spring has sprung!

Hello, blog. Well, I’m back in school! I really love my classes, and I love what I’m learning. I’m taking psychology, child development, capstone (a required critical thinking class), doctrine and covenants, educational technology (don’t ask), and biostatistics. I had to drop my Spanish literature class, which made me super sad, but I’ll take it next semester. All of my teachers are amazing, and I’ve missed BYUI. My house is awesome, my roommates are awesome, my friends are awesome… everything is awesome. I miss taking biologyclasses, though… I can’t wait to start the Nursing Program. We had an Easter feast/egg hunt and a Cinco de Mayo fiesta. I can’t wait for all the fun stuff coming

up and to make more friends! =]

I’m the manager of the Humanitarian Service Organization this semester, and we’ve started planning some events. That’s been an awesome experience, and I can’t wait to get going instead of just planning. We had a retreat, and I got to meet some amazing people! I learn so much from them and their HUMONGOUS hearts and by their desires to serve.

I went to a Mindy Gledhill concert this weekend with Liz and one of her roommates, and it was SOOOOO good! I loved hearing all about the history behind her songs. I wish I had talent like hers. If you haven’t listened to her music yet, DO! RIGHT

NOW!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4AWRHBHDVlQ


This weekend, I got to see some of my cousins (congratulations on graduating, Kimberlee!), and spend the day watching Audrey Hepburn movies with my Grandma. Happy Mother’s Day to my beautiful mother, my

kind and loving grandmothers, and to all the amazing women that have influenced me! seriously, i don't know how i got so lucky to have so many amazingly influential, selfless, and unconditionally

loving women surround me. i pray with gratitude every day for them.

lately, i feel like this johnny cash song epitomizes how i feel regarding my relationship with Christ and how grateful I am for all of the wonderful things that I’ve been blessed with, and for how much I’ve been growing, lately. nothing has gone according to my plan, but i'm putting myself totally in His hands, and will go wherever He wants me to. This has been a hard lesson to learn, and definitely requires faith, but I'm trying to enjoy the journey and not get impatient!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2UGEaWfiDGA

I know that there’s already a couple of links on this post, but my friend garrett just put is album up on i-tunes. He’s AMAZING, and you should listen to him. =]

http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/acoustic-serenade/id435979229

That's all for now... Peace out, boy scout!

onward and upward =]

i am just so excited for school, that i have to post a picture of my new place of residence. isn’t it cute?! i was kind of nervous about going into a house with so many girls alone, i’ve always had at least ashlee with me, but i have never been so excited for anything in my whole life. this semester is going to be GREAT, and i can’t wait for the adventure to begin!

it’s very bittersweet... i have LOVED my slc experience. i am so grateful for the people i’ve met, friendships i’ve made, lessons i’ve learned (there were many!), my job, and the opportunities i’ve had to fix myself that i think could have only happened, here. thank you so much to everyone who has helped been a part of this amazing time in life!

when one door closes, another opens, and i am literally counting down the hours until classes start. i’ve been job hunting, so we’ll see how it goes. i will miss these beautiful ladies!!! =]

(the hindu "festival of colors")

(noc shift dominators)

laura's visit!

Wow! I haven’t updated this in forever! Not that there’s been much to update. So… this was by far the best and the fastest week of my life. My best friend in the whole world, Laura Jean Brantley, flew in from California to visit me. I won’t get to see her for another eight months because she’s going to the Middle East. Isn’t she cool?! We had an action packed week, and I already miss her!

Day 1: Idaho Falls- We went to the IF temple, the water falls, Café Rio, the BEST used book store in the world, the cheap theater, and to Melanie’s house (my cousin) for a birthday dinner, followed by watching “Gigi.” I loved that she got to meet my family, even if Grandma woke us up every morning by poking us in the butt with her cane.

Day 2: Rexburg- We toured the campus, visited all my Rexburg friends, sat in on a Pathophys lecture by my favorite professor, went to Sammy’s, and I found housing! I’m going to live in a cute blue house across from the park, along with 7 other girls. I never wanted to live in a house, but I got a great deal, and it’s beautiful! It’s either going to go really well or really badly with so many of us, but I’m so excited. I love Rexburg with all my heart, and I am literally counting down the hours until I can go back. I can’t WAIT for school! Rexburg truly is my sanctuary, and there's no where else in the world I would rather be.

Day 3: Twin Falls- We went to CSI and visited my cousin Jared and his boo, Nikelle. It was so nice to see them! Congrats to Jared who just got his call to Missouri! I’m so proud and excited for him! The campus and the apts were beautiful. We accidentally discovered the Snake River Canyon, which I think was more breathtaking than the Grand Canyon, actually. We also made an appearance at the Idaho Potato Museum. It was as cool as it sounds. Actually, we did see the world’s largest Pringle ever made. Jealous, yet? =]

Day 4: SLC- We went and saw the largest copper mine in the WORLD. It was scary driving up the mountain… I discovered that driving on the edge of clifts is not my forte. It was cool to see… it reminded me of Lord of the Rings. I dragged Laura to Gateway, where we went shopping for hours and spent more than my birthday money. We ate at the first KFC in the WORLD, and then ate again, yes, again, at the “Mayan Adventure.” The interior reminded us of the Indiana Jones ride at Disneyland, and people dove into water while you ate. How many places do that? We went to Target and got security called on us because we were trying on clothes while the store was closing. That beautiful day ended with an episode of Modern Family.

Day 5- SLC- CONFERENCE!!! It snowed hardcore that day, and it was the most snow Laura had ever seen in her life. It was so fun to join the flood of Mormons pouring in from all parts of the world. The speakers were good, and I LOVED seeing the prophet in person. I love him. The square was beautiful, and it was a perfect way to end Laura’s trip.

Well, back to reality. I miss Laura, already! It was nice taking a break from work and working out. 9 MORE DAYS UNTIL I GO BACK UP TO SCHOOL!!! Can’t wait! =] i will definitely miss my SLC life, though...

winter tiiiiime, and the livin' is snowwwyyyyyy

i've been requested to update my blog, but i'm sorry to report that not much is going on that everyone doesn't already know about. i'm working as a CNA at "The Wellington," an Assisted Living facility in SLC. I'm working over 40 hours a week, mostly graveyard shifts. I love the job, but I don't really like working, if that makes any sense. I'm getting better and better at it, but I still have a lot to learn. This weekend, I went to Brian Regan's "skitch" with Seanwise and his family. It was SOOO good! If any of you ever have a chance to see him, please DO! my cheek muscles hurt so bad after from laughing so much. Sean and his family are so much fun! I went to IF to spend a day with my grandma and cousins, which was nice! I've missed spending time with them. I got to see Ashlee and a couple of other friends in Rexburg, but I wish that more people would have been in town! It was so nice to see who I did see, though! I reallly can't wait for next semester! The ride home took us 6 hours and it was storming the whole entire way. I'm proud of my snow driving skills if I do say so myself, and I'm glad that I wasn't driving alone. I'm so so so excited for Laura to come visit me. It's the only thing that's keeping me going. Well, that's all for now, I suppose. Sorry I'm boring. Peace out, boy scout.

SEAN AND I ARE ON THE NEWS!!!!

so, last week end, my friend sean and i went to this elk reserve thing. there was a news crew promoting cool things to do it utah. since we were at the right place at the right time, we got to be on the news this morning! it's a weird thing, to see yourself, but here's the link:

http://connect2utah.com/news/ski-trippin

you click on "Fun #2," and that's us! =] pretty cool, and now i can cross "be on TV" off my bucket list. =]

i realize i'll probably be in pretty high demand with hollywood talent scouts now, and will be come exuberantly famous. so, i'd suggest asking for my autograph now. just saying.

the life of an off-track student

so...i really really REALLY miss school. and rexburg. and the people there. so, i've been doing a lot of cooking, reading, online classing, cardio, and classic movie watching until my cna class/work starts.

i would just like to show the world one of the fruits of my labor: pepper jam! i know it sounds sick, but it's delicious and i'm so proud of it!

i went to nickelle's cabin this week with jared and some of their friends in island park. the cabin was beautiful, and we had a blast snow mobiling for a few hours. until... jordan crashed in a ditch and broke his zygomatic arch (cheek bone) in two places and got a facial lasseration. so, the trip ended early with a few hours of waiting in the emergency room in idaho falls. it was quite an eventful day, and was way fun despite the end. it's always nice to make new friends! we're all really lucky that nothing worse happened to us or to the machines.

well, i'm off to utah in a couple days. i'm really looking forward to seeing my utah friends and for this CNA thing... wish me luck! =]

happy 2011!!! =]

hey everyone! i can't believe it's been a whole month since i've posted.... well, this semester has had a bittersweet ending. i've made some incredible friendships, and had someamazingexperiences. thanks so much to everyone who helped me achieve both! i thought that in honor of the coming of 2011, i would list my top 11 favorite moments of this past year!

1.) imogen heap concert in SLC- we had a HECK of a time getting there (we had so much car trouble), but after over 8 hours of driving, we were still able to see temple square and enjoy the concert! it was SUCH an amazing experience, and was one of the best concerts i've ever been to. it was lovely to be reunited with katie and steff.

2.) 4th of july/new car-enough said. my dad came up and surprised me with his presence and ford focus, due to the disintegration and curse of its predecessor.

3.) photoshoot with roomies- i just love going back and looking at our cute pictures and seeing how we're all still pretty close.

4.) the long beach aqarium with darbie- this was one of the best days of my life, in one of my favorite places in the WORLD. the day was so beautiful, and i'm glad that i got to spend it withmy sister.

5.) the castro theater in SF- this theater was truly breathtaking, and it was only too fitting that i got to see a marilyn monroe movie there with my best friend in the whole wide world. ALSO: the mosque- it was so so neat to get to experience another culture morefully with those amazing people. thanks for that, laura!

6.) fishing- i'll never forget the rush we got from catching our first fish! thanks for touching the worms for me, laura kidd! =]

7.) spaghettii night- i think that this is when we really got to know the guys from #7. i can't remember ever laughing so hard! =] it's funny how different everyone looks already!

8.) halloween- looking back, i still can't believe that i had such a crazy costume, but i'm glad that i pulled it off. the haunted straw maze was a major accomplishment for me, and it really was a lot of fun!

9.) yellowstone- this was another example of another almost-perfect day. the natural beauty of yellowstone was breathtaking, and it was a great experience to experience nature first hand (up CLOSE, haahaha) and personal. i still say we almost got ran over by a buffalo stampede.

10.) mission inn with laura jean- i look forward to this every year. i think it's a mix between the love of all of the beautiful things, the dreams that lauraand i have for them, and the atmosphere of christmas in this beautiful antique store that get me every time.

11.) the dedication of the byui center- i wish i had taken pictures on my camera, but this was SUCH an amazing spiritual experience that i will appreciate forever.

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i've loved this christmas season so much. we had a super fun christmas party to end the semester. my family came up, and it's been a blast family-hopping with them to visit and play games with all the relatives. i went snow mobiling for the first time in my life, and it was WAY fun! i'm glad that i'm getting to spend more time with my cousins and relatives. i truly have never met kinder, sweet, selfless people in all my life. i'm so lucky! well, in a couple weeks, i'll be off to Utah for a few weeks to get my CNA certification. i plan to come back and work in IF full time until school starts, and then part time once school starts. i'm very excited, but a little nervous at the same time. this will indicate if i'll like nursing, so cross your fingers for me! can't wait to start guitar, one of the goals i have for myself this year. hopefully by this time next year i'm pro! =]

i wish you all a safe and happy happy new year's, everyone!

ps- sorry a lot of these pics are repeats!