Catch Up =)

I'm becoming a lousy blogger. I'll do better. =)
I have come to the conclusion that this is by far my best semester of school thus far. I love living with three of my greatest friends. It's so fun to always get along and already have that friendship to begin with. I have loved my ward(s) and have enjoyed my classes at school (well besides history....) But could it get any better?! It's been so great. Here's what has been going on:

My Great Roommates =) Me, Hillori, Taylor and Jacquie. We have so much fun together and get along so well. It's so great!


Taylor and I were invited to a friend in our wards cabin up in StarValley Wyoming. We had just moved into this ward and didn't know anyone very well, but we were SO glad we went as we got to know everyone so well and we had such a good time! We didn't get a picture of the whole group, but here's just a few of them on a little hike we went on! I'm sad that our ward got split and just MY building got moved :( Still love these guys and gals!

For Halloween Taylor and I went to a friends Cabin as well. We went with some old High School friends and some people we didn't know. We had a murder mystery dinner and it turned out to be so fun! We were dressed as an angel (desire love) and cinderella (Caramel treat) It was a blast!

It's been so much fun being able to go to Aggie games with roommates. I've always lived with just Hillori and she is an aggiette and always dances at the games. This year I actually have roommates to go cheer with and it's been so fun. I LOVE AGGIE games!

One of my very best friends Kristen is getting married December 17th. I'm so very excited for her. She has been one of my best friends all growing up. We could not talk for months, but when we get together it's like old times :) I love her so much and wish the best for her!

With Christmas time coming up- this means Christmas Parties! My work had a work party which was also an "ugly sweater" party. I took my friend Dave and we won "ugliest sweaters"! Haha. He got his sweater and glue ons at the DI- total of $4.00. I got my sweater at the DI and my glue on's at the dollar store- total of $6.00. Ha! Can't beat that =)

A few other things that don't have pictures for:

- THANKSGIVING! This year my family went to Colorado for Thanksgiving and stayed at Brookes for a couple of days. It was so fun to have all our family together and just be able to goof around and have a good time together. I love Thanksgiving and having a chance to sit down and remember all the many things I have to be Thankful for! =)

- I just have to mention that all my-age friends are starting to come home from their missions. It is SO WEIRD! Yet SO very exciting. The first one I saw home was my friend Chaz. I walked into his homecoming and it was almost like a dream. I haven't seen these boys in so long and it doesn't even seem real to me. This week my friends Curtis and Daniel come home, and next week my best friend Taylor comes home!!!!! I cannot even wait to have him home and have my best friend back! Two years really do FLY by! I know these boys don't WANT to come home and enjoy their missions so much, which is great....but we sure do love to have them home =)

I can't wait for this Christmas season! It's my very favorite. The mood, the snow, the no school, the family, the friends, the food...... really, there's no better time of year! Last Christmas break was the funnest break I have ever had. I got to see so many high school friends and really had such a good time being home and enjoying myself. I can't wait for that again =)
HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

Life...

Life = Stressful!

College life is the greatest.. it really is. You learn SO much about every point of your life. But MAN that is stressful business!

This year so far has been a blast. I (once again) love Utah State! I'm actually loving my classes, (minus one) and I'm loving both of my jobs! I love all of my roomates, and I have met lots of new and fun friends who keep me always going.
YET.....the STRESS never....goes...away!
I have a class called "Balancing Work and Family" and we've been talking about your personal needs, and how important it is to take time for yourself to do the things YOU love to do, in order to be pleasant to those around you. It's an interesting concept. So I've tried to take some more time just for myself lately by doing things like:

*Going for a drive to the temple by myself.
*Writing in my journal more (blog included)

*Taking a nap (I don't do this often)

*Driving! I drive to Brigham a lot and actually enjoy the alone time!

*Dancing- my only form of exercise..

And so on.......

But the problem with this is that it doesn't take the stress AWAY. (Bummer!) But it does help overall. There's a song that I've never enjoyed too much for some reason. But it came on my i-pod the other day and I realized what GREAT lyrics they are, and how it applies SO well!

"Life ain't always beautiful. Sometimes it's just plain hard.
Life can knock you down, it can break your heart.
Life ain't always beautiful. You think you're on your way,

And it's just a dead end road at the end of the day.

But the struggles makes you stronger, And the changes make you wise.

And happiness has its own way of takin' its sweet time...

No,life aint always beautiful, Tears will fall sometimes.

Life aint always beautiful, But it's a beautiful ride.

Life aint always beautiful, Some days I miss your smile.

I get tired of walkin' all these lonely miles. And I wish for just one minute,

I could see your pretty face. Guess I can dream, but life don't work that way.

But the struggles makes me stronger, And the changes make me wise.

And happiness has its own way of takin' its sweet time.

No, life ain't always beautiful, But I know I'll be fine.

Hey, life ain't always beautiful, But its a beautiful ride.

What a beautiful ride!"

Ya.....Life is awesome, and Life is STRESSFUL. But in all its ugliness......It's still a beautiful ride =)

Major....catch-up!

Holy smokes! I haven't posted forever. I was laying in bed last night thinking "I need to write in my journal SO BAD!" But started to justify by thinking "Good thing I have a blog too...." Till I realized that I haven't done EITHER in a super long time. Shoot..... :( So here is a quick run through of my entire summer!!

#1 ST. GEORGE!
My friend Kristen and her husband (Fiance at the time) invited some friends to go to st george. Kristen invited her girl friends, Bryce invited his guy friends, and we all got along great! We had a blast just goofing off at the condo, swimming, hiking, and all sorts of fun.

#2 MY 20th BIRTHDAY =)
This summer, my friend Hillori who I've been living with all while being in Logan, and I lived in a cute house with two girls Morgan and Shaylee. We decided to throw a big party for my birthday and had a bbq and dancing and such. It turned out really good, and was lots of fun! My mom got me this cute cake for it, too!

#3 KRISTEN'S WEDDING!
My long-time friend Kristen got married :) Kristen and I became really good friends in 6th grade. She moved to Texas not long after, and we kept in touch! She then moved to Virginia and then came to college at BYU while I went to UVU! We've always kept in touch and I love her AND her new hubby bryce, so much! What a sweet couple! Congrats Kris :)

#4 BEAR LAKE!
I'm not a huge Bear Lake fan. But some friends and I went up and went camping and swimming, and just kinda hung out. It was a fun weekend adventure :)
#5 - 4th OF JULY BEES GAME
There were lots of people getting the opposing teams autographs. I jokingly said to my mom and brother "I'm wouldn't get their autograph, I'd get their phone number!" Following that, my mom replies "I'll give you 20 bucks if you do it. And 50 if you actually get a number!" So I made a deal that if I got a number, she has to buy my Tim McGraw, Lady Antebellum concert Ticket.........

#6 TIM MCGRAW/LADY ANTEBELLUM CONCERT
Clearly, I won the bet with my mom, by getting a players number. So.....to the concert I went :) Thanks mom! BEST concert ever. I am obsessed with Lady Antebellum, and just so happen to love Tim as well. I went with My friend Toree, and we saw Jacquie there, too!
# 7 FOURWHEELING IN COKEVILLE

Our yearly tradition continued, and my family (My whole dad's side) went fourwheeling. This year we went and stayed in Cokeville, and did some trails around there. It was a blast as usual, and I'm so glad my dad puts this together each year! (He is taking the picture)

#8 FISHING
My dad has taught me to fly-fish. We've gone lots before, but this year I feel like I'm starting to get the hang of it, and really enjoy going! Now if I could actually HOLD the fish for more tha 2 seconds......

#9 CRAFTY?
Sometimes I get in a crafty mood, but I can't do much. Jacquie (Who is also now a new roomate of mine, which I LOVE) and I decided to make headbands one night. LATE one night. We made a trip to walmart at 1:30 am and got the materials and made these cute headbands! We made several more, but I've got too much to post, to post 10 pictures each :)

#10 ISLAND PARK/YELLOWSTONE
My friends Jake and Jason were going to Island Park to Jason's mission friends cabin, and invited me. We left one friday night and came back Sunday night. Short trip, but it was so fun to meet everyone that was there and make such good, new friends and have a good
weekend get-away :)

#11 FISHING DATE!
Hill, Jac, and I decided to do a little triple date and go fishing and bbq and have a fire at my dad's fishing club. It was really fun to mess around fishing with a bunch of friends. I'll definately have to do it again! (Kevin, Hillori, Shad, Me, Jacquie, and Brandon)

Last but not least.......
#11 ISLAND PARK/YELLOWSTONE/TETONS!
My family went over Labor day weekend and camped one night in Island park, stayed in a hotel in yellowstone the next night, and camped in the tetons for the third night! I guess this didn't really happen this SUMMER. But close enough! My dad took all the pictures and I don't have them yet, so sorry no picture!
I've decided that the Tetons are my very favorite. We saw more things there than yellowstone, and it was GORGEOUS! We saw lots of deer and elk, buffalo, a coyote, and the coolest.... a PACK of wolves! Blake had been talking about it all weekend that he just wanted to see a wolf. And that we did! It was so neat :)

Well, I would love to go on and on about all of these, but this is a huge post.
I need to do better, and I will!
As for now, I'm living in a really cute apartment with Hillori, Jacquie, and Taylor. We were all friends before and I LOVE knowing all my roomates. They are all so fun and our place is so cute! Pictures to come!
That's all for now!

Tradition continues...

Happy Birthday McKell =)

Thank Goodness for Birthdays, or McKell, Kristen and I would never get together. Sad :( But we've started this tradition a while ago, that around all of our Birthdays, we go to lunch! So if no other time during the year, we atleast get together 3 times. Even though it's a sad number 3---- We ALWAYS have a blast. No matter how long it's been, when we get together it's like we're in Jr High still and just the best of friends! And we forever will be!

May 9 was McKell's birthday so Kristen came up to Logan and Kell picked Firehouse for lunch. Good pick I must say. Afterwards there was this cute little crafty store that Kell said was really cute, so we went to check it out. Adorable store and it was fun to just shop around. SO-- we found another store- an antique one. Not our style AT ALL but we still make everything fun :)

This was at the antique store. We just thought it was good picture quality :)

After the antique store we were feeling like taking some random "antique" looking photos. Ha! So we roamed around Logan looking for some cute ones :)

This brought us to end up at Willow Park. Ha! Three friends walking around Willow Park. I think the last time I did that was my 8th birthday party on rollerblades. No joke :)

There's even some "antique" looking spots at willow park! haha!

We got back to McKell's house and started taking random pictures. We LOVE to take funny pictures. We've been this way since 6th grade. If not before. The 3 of us + A camera = Great memories!

One of the favorites. Not sure why. It's just our personalities all over :)

I just LOVE these girls so much :) We're all at VERY different points in our life and don't always keep in touch as much as we'd like. But when we are together it's like nothing has ever changed. Happy Birthday Kell! Love ya!!

Can We Rewind.......

Back to HAWAII ? =)

I've been a procrastinator when it came to writing this post.
#1 because it's going to be a big one.
#2 reality sets in that I'm not there anymore...
#3 It makes me want to go back RIGHT now!

But- Here it goes. March 4th, my family and I flew out early in the morning
with several layovers....

Our layover entertainment......:

The plane rides really weren't as bad as I was expecting on the way there. I think my excitement made up for the long boredom of the flights.
We got to Hawaii late that night and checked into a little hotel for the night until we could check into our other hotel the next day.
The next day we got up, had breakfast and went off to our hotel:
This was our view from the room. There was a pool, hot tub, and the ocean RIGHT THERE. Gorgeous views!

One of my new favorite things is snorkeling. We got snorkel gear and practiced in our hotel pool, and then took it out to the ocean. There's so many neat fish and creatures in the ocean. You also float so easily that it's kind of relaxing to just float and look at fish!

The boys all went body surfing a lot. They would go to some wild beaches with HUGE waves. I stayed back and only went a couple times where it wasn't quite so dangerous for me. Waves sure can take you away!!

We went to church on Sunday and it was such a fun meeting. There's just as many visitors as there are members of their ward so they start off by saying "Aloha" and we repeat it back. The members talked a lot about their recent temple trip. Man, living in Utah you sure do take the many temples around for granite. They talked about the money they had to save up for a temple trip. They have to buy a plane ticket to get to the other island. They have to pay for food, and a hotel room. There's so much to this trip, and lucky us can get to a temple 20 mins ANY direction of us. (And soon one right in town!) We sure are lucky.

My mom, dad, Blake, and I went on the road to Hana one day. It was gorgeous! That is what I had really pictured Hawaii to be. Everything was so green and pretty. We would stop to see waterfalls and take little walks to pretty views. There were the cutest fruit stands and shops along the way too!

Brooke and Aaron took us on a great boat ride "Aqua Adventures" and it took us out to Molokini Island where we were able to go snorkeling and snuba diving. Snuba is in between snorkeling and scuba diving. You are connected to your air tank that stays up above the water. It only allows you to go about 15-20 feet under the water. It's perfect. It really plays with your mind though. Blake and I were connected to the same air tank and we both started struggling. Pretty soon Blake took off and was able to stay under, but I still struggled. Then eventually I was able to make it down, too. (Coming up occasionally because I would start to freak out a little!) But soon I was able to get down and STAY down, and it was awesome!! Once again there were so many things to see, and just the fact of being under water like that was so fun!

The turtles are SOO cute. Brooke would always talk about how cute they are, and you really can't even imagine in full, till you are able to get up close to one and REALLY see just how cute they are. They are so peaceful and big and fun to watch =)

One night we went to a Luau at our Hotel. The food was delicious and it was great entertainment! My favorites were the little tiny girls (They sure can shake!) and the New Zealand dancers. Blake went to New Zealand on his mission, so we all have a soft spot for New Zealand. Their Haka dance was really neat!!

There is SO much more I'd love to write about but this is one huge post. We had so much fun ALL the time! Just playing around on the beach, laying out by the pool, going to dinner (we had some really good dinners and desserts!) Lahaina was my favorite place. Great food, and awesome shopping! The mall was fun, just simply EVERYTHING! One last thing that was really awesome were the whales. March is a good time to go because the whales are everywhere. There were so many whales all the time. Every time you looked out at the ocean, you could spot atleast 2 whales breaching close by. On our boat ride we were able to get up REALLY close to them. It was so neat. They are HUGE!

Last but not least, we decided to do some family pictures before we left. Here are a few!

Needless to say.....This was SUCH a fun trip and I wish I could still be there! (Especially as it is snowing as I type....in APRIL!)
Thanks to my awesome family, for taking me and making it SO much fun =)