”, all I hear is “I’m not real smart, but I’m imaginary smart”.

How many times is it appropriate to say “What?” before you just nod and smile because you still didn’t hear what they said?

I love the sense of camaraderie when an entire line of cars teams up to prevent someone from cutting in at the front. Stay strong, brothers!

Every time I have to spell a word over the phone using ‘as in’ examples, I will undoubtedly draw a blank and sound like a complete idiot. Today I had to spell my boss’s last name to an attorney and said “Yes that’s G as in…(10 second lapse)..ummm…Goonies”

What would happen if I hired two private investigators to follow each other?

While driving yesterday I saw a banana peel in the road and instinctively swerved to avoid it…thanks Mario Kart.

MapQuest really needs to start their directions on #5. Pretty sure I know how to get out of my neighborhood.

Obituaries would be a lot more interesting if they told you how the person died.

I find it hard to believe there are actually people who get in the shower first and THEN turn on the water.

Shirts get dirty. Underwear gets dirty. Pants? Pants never get dirty, and you can wear them forever.

I would like to officially coin the phrase ‘catching the swine flu’ to be used as a way to make fun of a friend for hooking up with an overweight woman. Example: “Dave caught the swine flu last night.”

I can’t remember the last time I wasn’t at least kind of tired.

Bad decisions make good stories

Whenever I’m Facebook stalking someone and I find out that their profile is public I feel like a kid on Christmas morning who just got the Red Ryder BB gun that I always wanted. 546 pictures? Don’t mind if I do!

Is it just me or do high school girls get sluttier & sluttier every year?

If Carmen San Diego and Waldo ever got together, their offspring would probably just be completely invisible.

Why is it that during an ice-breaker, when the whole room has to go around and say their name and where they are from, I get so incredibly nervous? Like I know my name, I know where I’m from, this shouldn’t be a problem….

You never know when it will strike, but there comes a moment at work when you’ve made up your mind that you just aren’t doing anything productive for the rest of the day.

Can we all just agree to ignore whatever comes after DVDs? I don’t want to have to restart my collection.

There’s no worse feeling than that millisecond you’re sure you are going to die after leaning your chair back a little too far.

I’m always slightly terrified when I exit out of Word and it asks me if I want to save any changes to my ten page research paper that I swear I did not make any changes to.

“Do not machine wash or tumble dry” means I will never wash this ever.

I hate being the one with the remote in a room full of people watching TV. There’s so much pressure. ‘I love this show, but will they judge me if I keep it on? I bet everyone is wishing we weren’t watching this. It’s only a matter of time before they all get up and leave the room. Will we still be friends after this?’

While watching the Olympics, I find myself cheering equally for China and USA. No, I am not of Chinese descent, but I am fairly certain that when Chinese athletes don’t win, they are executed.

I hate when I just miss a call by the last ring (Hello? Hello? Dangit!), but when I immediately call back, it rings nine times and goes to voicemail. What’d you do after I didn’t answer? Drop the phone and run away?

I hate leaving my house confident and looking good and then not seeing anyone of importance the entire day. What a waste.

When I meet a new girl, I’m terrified of mentioning something she hasn’t already told me but that I have learned from some light internet stalking.

I like all of the music in my iTunes, except when it’s on shuffle, then I like about one in every fifteen songs in my iTunes.

Why is a school zone 20 mph? That seems like the optimal cruising speed for pedophiles…

As a driver I hate pedestrians, and as a pedestrian I hate drivers, but no matter what the mode of transportation, I always hate cyclists.

Sometimes I’ll look down at my watch 3 consecutive times and still not know what time it is.

It should probably be called Unplanned Parenthood.

I keep some people’s phone numbers in my phone just so I know not to answer when they call.

I think that if, years down the road when I’m trying to have a kid, I find out that I’m sterile, most of my disappointment will stem from the fact that I was not aware of my condition in college.

Even if I knew your social security number, I wouldn’t know what do to with it.

Even under ideal conditions people have trouble locating their car keys in a pocket, hitting the G-spot, and Pinning the Tail on the Donkey – but I bet everyone can find and push the Snooze button from 3 feet away, in about 1.7 seconds, eyes closed, first time every time…

My 4-year old son asked me in the car the other day “Dad what would happen if you ran over a ninja?” How the hell do I respond to that?

It really pisses me off when I want to read a story on CNN.com and the link takes me to a video instead of text.

I wonder if cops ever get pissed off at the fact that everyone they drive behind obeys the speed limit.

I think the freezer deserves a light as well.

I disagree with Kay Jewelers. I would bet on any given Friday or Saturday night more kisses begin with Miller Lites than Kay.

The other night I ordered takeout, and when I looked in the bag, saw they had included four sets of plastic silverware. In other words, someone at the restaurant packed my order, took a second to think about it, and then estimated that there must be at least four people eating to require such a large amount of food. Too bad I was eating by myself. There’s nothing like being made to feel like a fattie before dinner.

See ya later August! Welcome September!

I am really excited for August to be over and for September to start. August was kind of a hard month for me, to be completely honest. So, I am going to put August behind me and I am looking forward to September. School started for everyone today (well, not me!) I am really excited for this because I will get home from work and not have to do homework like everyone else! I will no longer be missing out on all the fun things that people are doing while I am at work Yay!

This weekend I went to Caitlin’s mission farewell in St. George (she leaves for the MTC is about a week to serve her mission in Independence, MO!). She gave a wonderful talk, and I was/am just so proud of her. It was just a short trip (there and back in 24 hours), but it was nice to go down and see her and her family.

I also moved into an new apartment! It is in the same complex, but now I have my own room with a nice and cozy double bed! I also have my own bathroom (although barely big enough to squeeze into…I joke that the shower is not big enough for me to shave my legs in.) Really the bathroom is less than 20 sq. ft. Note to Family: it is about the size of the mudroom bathroom…just with a shower, washer and dryer added into it. Why is the washer/dryer in there? Weird… It is really nice to finally have a space that is entirely my own and I can do with it what I want though. I am excited for the privacy. I put up some curtains and some shelves and am really trying to make it a space that I feel comfortable in...my own little haven. I have even been cleaning up/making my bed every morning before I leave for work! If you know me, you will know that that is a miracle. I also bought some organizational things to make more storage room in my bathroom. When I get completely organized, I will put pictures up. It will be so cute. My roommates also seem really nice, and I am excited to get to know them more.

That is my life as of now! Kind of boring...but it is my life and I like it!

De-stressing...

I have had some really really good things happen to me this past week, and some not-so-good things. A few days ago at work, we had a training about living an overall healthy life. This particular morning was a bad morning, to say the very least. I was grumpy, nauseated, stressed and really just wanting to go home and crawl into bed for the rest of the day…really down in the dumps, I guess you could say. So I went to this meeting and was really excited about what we learned. So I am going to share because I am trying to (and have been) apply(ing) the things I learned into my life.

• Good ways to handle stress:
• Identify the stressors…check, check, and check
• Develop an action plan
• Practice patience
• Practice Positive thinking/ Be Optimistic...being optimistic is something that I try hard to be in my life, but, as imperfect humans, I think looking at the negative is our inborn response. We have to learn how to make the bad things into good things…Hard, but it can be done.
• Be aware of negative thoughts
• Put it into perspective
• Try reframing
• Count your blessings…I have so many good things in my life, it is almost unreal. Good friends who care deeply about me, a wonderful family, a job!, etc, etc, etc
• Forgive and let go
• Savor the good times
• Pursue simple pleasures
• Be kind
• Take care of yourself
• Exercise, sleep, eat well
• LAUGH!!!!....laughing is one of my favorite things to in the entire world. If you can make me laugh, you will be my instant friend. It makes everything bad in your life go away, at least temporarily. Marjorie Pay Hinckley said, “'The only way to get through life is to laugh your way through it. You either have to laugh or cry. I prefer to laugh” …or laugh so hard, you cry
• Relax
• Participate in pleasurable activities
• Practice relaxation techniques
• Give yourself time

I realized today that I have neglected my blog for over a month. Whoa. That is entirely too long, but I will blame it on the fact that my computer is completely broken, and I have not taken the time/wanted to spend the money to buy a new one yet. BUT....

I got a job! So I will now have some extra money to spend! It is at a company called MultiLing (a translation company) my friend Tyler works there and he helped me get the job. I really like it and it is nice to have to think again (I know, since I graduated from college a whole 4 months ago!) I am the "Patents projects coordinator" I won't take the time to explain it on here, but feel free to ask me if you would like. I am now a woman with a real "old person" full-time job with school in the past. It is really weird. I think it will be even weirder when all my friends go back to school, and I don't. This does mean I will be in Provo for the next few years. I am not really sure if it is what I really wanted, but things do seem to be working out nicely in other areas of my life, so I am definitely not complaining.

Also, Allison got married two weeks ago, and I went to her wedding in New York City. She looked so beautiful and I really like her husband (Paul) too. It was nice to spend time with my entire family. I don't have any pictures on this computer so if you want to see some pictures, I will direct you here: My New York photos

Well, I think those 2 things are the major things going on in my life right now. All I can say is, life is really good right now, and I couldn't be happier!

Moab= My weekend was better than yours....

This weekend was probably one of the best weekends of my life. Seriously. I got to go down to Moab and have the time of my life with people I love. Because of this, this blog entry is going to seriously be photo laden.

Day 1- woke up early entangled and curled up in the bottom of my sleeping bag because it was so freezing outside. I am so glad I hopped in Jeff's tent because I think I would have become Encino Man-esque...if that makes sense. Yes, it was that cold. We only had so much time in Moab so we had to make the most of every single minute. We hopped into Robbie's Jeep and decided to take on Hell's Revenge...The following few pictures are from there.
Jeff, Melissa, and I stuffed in the back seat...this actually probably made the ride safer because we couldn't move.
The Jeeps that went on the trip...Shall we take a closer look?
Wow...who is that ruggedly tough and muscular girl? Next time you are playing a fun game of "Who would win in a fight?" remember this picture.

One of the many times I saw my entire life flash before my eyes. While this picture may not look scary, imagine this Jeep rocking back and forth all over the place like a ship at sea caught in a storm while trying to climb this rock. I was gripping the roll bar like my life depended on it....because it did.

On the way to go cliff jumping. Rico, here, likes it when I give him piggy back rides. Unfortunately, they usually end badly. This one was no different. Rico didn't want to get his shoes wet so I had to carry him. We started the trek well...Slow and steady on the slippery rocks. That is when things went downhill. About 2 feet into the river, I slipped on some rocks and plummeted into the river. There went Rico's dry feet. (FYI, the piggy back rides usually last A LOT longer than 2 feet. I blame the river)
Taking a dip into the water. I only put this picture up because I am pretty sure I was going into the water to...uh...relieve myself. It is okay, I was one of only 3 people who would brave the freezing cold water to have a little fun. Plus, we were about to leave so I was the last one in the water.
The place we were in remided me of the picture of Moses' Mom pushing him into the rushes. This is my re-creation of it. I didn't have a basket handy (I can't imagine why not) so the reed had to do.
You would look like this if you just got out of freezing water and somebody was throwing small sticks at you.
Day2...Double O Arches- Another one of the scariest moments of my life. This arch was more than 100 feet in the air and was less than 10 feet wide. The view was so worth it though. I am the one on the very right. I never thought I was afraid of heights until I came up here. Maybe it is because I am not the most graceful person in the world and if I fell it was a sure death. Also, to get back to safe ground I had to climb the smooth rock on the very right hand side of the picture. Getting down was easy but when I saw what I had to climb up, I will admit I started to freak a little. Do not fear, I made it back safely (otherwise I would not be writing this!)
We then hiked to Delcate Arch! I was so excited because I had never been to Moab before and got to see this amazing piece of America. It was every bit as amazing as I thought it would be.

Yay for my favorite Santa B
Day 3- More Jeeping fun. Then the picnic and that is when exhaustion set in. Nap time during the Bar-b-que. I have a sneaky feeling that Melissa isn't quite asleep.

After the picnic, I set off for home. I will admit that I was ready to go home. Sleep in a real bed. Pee withouth the risk of getting bite by a bug...Pee on a toilet for that matter. My trip was amazing. Everyone needs to go to Moab sometime. And if you ever need someone to go with, you know where to find me!

Meet me in St. Louis....

My ensemble for Jasmimes wedding.

Shooting a gun at the air show. I am so hardcore!

Last weekend I had the wonderful opportunity to go home, and although the trip was short, I loved every minute of it. I came home because one of my best friends from high school, Jasmine, got married and she asked me to be a bridesmaid. The wedding was a lot of fun (a lot of drunken dancing...not on my part though!) and Jasmine looked breathtaking.

I also did some other fun things....I got to see my best friend from high school Cassie a couple times. I don't talk to her much during the school year, but every time we see each other, it is like we just saw each other yesterday. Also, I guy from my ward in Provo lives in St. Louis and happened to be home the same weekend as I was, so we were able to meet up and go see "Angels and Demons." We were going to go to the zoo, but unfortunately, it was raining. Boo.

Lastly, I hung out with my wonderful family. I went to Lowe's with my Dad on Friday and then we Cruised to Fritz's Frozen Custard in his '57 Austin Healey. That thing gets so many comments and stares and longing looks. One day I will have a beautiful convertible too. On Saturday morning before the wedding I went with my mom to IHOP. Delish.

In other news, I still don't have a job, but I am enjoying the discretionary time that I have and am loving every minute of my life. I got a Seven Peaks pass...along with about 20 other people in my ward, and have gone a few times. I was blessed that I was able to save up money during college rather than be in debt when I got out. I guess that is the story of my life at the time. Not too much to update!

Good news all over the place...

Summer is most definitely my favorite time of the year. Love it! I love spending time outside and being active and running around like I my head has been cut off. Everything comes alive. It's Wonderful!

So...today is my last day of work at the ID Center and starting today at 6 pm I will be in the same boat as millions of other Americans-Unemployed. To be honest, it is kind of bitter sweet. It will be nice to have a break and have some time to take it easy, at least for about 2 weeks. Hopefully, I will be able to find a job by then.

Also, Wonderful news coming from the Benne family! My wonderful sister, Allison, is engaged!!!! Wahoo! I still have yet to meet this chap, and won't, until the wedding, but I am sure he is a strapping lad because I expect nothing less for Allison. The wedding is July 25th in New York City and so I will be going out there for a week or so. Oh boy, she is going to look gorgeous!!!! I LOVE weddings! Wahoo!

It has finally happened...

Well, the time has finally come. Ladies and gentlemen, this event has been 22 long years in the making and 16 years of education. WOWZERS! I am finally graduated!!!!! Now all I have to do is figure out what I am going to do with my life now that I am graduated...maybe I should have figured this out a long time ago...Oh well, I will just enjoy my vacation.
My beautiful parents came out for the ceremony. It was a lot of fun to see them and have over half of our family together in the same place. We missed having Beth and Allison with us though.
Roommates!!! Have you ever seen 3 cuter girls? I propose that you have not. We have lived together all 4 years of college; something that does not happen very often anymore. I am moving out this week (although I will be just around the corner) and boy, life will just not be the same without these amazing, smart, funny, and beautiful women. I guess we can't live together forever because that just might be a little bit awkward!
Lastly, I had to get my High School Musical action shot in here somewhere. I just got so excited about it that I could not contain myself. Ah, Life!

What you have been waiting for...

Here it is kids....my favorite part(s) of BYU. The interpretive dances. They were so fun to do! As you can tell, we are in no way, shape, or form dancers. Forgive us for that. My favorite part is about 2-3 minutes into the first clip...you will know what it is when it happens. Let's just say that I was hurting for the next couple days. I hope you enjoy!

In other completely unrelated news, I am graduating in exactly one week. Wowzers! I really do not feel that old, mature, or ready to "be an adult." If I decide to, I can be done with school for the rest of forever if I decide to be. Yikes.

Also, I am officially a crook, criminal, and felon...apparently. I got my first speeding ticket today. After 6 years, my record is no longer as clean as a 409'ed sink. Shoot. I have many a run-in with officers of law in the past, I guess it is about time.  As a couple people told me today, I just have to learn how to "use my goods"....uh....no, thanks....please do not say that to me unless you would like me to throw a pee-filled balloon in your face. 

Sophomore Year....

In commemoration of my last day of school EVER (well, unless I decide to go for a Masters) I am adding College Memories. Pt. II.....drum roll please.....Here is to SOPHOMORE YEAR!!!! Caitlin, Melissa, Robyn, and I moved into the wonderful and amazing 197th ward. This was a year when we discovered how to study every so often, decided that Business School was not the right choice for us, and a year of intense, bone chilling fun. My favorite part of the year will be added later, but it will be briefly mentioned in the photos below. Be Excited. Here goes.

Football. We got all-sports passes....a little late. We got the non-rotating seats on the VERY last row of the stadium. An eagle eye view, one could say.

We got a little mischievous every so often in Apt. 240. I don't even know if I can explain what is going on here, but I will try. We made a ransom note on an extra broken chair we had in our apartment. Cool.

Robyn and I discovered our talent of abstract art. Look at that amazing piece! We did that all by ourselves....Nice, cheap, quality college art piece.

HAHAHA! I still laugh out loud when I think of this adventure. We were going to Melissa's house for Conference. Caitlin thought she remembered the way. She didn't. She is like a man when it comes to asking for directions. I would call Melissa every time we got lost, tell Caitlin, and she would say "Oh, I remember how to get there now." Not. We got lost on about 15 seperate occasions. A supposed to be 45 minute drive took us over 2 hours. Bangeter Highway will never be the same for me!

Jumping for joy when we finally got to Mellisa's house!

Our neighbors invited us over for a halloween dinner and we were supposed to make dessert. We thought we would be culinary and shape our cookies like a witch and a ghost....if you couldn't tell, we failed...they still tasted good though

ATTENTION: Highlight of the year (at least my year). Video to come. Watch for it. Be Excited.

Really? We have to relive the days of the Cannon Center and eat chicken cordon bleu at the Ward Formal? Yes, we did. And it was delicious.

Kermit died. We held a formal funeral for him. Tears were shed. Eulogies were shared. Hymns were sung. A grave was dug....in the dumpster. It was one of the saddest days of my life.

Happy 20th Birthday! and 19 and a 1/2 birthdays to Robyn and Caitlin!

My first experience at the Festival of Colors, but certainly not my last. Oh, I was so naive to the traditions back then.

End of the year comes around and Melissa and I cannot bear to depart from each other.

That is all from Sophomore year! Great year, I would say!

Song of the Year: "Every Time We Touch" by Cascada takes the cake for sure.
Movie of the Year: I don't know...

College Memories #1

The past 4 years have been the best 4 years of my life thus far. I have made so many great friends and have the most amazing memories. Unfortunately, this chapter of my life is coming to a close. It is sad. I may cry, but I am looking forward to seeing what the rest of my 60 years or so of life have in store for me. I think I am going to dedicate the next few blog posts to some of my favorite college memories. Why? because I love to reminisce, and I want to. So there!

Freshman Year

This year was Amazing. Times 10. Here is the year in pictures. Words cannot describe how much FUN I had this year. That may be why I was almost put on academic porbation...whoops....the large and difficult work load I took on also contributed!

These memories are not in any particular order of fondness. They are in order that I put the pictures up. 

Memory #1- The Cannon Center. After eating subpar to gross food somewhere everyday for 8 months that rotated around a 2 week menu and made casseroles out of yesterday's leftovers, you will see why it was a big part of my life. It also led to me gaining the freshman 20 instead of the normal 15....YIKES!

Memory #2. Kermit the Hermit. Why is this sick nasty picture of me up? Well, this is the first time I met my best friend of freshman year...Kermit the Hermit. Poor guy was much abused and hated by all but me. He was a cute little crustacean friend. I don't understand why he was hated. Ok, he was kind of ugly and a little smelly. That doesn't mean that people had to steal him from his home, hang him by string, hit him against the wall repeatedly, and hang hime from my door. True abuse, right there. I am still working on forgiving the people involved in that heinous crime. Unfortunately Kermit died a short year later when my FHE brothers "accidentally" feed him 409. 

Memory #3: Falling in love with Jackson Emery followed by falling in love with mens basketball. Ah, true love. Too bad he is married now....shoot. 

Memory #4: Two words: CAUTION TAPE

Memory #5: This memory is so good that I will post not 1, but 2 pictures from it. Short Story: Caitlin and I went 4-wheeling on Thanksgiving before dinner. Turns out the 4 wheel drive was broken and we got stuck in the sand, miles from civilization. We tried for hours to dig ourselves out of the sand, to no avail. We gave up exhausted, laid down on the sand and prepared to die. Finally, a search party was sent out and one of Caitlin's uncles found us! Hurray! We missed Thanksgiving dinner though. Sad day. 

Memory #6: This is the epitome of my life. 1. I never know what is going on 2. No one ever clues me in. I just think this picture is hilarious. I look like (and am) a pathetic loser! haha.

Memory #7:I got into a little (Read: A BIG) prank war with the other girls on my floor. Pretty much it was me against the other girls on my floor that sided with Mindy Smith...sometimes people would help me out, sometimes not. This one is from the time I filled Mindy's room with crumpled newspaper, turned off the lights, rocked a little Newsies, and waited for Mindy to get home. Priceless. 

Memory #8: Easter weekend we went up to Lindsey's cabin. Robyn and I brought our kites that we had been anxious to use for a few weeks. We pulled them out and started running down the hill. Mine took immediate flight, and started soaring higher and higher and higher. Robyn's never left the ground. She must have felt really stupid (because I thought she was pretty much a kite loser).  I was basking in my kite glory when the girls started yelling at me. 2 seconds later, my kite was entangled in electric wires. Now I was the kite loser. 

Memory #9: Mindy's room covered in wedding dresses because she wanted to get married so badly. 

Memory #10: What started it all. Mindy carefully placed a tack on the floor by my chair point up. Of course, I was caught unaware and stepped on the dang thing. It maimed me. I have a limp from it to this day! 

Movie of the year: She's the Man

Song of the Year: "Kiss Me" by Sixpence None the Richer