the Beak blog

Call me Kay Kay

2012-02-09T14:42:00.000-08:00

I'm luckier than most. I don't have little brothers or sisters. I have something EVEN better.. nieces and nephews! Basically, I get all the perks of cute little ones, but don't have to live with them 24/7. It's the life, let me tell ya. I've been an aunt since I was 10 and I love nothing more. My nieces and nephews are the cutest things in the world and I love all of them more than you could believe. This weekend was the newest edition to our family, Maliya's, baby blessing. She is a doll. So, after my youth city council retreat in Pine Valley the fam and I got to drive all night to Colorado. We spent the morning obsessing over baby girl, went to her blessing, and ate some delicious food. Then we hopped back in the car and drove all day to get home. It was a super duper quick trip, but worth every minute. Maliya is seriously the cutest baby in the whole world. If I have a little girl half as cute as her I will love my life. See for yourself:

Exceeding Expectations.

2012-01-22T14:55:00.000-08:00

Sooo that last post? Yeah, scratch that. Last night was probably one of the best nights of all of high school! It will definitely be one of those nights I look back on and wish I could go back to. Have I mentioned I have the best friends in the whole entire world? Because I do and I love them a lot. We decided to go stag to the dance, but were too embarrassed to go to ours so we went to Desert Hills instead. Dancing like a crazy person with my two best friends in the middle of a crowd of people I don't know and didn't care what they thought was probably the best thing I've ever done. We got a lot of wierd looks and were basically the only ones dancing but that just made it even better. I don't know why we didn't think of going to dances stag sooner, who would be more fun to dance the night away with than your bffs? We ended up running into some boys from Dixie we're friends with who were also stag at the DH dance, ha wierd? So we went to the end of SC's dance with them. Best Night Ever? Exactly what I needed? Check and check. I could barely walk in my heels at church today because I'm so sore. Yeah, I danced my heart out. Haha.

Trinity for life ♥

Expectation is the root of all heartache.

2012-01-21T13:25:00.000-08:00

Truer than true today.

Expectation: Today would be one of the best days of my high school career.
Reality: Probably one of the hardest. Definitely a low point.

Expectation: Tonight Blake and I would be going to Prom together.
Reality: I'll be going with a bunch of girls, or sitting at home.

Expectation: This would probably be the happiest day of my life. I would be feeling beautiful in my dress and Blake and I would dance the night away, things would be better than ever.
Reality: I'm sitting in bed in my sweats writing this lame blog post. Definitely not feeling very happy.

Sorry to be a debbie downer, but here is the DL. Blake and I broke up. So now I get a melodramatic blogpost that I really hope no one reads. Basically, Blake and I were closer than I've ever been with a boyfriend and I was extremely happy. Now, out of no where, it's over. I never knew how true everything about break ups is. Everything reminds me of him-- I cried listening to T Swift in the car for absolutely no reason other than we used to joke about her. I'm one of those pathetic girls I used to pity.
But, not for long, I promise! I am very sorry to blemish my blog with this ugly post but I just had to get it out of the way so I can move on. I'm going to make the very most of the rest of my senior year, mark my words.
For now I'm trying to remind myself not to cry because it's over, smile because it happened. HA, easier said than done my friends.

MLK Day

2012-01-17T14:29:00.000-08:00

Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.

-Martin Luther King, JR.

Best friends are the best.

2012-01-16T21:42:00.000-08:00

Seriously though, they really truly are. I was kind of down in the dumps this weekend until today, that is. After our big plans to go to Zion with all of our friends failed, my best friend in the whole world, TDB, and I decided to go anyway. Hey, it was free and we were desperate to get out of town. So, we went on a scenic drive through Zion National Park and had the best talk in the world. Gotta love a good ol heart to heart with your bestie. We even went on a little hike (we were in Zions after all).When we got back to good old STG we ate at Wingers, went to STG's 150th Bday celebration (woot woot) and hung out with some pals. It was EXACTLY what I needed. I'm so lucky to have the best friend in the whole world. Tay knows just how to fix all of my problems, make me feel like a million bucks, and get me super excited about everything in my life. Basically, she's the best.

If you don't have a Tayler in your life, get one.

You da you da best, TDB. This one's for you.

Senioritis.

2012-01-14T20:20:00.000-08:00

Well, I've officially been diagnosed with the disease. It's been spreading around my school like crazy and I've got all the symptoms. That's right folks, Senioritis.

In exactly 19 weeks and 4 days I will be graduating Snow Canyon High School. Can you believe it? I have so many big things coming up these next couple months the time is seriously going to fly by!

Then i will be living in Provo with my two best friends! It's boring weekends like this one, when Blake is out of town and the Trinity is working, that this is all I think about and I get so excited I can't even stand it.

Three cheers for college!

'Tis the Season

2012-01-02T13:41:00.000-08:00

This December has been the best. Seriously, it was so great that it flew by and I didn't even get a chance to post about it. So, now I'll do a little recap. It won't do this wonderful month justice, but it will have to suffice. First of all, December is probably my favorite month because it's the month of Christmas and I LOVE Christmastime. Since this year was my last Christmas season at home I made sure and filled all of my time with everything festive. Here's a glance at my holly jolly month:

Dicken's Festival
Live Nativity
Looked at Christmas lights at the temple, town square, and around town multiple times
Watched just about every Christmas movie known to man
Had a white elephant party (FCCLA)
Participated in lots of good service projects! (Kony Coins for kids penny wars and wrapping presents-sem council, Beehive homes Christmas picture frames-YCC, Christmas cookies and caroling at the Meadows-FCCLA were some big ones)
Got a REAL Christmas tree for the first time!!
Listened to Christmas music 24/7, baked delicious food/treats, and wore festive sweaters
Made gingerbread houses
Saw Home Alone at the theatre for $2!
Shopped my heart out
Played lots of Christmas music on my violin.. Meg and I even did a few duets on Christmas Eve :)

As you can tell I don't waste time during the holiday season. And I love every minute of it! A few non-festive things worth metioning also happened this month...

I won Sterling Scholar in FACS!! and Lyn had her baby, little miss Maliya! She is seriously a little angel and since she's a premie she looks like a miniature baby it's adorable.

In case any of you have been wondering since I left you hanging for a while--me and this cute boy are still together, which made everything this season even better :)

Happy Holidays! I hope your days were as merry and bright as mine :)

Cirque Du Sadies

2011-11-27T20:08:00.000-08:00

Last Saturday was Sadies and I went with the cutest boy in the whole school. Or at least I think so :) Here's what went down:

We had this brilliant idea to go sledding. Fun right? We thought so. So we packed up our snow gear and sleds and headed up to Pine Valley. Things weren't looking too promising on the way up there, but we kept hoping there would be snow just around the corner. No such luck. There was not even a flake of snow to be found in the valley. So, we turned around and drove back to town. Not having a back up plan, we headed to Denny's to get a bite to eat and make a plan. Well, we ended up hanging out at Courtney's house for a while. Ha. Our poor dates. We met back up at the carousel for pictures then headed to Texas Roadhouse for dinner! I think that compensated for the pathetic day date. After din we headed to my house to finish up our super ghetto (but super cheap) jackets then headed to the dance in style. The dance was up at the old airport and was pretty fun. After dancing the night away we headed back to my house to watch 10 Things I Hate About You. We were all exhausted and I'm pretty sure I slept through at least half the movie (Blake and I went to the Twilight premier Thursday night then headed to the school at 6 the next morning for assembly practice because we were on royalty, holy cow were we tired). Tay and Drake left around 1 but me and Blake were too tired to move yet so we hung out, half asleep, for a couple more hours until I finally took him home at about 3. All in all it was a great day and I had the best date ever!

2 claps for Cirque Du Sadies.

Missionaries.

2011-11-27T17:15:00.000-08:00

I have been the biggest slacker ever and my poor blog has been neglected. I've been wanting to blog about a million things and just haven't gotten around to it so I decided to combine a few posts and this is what I came up with: Missionaries. They seem to be a big part of my life right now and I'm so grateful for them so this counts as my Thanksgiving post as well.

Last week one of my favorite people in this whole world, Austin Frazier, left on his mission (Washington D.C). I am so excited for him because he is one of those kids you know is going to be an amazing missionary. I absolutely loved getting to know Austin and the example he was to me. He always made me happy and I'm going to miss him like crazy. It's no secret, I had a bit of a crush.. okay, I was basically in love with this boy. haha.

A couple weeks ago, my good friend Logan and his good friend, Mark, came to St. George and stayed at my house for a few days. They both have their mission calls and wanted to do a session in the STG temple. We had a ton of fun going to Texas Roadhouse, 25 Main, and just hanging out, and I'm so glad I got to see them before they leave. They are great kids and are also going to be amazing missionaries. Logan's farewell was actually today, but I couldn't go because he lives too far away :(

Another good friend and missionary I'm especially thankful for is Elder Jensen Nelson. We've been writing most of his mission and he's actually coming home in less than two months.. crazy! His letters always come at exactly the time I need them and they keep me going. He's faced some pretty major trials and is still so positive and passionate about the gospel and his mission. He is an incredible missionary and person and I'm soo grateful for him.

I can't believe my good friends are old enough to be on missions, but I love it. I'm so blessed to have so many good examples in my life.

Also, I was accepted to BYU-I this week! :) I'm officially going to college.

I love to see the temple

2011-11-06T17:53:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I got to do something very hard and very worthwhile and although I can barely walk today, I am more than grateful for it. I walked almost 14 miles to the St. George Temple. It was one of the best experiences I've had.

My young women, leaders, bishopric, and a few other members of our ward met at our church house at 7 yesterday morning in the freezing cold and set off for the beginning of a very long day. There were about 50 of us altogether; it was amazing to see how close our ward family is and that we were all willing to come together and support each other on this walk. I can imagine, though, that it was pretty funny to see us all walking down the street, one elderly lady even stopped to take pictures of us:) Why did we do this? We've been focusing on the temple all year and since our theme is the 13th article of faith, it was the obvious thing to do. Or at least that's what our leaders thought. We were all a little apprehensive when they first told us their plan, but as we trained together we became more confident and knew we would be able to do it together. Yesterday was the moment of truth, our actual walk. And, we succeeded! Making it to the temple 5 hours later and having all of our families there welcoming us and cheering us on was probably the best feeling I've ever experienced.

Throughout our walk we had a couple activities, but there was one that really stood out to me. We walked a mile in silence and thought of the people in our lives encouraging us to make it to the temple. I realized how blessed I am as I thought of the countless people in my life who have and still are helping me make good decisions so I will be ready to enter the temple. During this mile of silence, we were walking at the top of Sunbrook. It was a crisp morning and we could see the whole town below us. As I thought of the people I love, the temple, and looked at the beautiful city I live in I felt amazing. It was one of those moments where you know everything is going to be okay and you love everything about your life. I know I'll never forget this experience and honestly can not wait until the day I enter the temple.

I am so blessed!

Rolfe Family Reunion

2011-11-06T17:20:00.000-08:00

Last week we had a family reunion, and we had the time of our lives. I love my family so much and was so grateful to spend almost a full week with all of them! We had a ton of fun doing things such as the corn maze, carving pumpkins, playing games, hiking in Zion, eating really yummy food that was really bad for us, going Trick or Treating, and just being together! Since everyone was here over Halloween, as you can tell by our activities, we took family pictures in our Halloween costumes along with traditional family pictures. I'm pretty sure it turned out as our best family picture yet.

Blake was brave and spent a lot of time with my fam while they were here, too. Although he probably regrets it because of my insane brothers, my family loved him and it made the week even better :)

On Halloween, Blake and I trick-or-treated with my family for a while. Then we went to the Green Valley Mansion, the Haunted corn maze, and had a Halloween movie marathon, interrupted quite a few times by my brothers. It was a great night anyway :)

At Staheli farm we went through the corn maze, tried to pick pumpkins but the patch was dead, played lots of fun games, saw the farm animals, jumped on this really cool thing similar to the blob from Heavyweights, and Hailey and I even rode a horse!

As part of our Halloween day celebration, we went trick or treating at the mall.

I am so lucky to be blessed with such an amazing family!

Fall Break

2011-10-21T14:25:00.000-07:00

Last weekend we had a much needed Fall Break. And it was great. I went to the football game at Dixie where some crazy things happened; there was a fire on the baseball field and all of the lights went out on the football field so we all hung out in the dark for a while. Blake and I carved pumpkins with Eryka and David. Blake, David, Marissa and I had a few crazy happenings I won't be posting :). And I asked Blake to Sadies.. woot woot! Tay and I went on one another road trip up north! We ate some seriously delicious food, went to Thanksgiving Point, Gardner Village, AND Jordan's Commons, and basically had the time of our lives. You could say it was the perfect weekend :)

My new favorite picture of all time of me and Tay.

I love the Fall

2011-10-13T08:15:00.000-07:00

Honestly, Fall is probably the greatest time of the year. The weather is beautiful and there are so many great things to do! Like:

Carve Pumpkins :)

Wear your Halloween PJ's

and look super cute-------->

Running.. except sometimes when you're admiring the fall weather and colors a little too much, fall, and scrap most of your knee off.

Take a cruise with your bestie in a nice car like the Benz. Maybe even go to a concert at GoGo37.

And of course, go to football games! Even if your team never wins.

Happy Fall, y'all :) go do something festive.

Sometimes I make really good decisions

2011-10-13T07:53:00.000-07:00

Like deciding to play tennis this year. I am seriously so happy I decided to play. I had so much fun this season, and am soo sad it's over.

Our last game was a couple weeks ago and I got to play 3 matches! It was a great way to end off the season. We won region!! yes, we lived up to our motto and K'ed some B.

State was last weekend in Provo. On Sunday I decided I really wanted to go support the girls so I called up Marissa and Blake and we headed off on another of our road trips. We stayed at Travis and Becky's and had a great spur of the moment trip. Becky made us chocolate chip pancakes and helped riss and I with our homework while Blake picked pears off her tree for my mom :) Then we headed to Timpanagos to watch a little tennis. Let me tell ya, they were some intense matches. Our girls fought hard and did great: 2nd in state!!!

Possibly favorite part of the trip,though, was stopping (unplanned) at a barn on our way home for the world's best ice cream. YUM.

Other memorable moments: all of us staying up late and being WAY loopy, can I help you with that?, my little cousin being surprised to see me in the morning and saying,"I thought you were sleeping with the boy!", my other cousin walking out of her room in the middle of the night, sees blake sleeping on their couch, shouts "Awkward!" and running out of the room, getting lost, going to lunch with blakes cousin, taking pictures for "yearbook" in timpanogos and getting people to do crazy things, Kennedy's opponent, Whitney, being a cry baby and Berg's opponent, Katie, yelling at Berg, David cheering so loud for Berg her mom came over and asked who he was.

WARRIOR NATION.

the highway to success.

2011-10-06T20:41:00.000-07:00

First of all, I'm very sorry I've been a major slacker on keeping up with the bloggy blog these past couple weeks. Life gets so crazy it just gets away from me sometimes. I'll try to do a little recap this weekend because I missed out on sharing some exciting events with the cyber world. Heaven forbid.

Anywho, this little post is dedicated to the FCCLA leadership conference my wonderful council and I attended yesterday and today. We got to miss 2 whole days of school to drive up to Provo in the frigid cold on a bus and sit through meetings, speakers, and workshops. Great fun, right? Right :)

Our lovely little council minus B-ry

We snuck over to Sammy's after our meetings.. highlight of our trip for sure!

Things got a little crazy back in the hotel room after we got the ice cream..

I'm so scary

I love ice cream a little too much

Memorable moments: Des's new nickname, Z, Mrs. Spor shushing everyone and her ringtone going off in the worst moments (ding dong the witch is dead), Sammy's!, jumping on our bed, Speed shopping, rainstorms!, running into Rachel Olsen, taylor hitting on our area officer, all of us losing/dropping our phones a million times, random dancing and being antisocail

I Love my council and I'm so very excited for this year! Three cheers for FCCLA!

time seriously flies

2011-09-19T21:47:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I got to go to my good friend Zac Benson's farewell. It was so weird. Don't get me wrong, he gave honestly one of the best farewell talks I've ever heard and I have no doubt he'll be an amazing missionary, but it made me realize how fast time really does go and it really got me thinking. Here's the DL real quick.. Tay, bri, and I were BFF's with zac and his brother Austin freshman and part of sophomore year. Seriously, we did everything together. More importantly, haha, me and zac had a little thing for each other. Anyway, we all drifted apart and I didn't realize how long it had been until I was looking at these old super attractive pictures. I remember perfectly going to the rodeo with our little gang, now the rodeo is here again and it hit me that was three years ago! Holy cow, where did the time go? The drive home from Zac's farewell was kind of bittersweet. I definitely reminisced on some of my favorite memories, but It was sad to realize he's leaving for two years and we aren't that close anymore. I feel so old. haha. Anywho, I'm excited to see the rest of my friends continue to prepare for and leave on missions and I know Elder Benson (woah, still weird) will be top notch!

Rodeo!

Swiss Days!

doin what we do, chillin with the gang at tays

Last day of school last year!

Last Friday Night

2011-09-17T13:15:00.000-07:00

Was so great. Blake, Alexis, Reegan, Marissa, and I piled into Marissa's van and headed up to Cedar for the football game. It was pretty cold so our student section was all bundled up, not standing or cheering. Don't worry, though, Marissa worked her magic and soon enough we were all on our feet cheering the Warriors on to a 38-0 win!! It was great. Reegan, Riss, and I snuck away to paint Blake a few minutes before the game ended so he could ask Brit to homecoming; it was pretty exciting. We were super pumped up on the way home from our win and the fantastic lightning storm going on. I love Friday nights :)

perks to being the youngest

2011-09-14T16:11:00.000-07:00

Yes, there are many. On Thursday, after I played my varsity tennis match at CV (woot woot!), my parents and I got outta town and headed to Cali. I slept the entire 7 hour drive, haha. We woke up Friday morning and went to Disneyland for the day! A few of our favorite rides were closed, which was sad, but we still had a blast of course. Saturday morning we woke up bright and early and headed to USC so my parents could drop me off for the ACT. It was a little intimidating and I was definitely out of my comfort zone. Let's just say it was the first time in my life I've ever been the minority haha. Anyway, I felt like it went pretty well despite all of that and the fact that I spent the past two days traveling and going crazy at Disneyland. Hey, third times a charm right? After the test we hung out on campus for a while until the game. We ate at the CPK (I'm pretty tempted to go to USC just because they have a CPK in the student center), checked out the millions of tailgaters and the bookstore, and even took a nap on the grass amidst the thousands of partying game goers. Then, of course, we went to the game! The stadium was huge; it was awesome. Unfortunately, the U lost. We were a little depressed, but we cheered ourselves up by going to BJ's for dinner :) It was a very successful weekend; I love being the youngest child :)

our one and only picture at disneyland

USC

Go Utes!

Good Days

2011-08-29T21:21:00.000-07:00

Senior year is treating me really well and I wish I had more time to go crazy and blog all about all of these good days when they happen. Lucky for you all, I don't. I've been a major slacker and haven't blogged about a million things over the past couple weeks that I've wanted to so here's the condensed version. I promise I'll try to be better!

I spent monday and tuesday in the sem building with the counc teaching the lesson on our new theme (Be Valiant). This week will be spent in the cafeteria pressuring kids to sign up for FCCLA for club rush. Here are all the days in between :)

Missed my first day of school to spend some quality time with our favorite Montana family in Salt Lake :)

Played doubles with Tally and beat Hurricane!

Played doubles with Tiana and beat Dixie!! (And we got our uniforms--cute right?)

Me and these cute girls played sand volleyball with austin and his friends :)

We had to show Blake the St. George ocean of course since he's the new kid :)

Drove the gang to Vegas for our football game!

Then ate at Cheesecake factory of course :) And had a sleepover at Aunt Sues!

Woke up to drive home the next morning only to find out I had a flat tire!

Got it fixed, drove home, then woke up the sunday morning and drove back for Bishop Smith's sustaining!

Life is good; I can't complain. :)

A few more firsts

2011-08-21T19:57:00.000-07:00

First of all, I survived the first week of school! It was pretty crazy, but I made it. By the time tennis practice was over on Friday, I was ready to go home, crash, and sleep for the rest of the weekend. Luckily I decided to fulfill my promise to myself to live up this year as much as possible and went to our first football game. Even though we lost (big shocker there) it was such a fun game! The student section was looking totally legit in our matching shirts and we cheered our hearts out. After the game there was a dance party on the field, then we went to Krave and had some more good times. On Saturday, I spent most of the day with my wonderful sem council prepping for our first lesson! That night I spent some quality time with my buds watching movies and swimming at Blakes. It was a great first weekend as a senior :) I can't wait for many more!

There's a first for everything.

2011-08-16T21:23:00.000-07:00

Like:

My mom and I entering our quilts in the county fair and winning first place blue ribbons! We were pretty proud of ourselves. :)

Being a rebel and starting school on the second day. Not to mention, I'm officially a senior and got to park in my senior parking spot for the first time! I love being a senior already.

First tennis match of the season was also today! (hence the dress) My doubsies partner, Cam, and I dominated Canyon View 8-1! Our team also dommed 5-0. woot woot SC tennis!

And many, many more.

Three cheers for a year that is already insane and I'm going to love every minute of it.

motivation and advice are always good

2011-08-13T14:36:00.000-07:00

Motivation:
Here's a great thought my dad shared with me the other day. I'm so blessed to have a motivational speaker for a parent! I really enjoyed it and I'm sure you will too :)

Advice:
Don't speed. Seriously, it's not worth it. You will end up with some ridiculous ticket that you will have to spend your first paycheck ever on. Then you will have to spend 4 hours on your last Saturday morning of summer sitting in a class listening to an old man speak about defensive driving. Or something like that, and you will not be happy with yourself, I promise.

i love to see the temple

2011-08-11T08:34:00.000-07:00

Seriously, I love the temple so much. It is my favorite place to be in the whole world and I don't know what I would do without it. Last night I got to go and do baptisms while my parents did a session and I had the best experience. We went at 8 so I was the only person at the baptistry and all the workers were giving me so much attention I felt like they were doing the session just for me. Also since I was the only one I got to do 40 names! It was so spiritual and just what I needed. The workers were so nice and gave me some great advice about being seminary president. I left feeling so much happiness and peace. Then, when I was walking around the temple to meet my parents a guy stops me and asks me to eat one of the figs he picked off the temple's tree with him. Weird right?? I was pretty apprehensive but he convinced me too, it was interesting. I kept trying to walk off and he kept talking to me. He finally got the point when I let him know I was in high school, haha. Nice way to pick up girls at the temple, right? Anyway, we ended the night with some delicious Baskin Robbins. :)

Go to the temple and you will be blessed, I promise!

And so it begins

2011-08-02T20:02:00.000-07:00

So basically, my senior year is going to be the craziest year of my whole entire life and frankly I don't know if I'll make it. Haha. Seriously though. I knew I was probably spreading myself too thin when I kept adding more things to my plate for this year, but I don't think it really hit me until today. Tennis practices started this week so it really feels like summer is about to end and I'm not sure I know what I'm getting myself into this year. Today I got called to be the seminary president and needless to say I was excited but pretty overwhelmed. Here's what I'm up against: FCCLA president, Seminary council president, tennis team, NHS, student ambassador, laurel class presidency, 2 classes at the college and AP classes, plus all of my other classes at the school, violin, and applying for college and scholarships. I think it's safe to say I will definitely be praying a lot and not getting much sleep. But hey, there is always a bright side right?! My senior year will FLY by and I won't even have time to think about senioritis. AND I'm really sorry if I sound like a debbie downer; I really am so grateful and excited for all of these opportunities and experiences, I know I got myself into all of them and they will all be great! I just needed to get my apprehensions out. Thanks for letting me use my blog to vent even though I promised myself that's something I would never do so I'll end with something positive.. Thank you so much to all of my friends and family for the support you've all given me and I'm sure will continue to give me this year it means a ton and I love you all! And I really can't wait for this year, especially May 20-something when I FINALLY graduate high school!! :)

Wish me luck!

maybe Mondays arent so bad after all

2011-08-01T19:55:00.000-07:00

Mondays are typically kind of a drag. Today wasn't one of those Mondays. Here's why:

I survived the first day of tennis practice despite conditioning in 100+ degree weather! Thanks to all of my running recently, I came in first place in our running conditioning; something I always finished last in during volleyball. woot woot!

For family night I had dinner at Kneaders with Ma and Pa. Now we're watching Prison Break and eating our favorite Dixie Nutrition Fro Yo :)

Today we got our tickets for the U of U vs. USC football game!!

AND I finally got my preference pictures!

Check them out, aren't we adorable?

Happy Monday! I hope yours wasn't too manic.

the grass is always greener on the other side

2011-07-31T07:50:00.000-07:00

A few days ago when I was in Montana, we went hiking in perfect 70 degree weather around this beautiful lake to see this incredible waterfall:

Yesterday, in St. George, we went hiking in 100 degree weather around this lake to find out the waterfall we came to see was dried up because it is too hot

Hahaha. Gotta love living in Southern Utah.

Life in Utah

2011-07-30T10:25:00.000-07:00

First off, I'm home! I had the best week in Montana and I'll post about it soon, but this post is dedicated to Pioneer Day.

I was pretty bummed I wasn't going to be in Utah for Pioneer Day, so my family celebrated it the day before I left with a BBQ and fireworks.. I'm kind of obsessed with fireworks; they amaze me.

Then, while I was in Montana on Pioneer Day weekend we went to a baseball game that ended with a GIANT firework show. It was great. I really love Montana a lot, but I'm so grateful to live in Utah. I look up to all of the pioneers; they are my heroes and I wish I could be half as courageous as they were. If you have any doubts, watch the movie 17 Miracles. You will cry. A lot.

Happy Belated Pioneer Day, Utah! :)

This winner of a picture is a result of me being pumped out of my mind about the firework show, supporting the Missoula Osprey and breast cancer with my dope visor, and rocking Kenny's sweatshirt and fleece blanket because it was freezing (somehting I never thought I'd be able to say in July; I definitely wasn't in southern Utah)

Road Trip of a Lifetime

2011-07-20T18:48:00.000-07:00

This week Tay and I discovered how great road trips are. We spent the last four days in northern Utah doing whatever the heck we wanted! I think we both agree it was one of the greatest times of our lives. I'll sum up this trip of a lifetime through some photographic memories..

We went to a concert at Kilby Court and now have a new favorite band, Naives Thieves!

The first stop of the trip: Beaver.. for some squeeky cheese curd of course! We only wish we were traveling in such a nice trailer, though.

We got to spend some quality time with our good friend, Conner. We went laser tagging, watched movies, and a few other adventures with him and his friends. We were even lucky enough to get him to play the guitar for us.

While at temple square on a hot, sunny afternoon, it started down pouring out of nowhere. Luckily, we were able to hang out in the Joseph Smith Memorial building, the most beautiful building we've been in. Not to mention Joseph is our hero.

We spent a fun filled day at Lagoon! We were so lucky--we basically got to walk onto every ride.

Our tradition when we go up north is to eat at the Mayan and get a picture with the divers, so here is us keeping the tradition alive. Apparently, the tradition is also to go when we don't get ready and have spent the day driving or at an amusement park, like Lagoon.

We love the Salt Lake Temple!

We also love the Lotus Temple--where they worship llamas :)

We got to hang out with Logan and Mark! They took us to an awesome concert!

A big thanks is due to our parents who trusted us to travel alone and not die and to Teresa and Tracy for letting us crash at their house in the wee hours of the morning and the late hours of the night. Also a shoutout to Liam, the man in our GPS, we would have been terribly lost many times without him.

Happy Roadtripping! :) I seriously recommend it, it's good for the soul.

The day has arrived

2011-07-17T09:45:00.000-07:00

It's Sunday! What does that mean? I got to enjoy a great sacrament meeting! :) AND my countdown has ended; today is the day Tay and I leave for our much anticipated road trip! Then I'm off to Montana :) I'll post about my many adventures when I get home, don't worry.

Also, Mom and I treated ourselves to new shoes :)

Happy Sunday!

Giddy On Up

2011-07-15T10:13:00.000-07:00

I started this list of things I want to do before I move away from home in a year and go to college. Last night I got to check one of these things of my list; my mom and I went horseback riding! I've always been in love with horses. When I was little I begged my parents to buy me a horse. I would clip out ads in the classifieds and tape them to their mirrors. Haha. Last night my dream finally came true! We rode on a trail around the rim of Snow Canyon and the horses we rode were amazing; they climbed up a mountain! My desire to be a cowgirl came back stronger than ever haha and now I'm convinced I need to start riding horses all the time. It was the best thing I've ever done!

YEE HAW!!

My horse, Mr. Itos

I was born to ride horses. I know it.

Let's get crafty

2011-07-11T15:27:00.000-07:00

I've always liked doing crafts. My mom and sisters are all super crafty so I've done tons of projects with them over the years, but it wasn't until this summer I really caught the craft bug for myself. All I want to do is make cute things. I spend all of my time looking at other people's blogs and trying to get my own creative juices flowing. So, here are a few little things I've done this summer, hopefully it will inspire some of you to be crafty too :) If anyone has any ideas for me let me know!! Right now I'm working on the cutest apron you'll ever see.. I'll post pictures when I finish!

This was our theme for girls camp. We all got notebooks at the beginning of the summer to write down experiences we had to be an angel for someone. I decided it would be much more fun to write in if it looked cute :)

I have pictures all over my room. I ran out of places to put them so I created my picture wall! It's a work in progress, but it probably won't be long until all of my walls are covered. I'm kinda picture crazy.

This is basically what I spend all of my time doing every year at camp. This year I made a total of 7 and a half.

These flower hair clips were the service project I was in charge of at camp. We made over 100!

I saw a cute lanyard like this at a quilt show so I decided to make one!

The flower is my favorite part! It's interchangeable

We made these angel pins and necklaces at camp

Meg and I made wreaths.. hers is really cute haha mine didn't turn out too well

Best for last!! Meg and I made these shirts with doilies and I love them!

Happy Crafting! :)

The Great Outdoors

2011-07-10T19:03:00.000-07:00

I got to spend this past week in the great outdoors camping on Cedar Mountain for Girls Camp! This was my 6th year so I was a YCL. This meant I got to help plan camp and went to camp a day early to set up and get things ready for the wards. Can I just say that I love girls camp?! I love being outdoors and even though not everyone feels this way, I think girls camp is just so much fun. This year our stake theme was Angels Among Us and our ward theme was Angels in Action: On the Lord's Errand. Because of this theme, we used all of the money we usually spend on crafts and our blow up slide/rock climbing wall on service projects. I don't think we could have made a better choice. We worked on projects all week for the Dove Center, the Erin Kimball Foundation, the Family Justice Center, and for refugees in the state of Utah. It felt so good to be able to do so much for other people and we accomplished a TON. My mom is the stake YW pres so she was up there with me and I'm so glad. I love her and her counselors and spent a lot of the time hanging out with them! I could write forever about camp, but don't worry I'm not going to, I'm just going to document a few of my favorite things.

Mary Dunn speaking about service and her liver disease
Jan Fausett speaking about trials she's gone through
Kangaroo Kourt, of course
Testimony Meeting
Our ward fashion show (namely taylor magleby as dick the elderly man)
marissa, kortnee, and my tradition that is a secret and I can't post about
taking the 1st years snipe hunting
our bishop ric and stake presidency (who are all in our ward) doing squirrely
making a million bracelets
the 3rd ward's kid history skit
2 Justin Bieber cardboard cutouts and Taylor Lautner
Matching all the time with Tay Mag and our rainboots
Staying up with all of the 5th and 6th years in our bungalows/containers haha telling scary stories and talking about boys
My mom and Wendy washing my hair in a bucket of water while sitting in my camp chair hahah

I love my ward so much. The whole stake presidency and most of the stake camp leaders are from our ward so it was like a big ward party. Most of my leaders have come every single year I have and I love them all so much! I also became really close to all of the girls this year and I love them all even more!

Mom and I on our first day of camp!

Me, Kenna, Bailey, and Madi

Notice my shirt

Every girl's boyfriend at camp

Taylor and I and our matching rain boots!!

I love taylor magleby soo much! these attractive get ups were for kangaroo kourt

Let freedom ring!

2011-07-04T23:08:00.000-07:00

Happy 235th Birthday America!!! Today was one of my favorite days of the whole year; Independence Day! I was pretty bummed that I had to miss the parade this morning because I had to work, but I got paid time and a half since it's a holiday so I got over it. After work I hung out for a little bit with the fam before we went and saw Monte Carlo. After the movie we had a delicious meal of stake, corn on the cob, watermellon, and potatoes. It doesn't get much more American than that! We got our things together after dinner and headed to the Vernon Werthen to meet up with the rest of St. George and enjoy a patriotic evening at the park. We played card games until it got dark; then it was time for my favorite part of the night. That's right.. fireworks!! I'm a sucker for a good firework show. I get goosebumps. Haha. It was SO great and I love how our whole entire town congregates so we can all celebrate this special day together :) After driving home in the most traffic stg has ever seen, we enjoyed patriotic fruit parfaits. It was definitely a successful holiday.I blasted my country music all day and sang my heart out to I'm Proud To Be an American while driving with my windows down. Can you not see why I'm kind of obsessed with the 4th? I really am so grateful to live in the USA and as Toby Keith says, every day's independence day!

I can't help but burst out laughing everytime I see this hahah no, my dad is not on drugs he just gets really excited about Independence Day! :)

Finally coming out of my Summer coma

2011-07-03T18:18:00.000-07:00

So the whole first month of this summer I was kind of a loner. I went on a few trips, but when I was home I just didn't feel like hanging out with anyone. I can be pretty antisocial sometimes. I'm pretty sure I was just way too addicted to Prison Break and would rather spend time watching Lincoln Burrows than with real people. Anyway, this past week I was reunited with my best friend in the whole world Tayler Danielle Bushman and she finally snapped me out of it! And what a great week we had. We swam, got sunburned, shopped, set some inspiring goals, talked each others ears off, went to our friend's concert, and we even volunteered at Sterling Court, an assisted living center-- I'm helping the sweetest 98 year old woman in the world, Dolly, with her family history and I couldn't be more excited. We also spent some quality time with our other great friends Brytan and Courtney. We had a couple nights out on the town with them and even visited matt, brock, and bary a few times. I'm so glad the exciting part of my summer has finally begun! And now I'm off to girls camp for a week ha.

Court, Tay, Brytan, and I chillin at Brytans

I planned our YW activity this week. We mad temple time capsules! This was the display I set up (Thanks lyn for your wedding paraphernalia)

The girls with our cans! They turned out so good. I was pumped. I'm definitely going to be a young women leader someday.

I went hiking with my parents Saturday morning in Pine Valley! It was actually a pretty tough hike, but so beautiful. It was so nice to get out of this nasty heat too! Recently I've discovered how much I absolutely love being outdoors. Its the best thing in the world.

Sole Sisters

2011-06-25T10:58:00.000-07:00

Call us crazy; Meg and I ran another race even though we weren't exactly prepared for it. Both of us have been trying to find the motivation to run again, so we decided to sign up for a race. There weren't any in STG because everyone would probably die from the insane heat, so we opted for Cedar City. Little did we know we would have to be there at 6 in the morning. So, we woke up at 5 this morning and headed up to Cedar. We were both so out of it it's honestly a miracle we made it alive! When we got to the starting line of the race they told us we would be running up Cedar Canyon, and i'm pretty sure we started laughing to hold back the tears. Neither of us were prepared for an uphill battle. But, there is a happy ending to this little story! WE DID IT!! We both finished only a couple minutes slower than our other races that we were WAY more prepared for. It was amazing! We stuck around for a while after to see if we won any of the raffle prices, but no such luck. That's okay though because we were so proud of ourselves for finishing! You can just call us sole sisters :)

College Road Trip!!

2011-06-25T10:43:00.000-07:00

You can just call me Raven Symone. (on a sidenote, if you're ever looking to buy the movie College Road Trip, sorry, they don't sell it ANYWHERE. I know, we were pretty disappointed too.) Meg and I spent the week driving across the state on our ultimate college road trip. We went to 4 universities, did a lot of shopping, stayed with our great cousins, visited beautiful temples, and ate really well, of course. I think we would both agree though that the highlight of our trip was driving around the BYU campus in a golf cart. That's right, be jealous because we looked and felt super cool! We started out at UVU on our first day and followed it up with BYU (and hit the creamery of course :) On our second day we headed up to Logan and toured USU and on our final day we visited the U of U. All of the schools were really great and they were all schools I would go to, but I couldn't help but feel that BYU was THE school for me the whole trip. Especially when we were on the BYU campus I just knew that that is where I'm supposed to be. Although I probably won't get as awesome of a scholarship as I could get at my runner-ups, hopefully I'll get something because I've got my heart set on BYU. So, it's officially decided that as of next fall I will be a cougar :)

The Bluebird Cafe! This is where my grandma would take my mom and her siblings when they came to visit her when she went to college here 60 years ago!

The Logan temple :)

and the Salt Lake temple.. so beautiful!

My college candidates

Happy Campers

2011-06-20T09:53:00.000-07:00

This weekend I went camping for the first time since.. well.. I don't think I've actually gone camping besides Girls Camp (which is in 2 weeks!) since I was a kid, so a long time! I went with Meg, Ry, and their kiddos and we had a great time. Our adventures included hiking down by the waterfall/river, making s'mores, playing card games, singing round the campfire (Ryan and Reed playing the guitar/singing for us), Asher's poor little head getting eaten alive by bugs, and having a slumber party in our tent of course! I love Meg's family and I'm so grateful they let me tag along with them all the time :)

Some other good things this weekend: I survived my talk in church and it went really well!, the fam celebrated father's day/dad's bday with our favorite treat, homemade butterfinger ice cream (heaven), babysat my nephews, watched a million hours of Prison Break (the best thing that has ever happened to me), went to a concert with Tay, worked, got a cupshake with Tay!!, and had another sleepover at Mando's :)

A couple more pictures from Sand Hollow :)

Is this cool or what?! Besides the fact it was right before I almost broke my legs. hahaha

Happy Campers :)

Reed and I creepin :)

This guy was the lead singer of one of the bands at the concert we went to! Notice me and Tays great band t shirts we picked up for $5 :)

No pressure

2011-06-16T09:53:00.000-07:00

This Sunday I get to give a talk about this wonderful man in church

No pressure, It's just a missionary homecoming and Father's Day. Hopefully I don't embarrass him too bad! :)

Fun in the Sun

2011-06-16T09:48:00.000-07:00

Things are really heating up here in St. George. Literally, it was 105 freakin degrees yesterday. Yuck. That's why I've been spending my time doing refreshing things like going to the splashpad and Sand Hollow Reservoir! On Tuesday my best friend from EFY last year, Logan, came down to STG for a few hours. I was so excited to see him! Marissa and I met up with Logan and his friend Brooks at Sand Hollow and had a blast. I even conquered one of my biggest fears and went cliff diving off some giant cliffs. Seriously, they were huge. Even though I was terrified, it was actually pretty fun and it was a total rush. I do have one word of advice, though. Keep your legs straight and your toes pointed!! Yeah, I had no idea about this rule so my legs are now covered in bruises haha it's pretty gross. Anyway, it was a great time and I can't wait for him to move down for a couple months before his mish!

You know it's summer when..

2011-06-12T13:03:00.000-07:00

You know it's summer when you sleep on all of your sister's couches in one week, and one lives in another state. Here are a few fun things that contributed to this interesting week..

Adventured down to Colorado and spent a couple days with my sisters. We exercised to make up for all the good stuff we ate, and of course we always have to match when we work out together! Haha.

Took another lovely hike in Moab and climbed to the top of this giant mountain (okay, the mountain wasn't really giant, this picture is just a little deceiving)

Had sleepovers at all of my great sister's houses!
Judged the 4th Ward's Got Talent young women talent show with these lovely lady/men (sometimes I think I should've been a boy because I'm so attractive as one. Ha!)

Went swimming with Meg and her boys then had a lovely picnik with the rest of our family
Finally tried a cupshake from the Sweet Tooth Fairy-- I was not disappointed, everyone needs to experience this bliss!
Also had Dickey's BBQ for the first time-also delicious- with the fam then went to a lovely wedding reception
Took the ACT, again.
Made it through my first day on the job! Go Hollister.

Who Knew?

2011-06-08T14:39:00.000-07:00

I thought this summer was going to be pretty uneventful for me. Boy was I wrong. This is only the second day I've been home since summer began! It all started two Fridays ago when my parents and I headed to Moab to spend a lovely weekend with Lyn, Nick, and Cole. We hiked to the Delicate Arch (the famous arch on the Utah license plate), went to an art festival, shopped on Main Street, ate some delicious food, and perhaps my favorite part, made S'mores in our hotel room :) We got home Sunday night after stopping in Goblin Valley. We went crazy hiking, climbing, and exploring in the valley. We were such little explorers. Our adventures there were so much fun, I would highly recommend going! Monday morning I packed my car, picked up Marissa, and headed to BYU for EFY. This was my last year to go to EFY so I wanted it to be the best yet, which would be pretty hard because I have had the best EFY experiences, ever. It definitely was a different year haha but it turned out to be another great experience despite less fortunate circumstances than years past. I loved my group, Zion, and had SUCH an amazing and spiritual week! We headed home on Saturday. Sunday, I got a call from my sister Meg in California saying she needed me to drive to our other sister, Lynnie's, house in Colorado with her so her husband could get some emergency dental work done by our talented dentist bro-in-law. So, she drove to STG, picked me up, and we headed on our way to Colorado. We spent the next couple days hanging out, shopping, playing games, and watching movies. On our way home we stopped in Moab and did another arch hike! We got home last night and this morning I woke up and went to my first day of work :) As you can see, my summer so far has been anything but uneventful!

This was possible the most delicious breakfast cafe i've ever eaten at!

Isn't it delicate?

S'mores night, my favorite :)

Goblin Valley!

I love a man with a mustache.

Girls pizza night-- we did the Haka for our cheer, that's why we look so scary :)

Love these girls!

I ran into my long lost best friend, Kole Halladay, who I adore

We also ran into some SC friends! And Bro. Jensen, our sem teacher at SC was our session director.

This is Kaelynne, the most beautiful and talented counselor in the world.

Zion :)

This is Tyler! He kept me entertained all week. He recorded every second of EFY and is putting a video on Youtube :)

Bieber and the boys were possible my favorite part of EFY :)

School is out for the summer!

2011-05-27T13:36:00.000-07:00

We love Wyatt so much.

Zac Benson, basically our BFF.

That's right kids, it's officially summer! I didn't know if I was going to make it through those intense last couple weeks, but somehow I did and now you can call me a Senior :) This week has pretty much felt like the longest week of my life. Here's what happened: Monday was the last day of school! I only had one class I had to go to and we took a final which was kind of lame. That night was our yearbook signing party at the school! After the party Tay, Bri, Brytan, Courtney and I went hot tubbing with Zane and Dane in the pouring rain. (hahah all the rhyming was completely unintentional and kind of funny) On Tuesday we went to our graduation (shortest graduation ever!) and Dixie's (longest graduation ever) It was so weird to see all of our friends graduating and to think that will be us in one short little year. At midnight I went to Denny's with the sem council. We played games, ate Grand Slams, and celebrated summer. I slept at Tay's so we could go to senior sunrise together but we slept through it hah big surprise there. Wednesday night I had some fun with my good friend Connor and his jeep Danny. Thursday, Tay and I babysat our nephews then we went shopping. Later we picked up Jarrod and went to Water for Elephants, the best movie I have seen in a long time! I'm in love with Robert Pattinson. Now, I'm headed off to Moab for the weekend! ♥Summer 2011 is going to be great.

Creepin.

2011-05-23T09:23:00.000-07:00

So a couple nights ago I basically had the scariest experience of my life. Not even kidding. Here's what went down: I got home late and went to bed. I had just fallen asleep, it was about 1 in the morning, when my dog started going insane (barking like you wouldn't believe). This isn't uncommon, so I didn't think anything of it, just waited for my dad to let her outside. I heard someone coming down the stairs, so I figured he'd come down to let her out. But the person didn't go to the door they went to the room across the hall from me and my dog was still going crazy. At this point I'm thinking there is a chance this is a burglar. So naturally I start freaking out. I don't want to stay in my bed and just wait for them to come murder me, so I sneak upstairs where I hear ANOTHER intruder. I wait for him to go into the bathroom then I sneak into our front room, heart pounding out of my chest. I look at the front window and see two motorcycles parked out front. (keep in mind my dog is still going crazy this whole time) This confirms to me there are bad people in my house. I have my phone, I'm dialing 911 while making a mad dash to the front door for the neighbors when it hits me my cousin was possibly staying with us that night. I run to my parents room, praying I won't find them dead, and jump into their bed practically bawling. Don't worry, they were alive, and the murderers were in fact my cousins (who by the way are two very large 6+ feet men). My mom starts laughing like crazy at me and I'm just sitting there shaking, adrenaline rushing, crying. It was pretty intense. I think I watch way too many crime scene shows. So anyway, I'm alive and well, but I've been having nightmares every night since. cool.

Too bad these manly men weren't around to back me up.

Basically, life is crazy.

2011-05-22T13:23:00.000-07:00

This week was the last week of school! I CAN'T even believe it; I survived my junior year. Even though the last week is usually the easiest and we pretty much don't do anything in any class, I think this was the busiest week of my whole year. Seriously, it was crazy. I had lots of lasts and firsts this week and I can't wait for this next year of my life that is probably going to be this crazy every day. It all started last Sunday when Tay, Bri, and I went to our good pal Jared's farewell. So weird that we have friends leaving on missions.

The rest of the week went something like this:

Senior testimony meeting (new seminary council was lucky enough to get to attend this at 6 in the morning :))
Seminary talent show buffet
I found out I'm the new FCCLA president! And I got to announce my new council! I'm so excited for my council, we're already all friends and this year is going to be great.
I also found out I'm a student ambassador!
I got my first job! I now work at Hollister :)
Got my first speeding ticket :( So glad that's where I'll be spending my first paycheck. ha.
Taught a lesson to my first graders! My lesson was really fun, we read a book and talked about dreams, then I had the kids write and draw about their dreams. I got some pretty creative responses :) And my teacher didn't show up who was supposed to critique me, so my lesson was 100 times less stressful.
Went to the What Women Want expo with my mom and sisters, our biannual tradition.
Went to the midnight showing of Pirates with Jarrod and Tay. Beside the fact I was fighting soo hard to stay awake, it was a pretty good movie. I never know what's going on half the time in pirates of the carribbean though ha.
Spent lots of time in the sem building with the new sem council. I love them already, this year is going to be so great. We started setting up our office, mini fridge and all. Good times are definitely yet to come in there.
Restitution. Bleh.
Babysat my cutest nephews in the world. Then spent the night watching movies and eating fro yo with their awesome parents.
Presented the SOLF scholarship at Pine View's awards ceremony.
Had a Great Gatsby party in Lenore's class. Then took a few finals.
Disected a baby pig. Cried.

Okay you get the idea; this list is already giant and I could probably go on for hours about this insane week. Thank goodness its Summer :)

My Gatsby outfit :) It was actually my great grandma's straight from the 1920's--so cool and vintage.

Gatsby Party :) Gotta love these cute flapper girls!

My kids! How adorable are they? They hugged me for about five minutes when I had to leave and almost knocked me over.

Such a good teacher, right? Just look how intrigued the kids are :)

California Lovin'

2011-05-15T17:26:00.000-07:00

All I wanted for my birthday was to go to California and spend a few relaxing days laying on the beach. The closest weekend we had open to my birthday was last, so our trip was a little belated but still much appreciated! Mom and I headed to Vegas Wednesday night where we slept at Rissie's. The next morning we woke up early and began our adventure to Cali. We stopped at the outlets in Barstow and did the first of much shopping to come for the weekend. We didn't get to our hotel until many hours later, way later than we planned, because of some disgusting traffic, but we decided we'd still get a little beach time in. So, we checked into our hotel, changed into our swimmies, and headed to the beach. We hung out at the beach for a little while until we got pretty hungry and headed up to the shops along the beach. We found a little BBQ restaurant that smelled divine and decided we'd try it out. Best decision of our lives. It was honestly the best bbq I have ever had in my whole life of living, and I've had some dang good bbq. We were introduced to hush puppies for the first time, and immediately fell in love. If you have not tried them I HIGHLY recommend doing so. We were pretty tired after dinner so we headed to the hotel and relaxed and watched some TV for the rest of the evening. The next morning we woke up and decided over a casual breakfast that we wanted to go to a theme park since there are so many is so. cal. We tried to broaden our horizons and think outside of Disneyland, but we couldn't resist, so we got ready and headed to Anaheim. We spent the day riding rides, eating great food, and thoroughly enjoying the Disney spirit (it truly is the happiest place on Earth). We also saw the World of Color for the first time and I about died, it was the greatest thing that has ever happened at Disneyland!! Saturday was supposed to be our 'lay at the beach all day' day, but we woke up to inclement weather. We decided to attempt the beach anyway. We drove to the beach, but left because it was too cold and tried to do a little shopping, but ended up at what we thought was a shopping center and was actually a center with one store and a billion restaurants. We decided to attempt another beach after this. It was still a little windy and chilly, but we layed out for a while anyway and even got a little sun. Then we went shopping yet again and had dinner at BJ's. Yes, we had a pazookie and both died and went to heaven. The next morning was our last in Cali so we were determined to get a little more beach time despite the weather. When we got to the beach it was extremely windy, overcast, and sprinkling rain. We wrapped up in our towels, and after about 5 minutes decided to head home. On our way home, we stopped in Las Vegas and had a few more adventures there, but this post is already 5 years long (I'm way impressed if anyone has actually read this whole thing, props to you) so I will leave out those details. All in all, it was a great trip, definitely worth the wait :)

Our first night in Cali; Manhattan Beach

We love California Adventure! So much.

Best ride in the park, enough said.

The World of Color is my favorite thing that has ever happened at Disneyland! I was amazed.

Beach Day 2; Long Beach.

Our last, very cold, day at the beach.

Today is Tuesday.

2011-05-03T20:17:00.000-07:00

Why today was a great Tuesday:

I had an amazing seminary lesson
I packed for California and I'm leaving tomorrow :)
I got to work with some of the little girls in Mandi's class who make me feel so good about myself
It was the only B day I have to go to this week
I was in the modesty fashion show and got to talk to the adorable activity day girls in my ward
I went to a banquet and received the Dixie Elks student of the year award!

Hooray for enjoyable Tuesdays!

Everything

2011-05-03T14:16:00.000-07:00

Last weekend, Lyn, Nick, Cole, and Nick's parents stayed with us so we could all celebrate Cole's first birthday! We had a great time, ate great food, and tried to get Cole to enjoy some a birthday cake.

Friday- Saturday was the Relay for Life. I went with Tay's family (2 claps for team Kassidy's Hope). We camped out at DSC, but it was freezing and insanely windy so after walking our last shift at midnight and collapsing in a heap of blankets on the football field for a while, Tay and I decided to sleep in her car. Ha. It didn't work out very well so it was a pretty long night for both of us, but i I'm glad I got to go and support Kass.

Yesterday was my last day of Math 1010! I had to go take my final, which I had no doubt in my mind I would fail, and ended up miraculously getting a 103! I was pretty pumped. Making it through my first college math class with an A definitely gave me some hope for the future :) Real college is coming up quick. I can't believe I'll be a senior in three weeks! This year was seriously the fastest EVER.

2 days until California and 21 days until Summer :)

bittersweet

2011-04-25T21:36:00.000-07:00

Tonight I played beach volleyball with Austin and his friends. I had sooo much fun, seriously. I got pretty into the game, diving all over the place, and ended up completely covered with sand. It was totally worth it, though. I forgot how much I love playing volleyball! It was a little bittersweet because I don't play volleyball at school anymore, but it made me even more excited to start tennis again tomorrow! Hooray for renewing my love for sports.

Keep 'em coming

2011-04-24T18:26:00.000-07:00

This weekend was another great one, especially because there is no school Friday-Monday! Thursday night my friends and I went to a barbecue with the boys we've been hanging out all week with from SLC. Then we cruised the vard for a while and went to IceBerg for about the millionth time this week. Friday morning we all layed out and got fried. That night we went shopping. On our way home to Tays we ran into some boys from her ward that we're friends with. They invited us to go drive on this trail they wanted to see. We agreed, not knowing what we were getting ourselves into. We ended up driving through the mountains with them for 2 hours hahah. The trail was insane. We basically had no idea where we were and eventually ended up in Leeds. After that, Tay and Bri went to a party and I went to Austin's. We played fugitive with a bunch of his friends and got the cops called on us. We ended up sprinting through his neighborhood, hiding along the way trying to get back to his house without the cop seeing us. It was so much fun! Saturday I took Reed to an Easter egg hunt downtown and to the art festival. Tay and I dyed monster Easter eggs and died old t shirts with the extra dye. That night, Tay, Bri, and I were pretty pumped to go to the JB movie at the dollar theatre. We got there and the price was changed to 2.50, are you kidding me?, so we bailed and went hot tubbing. It was very painful at first because of our gnarly burns, but once we got used to it it was good and we met some cute boys so it was even better :) Today is Easter Sunday. I woke up to an Easter egg hunt around the basement with Reed! Then we had an amazing breakfast and I even got an Easter basket! Today was also our stake conference, and I got set apart. I've definitely over indulged myself with the Easter candy today, but it was totally worth it.

Hooray for another great weekend!

Egg hunt!!

Easter with my boys

And my wonderful parents!

Easter egg hunt #2!

My Easter basket :)

I've Been Called!

2011-04-24T18:02:00.000-07:00

Tuesday night started off as a normal night. I was hanging out with a group of friends, about to go swimming when I got a call that Pres. Brown wanted to meet with me ASAP. I had absolutely no idea what this could be about, so I was pretty nervous as I drove to the stake center to meet with him. Well, turns out I had no reason to be worried because I got called to be on the seminary council for my senior year! I've always thought it would be fun to be on sem council, but you don't run for it or anything, the teachers/stake presidents pray about it and decide. Only 8 kids are on it, so I figured my chances were slim and never gave a whole lot of thought to it. I am so excited. I think this is the reason I didn't make student council. Heavenly Father really does have a bigger plan than we know, have a little faith! Today after stake conference I got set apart and received the most amazing blessing. I'm finally really looking forward to my senior year.

I went to the temple Wednesday after I got called and did baptisms. I read Women of Courage (definitely recommend reading this) on the lawn after and was feeling pretty inspired. I love the temple.

Saturday is a special day!

2011-04-24T17:53:00.000-07:00

This weekend was pretty great, especially Saturday.

Friday: Tay and I ate din at Cafe freakin Rio! That's right, be jealous. It was amazing, of course, even though a guy did pass out in the gigantic line we had to wait in (super creepy). Then we watched When a Stranger Calls, and I can promise you I will never babysit ever again. Mark my words.
Saturday: Meg and Ry invited us to take advantage of Free Parks Day with them and go to Zion National Park. Obviously we couldn't pass that up. We had a picnic outside of the park before we shuttled in and hike all three levels of the Emerald Pools. It was a great hike; it was soo beautiful! Megs kids were so good the whole time, and Tay and I were pretty impressed by Meg and Ry packin them the whole time. What an awesome family. When we finished our hike, we headed to the lodge to reward ourselves with ice cream. Then we headed back to STG. That night Tay and I cruised to Vard and met some cute boys from SLC down here for Spring Break. We went swimming with them and had tons of fun so we hung out with them all week! They even went to school with us one day :)
Sunday: Happy Fake Easter/Asher's half birthday! Dean, Luann, Sue, Grandpa, and Grandma all joined us at our house for a delicious breakfast. They also went to church with us where Dad did and excellent job speaking. Then they hit the road and headed for Idaho. Later we went to Meg/Ry's house to celebrate Fake Easter/Asher's half birthday. We ate an amazing dinner (compliments to the chefs), played games, opened Easter presents, dyed Easter eggs, and ate some really awesome dessert.
All in all, it was a great weekend.

Tay and I enjoying a beautiful Friday evening.

The hike got pretty muddy.

We love Zions!

Made it to the top!

Cuteset family right here

Asher was pretty worn out on the hike, but still adorable as ever

Fake Easter!

Here Comes the Sun

2011-04-13T16:48:00.000-07:00

Saturday started out early with the ACT, bleh. But, things definitely looked up after that because Saturday was also Preference! Riss and I decided to go at the last minute and asked 2 boys from different schools. We ended up in a totally random group; I hardly knew half of the people in it ha. After the ACT we picked up the boys and headed to the Boulevard Home Furnishings for our thrown-together-last-minute day date. We played hide and seek and told the employees we were engaged, shopping for our new home, when they asked. It ended up being a ton of fun! After the date, everyone went home to get ready. We picked the boys back up that night and headed to The Warehouse for pictures.(This awesome building in Green Valley where they have Zumba classes. The walls are all covered in graffiti. The pictures are going to be great.) Pictures took forever because of our huge group and when we finished we realized we hadn't made dinner plans, so Riss and I took our dates to her house and made pizzas. We played the Kinect while we waited for them forever to bake. When they finally came out of the oven they were horrible. We all agreed on a run to Little Caesar's. Classy dinner, right? :) After dinner we went to the dance. We didn't stay for long, but we had a blast! We were definitely worn out when we left. Our plan was to go to my house, make smores, and watch the movie we Redboxed, but when we got home we were all so tired that we put on sweats, grabbed a bunch of blankets, and crashed on the trampoline to look at the stars. We also turned on some John Mayer, of course. We relaxed out there for a while just talking (and falling asleep), and it was probably one of the best parts of the night. I had more fun than I ever have at a dance before; I'm so grateful for my awesome date and my fun little group :)

SUCCESS.

Austin and I after our day date

Disaster pizzas.

Marissa and Kyle :)

Me and Aust :)

One year older, and wiser too

2011-04-13T16:31:00.000-07:00

Last Tuesday was the best day of the whole year. Yep that's right, it was my birthday. I had big plans for my big day and was pretty distraught when I woke up with the flu. I honestly have the WORST luck in the world with getting sick (every major holiday and vacation, and now my birthday?? sheesh). I went back to bed in tears and luckily got some sleep. When I awoke a few hours later I wasn't feeling 100%, but I was a lot better, so I had a choice to make:

A. I could celebrate the rest of the day and skip out on my morning plans or,

B. I could stay in bed and celebrate on Wednesday.

Neither of these sounded good enough for my birthday so I chose C. I got out of bed, got ready, and had my awesome birthday breakfast. I was not about to miss out on any part of my birthday. Then I picked up my besties for lunch and headed to Cafe Rio. I had seminary third period and got sung to, a treat, and a grandma hug from our stand-in seminary grandma, Sister Jordan. That night I went out to dinner at Cracker Barrel with the fam, and got free dessert! The Trinity came over after dinner for presents and the best dessert ever! When all of the fam left the Trinity dressed up like men (surprise, surprise. Who knows why this seems to be our favorite passtime) and had a night out on the town! Best birthday ever (yes I'm choosing to block out the first few hours).

Mom "decorated" for my birthday :)

Mom and I definitely enjoyed to free dessert

Best thing I've ever eaten, hand down.

Tay and Bri are the best friends ever and got me this super cute dress!

Creeper Status? Nah.

Animal Whisperer?

2011-03-30T20:04:00.000-07:00

Yesterday and today I had really weird experiences with animals. Here's what went down:

Yesterday I took Coco for a walk. This GIANT dog came up and was trying to get at her, so I picked her up. The beast dog was very persistent and started jumping on top of me (it was my height when it stood up on it's hind legs) and trying to get to Coco. I couldn't get the dog to back off, so I headed home, still holding Coco and being mauled by the monster. I couldn't help but laugh thinking to myself how grateful I am I'm not scared of dogs because I would be passing out and how hilarious the sight would be for anyone who happened to be watching.

Today I got home from mutual and walked into my room to find a cat lying on my bed! Since we don't have a cat, and I HATE cats, you can imagine my shock. I'm pretty sure I screamed. Mom, the reasonable one, wasn't home so Dad and I came up with the brilliant idea of sending Coco in. This caused the cat to jump under my bed, Coco followed. The cat was literally hissing like you see in movies, and Coco was basically a basket case. This obviously wasn't working, so I confined Coco while Dad swatted the cat out from under my bed with a broom. Then we decided to let Coco at it again (bad idea). If you have never witnessed a real live cat-dog fight, it's kind of hilarious. They chased each other around our basement barking and hissing. The devil cat ended up jumping onto our Foosball table, walking across the window sill, and leaping out the back door. Although I have some major battle wounds (scratch marks) it was hilarious. This might be horrible, but I kind of enjoyed it.

Feeling Cheery

2011-03-28T18:07:00.000-07:00

Last week both of my best friends tried out for cheer. I will say that after tryouts I went home and anxiously awaited the results even though I wasn't even the one trying out. I checked the cheer blog at the allotted time and refreshed to page at least 10 times until there names popped up and I celebrated for them with my family haha. What can I say we are practically one person, thats why they call us the Trinity. They of course both made it because they are amazing. I had so much fun cheering them on at try outs with all 3 of our families and can't wait to cheer for them cheering at all of our games next year :) Although I will be a little lonely, because unfortunately my best friends are my only friends (hey quality not quantity, right?) I am soo proud of both of them and love them both! They are definitely way cooler than me

Tay

Bri

I love my cheerleaders! :)

Be a Star

2011-03-28T17:55:00.000-07:00

A couple months ago I competed in the regional STAR competition for FCCLA (Family, Career, and Community Leaders of America) at SUU. I received a gold medal in my category (this is what I made my T-Shirt quilt, previously blogged about, for) and got to go on to the state competition! Last week I traveled to Layton with the winners from all of the other schools in Washington County on possibly the longest bus ride of my life. One other girl from my school, Mikelle, also came, but our adviser got sick so we were on our own with the other schools! This did however mean that we got our own hotel room, so we each got our own bed :) We woke up bright and early and headed to the convention center for orientation and our interviews. There were over 900 competitors from all over Utah; it was crazy. After we got interviewed about our projects we spent 4 hours aimlessly wandering the mall (we were exhausted). Then we went back to the convention center for a few more meetings. That night we were on our own for dinner so Mikelle and I walked to Zupas, the most delicious restaurant ever created, then headed to Menchies for dessert :) There was an activity that night, but that was the last thing we wanted to do, so we watched movies and ate our fro yo in our hotel room. The next morning we went to the awards ceremony. I ended placing with a silver medal in my category! Mikelle won gold in hers! Then we boarded the bus for another long drive, and headed back to St. George. We surprisingly have received a lot of recognition at school. Both of our school pictures are the first things to pop up on the school website which is pretty embarrassing yet awesome. We were put in the announcements a few times, and almost all of my teachers have recognized me in class. Today I was even given a gift card to Krave, and Sister Jordan, the sweet sister missionary at our seminary building, escorted me into class and had my whole class applaud me haha. So all in all, it was definitely worth it!

Mikelle and I

Receiving my award!

Spring Break, WOOT!!

2011-03-28T17:39:00.000-07:00

Last week was Spring Break! Yes, that means I am now in the last quarter of school, Hallelujah. Also, my favorite Montana family (minus Ken) got to come down to St. George and stay with us for a couple weeks! Lyn and Nick even joined us for a weekend! I got to spend a lot of time with most of my family and had so much fun over spring break! Here are a few of the highlights:

My adorable niece Hailey and I (the youngest girls in the fam) had a super fun date night! We went to the Wildlife Museum, had dinner, made play dough, went to Menchies for frozen yogurt, and watched Cars!

We went to Wadley Farms (coolest place ever) for our cousin Drew's wedding.

I got to spend a few days in Vegas with Grace and her kids. We went to M&M World (or M&M Land as Kody would say :)). We spent lots of time on the strip doing all the fun things it has to offer. We also went to 4 malls and some really delicious restaurants!

Kody being the cutest kid ever at M&M World.


Mando and I found our frog prince's at Drew's wedding reception!

Here a few more fun things I did over the break:

Went to the splash pad with my niece and nephews
got pedicures with my sisters
went to the childrens discovery museum
went on a hot date!
saw Tangled, possible the cutest Disney movie ever

run baby, run

2011-03-28T17:23:00.000-07:00

Okay, so I know I haven't blogged forever and I have a TON to catch up on. So sorry these next few posts are belated and won't be very detailed.

March 5:

Me and Meg along with a few members of Ryan's family ran the lake to lake 50 mile race! The race started at Gunlock and went to Sand Hollow, it was insane. To say I was pretty nervous about the race would be a major understatement. We started at 8 a.m. and finished at 5 pm (our time was 9 hours). I would be lying if I didn't say it was really hard, but I'm so glad we did it! Finishing the race was such an awesome accomplishment. I'm so proud of my whole time, and I'm so grateful I got to run this race!

Here are a few things I learned:

5 Hour Energy is one of the best things ever created. That stuff WORKS, ask Meg.
Heat rub ointment (similar to Icyhot) does NOT make good lip balm
Spandex are NOT a smart idea to run in
Most importantly, I can do hard things!

Meg and I somehow still standing after completing both of our legs, go us!

our Number One team at the finish line!

Sunday.

2011-02-27T19:32:00.000-08:00

Today was SUCH a great Sunday. Here's why..

Mom and I woke up way earlier than anyone every should on a Sunday and went to a fireside by Sister Staples. She's in the general relief society presidency and came down to do a fireside for the relief society last night. Luckily, she decided to stay and do one this morning for the young women and their mothers. She talked about being a believer, and even though it was really early, it was so good and I'm so glad we went. It was a great way to start off Sunday. After her talk, we went home and took a quick nap :) Then, at 11, we went to the 7th ward's ward conference (mom's last ward conference, so next week we can start going to our ward again for the first time this year). We got to listen to Pres. Magelby speak, which is always good. After their sacrament, Dad and I left and headed over to the 5th ward to hear Elder Morgan's homecoming talk. He did an excellent job as well. Tim Nowatzke, our amazing home teacher, came over after this and taught us. We snuck in another nap after having a nutricious dinner of oatmeal chocolate chip cookies. We ended this wonderful Sunday by going to a fireside by Sister Keys. She was accidently put in a Jewish concentration camp, and we got to hear her story. It was amazing, and it was the perfect way to top off this spiritual day! I didn't get to the homework I was planning on, but I think my time was much more well spent :) I'm so grateful to be a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

It also rained today, so it was bound to be a good day.

Colorado

2011-02-24T18:57:00.000-08:00

Last weekend was a long weekend because of Presiden'ts day, so Mom, Mando, and I journeyed down to Colorado to see our cute little dentist family. We spent a couple days there before we continued our journey, this time with Lynnie and Cole, to northern Utah. Here are some fun things we did:

watched movies
played with Cole
went shopping, of course
spent some quality time in IKEA
attempted the Botanical Gardens (we left because half of the garden was closed, unfortunately)
checked out Main Street (without buying a dog from a homeless man this time, also unfortunate)
I got some dental work done by my handy dentist bro-in-law
played some fun board games
stayed with our Aunt Paula and Uncle Rock
drove through a giant storm
I even accomplished some work on a huge home work assignment

All in all, it was a great weekend!

Blondes Have More Fun

2011-02-24T17:45:00.000-08:00

Before

After

I colored my hair today. Or did I?

Could've fooled me. If I hadn't been sitting in the salon with my head covered in foil for two hours, I probably wouldn't believe it. Yeah?

V DAY

2011-02-17T14:50:00.000-08:00

So, you're all probably dying to know what I did on V Day since my life is so exciting, right?? Wrong.

Tayler and I didn't have Valentines this year, so we decided to have an Anti-Valentine celebration. We decided we would go to Olive Garden for dinner because it's basically our tradition. We went at 5 hoping it wouldn't be too busy yet, but we were wrong! The wait was an hour. So, we went home for dinner. After dinner we went to Menchies, a new frozen yogurt shop on the b-vard. It was probably one of the best things I've ever eaten, and I HIGHLY reccommend trying it, your life will be changed. We took our Menchies home, got unready (hair went up, make up came off, comfy nightgowns went on) and were ready to watch our favorite show, PLL, when our friend Keenan texted Tayler wanting to hang out with us. So, we met up with Keenan for a couple hours. We got home around 10 and ended off our anti VDAY in bed with the rest of our Fro-Yo. The End.

Happy V Day to us- Yeah for delicious Fro Yo!

Run baby, run

2011-02-17T14:41:00.000-08:00

Meg and I completed our 2nd 5k on Saturday, woot woot! We ran the Race for Jace. It was a run to raise money for a little boy, Jace, from our community who burned 25% of his body in an accident. We're really glad we could support this good cause and were pretty proud of our race time although we did get passed up by a few kids. After we completed the race we stuck around the park for a little while with the fam. Grandma bought some treats at the bake sale, Ryan was motivated to join a band, and Reed had a blast riding the train!

Bball

2011-02-17T14:35:00.000-08:00

Last Friday our boy's basketball team played Desert Hills. Me and Tay were late to the game because we got lost a few times trying to get to DH. When we finally got to the game, we didn't have enought money to get in! Luckily our great friend Mccall spot us a few dollars. We lost, but it was a fun game! My friends and I got pretty into it and I ended up with no voice for the rest of the weekend. But, last night we beat Dixie,which is the only thing that really matters so it's all good! After the game we got together with a group of friends from D Hills!

Victoria, Tayler, Riss, Kayla.. Go Warriors!

Tay and I trying to find D Hills!

MoTab

2011-02-06T07:23:00.000-08:00

Last night the Mormon Tabernacle Choir performed at Dixie State. The tickets were a little pricey, but since my wonderful mother works at Deseret Book, Dad and I got to go for free! We even got to sit on the front row next to the choir's physician, it was great. The performance was absolutely amazing. They performed patriotic songs because President's Day is right around the corner. They also sang Are You From Dixie and had our Mayor go up and sing with them (me and Dad sang along because we both know that song and our very proud to be from dixie :)). They ended with the Battle Hymn of the Republic that they actually won a Grammy for a few years ago, it was amazing. My favorite song I'd have to say though was Cindy, an American Folk song. It was really upbeat and the whole choir was clapping and shouting, it was great!

Now I have a new goal, to be in the Orchestra at Temple Square.

Be a STAR

2011-02-06T07:15:00.000-08:00

For anyone who doesn't know, I'm an FCCLA (family, career, and community leaders of America) officer at my school. This week we had a STAR competition at SUU. A STAR competition is an event for FCCLA officers and students with about 20 categories to compete in. You make a project, then you get intereviewed about it at the competition. My category was Recycle and Redesign, so I decided to make a T-Shirt quilt. Our school got a late start on our projects, so i basically threw this quilt together in a week.. it was A LOT of work! But, it paid off! In each category the contestants can recieve gold, silver, or bronze depending on their score from the judges, and I was one of only two in my category (which was the largest category) to receive gold! yes! So, now I go onto state in March, and if I win there I get to go to Nationals in Anaheim :) Wish me luck!

Oh, Saturday.

2011-01-29T19:19:00.000-08:00

My typical Saturday consists of well, not much of anything. Today was different. I actually had a very productive day and got a lot done, it was great! Here's what I accomplished:

Went to the Best of EFY
Golfed with my father
Got my car washed, finally
Went to the gym
Sewed part of my T-shirt quilt which is due in less than a week
Played my violin

Parents are out on a hot date, so me and Coco are now going to relax and watch a movie. How exciting is my life? The sad thing is I turned down my friends so I could stay home and do nothing for the night. Ha! What kind of teenage am I??

A complete Loser? Maybe. Ha, this picture is completely irrelevant but I get a kick out of it, so I figured you guys probably would too :)

life

2011-01-27T14:42:00.000-08:00

I have this list hanging in my room I got from church one time. It's called Believe the Best is Yet to Come, and has 31 little things to do in life to make it.. well, better. I love it! So, I decided every day I'm going to go down the list and do one of the things. Yesterday was the first day. I'm not going to post about every day obviously, but yesterday was so good I just have to. The advice for yesterday was to walk, smile as you walk, and enjoy what's around you. I decided to do this while I was driving, also, since I drive a lot during the day. I can't believe how much of a difference it made in my day! I actually noticed the beautiful scenery I drive past every day, and it put me in the best mood I can't even describe! Here's a little taste of what I saw:

I'm so grateful to live in St. George! This breathtaking scenery and 60 degree weather made me honestly so happy yesterday driving through town with the sun roof open and windows down! Here are a few other things that contributed to my happiness:

Jack Johnson
Amazing seminary lesson on Peace (D&C 88)
New Beginnings
Running through Tayler's neighborhood..which is also beautiful

5k!

2011-01-22T13:44:00.000-08:00

This morning Meg and I ran the St. George 5k! I'm so proud of us. Mom, Dad, Ryan, Smash, and Reed all came to cheer us on at the finish line. We did pretty good for our first race--our time was 30 minutes, which is pretty average for a 5k. It was such a great experience, though. We were running alongside hundreds of other runners, it was awesome! Crossing the finish line, even though it was only a 5k, was the best feeling ever. It's official, I'm addicted to running. Now it's time to train for our 50 mile relay.. woot!

Meg and me right after we finished

just after we crossed the finish line!

after the race!

BP

2011-01-16T15:22:00.000-08:00

So me and Tayler are obsessed with this show, Beautiful People (BP). We watch it religiously, and basically I'm more interested in the characters in this shows live's than my own. IT'S THE BEST part of my day.

not to mention it stars this beautiful man.

quitters=losers.

2011-01-13T18:49:00.000-08:00

So I'm quitting the photo challenge. I will possibly attempt it again at a later date.

On a better note.

I absolutely LOVE the violin. It is the greatest instrument in the world.

Someday I WILL be as talented as Vanessa Mae.

sinco

2011-01-09T15:57:00.000-08:00

Day 5: A picture of your favorite memory.

So, this is obviously impossible. But, heres a REALLY good one. One night the Trinity was home alone and extrememly bored. So our girl Tay dressed up as the Joker-ish and we creeped people out! It was GREAT. this is why I love my friends.

i love tayler SO much

just a few things..

2011-01-09T15:42:00.000-08:00

So, I know I just posted, but I forgot a few exciting events. Here they are:

True loves first kiss!

... Then they got engaged!!

I LOVE STG

Brielle is my best friend for this reason.

party time

2011-01-09T15:35:00.000-08:00

This week was one of my very favorite girls, Kortnee Lytle's, birthday! So of course we had to party. Me and Tay went to her surprise party Friday night and had a blast even though I don't think we've ever been so cold in our lives! We danced like there was no tomorrow, played intense games, and made lots of new friends!

This is me and tay tay almost dying on the way home

me tay and our new buddy Dallin

the ninjas like this.

our girl (the birthday girl) Kortnee!!

we're amazing and accomplished a 3 man piggy back.. sort of

then we fell and couldn't get up so everyone joined us

After the party our favorite cheerleader came home and we all got to have our usual sleepover

Day 4

2011-01-08T11:27:00.000-08:00

Day 4: A picture of your night.

Well, my nights are not very exciting. Basically this is how they go lately:

Run with Tay
watch Beautiful People
Eat dinner
Do homework
get ready for/go to bed

More often than not this means a Trinity sleepover :)

Day 3

2011-01-07T12:39:00.000-08:00

Day 3: A picture of the cast from your favorite show.

Pretty Little Liars. Need I say more? This is the best TV show ever created. I'm basically obsessed.

day 2

2011-01-06T14:19:00.000-08:00

Day 2: A picture with the person you have been closest to the longest.

Tayler Danielle Bushman, what would I do without her? Tayler has been my very best friend since the sixth grade and I honestly can't imagine life without out her. Whether we're dressing up like men, watching BP, running, jamming out to John Mayer, going to eachothers family get-togethers, or just hanging out, we do everything together! I tell Tayler anything and everything, even the things she probably really doesn't care about, but she listens anyway.. she sympathizes with me and always knows how to make me feel better. Tay really is part of my family; my parents are convinced they are going to adopt her and i'm pretty sure they like her more than they like me. We have dreamed up lots of crazy dreams together and we are always involved in some kind of scheme or plan to make our lives more amazing. I love my best friend!

Challenge

2011-01-05T13:27:00.000-08:00

I'm doing a 31 Day Photo Challenge! Yay! Now everyone has a reason to look at my blog every day for the next month :) haha.

Day 1: A picture of yourself and 15 facts.

I have 3 freckles on my neck resembling the constellation Orions Belt.
I am absolutely obsessed with dogs. And I HATE cats.
My favorite food hands down is peanut butter.
I had been to 36 states by the time I was 4, and I can't remember any of them.
I still think Disneyland is the happiest place on Earth!
I worry about everything, always have.
3rd grade was my favorite.
I love headwarmers.
I can't dance to save my life.
The only way to eat an apple is if it's peeled into rings.
My second toe is abnormally long.
I've tripped going up the stairs at least once in front of every person I have ever hung out with.
I love St. George.
John Mayer is my hero.
I live by a list of life lessons, The Best is Yet to Come, that is taped to the mirror in my bedroom.

3's a Charm

2011-01-03T15:16:00.000-08:00

Grace gave me this great idea to post a picture of every year Tay, Bri, and Me have been friends since we have changed A LOT in the past 5 years! I love these girls they are the best friends in the whole world and we've had so many great memories together, I don't know what I'd do without them! So, here's to the trinity, I can't wait for the next 50 years!

Here's where it all started: 7th Grade

Spring Break: 8th grade

Efy: Summer before 9th

We were such attractive men: 9th grade


9th grade

Tubing at BrianHead: 10th Grade

Spring Break: 10th Grade

Kay's Birthday: 10th Grade

New Years 2011 (current)

Winter Wonderland

2011-01-03T13:31:00.000-08:00

We FINALLY got some snow in St. George, woot!! It only lasted a couple hours before it melted, but it's always fun to wake up to :)

St. George looks so much better when it's covered in snow :)

Happy 2011!

2011-01-01T13:30:00.000-08:00

Another year has come and gone and its 2011- crazy! 2010 was a great year and I can't wait to find out what's in store for me this year!

On New Year's Eve Tay, Bri, and I went to First Night for about 5 minutes. It was pretty dull not to mention it was FREEZING so we left and got some hot chocolate with some friends. Then we went to a party with them and had tons of fun! All in all it was a pretty great night to start the new year! Even though some very creepy men followed us home, and we had to have Tayler's step dad meet us out front of her house and take care of business. Thank goodness for David and his large stature.

Today I will set some resolutions and drink some sparkling cider.

This is me and Tay's 5th New Year's Eve together!

And the Trinity's 5th year as BFF's! Woot!

Kay and Reed's Week In

2010-12-29T12:24:00.000-08:00

Me and Reed have been playing all week. We've had tons of fun! This is what we've done:

Played the race car game
Read lots of good books like Moostletoe, The Polar Express, and Clifford
Ate a lot of Mini Wheats
Saw the ducks at the park
Played the Wii
Colored
Sang songs!

Reed even learned a new saying, Okie dokie! Or as he says, Odie Kodie!

I love this cheesy kid.

Shout out to his brother, Smash, who I also love.

The love of my life.

2010-12-28T12:07:00.000-08:00

Oh John Mayer, how I love you.

The best part of my day is when I get in my car and you're playing.

Okay, I'm obsessed.

Reed.

2010-12-27T15:28:00.000-08:00

Today I got to babysit Reed while Meg and Ryan packed up their Cedar house and prepared to move to St. G.

I took him to the park to see the pond and the ducks.. He was quacking at the ducks and calling for them to come to our side of the pond when he stopped, turned to me, and exclaimed, "Kay Kay! I want some Mini Wheats!" I don't know what made him suddenly have this craving but it was hilarious and he's apparently already taking after his Grandpa.

Thanks for letting me watch your kid Meg, he's a keeper.

hmm?

2010-12-27T15:08:00.000-08:00

One of my teachers told me I'm considered an only child because my siblings are so much older than me, and that it would be appropriate for me to tell people I'm an only child. ha! I certainly don't feel like an only child, maybe the favorite child would be a better way to put it? :)

Siblings, how do you feel about this?

Happy Christmas!

2010-12-27T14:56:00.000-08:00

I thought Christmas would be pretty quiet this year since me and Mando would be the only children at home.

I thought wrong!

Thank goodness for Skype, we got to watch the two cutest kids in the whole world open their Christmas presents! Then we headed off to Bearpaw for our traditional Christmas breakfast. The rest of the day consisted of opening presents, playing games, and watching movies (typical Christmas activities).

But, the best part of the day was watching Grandpa and Thelma open their presents, I don't think I've ever seen them more happy! Who knew a GPS and a collection of classic books could be so exciting? It was Great. :)

Resolutions.

2010-12-27T14:49:00.000-08:00

Along with New Years resolutions this year, I have a couple end of the year resolutions.

Lucky for all you readers, starting my blog back up is one of them! I happened upon my blog today to discover I haven't posted in over a year.

So, I deleted all of my old posts, updated my picture, renamed the blog, and even got a new template.

Happy Blogging :)