So Average Adult

It's About Time

2012-02-08T22:02:00.000-08:00

It's about time that I updated. Problem is... there's not much for me to update about.

Here's some pictures from my latest outdoor adventures. This is a little place up Spanish Fork Canyon, called Red Rocks Park. It's literally this random little patch of red rocks, with a couple picnic benches and that's it. It's pretty and quiet, and a nice place to go on Sunday mornings.

As you can see, I really love just taking drives up random canyons and roads. Utah really does have some of the most beautiful back drops in all of America.

One of my resolutions this year is to summit this sucker: Mt. Timpanogos. It's the tallest peak around, at just under 12,000 ft. Not too bad actually. Baldy was bigger. Timp just looks huge.

Last Monday, my phase started on the clinic floor. On Tuesday I had my first client. I had managed to dodge bullets the whole afternoon, but eventually I couldn't avoid it, and I had to take someone. I was so nervous. But it turned out great. She just needed a trim with a little layering, so it was a super easy cut, and she liked it :)

I feel SO much better now. I think I picked the right career after all.

Because our phase is new and there are so many students above us who are better and more experienced, and therefore, get a lot of clients every day, we aren't getting many clients when we are on the floor. So we are having to find ways of keeping each other entertained!

I had some extra Henna last Friday that I brought to class, and I gave everyone Henna tattoos. Someday I'd like to set up a booth at a state fair, or arts festival, and charge to give Henna tattoos. It was a ton of fun :)
It's kind of hard to see this one, but it's a feather.

Another thing we've been doing since we've had no clients and been very bored... we've been experimenting on each others hair. Here, Lexi is trimming my hair. It's been fun to watch the transformation. Up till this point, not many girls have changed their hair. Now that we have time and a large resource, we're goin' crazy! A few girls have gotten highlights, melts, and a couple have put pink and purple in their hair. I don't think I'll go very crazy... but you never know.

Meet my new buddy! Yeah... He was probably the stupidest spur of the moment decision I've made since I've been here, but I just had to have him! I brought him back before reading the contract to make sure pets were allowed (c'mon, it's a fish. ONE fish.), but I've worked it out with the management. I just had to write a letter requesting permission from the landlord, and they're pretty sure I'll be able to keep him. I love this little guy!

Here Puppy!

2012-01-19T22:06:00.000-08:00

Lately, I have been fantasizing about dogs... I always ask Mom and Dad when they are going to get a new dog, and it sounds like it might never happen. But that's ok! Because I have recently made a discovery (I've been making quite a bit of these since I moved away)... I can just get a dog! But not for a long while.

After going on that hike a couple weeks ago to the hot springs, I have been itching to get outside more. I go to school, and work my tail end off. So when I get the occasional day off, or I have a few hours to spare, I just want to go outside. However: I just finished reading the autobiography about the man that went hiking alone in the Canyonlands, and got his arm stuck behind a rock, and he had to cut it off in order to survive, and it's made me so paranoid. Every time I think about going for a hike, I'm convinced I might get eaten by a mountain lion, or I'll fall down a cliff, or hit my head and drown in a river. As much as I don't like it, the buddy system really is the most important rule! If Holly didn't have a boyfriend, or if that said boyfriend didn't have a serious foot/tendon injury, I'd drag them along with me. So you see my predicament? Well I have thought of a solution:

I'll get one of these! Is that not the prettiest dog you have ever seen? And yes, I have thought about all the hair, but I'm going to be around a lot of hair for a living, so I better get used to it. That's what lint rollers are for.

Or how about one of these? I know that labs are good, reliable dogs. And I've always wanted a chocolate. So so so pretty.

I'd say it's safe to go hiking with a dog. Another plus? Dogs move at your pace (or a faster, I suppose). Another thing that I have never liked about the buddy system when it comes to hiking, sometimes, I just want to hike by myself. I don't have to worry about talking or keeping up a conversation. It's just me, and it's nice and quiet. I can move at my own pace, stop and take pictures when I want, and turn around when I've gone far enough. Solo hiking is the best, and that is definitely one of the things I miss most about Philmont. There really was no other choice. Sometimes you had to go by yourself, and it. was. awesome.

So yes, a dog as a hiking buddy is perfect. They move at your pace, they are smart, and they have helped people out of sticky situations before.
More than just that though, I am a little worried about moving by myself some place that I have never been to. I have absolutely loved having my sister here with me, and I will be so sad when we don't get to live together anymore. That is why I need a dog! I need have some friend while I'm up there!

So here's the plan: I will finish school. My plan is to move to Seattle after school, get an internship maybe? I'll also have to get another job. I'll save save save, live like a pauper, and then maybe ... 3... 4... 5 years later? Get a dog? I guess it all depends on how much money I have, and how busy I am, where I live...

It's going to be a long time, but this is definitely going to happen. I am dead set on it. I think I'll add it to my bucket list: "Get my very own dog."

In the mean time... I guess my scenic drives will have to suffice.

Fifth Water Hot Springs

2012-01-05T20:44:00.000-08:00

Today was different. I got a day off of work :) After talking to a friend who is a frequent visitor of the Hot Springs in Spanish Fork, I decided to go check them out.

The trail was absolutely beautiful. If it weren't for the cold, I might be able to live in Utah forever.

The closer I got to the actual hot pots, the murkier the water got.

It took me about 2 hours to get to the hot springs, and I probably spent about 30 or so minutes actually in the water. It wasn't as great as I thought it would be. A lot of the other pots were taken, and since I was by myself, I didn't want to just hop right in with a bunch of people that I didn't know. So I settled for a secluded spot behind a big rock, right next to a waterfall. The springs right next to the waterfall are some of the hottest, and I could definitely tell.
The waterfall was cold, and but the springs were scalding, and you'd think combined that they would make the perfect temperature, but instead all I got were rushes of cold water, and then scalding. I had to constantly swish my arms around trying to mix the two, and keep the water temp even. Then I had to get out into the freezing air and get into my clothes keeping everything dry, and I was covered in mud and I smelled like sulfur. Maybe I'll wait until the summer to do it again, and this time, I'll go with a group :)

Christmas Break :)

2012-01-02T20:21:00.000-08:00

Christmas break was wonderful. Dad surprised us all by showing up a day and a half early, so it was nice to get to spend some extra time with him :)

The lights on Temple Square were an absolute must see. They are gorgeous!

Of course we also had to make a stop to In-N-Out (even though I don't eat the meat ha ha ha).
I am so so so grateful that they got to come up and visit. I have missed my parents so much! I miss Mom's singing, and Dad's jokes. I am hoping that I can make a trip home in May. I can't wait to see them again!

A break from school was nice, but I must admit that I was very excited to go back. I love my Aveda friends. They make me laugh everyday. I really am lucky to be going to school with these girls! You'd think that 9am-7pm, 3 days a week would be enough, but we love hanging out outside of school.
And finally, probably the best news all week... I got a new job! I don't think I have ever felt relief like this before! I couldn't stand my other job, and I came very close to quitting before I'd even had my first official day. All my friends and family kept telling me to stick with it until I found something else, and to be quite honest, I don't know how much longer I would have stayed with it, but I held on for 2 weeks! And then, by some miracle, I got another job!

It's at a place called Culver's, which is based out of Wisconsin. It's a mix between fast food, and sit down, kind of like Fuddruckers. I just keep getting lucky! I love the people, and I love the work! I'm on my feet all day, helping other people, talking with people, and I'm not doing anything that has to do with computers! It's awesome!

Well I hope that's enough for an update. I really will try to get better at that... :)

12/18

2011-12-18T20:53:00.000-08:00

We've been having a lot of fun this week. Finals are over for my whole apartment complex, and I just have this one week of school until christmas break. I'm so excited!
Here's Gared, with two donut holes stuffed in his mouth. Wierdo...

This week I went and saw the Mormon Tabernacle Choir's Christmas Concert. It was amazing! I took a friend, and afterwards, we walked around Temple Square looking at the christmas lights.
It's gorgeous this time of year!On Friday we also had a winter wonderland themed Fashion Show. I missed the actual show unfortunately, because I went and saw the motab, but I was able to help out and see portions of the hair and makeup. In the picture above, you see the model that I was assigned to help work with. We were trying to make him into a modern Mr. Mint from the game Candyland. We only had his beard done when we ran the first run through. We made it out of crushed up candy. And for the hair, we planned on using pink frosting covering the whole head. I hope I get to see pictures of the finished product!

This girl is in my class, and she looked amazing just halfway done! Her hair was made out of cotton candy.
This week has been rather stressful, with lots of fun stuff mixed in as well. I started work, and I'm ready to quit already. But after talking to lots of people, I know that it's not smart to just up and quit right now, so I'm going to stick with it for as long as I can without going insane. It has definitely been a humbling experience. There are a few places that I didn't apply to before because I guess I was too prideful. But not that I have this job, and I absolutely cannot stand it, I have applied to all of those places that I swore I would never work at. In fact, I would be happy to work at those places. I just need to work interacting with and helping people, and also a place where I get to use my hands. I have to DO something. That's why I'm going into Cosmetology! It's all done with your hands, and you get to talk with people. It's perfect for me. So that has not been enjoyable. But apparently, lots of things in life are not enjoyable, but you have to be an adult about it and suck it up... honestly, I'm down with staying a kid for the rest of my life. I think I can sympathize a little more with Peter Pan, now.

What's new?

2011-12-08T09:34:00.000-08:00

So I have some good news.... I got a job! It's not the greatest job, but it's money in the bank and I am grateful :)

Some exciting things that have happened in the last couple of weeks... Gared finally started his dating classes! After weeks of us roommates + Jenna asking him for dating advice, he's finally decided to start a class for our whole floor.

I know what you are thinking: Do any guys come? As you can see from the picture, girls eat this stuff up! But just for the record, there were five, FIVE, guys there total. Not just the two you can see in the picture :) This whole apartment complex will have boyfriends/girlfriends before you know it!

Doesn't he just look like a teacher?

On monday night we have ward Family Home Evening. And we made gingerbread houses. One of the guys made this one. It's Repunzel's tower. See her red licorice braid hanging out of the window?

The hiiiiills are aliiiiiiiiive, with the sound of meuuuuuuuusiiiiiiiiiic! I feel like Julie Andrews :) I couldn't help it! I had to cut my hair again. And I love it. I'm starting to think that I may never have long hair ever again...

Can I just say how much I LOVE my roommates? I hear horror stories from some of my friends from school, and how much they absolutely can't stand their roommates. Why did I get so lucky? I get to live with my sister, and also two of the best girls in the world. I just love them! We also have an awesome ward, and the whole set-up of the apartment complex creates a very social, fun atmosphere. I am going to be SO sad when my roommates leave. One is set to turn in her papers for a mission in the spring, and the other is graduating! So sad :(

Ta ta for now :)

Thanksgiving

2011-11-27T10:19:00.000-08:00

This year, Gared's super nice parents invited me and Jenna to spend Thanksgiving them and Holly and Gared. They have THE coolest cabin! It was really nice to get out of Provo for a day. Madre sent me with a mission: Get. Pictures. Well, here they are :)

Awesome view.

Jenna and I hiked around before the feast, and we played around a little in this tunnel.

Ok, back to the Cabin. This is the basement. Lots of space, lots of storage. Very nice :)

Here's the main level.

View from the stairs, and the loft. Aren't Holly and Gared soooooo cute?! :)

11/19

2011-11-19T21:56:00.000-08:00

I find that I am running out of things to blog about. I don't have many interesting things going on in my life! I go to school 3 days a week, and the other 2 days I look for jobs, and on Saturday and Sunday, I sleep! Occasionally on Saturday's I go do fun things, like roller skating, or rock climbing. On Thursday night I saw the midnight showing of Breaking Dawn with my Roommates. We went a little crazy with the costumes and makeup. Brooke is obviously Edward, and I am just a vampire. We stuffed a pillow up Rose's shirt to make her look like a pregnant Bella. We got a lot of stares. And surprisingly, no body else was dressed up! Don't people make a big deal out of Twilight here!?

This week in school I get to start cutting hair. I am so excited! I'll update again in a few days :)

School school school...

2011-11-01T22:13:00.001-07:00

Friday was my class's very first model day. Periodically throughout my time at Aveda I will have to have find models to come in and showcase some of my services. This week I had all of my roommates come in and get a manicure, pedicure, wash and style, and facial.

Holly was my model for facial and wash & style. Isn't she so pretty?

I knew that Aveda wasn't just a typical hair salon, but I'm always surprised by how much stress relief and massage rituals we have to learn. With every service we give, we also have to perform a Stress Reliving Ritual. It's a lot of work. We have also had to learn the names and uses of every skin care product and hair product Aveda uses. Each product has a special family name, and then individual name, and we have to know them all, what's in them, how to use them, what types of skin and hair to use them on, and so forth. It's a LOT! And most of all, it makes me want to buy all of it to take home, especially since we are allowed to use it on each other while practicing hairstyles, and I have first hand experience seeing that this stuff really works! And the best part is that it is all natural. And I know that that phrase "all natural" is really overused nowadays, but Aveda products are the real deal. We know where all the products come from, what plants they are derived from, and how they are made. It's amazing. I love it!

On Saturday night our ward had a Halloween party. Holly and Gared dressed up as Sandra and Danny from Grease, and we also met a Frenchie there. Perfect!

Yesterday we all dressed up for school, and played the whole day. Seriously. We had one hour of class time and that was all. We spent most of the day experimenting with crazy Halloween makeup and hair.
This is my friend, Heidi. Her hair and makeup took about 3 hours to complete.

I dressed up as Mrs. Incredible (funny story actually: at the Halloween party on Saturday night, some boy got my attention by calling out "Sister Incredible!". Totally Mormon, right? I got a good laugh out of it. He saw me again on Sunday and called me that same thing!).
These two lovely ladies did my makeup. They put this awesome mask on me, and teased the heck out of my hair. I didn't know Mrs. Incredible had such big hair, but apparently they thought she did.
Today it snowed. I almost cried. Snow? On November 1st? Isn't it still in the 60's back home? Lately I have been missing Texas a lot. I miss living far enough a way from a street that you can't hear the cars at night. I miss hearing trains. I miss having land and trees. I miss the heat. Yes, even in a drought, I LOVE the heat. And of course I miss my family down there. Provo can get very claustrophobic at times. Everything is so close. I can hear people driving and talking and laughing right outside my window until very late into the night. We also live right above a pizza place, so the light that shines on the sign all night also shines directly into our window. That's annoying.
But I try not to complain too much. Provo does has it's perks. For one thing, everything is so close that I rarely need to drive anywhere besides school. I can easily walk or ride my bike to the store. I do enjoy the college atmosphere, and staying up late is fun... sometimes. Overall, I am very happy to be here :)

10/10-10/17

2011-10-17T05:56:00.000-07:00

Back at the beginning of school, Holly and I joined BYU's Wildlife and Range club. This week they had they're first camp out, in Ephraim. We stayed at one of Holly's professor's cabin way back in the mountains, and it was spectacular.

It is SO pretty here in the fall. I love it! Holly and I had quite the adventure trying to find this cabin. The other campers in the club left early, but since I had school until 7, Holly and I didn't leave until 8. So then we were trying to find this place on a huge mountain, in the dark. When we got lost, we called some of the club members, and eventually we managed to get there. We also got stuck in the mud before getting there. I could swear the map they gave us said "veer left" at the mud hole, but it actually said right. I was screaming "veer left! veer left!", and all it did was get us stuck. Luckily, Holly's little metro is so light, it didn't take much pushing to get it unstuck .

In the end, it was all worth it! We got to do some hiking/exploring, and four-wheeling. AND we got free food. Holly and I will go to anything that offers free food :)

BYU is always putting on free, crazy stuff activities, and on Tuesday it was blue foam. It is seriously the funnest yet most disgusting stuff ever. They had a blue foam slide, huge foam piles, and spray jet foam.

This week in school we learned manicures and pedicures. We all suck pretty badly, especially at french tips.

So the girl getting her toes done closest to us in this photo, is Vanessa. She was actually smiling just before I took this picture. But the moment I actually pressed the button, she put her feet in the water, and it was really hot. So that's the face she made. Ha ha ha ha ha.

Here's my first haircut while attending hair school! I am going to keep track of each hair style I have. Maybe make a flip book when I'm done with school. Not too much is changed. Back in March I had a pixie cut, and as pixie cuts grow out, they tend to get heavier and longer in the back, giving your whole hair style a sloping effect. Very unattractive. Mullet-ish. So that's what I had, and I got the back trimmed up a bit. I think I'm going to try and grow my hair out a bit. But you never know in hair school, and I change my mind a lot.

JustCHin Bieber

2011-10-12T23:13:00.000-07:00

Yeah... So this is what my roommates and I do during our homework breaks.

2011-10-08T16:30:00.000-07:00

All I can say is... I love school! My class has 22 girls in it, and they are all wonderful. We have had no problems getting along, and we usually hang out with each other at lunch break.

This week we have been playing (literally) with makeup, and learning hand, scalp, and back massages. It doesn't feel like school at all! Most days, I go back to the apartment and put all my roommates to sleep by giving them facials and massages.

On Friday our kits finally came in! We went crazy! Several girls kept exclaiming that it felt like christmas. We spent about 3o minutes ripping open boxes and ooing and ahing over our new things.
This morning I woke up to a parade right outside of my apartment. It's Homecoming at BYU.

This happened on thursday. Snow! What the heck?! It's only the first week of October! I don't like it. It gives the impression that christmas is close by, but it's not even halloween yet. How deceitful!

It reminds me of the scene in Monty Python and the Holy Grail. You know the cartoon segment where it's going through all the seasons? "And summer skipped fall and jumped straight into winter!"

Temple, Stitches, Toms, and Conference, in that order.

2011-10-02T14:54:00.000-07:00

I love to see the temple :) And I see it every week! This week I went for the first time since I've been here. I loved it! I hadn't ever been in another temple, and it just dawned on me that there are a million other temples right here in Utah that I can go to. I love seeing and visiting new temples!
Here is the Provo Temple. Not the prettiest temple in the world (Jenna and I call it the "cupcake temple"), but it is gorgeous on the inside!

Jenna and I walked from her Grandparents house to the Timpanogos Temple yesterday. I plan on doing baptisms at this temple this week.

Last night Jenna and I went visited the Salt Lake Temple. We are convinced that Disney got their castle's look from this temple. It is so gorgeous. I would love to go inside someday.

Holly definitely had an exciting weekend! On Thursday night, Holly bent over her dresser to pick up a shirt (in the dark, mind you), and she smacked her head into the corner of the dresser. She hit the dresser so hard that she bounced off and hit the ground. She just laid there for a minute or so covering her head with her hands. I thought she was going to cry! I finally convinced her to move her hand, just to make sure there was no blood. As it was, there was blood, and we quickly bandaged it up.Here she is all bandaged up. The next day she went to the doc. just to make sure she didn't need stitched. Turns out she did need some, and now she has 3, with some nice swelling and colorful bruises surrounding her eye. Poor girl!

Fall is here! Every day I watch the mountains slowly changing colors. It started with the trees at the top of the mountain, then it slowly crawled down to the trees down here in the valley.

Here are my new Tom Shoes. I have always wanted some, and I learned that all my shoes for school have to be close toed. And comfy, since we are always on our feet. Toms are awesome. For every pair you buy, another pair is given to a child in need.

Conference weekend is the best weekend. It is always so relaxing.
And you can usually get in a few extra naps. Rose, my roommate, can NOT sit still for more than a few minutes without falling asleep. She is so funny!

School!

2011-09-26T21:46:00.000-07:00

I've finally started! After a month of watching my sister and roommates go to school everyday, and being so jealous, I have finally started and I am so happy!
I've already made a few friends, I love the people in my class, the teacher is awesome, everything is so COOL!!! And check out my "free" iPad :)
During breaks while the teacher was out of the classroom, the conversation in the room would inevitable include iPads. For a lot of us, the promise of an iPad was enough to convince us that this was the right school. The whole day we were wondering when we were going to get them, and about 2o minutes before school was out, the teacher passed them out! AH! I am so excited!

Today we mostly talked about Aveda, the mission statement, and where all of Aveda's ingredients come from. Basically we learned how the whole industry works. It. Is. Awesome.

Here is Holly, all ready for her first day of work as a concessions worker. She wanders around the stadium during the football games calling "Hot Daaaaaaaawwwwwwwwgggggssssss! Get your hot dawwwwgs!". Ain't she so cute?

On Saturday Holly and I went to the water-shed festival. It sounds kind of weird, but it was a lot of fun. And I won 4 free admission tickets to the aquarium in a raffle :) I wish I had some pictures! Holly spent about an hour total just staring at the pygmy owl and a peregrine falcon.

Here's my recent battle scar from my encounter with the frying pan.

It's a lot bigger in real life.

Speaking of battle scars... At FHE (Family Home Evening) tonight, our group played Ultimate Frisbee with another FHE group. We ended the game when one of the guys dove for the frisbee, landing on the pavement. Everything seemed fine, until he noticed a bent finger. It was totally broken, and in the grossest way ever. He freaked out and I'm pretty sure he started going into a shock. Yikes! Last we heard, he was off to the doc to get it fixed.

My Week

2011-09-19T21:14:00.000-07:00

My roommates caught a cold last weekend, but I didn't worry about. I had been very good thus far. I thought, "I've been eating my vegetables, going to bed by 10 pm, and exercising regularly. There is no reason for me to get sick!" Then came the cookie dough. Big. Mistake. I made a huge batch on Sunday night, I then proceeded to eat most of it, and by the next morning I felt horrible. I managed to get out and do some job hunting that day, and I actually had an interview at Red Lobster! But the rest of the week I did nothing but online applications while watching hours of British tv-mini series'. If you have not seen the Masterpiece Theater's version of Emma, I highly recommend it. It's my favorite :)

Tonight I had my orientation for Aveda! I only have one week left before I start! I have been looking forward to starting school for weeks now, and I'm very excited for it, but I'm also wishing I had a little more time. I still need a job! I have been searching for 4 weeks now, and gotten nothing! I checked back with Red Lobster today, and they told me I was no longer being considered for the job :( Maybe I am horrible at interviewing? I don't know. I thought the interview went well! I have resigned myself to working whatever comes my way. Tomorrow I am going to apply to fast food. I told myself I could never work fast food, but right now, I really don't care. Please! Just give me something!!!

I can not wait until I can start working as a hair stylist. At the orientation tonight, they really stressed that each of their graduated students would get a chance to immediately start working as a hair stylist. Everyone has the option of working in an Aveda Salon right off the bat, but if you choose not to, they will help you get into another nice salon. I haven't quite thought that far ahead, but it's nice knowing that I already have some options.

Today I hiked the Y again. I think I am starting to acclimate to this place. Though it's higher elevation than Texas, it's much lower than I'm used to. I spent the summer at about 8,000 ft. But I am determined to climb the Y once a week. For now. At some point I hope to get it in more than that.
I talked to a lady this morning who climbs it every day! She started after me, but quickly passed me up, and then came running back down, all before I reached the top! I told her that she was my idol. She stopped and we talked for a while. She's been hiking up the Y everyday for a long time, and has even done it when the snow was thigh-deep!

Wish me luck this week! It's my last free week to find a job!

Waiting... Just Waiting.

2011-09-11T20:11:00.000-07:00

Each day I think "______ more days until I'm in school!" I can't wait. I have know for five years what I wanted to do, and now I am ready to start.

I remember being thirteen, and sitting in the chair just about to get my hair cut. The hairdresser began prepping and watering down my hair, and I had this overwhelming, wonderful feeling come over me. I knew immediately what I wanted to do "when I grow up". Just the idea of it gave me such a good feeling.
I told Mom the moment we got in the car. I'm not sure if she believed me just then, but she was entertained by the idea. She was probably imagining all the free haircuts and high lighting sessions she could get for free ;) She looked into it, and talked to the hair dresser a little. Dad certainly didn't think I was serious. When I would tell him that Cosmetology was definitely what I wanted to do, he would just say "well, we'll see. Maybe in a couple years if you are still interested, we'll look into it." When he would say that, I would get so mad, because I was so sure. I didn't really think it was my choice. I knew I was supposed to go to Cosmetology School.
Now I'm here!... almost. Just 2 more weeks! I am so excited.

So now I am just waiting. And looking for a job. I've applied to 25 places so far. At first, I thought that was a pretty good number. Now I think that it's pretty small number, and in the time that I have been here I should have applied to at least 50. I have gone to a few places to follow up with managers, and most of them don't have any good news for me. At the end of each day I feel so disappointed. How am I supposed to survive here without a job!? I need to be here for at least 18 months. That's 18 months of rent... and food... and electricity... and gas... and clothes... and this is just ridiculous! I wish it could be just like in The Host. The book about all those aliens that take over the planet and all the humans, and they all have to do some kind of mandatory work, but they get all their food for free. They just waltz into a grocery store and grab what they want. That would be so much simpler!

I try to "work" throughout the week, and give myself Saturday and Sunday to just relax. That way I can have some sort of fun. I hang out with Jenna and Lauren a lot. On labor day we went the Bridal Veil falls. We took trails (for the most part) all the way up to the third waterfall, and then took what we thought was a trail back down, but it turned out to just a rocky landslide. We slid on our butts the whole way down.

The mountains here are beautiful. I LOVE seeing them right outside my window. I love riding my bike around hills. Speaking of my bike...
I am SO glad I decided to take it here with me! I ride my bike everywhere. I take it to the store to get last minute stuff, I ride it to Jenna's dorm, and I ride it to the library almost everyday. I installed this bike rack myself. And I didn't have any instructions. AND I didn't ask a guy for help. HA! I try to use my bike to save gas, and as a way to get some exercise in. I refuse– REFUSE to get the Freshman 15. Nope. Not happening. So I'm eating my vegetables everyday. I made a casserole for the first time a couple days ago. It turned out pretty well!

Holly and I had to buy a laundry card yesterday. What. A. Rip. Off. It cost 2 bucks just to buy one in the first place, and then just one load of wash costs $2.15. There was NO way we were going to spend another 2 bucks drying it, so we bought a clothesline instead. It works pretty well, if you don't mind it taking a day to dry, and having stiff clothes, because we won't buy fabric softener either.

Here are my lovely roommates, Brooke (left), and Rose (Right). They found out that I am an Irish Dancer, and they wanted to learn a jig. So here they are practicing a Light Jig.

I love my roommates! They act very much the way Holly and I do together. They are crazy, sing impromptu songs, and they LOVE watching Jane Austen. We are the perfect bunch :)

Tomorrow means back to work! I'm off to find a job first thing. Wish me luck!

Provo!

2011-08-27T20:53:00.000-07:00

"I'm here! I'm here! Where are you?"

That was the first text message I sent to Jenna. I'm so excited to be here :) Holly and I have settled in nicely already. Our apartment is small, and the old 80's wood panneling all over the walls drives me nuts, but we have spruced it up a little. At the first chance I could, I got my hands on an issue of Backpackers magazine, cut up most of the pictures, and they are now taped to my wall. We also realized we needed bookends for the book shelves, and being the cheap college students that we are, we went to the DI and bought random knick-knacks heavy enough to hold up the books. I'm so proud of my little bookends!

Here are Holly's little yellow Wellies that she found. We keep our spare change in it for laundry :)

Also we have a little chicken and can of tea. So cute!

And these ones are my little kokopeli jars.

I visited Aveda again, and I am more excited than I ever was before to start school. I still have quite a while to go before I start, but that leaves plenty of time to find a job. That's the only thing I am really not looking forward to. But everyone has to get a job, right? I keep telling myself to suck it up, and just go get one. Grrrr!

Finally back from the Backcountry... or so I thought.

2011-08-18T17:35:00.001-07:00

Today we went through something called "gather". At the beginning of the summer, all of the Valle Vidal staff spent a day up in the Valle setting up yurts and tents. Two days later, we "scattered". We got our personal items, said goodbye to base camp friends , and we were shipped out to the backcountry for 9 days. Today, we "gathered". We packed up our personal items, took down the yurt and our tents, and we were shipped back out of the backcountry for good... or so I thought. I found out yesterday, that because I technically still have 3 days left to work, they are sending me to help gather a camp called Cypher's Mine. It's in the South/Central country. I've never been there, but I hear good things about it. Normally if I were to be working there, I would have to wear period clothing, since it's an interpretive camp. Thankfully, they are allowing me to wear my Philmont Reds.
We had a great last week at Seally! I hiked up to The Wall a few times, went to Ring Place, also went mountain biking for a FITH time this summer! I love mountain biking :)
I realized last night, that I am glad I was put at Seally Canyon, despite how difficult it was at times. I remember at the beginning of the summer setting some personal goals. One of them was to "gain strength and endurance". I was strictly thinking along the lines of physical strength and endurance, since I've always had a weakness there. I definitely feel that I have gained that this summer, but I've also gained an unexpected ability to endure difficult situations and environments. Seally Canyon is THE farthest away camp on the ranch. It's also the most primitive. In the end, it's just a tough camp to work at. I feel very privileged and blessed to have been able to work there, and learn so much. Granted, I did get a good break in the middle, being able to work at Head of Dean, but that was also tough, just in different ways. Overall, this summer has been amazing! I'm super stoked to get a chance to live at another part of the ranch for a couple days. I also can't wait to see Mom and Dad and go to Utah! I'm ready for Beauty School :)

Final Countdown

2011-08-11T08:31:00.000-07:00

It's almost over! I can't believe it. Only eleven more days. Today was our last day with crews, and I'm missing them. Oh well! Caroline decided last minute to let me go down to base for a short set. I think I'll be going back tomorrow.
Our last little bit at Seally is going to be extremely boring. It already is boring! We've had nothing to do. We have an entire week to clean and organize and pack up. I imagine I'll be spending a lot of my time at Whiteman and Ring Place. I've been hanging out a lot with those people. In the past 3 weeks, I've gone mountain biking twice! I love it! I think I might have found a new hobby. I even experienced my first crash the last time, and now I have some sweet scars to show for it :)
Eleven more days till I see Mom and Dad again. Fourteen more days until Holly and I move into our apartment. This is crazy!

Back to Seally

2011-08-04T08:18:00.000-07:00

The first couple of days back at Seally Canyon were pretty hard, I'll admit. It's tough going from hot showers daily and running water, to boiling water for dishes, and taking sponge baths in small, metal wash tubs.
On the 24th, the Seally guys and I show up at Seally to find our yurt an absolute disaster. Rat and mouse turds EVERYWHERE. It was disgusting. So while all of the other staff members went and took a nap, I spent four hours scrubbing and bleaching the place like crazy.
At HOD we had this thing called "Cabin Duties". Whoever had cabin duties had to make sure that the cabin was kept clean that day. I tried introducing the idea with the Seally guys, and they weren't too thrilled with the idea. So I cleaned non-stop for a couple days, until Caroline got back, and set things straight.
Some of us (including me) really enjoyed the places we were sent to while the Valle was closed down, we especially missed the people there, so it was a rough couple of days trying to get back into the old routine.
Our third day back was a zero crew day, meaning we wouldn't have any crews coming through our camp. I took advantage of the day off, and visited the other Valle camps. I got to go mountain biking! It is nothing like cycling. A lot faster and bumpier and I screamed almost the whole way.
Nothing else exciting to report! I'm back to sleeping in until 8:30, and taking multiple naps a day. Very, very boring.

The Valle Reopens!

2011-07-22T11:15:00.000-07:00

I think I have finally settled in to HOD. I have the course nailed, and I'm taking about three crews out a day. I give a bajillion porch talks a day, answer questions, talk with Advisors, go on camp site checks, call in to Health Lodge when we have a sick camper, and I clean. A LOT. Life at HOD is extremely busy. We are up at 6:45 every morning, taking crews out on the course as early as 7:30, and we don't go to bed until at least 10:30. It's a long, tiring day. Not only is it draining because of all the walking, it's hard mentally. We have to be paying such close attention to the kids on the course, analyzing and figuring out what the crew needs help with the most. By the end of the day, I'm exhausted. Yet I manage to have so much fun! I love talking with the scouts and advisors and hanging with the staff.

So it only seems natural that now that I have settled in completely, they are yanking me out again! I found out this morning that the Valle Vidal is re-opening, and I am going to rejoin with my old staff at Seally Canyon! I'm pretty excited. I have missed my SC staff immensely, and I'm looking forward to a more relaxed schedule :) As of right now, all of the Valle Refugees (that's what we call all of the Valle staff who were scattered to different camps like me) are getting in today, we get one more day off tomorrow, and then on the 24th we go back to our camps in the Valle.

In other exciting news, I got to spend the last two days with Mom and Dad! They came and picked me up from HOD, saw me facilitate a challenge course, and meet the other staff. Then we went to base, took a Villa tour (a tour of W. Phillips summer home), ate in the chow hall, and went bear gazing.
Yesterday we saw Harry Potter 7 in Toas. Oh. My. Gosh. It was amazing! The best HP movie I've seen. I cried. A lot. We also took them on a fun day hike, just so that Dad can say "I've hiked at Philmont".

I cried when I first saw them, and I cried when they had to leave again. But I'll be seeing them in less than a month. Can you believe how quickly the summer is going by!?

I can't wait to go back to Seally! I'll post again in 9 days :)

HOD

2011-07-10T19:21:00.000-07:00

Head of Dean is AWESOME! I love the staff. And the scenery. And the program. I just love it all! There are a total of 9 staff members, we are situated at the top of Dean Canyon with this beautiful view of the Colorado Rockies out in the distance. If I look hard enough, I can even see the general area Seally Canyon is in.

I definitely miss Seally. I miss the staff there, I miss taking my afternoon naps for sure. However I don't miss having to boil water for dishes, or having to do them in plastic tubs, and I definitely don't miss going without a shower for 9 days. At HOD, we have reception, running water, HOT water, and showers. It. Is. Amazing. It is also extremely busy. At Seally, we would generally have 1 crew a day. At HOD, we have 11 to 12 crews a day.

For the first couple of days I stayed around the main cabin, I would check in crews, give Porch Talks, answer questions, help with dinner, etc... Then they let me go with the experienced staff to see how a challenge course was run. By day 5, I was taking out crews all by myself :) SO fun. It was really scary and hard at first, but now I love it. I'm mostly there for safety, and to analyze how the crews work together during challenges, and see what I can help them with team/communication-wise.

Wednesday night we had a bit of a scare: Around 9 p.m., a crew advisor noticed "some organge stuff" out in the distance. Oh. Crap. It definitely was a fire. We fortunately had a conservation work staff staying with us over night, so we had lots of staff to help with the mayhem. We got maps, figured out the coordinates for the fire's location, and radioed it in to Base. Two camps had to be evacuated, one of them came up the canyon to us. That night we had around 25 crews camping with us. Everyone was up until about 3 a.m. helping evacuate. We had so many staff that were on days off, just visiting other camps, that volunteered to help. It was amazing! Felt like a military operation. It was a long, hard night, but by noon the next day, we had everyone back on schedule and back on the trails.

Saturday morning me and Holly and several other Trading Post people summited Mt. Baldy. 12, 400 feet, baby! It was super hard, but totally worth it. I still haven't quite recovered from the whole thing.

Tomorrow I go back to HOD for another 9 days. Then Mom and Dad come visit. YEAHHHH!!!!

New Adventure :)

2011-06-29T18:22:00.000-07:00

So... I found out on Monday that they shut down the Valle Vidal (Vi-yay Vid-all). That's the name of the area that covers Seally Canyon, and 2 other camps. Because we are not on Philmont property, we are a part of the Carson National Forrest, they have control over who uses the land, and have warned us for a while now that we might be kicked out

New Mexico has been going through a terrible drought, and with the 4th of July so close, they decided to close down the Valle early.

I was "on days" saturday, sunday, and monday, and found out the news on Monday night. News travels fast! And I had a lot of people saying, "Hey! Did you hear that you lost your job? Where are you going to go?" I found out today: I am assigned to a camp called Head of Dean, more commonly known as Hod. It's a challenge course/team building camp. It's near the base of Baldy Mountain (Philmont's largest mountain), and I hear it's really pretty. All of my fellow staff members have been telling me how lucky I am, so I am very excited to see this place!

I'm also sad that I'll have to leave the Valle, it has become home for the past month, and I am going to miss my staff family. We have all been sent to separate camps. Luckily, me and two other of my staff are within 4 miles of eachother, so we'll try to visit each other.

Me and the Seally Canyon staff spent yesterday and most of this morning packing up, taking inventory of everything we were leaving in the yurt, and mostly saying goodbye. We debated where we would get sent to, and how long we would be there. We meadow crashed (spent the night under the stars) in our little meadow behind the yurt, just talking and looking around at our little camp. We will miss it :(

Hopefully the ban won't be long. In the past, they have closed the Valle before July 4th, and then reopened it the 9th. However, the drought is EXTREMELY bad right now, so they may close us down permanently.

Oh well. It's like two jobs/adventures in one summer, right? I'm excited to meet new people, and see more parts of Philmont :)

I Have Photos!

2011-06-25T19:26:00.000-07:00

So I don't have that many. I can't upload mine with the reception here, so these are picture's my CD took.

Here's the rattlesnake we found last... week. I can't keep track of the days of the week. This 9 days on 3 days off thing totally screws up my mental clock.
Anyways, we ate it. Normally we shouldn't kill a snake, but it was right in the middle of our camp, and we felt threatened. By the way, it tastes like really tough chicken.

This is my CD's hand, next to a bear print we found down the road from us. Yet I still haven't seen a single bear! I haven't even heard one. Only seen the prints.

Home Sweet Home! This is the mongolian style yurt. This is where we spend the majority of our time. We read, sleep, cook, eat, and occasionally get some work done. See the ridge in the backround (picture don't do it justice)? I love hiking up there. It's the only place to get reception, and it has a gorgeous view of Badly and Little Costilla, the biggest mountains around here.
This week I experienced teaching crews! It was nerve wracking at first, but becomes a routine after the 3rd time. We have a few different kinds of crews coming through: Rayado Crews (otherwise known as Rowdy crews) and the regular crews. Rowdy Crews are made up of a group of random sign-ups, who are out here for a 21 day trek, sometimes hiking over 200 miles! The other crews are venturing crews just like mine back home, here for about 10 days. Occasionally we get a scout who came to Philmont with his crew, did a 10 day trek, and then decided last minute to stay behind and join a rowdy crew.
We teach them a lot about SAR clues, and then I usually teach them first aid, we teach them how to litter carry, and then we put them through a final scenario. We while they are being taught litter carry, I am usually in the yurt with one of their advisors/rangers, giving them fake head wounds and broken legs. Then I hide them. Simple as that! It's a fun program, and I enjoy seeing how each crew works together.
That's pretty much it for this week! I'll update in 12 days :)

Seally Canyon

2011-06-13T17:44:00.000-07:00

I'm back from my first week at Seally Canyon! I won't lie, it was a very hard week. I have basically been put into a new family, and I'm having to learn what everyone is like, and how best to interact with them everyday. I know what you're thinking, "Welcome to college life!". Except that in college all my roommates will smell good (hopefully), and wear clean clothes everyday.

I'm liking my fellow staffers more and more everyday, and I know I will enjoy spending the summer with them. We have a fellow Texan, a guy from Michigan, another from Pheonix AZ, and my CD (Camp Director) is from Virginia, so we have a good mix. They all love talking to me about the church, and I'm surprised by how much they already know.

So for the past week we have been settling in. Filling out orders for missing things, rearranging and organizing the yurt (a yurt is like a mongolian Teepee), and working on our summer program. We've also been exploring our Area of Responsibility. Every camp has one. In the event that a crew or camper goes missing in our AOR, it will be our responsibility to go searching for them. So we've been getting to know the lay of the land.

I got to know the lay of the land VERY well on saturday. Holly came up to visit on Thursday, but she had to be back for work by noon on saturday. One of our staff was going to take his 3 days off that day, so it was decided that Holly and him would go together. I was pretty nervous about when I would take my days off as well, because I would be travelling to the bus turnaround by myself, and I wasn't too familiar with the trail. So I decided to go with them, just so I could get a feel for it. OH. MY. GOSH. Biggest mistake ever. It's a forever long hike, and I had to go there AND back. We started at 5 a.m., and I got home around 6 p.m. 27 miles total. TWENTY-SEVEN! I hiked a marathon! Though I felt like a huge idiot for going all the way with them, I must admit, I feel pretty accomplished. But I'm never doing it again.

Philmont

2011-05-31T13:13:00.000-07:00

We made it! And I'm loving it so far. It's very different from any other scout ranch that I've ever been to. There are a lot of women staff, which is awesome, overall the staff is different. Not as hippie-ish. I actually like the hippies.

I am assigned to Seally Canyon, which is technically not even on Philmont property. It's on land being leased to Philmont, so it's way out in the boonies. I haven't been out there yet, and I just can't wait to go! I've been doing a lot of training, mostly scouting policies n such. But this morning I spent 2 hours being trained on the basics of Search & Rescue (which is Seally Canyon's big program). I am so excited!!! I didn't know I would love learning about SAR so much, but it is so cool.
There are 3 other boys also assigned to SC, so me and my Camp Director are the only girls! It's going to be a long summer...

Holly is working in the trading post, and she says she's enjoying it. The trading post really is the coolest store I've ever seen. She is working way more than I am right now. But in about a week, that should change. She'll be done with training, and have a real schedule with days off and everything, and I'll be in the backcountry, working 9 days on, and 3 days off.

I'm so excited!!!

New Title

2011-05-15T17:17:00.000-07:00

Technically I will still be a teen for 2 years, but I figured it was still time to change the title.

In less than a week I leave to Philmont, and then straight on to Utah from there. I can't believe I'm actually leaving! I have been planning on going to cosmetology school since I first had the impression I should when I was 13. Feels pretty good :) Also pretty scary. Believe it or not, I'm nervous to leave home. My parents are my best friends, and I'll be sad to leave them. Thank goodness Dad is a pilot and my parents can visit me easily :)

Last Minute Changes

2011-05-08T22:36:00.000-07:00

This is usually how it goes for families with flight benefits: We do plan and make schedules, but for the most part, we watch flights and GO whenever there is an opening. We didn't plan on going to Hawaii until the 20th. But the flights opened up today, and yesterday morning Madre came into my room to wake me up and let me know that we would be going to Hawaii the very next day. WAHOO!!!!

We had a great flight. Everyone got on, and we arrived here around 4. We got some yummy japanese food, and then spent the evening walking around the streets/beaches of Honolulu. Tomorrow is a full day of surfing, shave ice eating, and wave watching.

Super excited to be here!

Slow down!

2011-05-06T17:25:00.000-07:00

A local feis is tomorrow. I'm super bummed I'll be missing it :( But I'm also supper grateful that the doc said it will only be another two weeks or so before I'm dancing again. AND I'll be completely healed in time for Philmont!

Some exciting news: Holly also got hired! She will be working at the Trading Post. I am SO excited that we'll be able to go up there together. For a time we were sure that Holly wasn't going to get a job up there, and I really didn't like the sound of going alone. But I knew I had a good feeling about applying in the first place, and once I did get hired, really going through with it (at that time I was certain Holly would be hired also). So I planned to go through with it whether Holly made it or not. Now I am so happy because I know that she'll be there too :)

The next few weeks are going to be busy. I am going to visit Caroline and the kids next week (over Andi's birthday!), and then the following week it's off to California. From California we are hoping to catch a flight to Honolulu with Dad. Flights are starting to look full. I'm praying we can still make it! The next three days after we get home is packing time. I have to pack for Philmont and Utah. We go straight to Utah from Philmont. Somewhere inbetween all these things we're doing I have to find time for two exams, an application to Aveda, and one last big get together with all of my friends.

Busy busy busy! It will go by so fast. I can't believe I'm going to be moving out of the house in less than a month... Time needs to slow down!

Edit: BTW, I don't know exactly what I will be doing at Philmont. I know that I will be a program counselor at Seally Canyon. That part of Philmont does Search and Rescue training, Conservation, and Leave No Trace programs. So I will be doing something that has to do with all that!

Ouch

2011-04-10T14:01:00.000-07:00

I can't believe I managed to find this picture. This is almost exactly what I looked like a split second before I broke my foot.
See how straight her back knee is? Well apparently my knees aren't straight enough to my dance teacher, so she drilled me, making me jump up and down on my left foot, right foot up, yelling "make that knee straight! It must be perfect!". She was in a really crappy mood. The kind where she criticizes every single wrong thing you do. "Knees straighter! Don't let your heels drop!"
So my knee was perfectly straight coming down. It didn't budge an inch! My ankle absorbed all the shock instead. I rolled it, and fell pretty hard on the side of my foot. That's the part that's actually broken, where I landed.

All my friends and their moms were so so so nice. They helped me out of the room, got me some ice and a sofa. I loved talking to them.

We went to a CareNow on friday, mostly just to make sure my foot was not broken. I was pretty sure it would hurt more if it was, and it was only a little swollen. Well the x-ray shows that it is broken, but they couldn't tell us how much, or show us the x-ray or anything. I'm pretty sure its small. I'll be up and dancing again in no time :) In the meantime, they gave me this ugly boot to hobble around in. Mom bought me some awesome flowers from JoAnns to spice it up with :)

Some happier news: HOLLY GETS BACK IN LESS THAN A WEEK! I'm so so so so excited! Can't wait to see her :D

4's

2011-03-18T21:09:00.000-07:00

Only for you, Caroline ;)

1st ~four places I go

Dance
The mall
Church
The bathroom

2nd ~ four favorite smells

The ocean
The AC when it first turns on
My cousin's garage
Plumerias

3rd~ four favorite TV shows or movies

Survivor
Pride and Prejudice

Jurassic Park

Princess Bride

4th ~ four recommendations

Dance. It's the best kind of exercise

Read Jane Austen
Take showers

Buy Apple products.

Birthday

2011-03-15T16:47:00.000-07:00

I'm so old. I'm 18. Now I actually have to act grown up. Ugh. ;)

Yesterday Madre and Scoutmaster took me to get some cowgirl boots. I've been wanting some for a while now, and I was pretty excited. I've been shopping for two days now and I still haven't found exactly what I'm looking for (it's my darn feet, too. They are reeeeally wide). But Scoutmaster is determined to find me a pair that I really like. I'll find my dream boots someday!

Then I went with the Twins and L to see Justin Bieber movie. Oh my goodness it was soooo good! I came home and bought one of his albums and several other singles.

It was a really good birthday :)

Feis

2011-03-06T13:50:00.000-08:00

This is me at the Feis yesterday. I had a blast! By far the best feis I've been to and it was the longest.

So my first dance was the reel. I really botched that one. The whole time I was dancing I kept thinking "Oh man I can tell that was bad, and my turnout is awful, geez I might as well give up." And when I checked my results, I hadn't even made the list (the score sheet only shows those who make the top 5). So I was a little bummed. I knew I wasn't good enough to move up a level at this competition, but I was at least hoping to be close. One of my really good friends found out at the same time that she got first! So she moved on to Prizewinner. She was so happy she started crying! She has been working for a really long time to get first.

Next was my light jig. I got 3rd. Good, but not quite there yet.

But my Slip Jig, boy have I been practicing for that one. I had been really working hard to get that one good, I practiced that one alone for a week. So when it came time to compete for Slip, I did what Caroline told me to do. I thought "I own this!" the whole time. Checked my scores later and almost cried like my friend. First!!! I'm a Prizewinner in Slip Jig!

Then I did some figures (dances with one or more partners). I didn't know I was going to be competing in figures until a couple days before the feis, and nobody really seemed to care if they did well or not, so those were just for fun.

Then I had my hard shoe dances. Got 2nd in Treble Jig. So close!

Interesting story about my Hornpipe. So Hornpipe was another of the dances that I spent forever working on. As I'm waiting for my turn, I was watching all of the other dancers, and occasionally I would think "oh she's got really bad turn out, I can do better than that." I just couldn't help it! It's a competition, its very hard not to watch other competitors in that way. But I would immediately want to slap myself, because they are very nervous, and I have only gotten one first, so who am I to judge? So (stupid me), I said a little prayer: "Heavenly Father make me stop being to mean, I need to be humbler."

Can you guess how I did in that competition? Yeah, I failed. BADLY. I didn't even make the list, and that was one of the dances that "I owned". So I was pretty humbled.

I have two months until my next competition, and that's plenty of time to get all my other dances ship-shape. I can actually see moving into Prizewinner as a possibility. I have a good idea of where I am and what I need to do to move up :)

Dance Hard

2011-02-23T20:04:00.000-08:00

In a couple of weeks I will be competing in my 3rd Feis. After dancing for a year and a half this really should be my 5th or 6th competition, but I took a pretty long break over the summer, and it all went down hill from there.
But Caroline made my beautiful dress :) and its performance/competition season, and I'm working harder than I ever have to be ready for it. I really really want to be a good dancer. I started extremely late for my age. Most girls my age are championship dancers, but I am determined that just because I started late, it doesn't mean that a little hard work won't get me there. I definitely will not be moving up at this next competition, but it will show me where I am, and what I really need to work on.

I remember in my first competition I was positive I was going to get dead last in everything, and I would be stuck in beginners forever. Well it didn't really matter if I got dead last or not, because there were so few other competitors in all of my dances, I still placed out of beginner no problemo.

Every few days I check the competition site again. Today it is showing 17 other competitors signed up for just one of my dances. Yeesh!

So everyday it's practice practice practice. I feel like I'm living Irish Dance for the next two weeks. And get this: I actually bought tanning lotion. I told myself I would never be one of those dancers who went all out with the HUGE hair and the shoe buckles the ridiculous amount of makeup... and the orange tanning lotion.

California

2011-02-01T06:13:00.000-08:00

This weekend was the first weekend where Dad and I didn't have work, and Madre didn't have school work. What a miracle! So we flew out to California for some In N' Out, surfing, and the Santa Anita Park.

Here Mom and I are standing in front of Seabiscuit.
Here's the horses on the turf, just screamin around the corner. It would have been a pretty sweet shot if the dumb safety jockey's horse hadn't been in the way.

Dad's standard "I'm about to surf" pose.
And I still managed to fit into my wetsuit, though it felt like a workout trying to put it on.
Overall it was a very short, fun visit. It's sad to think that I'll probably have only one more California visit before I either get a summer job, or I head up for school. Speaking of summer job, sometime in the next two weeks, Jenna and I should be getting emails letting us know if we made it or not. Pick me, please! I want to be a river guide so bad!

Dress :)

2011-01-19T19:48:00.000-08:00

My dress is finished! Thank you so much Caroline , you did are a fantastic seamstress, and I love love love love love love love LOOOVVEEEE my dress. I'm so excited for the next Feis, can't wait to compete in it! maybe there's one coming up in your area? ;]

Utah

2011-01-10T09:31:00.001-08:00

I found a school! I have decided to apply to Aveda :) We checked out 3 different hair schools (Taylor Andrews, Aveda, and Paul Mitchell) and I just loved Aveda the best! They are all about being eco-friendly, which I love, so they have their own line of totally organic shampoos and lotions and things. It all smells soooo good, not like I'm killing my brain cells. AND they want to be paperless, so an iPad comes with the supplies that they give you. Going full times means I'm only in school 3 days a week.

I'm SO excited :)

Flights into SLC were bad so we flew to Las Vegas and then drove. We ate In N Out... twice. Visited with lots of people, and bought sweatshirts from the BYU Bookstore. Overall it was a very productive and good trip.

In August, Holly and I will be heading up to Utah. She gets off her mission in just over 3 months. Can you believe how fast that went?

Aims

2011-01-02T18:50:00.000-08:00

I am going to set some new years... aims. Since I've never liked/had luck with reaching goals, here are some things that I would really like to see happen this year.

1. I will exercise more. At the very very very least, I must do 3 days per week. It's not much, I would shoot for more, but I hate exercising so it can't be too impractical.

2. Less complaining.

3. I will master the stick shift!

4. I'll get my Ranger Award.

5. Place out of Novice. I already know it's not going to happen, but it's the work and practice that goes towards the goal that really counts, it'll keep me on my toes (no pun intended).

6. I am going to finish my school work in a timely manner. No more of this cramming/rushing or slacking/laziness.

7. Overall I want to be a better daughter, sister, friend, missionary, worker, etc...

And that's it! Wish me luck :)

I got a job!

2010-09-24T19:31:00.000-07:00

Yayyyy! I've been applying applying applying EVERYWHERE and nothing. My seminary teacher's husband is a jeweler, and he referred me to his boss who was thinking about opening a part time/seasonal position. Well I got in for an interview, and I was pretty sure I butchered it and I wouldn't get the job. But whaddya know she hired me yesterday! For the next few months I'm sitting at the computer from 10-2 sorting through data entry. It's pretty tedious, but it's a job, and right now I don't really care what I do. Just not fast food. That was my last resort. So I'm happy! I have a job! I'm starting to see Cosmetology in the near future. I was afraid if I didn't get a job and have something saved up to live on white in Utah, I was going to have to put it off for another year. For right now, things are lookin' good :)

P.s. We settled on "rascal" for the cat. We got stuck on the idea of naming her after some disney character/animal, and apparently there used to be a raccoon from an old disney show called "rascal".

Speckles, Bobcat, Spot?

2010-09-14T06:34:00.000-07:00

We can't decide on the name. So for now, her name has been "new cat". We got her as a playmate for Pumpkin because we thought she might be lonely after Scout went away. Pumpkin hates her. How horrible is that? Madre, however, is confident that they'll warm up to each other eventually.

Isn't she so cute?!

They're gone :(

2010-09-04T19:11:00.001-07:00

Well, I'm officially an only child now. For a while, it didn't feel like it was truly just me and my parentals, because Caroline was always just down the road. I'm gonna miss them. Especially the Little Squirts.

I did get a road trip out of the deal, though. Dad and I got to drive their moving van up, which was long but fun :]

We saw about 50 elders coming out of a Macdonalds in Kansas, which fun and interesting. We're guessing they were on their way to the temple.

We stopped by Liberty Jail, which I have to admit... it was a little hokey. I have a problem with manekins, they just seem goofy and disneyland-ish to me. However I could see how horrible it would be, and I'm so grateful for the sections of D & C that we have because of the Prophet's time spent there.

We stopped in Joliet, IL for some Sliders at White Castle. Yummmmm.

Then we got to Michigan around 7:30 that night, and a great bunch of guys from the May's new ward helped unload. The town house looks great! I think they'll have a great time up there :)

Can't wait to go up there in November! Caroline and I are totally dressing up for the 7th HP movie.

This cracked me up

2010-08-25T19:10:00.000-07:00

J'aime La Belgique!

2010-08-19T21:45:00.000-07:00

Don't we look so European with our French scarves and Umbrella's shopping at the market?

I had SOOOOO much fun in Belgium. Who'da thought I'd enjoy museum's and castles and cathedrals? But I loved every second of it! Even the plane ride. We got Business Class :)

I wish we could have just stayed there forever. Everyone was so kind, and the missionaries were a ton of fun to talk to. I wondered the whole time if this is what Holly is experiencing. If so, no wonder she always sounds so ridiculously happy in her letters. Missionaries are a blast!

Of course we were very very tired all the time. 7 hours difference.

I have been spoiled. The food was so good. I don't think I can ever eat a slice of American Cheese ever again.

Aaaaaaaand I made it through an art museum. AAAAAAAND I enjoyed it! What a miracle.

I have to say, that the churches and cathedrals were my absolute favorite. Of course everything was a work of art in and of itself, but I especially loved the stained glass, the statues, the woodwork and candles, everything about the churches. It's a shame nobody attends them anymore, even if they aren't exactly true, its still sad.

I loved having the excuse to say Bon Jour! every five minutes. And to give bisous.

I'm so so so glad that I had the opportunity to go, and I'm so grateful for Jenna's grandparents for having us. They are wonderful people and I loved spending time with them.

And I definitely look forward to going to Europe again someday! Maybe I'd rather have a Europe wedding than Hawaiian...

California

2010-08-09T20:57:00.000-07:00

I just got back from a week long vacation in CA, my second favorite state! It was cold. Very weird for august. Madre and I didn't go to the beach once. However we did go to the tide pools, and we picked up 50 more shells for our collection of dead things to decorate the house with :)
Mostly we enjoyed my grandmother's pantry, which is filled with things that have never seen the inside of our own home, and also her excellent cable channels. Sounds like a productive week to me!

I walked in on this my last night in CA. Aren't they adorable? Both of them were fast asleep. Bob had fallen asleep while giving Big Ma a foot rub.
In a few days Jenna and I will be heading up to Belgium.
EEEEXXXXCIIITTTEEEDDDD!!!!

Today I bought a little sling bag to keep all my money and such nice and safe and organized on the trip. I want to start using it now. It's just so nifty I can't help but feel like organizing while I wear it.

See you in a couple days Jenna! :D

Summer :)

2010-08-01T21:01:00.001-07:00

Scout camp was by far the highlight of my summer. The staff were really cool, and there were a million boy scouts. Jenna and I really want to work there next summer, and I am currently working on my Ranger Award, which is basically training for a camp like this.

The girls loved the boy scouts.

Dar the river god.
rafting was most everyones favorite.
We love our toe shoes!

New Haircut

2010-07-28T14:46:00.001-07:00

Yes it was actually possible to cut more hair off of my head.

bluhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

2010-04-29T20:36:00.000-07:00

I feel so weird. I got my wisdom teeth out this morning. I was afraid that I would do something really weird, because I have heard of people (especially women) doing some crazy things after getting their wisdom teeth out. Apparently, women have a tendency to cry, and I heard of one man who wet himself! I was so scared. But when I woke up, I was just reeeally tired.
I got home and watched about 30 minutes of Jane Eyre before I fell asleep, and I have been off and on sleeping all day. I have to admit, despite the pain, it's kind of fun. I get to eat all this stuff that I rarely get to have, I'm sleeping whenever, and I got to watch movies instead of school work! Swelling is not so bad. I really wanted to go to Seminary tomorrow. Sis. J just got back, and I have missed her so much, I haven't wanted to miss any lessons, but Madre says I gotta stay home. I plan on doing normal things tomorrow. Get some English done (only a couple more classes and then I'm freeeeeeeeee! Mrs. L went 45 minutes over the other day), maybe some math.
The crew has been selling tickets to a pancake breakfast, each girl is expected to sell 37. I hit 37 last saturday, and I've sold a few since then. The three girls who sell the most get a pair of Toe Shoes, and I boy do I want some. Sister Frizzle is amazing, and has been helping a lot of girls sell, so I'm hoping I won't be too swollen and feelin' good tomorrow, maybe I can go out with them.
I have one more week of TAFA! I decided just this year that I was done. I have found that I enjoy dancing more, and it's something that I feel I'm better at, so I'm going to use that extra time and money and put it towards what I LOVE doing :)

Couldn't wait...

2010-04-18T17:14:00.001-07:00

I got the wig :) AND I LOVE IT! I know it's crazy to want to wear this ridiculous amount of hair that gives you a super bad headache after the first half an hour, but I still love it!
I'm done with Beginners! WOW it feels so nice to say that I am in Novice now. Here is where they really separate the good dancers from the bad ones. And unfortunately, right now, I am one of those bad dancers, but I plan to change that! I can't wait to really start learning the hard stuff :D

Feelin Good :)

2010-04-15T19:25:00.001-07:00

I was stressing out last night real bad. Saturday is my next Feis, and I still had an entire dance to learn. Yesterday I had a cram session at the May's, and then got home and crammed some more. I got it learned just in time, and now I'm actually excited about this weekend! My dances could be a little more polished, but I'm just happy that I got all my dances learned in the three weeks that I had!
Now I feel dumb. While in Maryland, I got bored, and decided since I had done every other color, I would die my hair reddish. Well its a little more than "reddish", and I actually like it! However, I reeeeallly wanted my wig, and I don't think I'll be able to get it because my hair isn't brown anymore. And I'm not going to buy a red wig. Oh well, sounds like I'll just have to wait until September to buy my wig! I will be getting my new shoes however. Yay yay yay yay yay yay yay yay!!!!

Prom

2010-04-11T13:11:00.001-07:00

Nicole and I were dates ;) She's wearing my dress, and my shrug, and my necklace, and I did her hair and makeup... Both dresses are from Half of Half. $20 bucks each!
Thanks for letting me borrow the shrug Jenna! It looked awesome :D

This years theme was very princess-y. At first I thought the check in room was the room we were dancing in, and I was like "laaaame", then I accidentally stumbled into the ballroom hahaha. It was amazing! It was like the inside of a Cinderella castle. DJ was good, the ballroom was on top of an ice skating rink, so the room was pleasantly cool, I hardly got hot at all. It was so much fun! Can't wait until next year!

License :)

2010-03-27T07:55:00.000-07:00

I got my license FINALLY!!!! I was so excited! My first trip alone was to seminary, and halfway down McLeroy I felt like I should turn around because I was disobeying the rules. Second trip was to walmart, then back to the church. Then I jumped straight onto the highway and drove myself to South Lake for dance class. That. Was. Scary. I was shaking I was so nervous. I'm not that good with directions, and I hate driving at night. After spending 30 minutes at the computer mapquest-ing every which way to get from my house to the dance studio, I said a little prayer, hopped in the car, prayed almost the whole way, and I made it to dance! No problems what so ever :) I did get a little lost on the way home, but not by much. Today I am driving myself to the Mall, then from the mall to dance again. SO excited, I love driving.
You know what I have already discovered since getting my license? I sing in the car. Reeeeaaallly loudly too. And sometimes I talk to myself, and the car in front of me if they are acting weird. Is that normal?

YC 2010

2010-03-21T20:19:00.001-07:00

Book of Mormon themed. Definitely one of the best YC's :)

We camped over night in Sid Richardson. I was fuh-reeeeeezing because I forgot a jacket, but in the afternoon it was nice.

The whole day was filled with BoM reenactments, some of them a little goofy, but they were all really well done.

Nicole, Lauren, Me, and Carter were a pretty tight group the whole time. I wasn't in their group, but every chance we got we were hanging out together. We had so much fun!

Everyone had to wear tunics. Everyone hated them.
Here is King Benjamin preaching from his tower. You could tell he put a lot of effort into his skit. This was the first event of the morning, and it was amazing.
We made awesome lamanites, and we totally would have beaten the Nephites, except that the Nephites win in the book, so the leaders gave them a million lives, while they pulled all the lamanites out. So. Unfair.
Goofing off. Trying to make our tunics look cool.
THE coolest gang ever. I had the best time hanging out with these guys. I love my friends! :D

PIctures :)

2010-03-17T08:54:00.000-07:00

Now that I've got the time, here are some pictures in random order :)

Sailing day 5

ATV's day 3, in Arenal

Day 3 in Arenal. This is a little pool near the waterfall.

This is just a few yds. from the waterfall. Dad and I were exhausted from swimming in this pool, the force of the waterfall was so strong is was constantly trying to push you into the rocks.
The waterfall :)
Day 2, volcano watching. I couldn't get a good picture of the volcano spouting rocks, but there were a ton of people there to watch! And I got them in the picture haha.
Feeding the Iguana's day 2.

Zip lining, day 1...

River Rafting day 2... This is where we had the pineapple that was SO good!

And here are some zip lining videos:

Flight Delayed...

2010-03-17T08:50:00.001-07:00

...by 6 hours.... And we didn't know till be got to the airport, or else I'm sure we would have spent a couple more hours in the water.

I'm ready to get home now! I'm missing out on all the St. Patty's day excitement going on back home! St. Patrick's Day is definitely not known in Costa Rica hahaha...

Day 7, Last day

2010-03-16T12:59:00.001-07:00

Last day :( it's bittersweet actually. I kind of miss home. I miss dance especially. But I love Costa Rica! It's hard to leave.

This morning we went to a big park. They called it a zoo, and it was similar, just without the cages and tame animals haha. We saw several sloths, followed a path that meant "waterfall", but all the agua was gone, but we were dripping like waterfalls. It was sooooo hot.

We stopped at the beach and took a short dip, then headed back. The monkeys woke up from their siesta and we got right up close to them! It was so cool! They start heading for the trash cans towards noon, because the trash bins are fairly full by then. We got a picture of one eating some nacho chips :)

Day 6

2010-03-16T12:52:00.001-07:00

Day 6 as actually yesterday. We arrived at the new hotel, and we all love it! We spent some time lazing around the beach and pool. They have a couple of nice hammocks (hammocks are my favorite :), and a little jungle-y area across the street to look for Iguanas.

Around 3 we went sailing, stopped by a nice snorkeling spot, saw some pretty fish and a spiny starfish.

Got back on the boat and meandered around a little. Some dolphins came WAY up close to the boat, so we hurried out from under the canopy, because apparently the dolphins won't stick around unless they can see the people :) I love dolphins! They are some of the coolest animals ever.

Lots a sting rays were jumping up (literally) out of the water. Like way up! It was really bizarre.

Altogether a really fun day! Had a really yummy tuna steak for dinner, and we slept great last night in the nice AC :)

Day 5

2010-03-15T08:20:00.001-07:00

Yesterday we headed to the coast. I saw a parakeet! The big rainbow ones. And we saw a sloth.

The first hotel we went to was nice and big, with a beautiful veiw, but... the AC sucked. Scoutmaster hates heat about as much as Madre hates being cold. So that didn't last long.

This morning they headed out to Playa Hermosa and found an awesome, air-conditioned hotel. It's right up on the beach, I get my own room with a tv, and there are two pools! This is definitely the place to come if you've got a big family.

Tonight we are going sailing, snorkeling, and Dad will fish.

Day 3

2010-03-13T18:13:00.000-08:00

ATVing was way cool! I was more scared driving those things than doing any of the other stuff. It was so rocky, I thought I was going to tip over every time I turned.

We met more college students. I have seen more of those here than at an actual campus, they're everywhere! They are all here on spring break, usually in couples though I've seen a few big groups of them. Jenna, we MUST come here over one of our spring breaks during college. It would be so much fun, I know you would love it here :)

We hiked down to a waterfall that was gorgeous! And really really powerful, took a lot of energy just to swim out a little ways.

There were so many steps going back, and they were really really steep. And I didn't complain once about my small lungs ;)

I've been eating a lot of "typical food" here (rice and beans, chicken, and plantains). I love love LOVE the rice and beans, but the plantains are nassstttyyyyyyy. Tonight I tried fried yucca. It tasted just like a giant french fry.

There are a million dogs here. And they are all so nice! Every house has a dog outside, and in the city, everyone kind of shares the dogs. All the restaurants are open-air, and the dogs just wander in and sit underneath your table. There was a dog sleeping in the middle of the church during mass tonight.

Last night we went up to the volcano to watch some lava fireworks. Yowza that was crazy. It was so bizarre, it was hard to believe that I was actually there, and not watching it on a TV. It was definitely one of my favorite parts of this trip.

Tomorrow we are driving down to the coast! I can't wait to even out this tan. The top of my whole right leg was burned yesterday, and only my left knee got some sun hahahah.

River Rafting

2010-03-12T15:03:00.000-08:00

River rafting was so much better than CO rafting! The water was perfect, not freezing, and the jungle is SO SO SO pretty. I think all river guides are the same, no matter what country they are from. These all reminded me of the ones from High Adventure. BTW, pineapple from Costa Rica is 1000 times better than from Hawaii.

I got tossed out of the raft on the 2nd or 3rd rapid, which was way fun. I got sunburned (as usual).

I met a 25 year old landscape student from Germany. she is here on a 5 week vacation, and she spent 10 days working on a farm feeding the animals in various times in the day, in return for food and a place to sleep. Your interested in environmental stuff, right Jen? This is SO the place to come for adventure and a really cool environment!

That´s pretty much it for this day! Tomorrow is ATV´s or fourwheeling through some jungle, which I can´t wait for. I´ve been speeding over the top of the jungle, and in a river all around, but I haven´t really been IN it.

I´ll update tomorrow!

No Texting? What?

2010-03-11T05:16:00.001-08:00

I have no texting Jenna. I'm so sorry :( I´ll update my blog on the hotel computers as much as I can though, to let you know what´s going on.

Today was ziplining. FUN!!! I think there were 4 or 5 rides altogether, and the veiw was AMAZING. It is so pretty here, imagine Jurrasic Park, or the indiana jones ride.

We saw a monkey on the way home, and a couple of Tucans. Pictures are shortly to follow! I miss texting you!

Tomorrow is rafting, and I´ll tell all about after :)

Freaked Out

2010-03-09T20:04:00.000-08:00

I have been pretty excited for Costa Rica! I know it'll be so much fun. But last night, Bro. R, for some stupid, stupid, stupid reason, decided to tell me, ME, Emma, the queen of hypochondriacs, the wrong story. Some lady comes back from Costa Rica with a hole in her head, goes to the doctor, and the doc determines that it's a maggot from some weird fly, and she pulls it out of her head! I thought he was joking! What I don't understand is how he could be SO happy to tell me. As soon as I walked into the foyer and he saw me, he jumped up to tell me this story. WHY would you do something like that? Especially to ME? Anyone who knows me, knows not to tell me anything potentially frightening. And this is beyond potentially frightening. It is freaking the scariest thing I have ever heard. I do not want to come home with worms in my skull. So though I am excited, I am also so scared. I'm not going to sleep! I'm going to be wearing hats to bed, and showering in insect repellent.

Please pray that I will come with no worms in my head :-/

So sad :(

2010-03-07T16:11:00.000-08:00

My Irish Dance competition went wonderfully! But for the past day I have been soooo sad. It was so much fun, one more month seems so far away for the next one :( I wish they had a feis every month! I spent most of yesterday wandering around soaking everything in, and thinking about how this is only my first, and I only have a few more. I wish so so so SO badly that I had started this earlier! I have really fallen in love with dance, and I just feel like I don't have enough years to get in all the dancing that I want. I have one more year of high school, and then I think that's it.
I continually ask myself why why WHY didn't I follow Caroline's advice five years ago when she told me about this?!?! If I had known how much I love it now, I know I would have started it the next day. Now I'm only getting started, and before I know it, I'll be done.

Anyways, I guess I might as well enjoy it while I can. Yesterday was so much fun! I had a two hand reel first thing, and my partner accidentally messed up on a step, and it all kind of went down hill from there, so we didn't get such a great score on that one lol. But we had fun! Which is all that really matters :)

Great story just before that though... Caroline and I were in the bathroom with about 30 minutes to go before I had to be out ready to dance, trying to get my dress zipped up. It zipped perfectly fine the day before! But for some reason, the zipper decided to break the day of the performance. I had no back up outfit, and still just 30 minutes to go. Caroline worked that zipper so many times, and finally just when she said she didn't know what else to do, we tried one last time, both of us just praying to Heavenly Father that the zipper would just zip. And voila! Prayer answered! It was a great testimony builder for the day. I was so scared, I didn't take that dress off the whole day. Normally girls would take their dress off in between dances because the skirts are so stiff and can get crushed when they sit in them. Caroline wrapped a blanket around me to act like a bib while I ate, and I had to stand up for SO many hours.

The dances went great. I prayed just like before hahaha. And I managed to do alright! I'm so close to being out of the beginners! Just one more Feis, and then on to Novice :)

Almost ready! :D

2010-03-04T20:02:00.000-08:00

My dance competition is just one more day away! And I'm almost ready. I just need the poodle socks, which I will get tonight :) Oh my gosh! I can't wait! I couldn't wait for this feis since I went to the last Oireachtas (I know, all these Irish words are a mouthful). I am so ready to be out of the beginners. Tonight was the last big practice before the Feis this weekend. Those practices are definitely my favorite. EVERYONE comes, and it's just so much fun to sit back and watch all the amazing dancers practice. Someday, I hope to get to that level. Tonight I watched several championship dancers dancing some really different dances, and just laughing and goofing halfway through them, or making up some silly poses. Irish Dance can get pretty stressful and intense sometimes. I've already seen one chick walk off the stage absolutely bawling because she messed up. For once it was nice to just watch them all having fun! I can't wait to get out of the beginners. I am ready for the challenge!

I found these hilarious t-shirts and bumper stickers online last night. I think only Irish Dancers would get them, but they are still funny:

WHEW!!!

2010-02-20T18:01:00.000-08:00

Yes! It's all over! I had a singing competition this morning. Similar to the piano competition, you're not actually competing with anyone, just going for experience and some voice instruction. I got a 1! Which I know sounds really bad but it's a very good score :)

The recital was the toughie. All TAFA students participating in solo/ensemble competitions must perform their solo in front of an audience of peers and their parents before the competition. Yikes! But it was really helpful. It helps the kids know what they tend to mess up on when nervous and put under pressure.

For the past two weeks I have been asking myself why I signed up to do this. I think it was because I'm not competing in piano anymore, I got bored? But now that I've done it, I'm pretty sure I'd like to pursue dance more than voice. I have my first dance competition in just a couple weeks! And it really is a competition. I'm SO excited! I'll be dancing 4 solos, and 1 dance with a partner, and another dance with 3 others. I can't wait! My goal is to be out of the beginner level in April. Then I get to wear the pretty dresses and big wigs :D

IT'S NARNIA!!!

2010-02-11T13:03:00.001-08:00

We heard that it might snow, I was definitely not expecting this:

We got stuck coming back from walmart.

I just LOVE being home schooled. All my friends were stuck inside all day while I worked on a snow man.

Ta-dah!

New Year!

2010-01-13T15:01:00.000-08:00

TAFA started up again. Yay!

These are my friends from my old photoshop class. One of them is in my treble choir so I still get to see her, and the other I sit with at lunch, so wahoo! I won't be total outsider again!

I already love one of the songs picked out for this year, it's french :) Can you tell where I am in the picture? I'm ringing the sleigh bells!.......and slouching......
I am only in one class this year, Treble choir, which ends at 10:30. So after Treble I went into the study hall, and worked on my essay. I kept looking at the clock thinking "I have to be here until 5... this is going to be a long day...". But I got to sit with some really fun people at lunch, and lunch is a whole hour so yea!
After lunch I attempted to do more school work, then at 2 I went to talk to the Irish Dance teacher. There is only one Irish Dance class right now, and it's for the 10-11 year olds. But since I didn't have anything to do in the afternoon I went ahead and asked if she wanted another assistant (most dance classes for younger students have at least one older student who helps keep the class in order and with technique). Well the student/assistant who helped out in that class is getting really busy and won't be there on time every week, so guess who is the new assistant for the 10-11 year old Irish Dancers? Moi! I am now officially excited to go to TAFA every week. I know I am going to have a blast with those kids. They are all so cute! And hey, I get some extra practice in every week.

Speaking of Irish Dance, I finally started at the dance school. My first day was a nightmare. The beginner class was too young, I knew most of the dances, but then the next level up was way beyond anything I could do. It was absolute chaos, and I had no idea what I was doing. So the teacher went ahead and stuck me in with the beginners. The oldest girl in the class besides me is probably around.... 10ish? So there is a 7 year difference. Great. The tallest girl there is around 4'5''. So there is a foot difference right there. I'm loving it.... not....

One of my goals this year is too get out of the beginner class as soon as I can. I am really excited to get back into dancing, and start moving at my pace again. For the next couple months it will be slow, but once I am outta there I'm sure I will love it again :)

The Best Sunday

2010-01-03T19:33:00.000-08:00

So today was one of my favorite Sundays ever. We had a great teacher in Sunday School, and I didn't get to practice two of the hymns for Sacrament Meeting, yet I managed to play them without too much damage :) Young Womens has been hard to get through since I am one out of only three "old kids", one of which was out of town today. But today I loved it. My piano skills were needed for the first half an hour in primary, so I came into YW pretty late. Sister W. was teaching. The topic was Jesus, and how He loves us. I've heard the lesson a million times, will hear it a million times more. Jesus loves you, He has gone through everything you have, you are not alone, etc... the usual. I teared up just a little because the leaders cried a few times (I can't look at someone who's crying without tearing up at least a little...or laughing but not because I am making fun, just because it's what I do when people cry. Weird, I know). I was completely fine though. Then they pulled out this picture:

All of the sudden I just started bawling! I couldn't look at it without crying and I couldn't really figure out why I was even crying! It's just a picture! They told us how it went along with the theme, and it would be on the bulletin board for the rest of the year. Great. Now I will be crying every Sunday for the next year. I still don't know why I love this picture so much, but it made my day. I was so happy after that. To make my day even better, I had an interview with the Bishop because I finished Personal Progress (yea!!!!), and also to get my Patriarchal Blessing (yea again!!!). The bishopric and the young women president are going out of their way to make sure I get the "old silver medallion" I requested. It was a very good Sunday. I also got asked to give a talk in two weeks, but I am not upset. I don't think much could upset me today :)

Christmas and New Years

2010-01-02T10:03:00.001-08:00

I think my family has given up on taking pictures on holidays, because I only have two...

We had our gift opening on the monday before Christmas, and spent Christmas Eve and Christmas Day in Hawaii with Dad! I could not believe I was actually going to Hawaii again. It took forever to get out. Our plane had a mechanical problem, and it had to be de-iced twice! Did you know that there is a TWO HOUR difference in the flying time coming back? It took eight looooooooooooong hours to get there, and only six to get back.

We ate dinner at Dukes, and went straight to bed.

This is me on our hotel balcony. It was taken on a really high zoom from the street down below. I could not believe we were so high up.

We rented this car that squeaked and bounced around everywhere. I loved it though! It reminded me of the Indiana Jones Ride. We went to the North Shore and saw the huuuuuge waves:

And though you can't see them in this picture, they really were huge. We watched a few brave surfers paddle out to the big group, and a few catch some waves. It was so much fun! Notice Madre's and my hair. Don't even try straightening your hair when it's cloudy and rainy in Hawaii.

The highlight of the trip was probably going surfing... or the plane ride home. We sat in first class. Oh. My. Gosh. The seats lean all the way down like a bed! And you get a foot rest! And lots of food! It was awesome.

Now for New Years. No pictures sorry!

Jenna came! Wahoo!!!! I was so excited for her to come! She got here the Sunday after Christmas. Monday we went shopping (of course), then she went to a friend's house for the night. Next we went Ice Skating with the Crew, where Rebecca dislocated her knee :-/ Then we hung out with a venturing friend C, shopped some more, visited Rebecca, ate some Jamba, then off the the New Years Dance!

The gang came over after the dance and we watched the worse movie ever, and we didn't go to bed until five!

We planned an awesome day on New Years. We went to see Sherlock Holmes (wait for dollar theaters or Red Box to see it), with a whole bunch of friends, and this guy Lauren met at the dance. Then we went to Chili's where another friend met us. It was so much fun! I can't wait to do it again. Jenna even got a date! Can you believe that?

Jenna left this morning :( but I am already planning when I can see her again. I miss you already Jen!

Christmas Formal

2009-12-14T15:36:00.000-08:00

I have definitely started getting more active at TAFA. I took more classes this year than I have since I was five, and I even signed up for Solo/Ensemble Competitions. I have to sing a memorized solo for a judge, but that's not the hard part. Everyone tells me that is fun! The hard part is the recital. That happens a day or two before the judging, and I have to sing in front of lots of students and their parents. I'm pretty sure I will just stare at the ceiling.

I also went to a toy give away a week ago. I caroled around the halls with friends, and played the piano. It was a lot of fun! I think I will go next year.

Last Saturday I went a TAFA Christmas Formal. It was my first one to go to, and I had a blast. They did take forever to get the food out but after that it was all good. Weirdest thing though, nobody danced! I was told there wouldn't be dancing, because it's a Baptist church and Baptists don't dance, but it was still weird.

We played games, watched people perform things, had a white elephant exchange, and I got a box of reeses pieces. Yummmmmmm.

These pics were really bad, but they are the only ones I could find so oh well!

P.S. The dress was $20. Didn't have to find a shrug or anything! It was so nice. Gotta love Half of Half :)

Look Familiar, Jenna?

2009-11-21T19:31:00.000-08:00

I was going through pictures from California and I found these. *Siiiiggghhhhhh* I miss those days.... we are so stupid ;)

New Moon

2009-11-20T19:42:00.000-08:00

So I didn't plan on seeing it. The trailers looked duh-umb, and I thought there was no way I was going to spend 10 bucks to see a stupid movie. So I made no plans, and decided I would wait for the dollar theaters. Buuuuuuuut Scoutmaster decided to take Madre and me on a date to see it. I feel bad for him. I don't think he liked it.

SO: I liked the first two minutes, then I didn't like it at all. And I didn't like the end either. Pretty much any of the parts with Edward I didn't like. But the middle, however ;) Those wolves sure are steamy! They were all so buff and tan, that by the time it got to the end and Ed had to stand in the sun shirtless, he just looked skinny and really really white. Not at ALL attractive. I knew I would be converted to Team Jacob once I saw New Moon.

Who cares about Edward anymore? Jacob is HOT!

Maryland

2009-11-09T14:27:00.000-08:00

I visited Jenna this weekend! FINALLY!!! I could not wait! I have soooooo much fun visiting the U's. I feel like they are my second family. I LOVE their little town. Jenna and all her friends told me how they can't wait to get out, but I don't think I would mind living in a little town. It seems like everyone knows everyone, and you probably see your school friends everywhere you go!

We went down town, about the size of my back yard, the cutest little down town there ever was. We walked around a little pet shop and I wondered if some of the animals they had, they got legally. We also went on a walk through the beaUtiful woods. And then we went to a football game! It was FUH-REEZING! The only time I can remember being so cold is when I was at High Adventure camp in CO. I really like Jenna's friends, they are all very, very nice. Btw, there are way more cute boys in Maryland than in Texas.

The next day (saturday) we went to Annapolis. A two hour drive. But we asked each other "would you rather" questions the whole way so it turned out to be a fun drive. Jenna and I shopped and shopped and shopped.

Sunday we went to church. Then attempted to do homework. In the time it took me to finish one essay, and start on another, Jenna had already done hours worth of homework, and written about 4 essays! I guess you learn to go super fast a public school....

Monday morning I went with Jenna to seminary, then we had to part ways :( I even started to tear up again, but I know that I will see her again. Soon. Sis. U took me to the airport, and I got to see Amish people! I had wanted to see them the whole week and we never got the chance. But I finally got to see them, yay! Jenna and I have agreed that we would like to go live with an Amish family for one week.

I can't wait until I can visit again. There is still so much I have to see. I haven't eaten the famous crab, been to downtown Annapolis, or seen the monuments in DC. Next time! Can't wait!

I miss you already!

2009-11-04T19:58:00.001-08:00

I miss her already :( When she first said a few months ago that she wanted to go on a mission, I could imagined the day she left with everyone else crying, and I would have a cool head. Sure I was going to miss her, but I was (and am) so happy she is doing what she is. It didn't bother me in the least bit. Then the day came and it totally flipped on me. Everyone else was fine. Only Grandpa got a little teary. I full out bawled! I still can't believe I lost it. Oh well. I miss her already. But I am not sad. Not at all :)

Before and After

2009-11-03T15:30:00.001-08:00

I cut my hair!!! I am so sorry, Jenna, I know I promised not to until December but I just couldn't take it anymore. When my hair is long, the curls get weighed down or something, because my hair just won't curl! But all this weather we have been having won't let me straighten it either. It's the worst. I had to wear my hair the same way everyday: in an ugly, messy bun. It was horrible. So a couple days ago I said "that's it!" and I called our hairdresser to set an appointment.

And how embarrassing is this? I have never called to make an appointment in my life. So I was actually kind of scared, but there's a first time for everything and it all went great, so no worries!

When I told Jenna that I set a hair appointment she told me I had to take pictures of my hair before I cut it, so I have posted as many good pictures of my long hair as I could find:

Beach with Holly just last week.
See? It's not THAT long! Just long for me.

Drum roll please!...........
Ta-da!!!!

I love it I love it I love it I love it I love it I LOVE IT!!!!!
Of course I had to take an after-hair-cut photo shoot outside.
I haven't seen it curly yet, I guess I will find out what it does tomorrow when I take a shower.

And thanks again Caroline for driving me to the appointment!!!!

Mom and Dad and Holly are in Utah right now, sending Holly off! I put this up as soon as I could so Holly gets a chance to see it before entering the MTC tomorrow. What do you think, guys?

"Rain, Rain, go away...."

2009-10-21T15:44:00.000-07:00

Looks like we'll get some ice this winter. All it ever does is rain.

Time Flies

2009-10-08T20:15:00.000-07:00

I can't believe it's already October. Time is flying by so fast! School is going great, YW's is still different, seminary is awesome, Irish dance is getting harder. Just a few weeks more and I am gonna have rockin' calves!!! I can't WAIT to visit Jenna! I can't wait for some change, something to do and look forward to. It's been the same schedule for so long, it's time for something new.
The weather is so dreary. All it does is rain rain rain rain rain! We have a few bursts of sunshine now and then, but the clouds always come back. Maybe it means we'll have a snowy christmas for once.
Holly will be leaving soon. I didn't realize I was worried about her being away for so long, until I felt relieved knowing that she was still going to be in the states, and that was she still "near" us. It will be just like it was before when she was at college, only I won't be able to come up and visit.
Church is so different. I miss my friends. I miss Jenna. I miss Jenna every single day. We text sometimes I guess. But I can't just call Jenna up and say "Let's go on a bike ride" or "Let's see what kind of trouble we can get in today" or just whatever. It's BORING! There's nothing to do anymore! Getting into pickles and all sorts of trouble and getting lost around saginaw and going shopping and making random runs to Jamba and Sonic was a regular part of my schedule when Jenna was around. Now I sit around at home doing school work.
I can't wait for college.

First camp out of the year, yea!!!

2009-09-26T13:03:00.000-07:00

We had our first Venturing camp out of the year! It was a success, yea!!!

It's going to be very different, but one thing I noticed right off the bat is that none of the girls grouped off. No one got upset when they couldn't sit next to who they wanted to at dinner, or that they had a tent buddy that they didn't like, or whatever. I think we are all going to get along great this year :)

Another thing I noticed is that these girls need to be taught a lesson in how to properly use vocal chords. None of them know how to NOT yell. Hopefully we'll get the problem fixed before we go screaming into Virginia.

We had a blast wakeboarding this morning. I think it might be my new favorite water sport. It is SO much fun!

I made a funny/stupid move last week. I had on a dress with a sash that Holly really wanted to tie nicely, so we decided to iron it out first. I was too lazy to take off the dress so I just leaned over ironing board and stupidly put my hand on the board for support also. Just as I said "Holly don't burn me" she put the iron on my thumb. So I have a nice gaping burn on the joint on my thumb. Even though it hurts, I still laugh thinking about it.

F5 Embarrassing Moment

2009-09-15T16:30:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I had one of the worst embarrassing moments of my life:

At TAFA, after lunch, I have photoshop. The class had a photo shoot outside, and the teacher took lots of pictures of us doing funny poses and jumping, and then some close ups. When we got back to the computer lab she transferred all of our photo's to our computers and then taught us how to remove zits and blemishes in our faces. She had to use MY face as an example. And she did ask first, and of course I said yes, I didn't think it would be so bad. So she opens up my close up, and it comes up projected on the huge wall in front of the whole class for everyone to see, and I had one really bad zit right on my chin. How. Embarrassing. It wasn't too bad, until she zoomed in until my zit was the size of an orange. The whole class chorused one big "ewwwwww!". Oh. My. Gosh. It took all my effort to keep my face from turning red. It was horrible. No one made fun of me, thank goodness, and it gave me huge satisfaction to see that almost every other computer had a zoomed up picture of a zit too, this time it belonged to whoever was sitting at the computer. Still. It was one of the most embarrassing moments of my life.

School

2009-09-11T16:44:00.000-07:00

School has started. What can I say?.......................
I have been driving for a while now! Last night I drove on the freeway, at night, for the first time. It. Was. Horrible. I couldn't see a thing and it was super scary. I have vowed never to drive on the freeway at night EVER again.
This year seminary might be the best year ever. I LOVE it :)
I started Irish Dance lessons! I really think I am going to like it. The first lesson was hard. I am not that coordinated, but over time I think I will figure it out.
Nothing else to report. It's all the same boring schedule from here on out.

BYU vs. OU

2009-09-06T06:12:00.000-07:00

Yesterday Holly and I got the chance to go to the BYU vs. OU game!!! Thank you B's for offering us your extra tickets!!!

Walking in wasn't very fun. Surrounding us were mostly OU fans, and we got some rude comments now and then.

Here is the new awsome stadium. It was air conditioned, so it always felt pretty nice.

View from the inside. That's a giant... tv screen I guess, hanging from the middle. It was so cool. The stadium was absolutely filled with red. A few smatterings of blue and white. Thank goodness we got to sit with all our BYU fans.
BYU scored a touchdown not long after OU did. "Gooooooooooo COURGARRRRRRRS!!!!"
Yea they did it!!
There was a lot of texting and keeping in touch with friends who couldn't watch the game.
It started to get stressful at some points.
And finally they WON!!!! WOOOOHOOOOO!!!!
If you can't read the sign it says "Brigham Young Crashes Sooners"
YYYYYEEEEEEAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!
Walking back to the car leaving the game is a totally different experience when your team wins. All the OU fans were quiet and they stopped making fun, all the BYU fans were still chanting "BYU! BYU! BYU!". It was awesome. We got a little lost trying to find the car. Holly still owes me a sonic slushie after not taking the turn I was so sure we were supposed to take :) We got home around midnight. Exhausted. I am so glad it's Sunday.

I dyed my hair!!!

2009-09-01T14:44:00.000-07:00

My hair lightened up quite a bit over the summer, so today somebody finally needed to go to sally's, and I was able to get my hair dye!

Here is my "before" shot

Here is all our supplies
Holly was my hair stylist, and she did an amazing job!
She's getting ready :)
And we're ready to fry some hair!
I hoped she knew what she was doing...

Here we're about halfway through....

I think we got high from the smell...

Almost done!

Finished. And I think the shirt is finished too...
Rinsing...
Styling...
So you can kind of see how dark it is, even though all hair is dark when it's damp, this is not far from how it looks dry.
I forgot to take a picture of it dry. Don't know how that happened, but I will have a picture of it dry soon!

It's reeeeeeeally dark. I am going to have a hard time getting used to it. The dye says it doesn't fade but it always fades so I am sure it will get a little lighter in a few days.

Q&A

2009-08-31T19:32:00.000-07:00

Tafa was good today. I love my treble choir! I cant believe we are already back to singing Christmas songs! But some really good ones were picked this year, so I am super excited. Concert is really fun too, and I might have a few opportunities to try out for a solo or two. I know I wouldn't ever get a solo part, but it will still be a fun experience.
So after lunch today I talked with a non member, who had the BoM as well as the D&C, and had some questions. I was totally excited, and though we only got to talk for a few minutes, we decided to meet together at lunch the next week and talk some more. I was super excited and anxious thinking we might have a possible missionary opportunity here, and Sophie and I talked it over on the way to class and decided how we would talk to her about the church (Sophie gets so excited she has a tendency to jump ahead and then we're both in a pickle that we can't explain).
After my three o' clock class I sat in the study hall, and this girl found me and sat down, and we started right back up where we were before. She asked me all about saving grace/perfection, having faith and works, the bible being completely true, and the sacrament. It was so hard to answer all her questions, and she was so well informed! She had scriptures highlighted in both the BoM and the bible, and every answer I had I wasn't able to back up very well, and she always had some verse that seemed to contradict what I said. I had a hard time explaining myself clearly, and I think she misunderstood a lot of what I was trying to say.
I understood what she was trying to say, but we looked at things SO differently, it was very hard to explain in a way that she would understand. I have never been very good with words or explaining myself.
When I got home I was pretty confused and had a lot of questions for Mom and soon-to-be-missionary Holly. We spent a good hour looking up verses in the scriptures, bible and BoM. I did learn a lot, but mostly because I realized there was a lot I didn't understand, and I needed to know those things if I was going to be active in the home school community which happens to be in the biggest bible belt you have ever been in. These kids know their stuff pretty well. They can recite scripture like no other. However I did learn that they misunderstand quite a bit of what they read.
I feel a little bit more prepared when I go back next week. Hopefully it will be the last discussion we have. I am pretty sure she is not interested in the church, just in proving the church wrong :(

Update

2009-08-30T18:24:00.000-07:00

Last night was another stake dance. Booooooriiiiiiiing. But all my friends were there, so it was fun to hang out with them. Tafa has started. I am in two choirs, and a photoshop class, which I know I am going to love. I am trying to get to know people, but they all belong to some clique or another, so it's pretty hard being apart of a conversation. I am sure they are all excited to see each other since it's only the first week, and it's easy to forget about the new girl, even though I am not that "new", I am unheard of so I am pretty much "new".

As you know, english has started too. That is going pretty well. It's not hard... yet...

Church is... different... Every time I go to a wednesday night activity it gets harder and harder not to want to just stop coming. Sometimes Kisa isn't there, and then I am the oldest. I love the girls, and I love talking with them and we all get along great but sometimes it's nice to have someone there your age.

I drove for the first time at night! I hit a toad :( But this means that I can now drive to seminary every morning!!! That means I will have the chance to drive at least once a day, almost everyday! It is SO scary, but I love driving, so yay!

I still miss you tons, Jenna :(

First morning of seminary

2009-08-27T05:14:00.000-07:00

I just keep having to say "2 more years 2 more years 2 more years 2 more years...". Every year on the first morning of seminary I am reminded again that I am not a morning person. I feel so bad for my previous seminary teachers. I was probably the worst student in the class. I have this problem with talking back to teachers? I have no idea where it comes from, but my family is ashamed after they hear the sort of things I have said in seminary. I have gotten in full blown arguments about various, usually stupid, things. But seminary teachers are SO unfair! I can't be the only one to have noticed that. I know that if they had just listened to me, they would have seen the injustice they were inflicting on us poor students forced to go to "cemetery" at 6 in the morning. It's horrible! But this year I promise to be good. We have a sister teaching us this year. Thank goodness! I am starting to think women are more understanding than men.

Mowing the lawn in Tejas

2009-08-20T10:33:00.000-07:00

I mowed the lawn today. Do you think breathing in dirt can give your lungs the same effect as smoking?

Number of English Class days left = 35. Number of stress free days left = 0

2009-08-19T18:52:00.000-07:00

Today was my first day of Mrs. Lambert's English class. Last year I dreaded her class every week, and I don't think this year will be much different. I jumped one of her classes to catch up with my grade, so I am in a Junior AP class. I. Am. Going. To. Die. If I thought the freshman class was hard, then this is... what's a word that means much more than "hard" or "difficult"? I'm sure I will learn one this year in my super _______ English Class

I have to admit, I think her class is a little better the second time you go. I know exactly what to expect now, which in a way also makes it worse, because you know what your in for, and you also know it's going to be a lot harder. But I also know how the kids are (extremely opinionated, very smart, and they hate Obama's guts), so I know how to get along with them, and I even talked to several of the students today. The class is bigger by about 5 people, which makes a really big difference to me but I am sure that's nothing in public schools. We even have 2... maybe 3 pretty decent looking boys in the class too. That makes class SO much more interesting ;)

How do the public schooled kids do it? If I had hour and a half AP classes everyday, 5 days a week, AND homework, I would be prematurely gray. Or bald.

New Ward

2009-08-16T14:44:00.000-07:00

Well... the dreaded ward split has happened. Our little ward isn't barren compared to the wards we visited in LA but it is a lot smaller than before. I have lost over half my friends, but we will still see each other I am sure. Today there were only 12 young women, and we all had class together. Apparently that is how it's been for the past two weeks. We're not sure if the YW will split into their separate groups at all. If it does, Kisa and I will be the ONLY laurels! Seminary is so small, all ages will be together in the same class.

Nothing much has been going on, just trying to get back into our normal schedules. English (uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuggggggggggggggggggggggghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh) starts on wednesday. TAFA next monday. Thank goodness I don't usually start on the rest of my schoolwork until a few days into September.

So totally unrelated to any of this, I have decided when I grow up I am going to move to Switzerland. I read about them online, and learned that they have a really good economy and military and other things. I just need to learn German and Italian when I am done with French, then I will be good to go.

Man's Best Friend

2009-08-14T15:34:00.000-07:00

While we were in CA, Madre talked with Caroline on the phone back home and Caroline relayed something that happened between Scout and David one day. Scout was rather irritable and little Davy came romping around and no one was there to witness it, but he must have stepped on her, or annoyed her in some way, and she nipped him, and growled at him. He wasn't seriously injured. There wasn't any blood. Either way, Madre was very concerned, and I totally understand. She discussed it with Dad and they tried to find another home for her, but in the end Dad had her put to sleep.

Yes, I am upset, and a little angry. But I fully understand and agree that it's dangerous to have an irritable half Pitt dog and that another accident could have happened, and that time it might have been a lot worse than some teeth marks.

Scout was a very, very strong dog, despite her small frame. She had an incredibly hard jaw and could bite her way through anything, as evidenced by all the chewed up pieces of our house. Pretty soon we will have a house full of small children, and we just couldn't risk something happening, even though never in a million years could I imagine Scout harming someone. But I've heard that's what they all say...

From the first day or two that Scout was with us, I felt that she would be a short term dog. I know she's just a dog but I guess Heavenly Father was trying to prepare me early on. I'm very glad that we had her. She has been one of our best dogs, and I desperately hope that she is happy wherever she is. I will miss her. We got her at just the right time; Holly and Caroline were gone, it was just me, Madre, and sometimes Dad. It was nice having someone else around.

Pictures in California

2009-08-13T08:38:00.001-07:00

Emma's new book title: The Stupid Things Emma and Jenna Have Done.

2009-08-11T19:20:00.000-07:00

Well.... Jenna is gone :( We took her to the airport a couple days ago, and NO I did not make a scene like I thought I would. I only teared up a little :)

This entire California trip mostly consisted of swimming, some shopping, and lots of laughter and smiles. We found the biggest and best Forever 21 yet! We had fun transforming my punk rock cousin into a proper little lady, and mostly just walking around in awe.

We went to the beach almost everyday and got our South Padre tans back (yes!). Only bummer is, we never got to go surfing :(

We went to Disneyland, and even got some of those nifty flash passes, but unfortunatley, we never used them. We met a new friend, Abi, who is hilarious. She is very non-girly, and she shook our hands goodbye. We had two chances to spend time with her; At the beach, and also after church on sunday. She was a good buddy :)

We went down to a new tide pooling spot, and collected over 300 sea urchins! There were also tons of star fish, and several sea slugs. I practically went swimming in the tide pools to collect all those shells.

On sunday, Jenna and I decided to go back to the tide pools, just the two of us. There is the critical mistake: Just. The. Two. Of. Us. Whenever something happens to us, it's just the two of us.
Some how we got caught in a rattle snake trap, almost created a landslide, had to get help climbing over a fence, and hours later our legs were still shaking from climbing over around 300 suuuuper steep steps. It was horrible. We were COVERED in dirt and grime, and I never want to show my face in that area again.

Everytime we are in the middle of some pickle like that, we always say the same thing "We are soooooooo duuuuuuumb!". But by the end, we are glad we went through it, and we're even more glad we were with eachother.

What am I going to do NOW Jenna? Who am I going to argue with when I'm stuck in a sand pit surrounded by rattle snakes? Who's going to stand behind a fence and yell "Excuse me...sir?" like an idiot with me? Well...I'm sure we'll have plenty more experiences at college. There's plenty of bear/cougar infested mountains to hit in Provo :)

Summer part II

2009-07-29T08:41:00.001-07:00

I guess since my last post was "summer" I should keep it going, since it didn't end with south padre. South Padre was just a great start to a great summer.

Like I said, Jenna and I have been inseparable. So it was pretty wierd when she left for EFY. I was super bored. But shortly after Jenna left for Utah, I flew up to stay with Holly. I got to meet a lot of her friends and go with them to breakfast. I really like being with her and her friends and seeing what college life is like. I can't wait for college!
We hiked up Timp. to see a waterfall. Honestly, the whole mountain looked like something out of Bambi. It was covered in flowers, and we saw lots of chimpmunks and bee's and such.
I especially liked wandering around BYU campus with her while she worked with her really wierd but cool guy friend.
I ran stairs till I puked. Around 350 steps altogether.
Then on saturday we went to the Gateway Mall. Aaaaaaahh heaven.... and then we went to dinner with Jenna's family, and some old friends from Texas. It was so wierd seeing how big all the kids have gotten!
From then on I was with Jenna. Sunday we started out drive.
To sum up the entire car ride, it consisted of:
"I have to pee!"
Corn.
"Move your pillow, I can't see!"
Flat land as far as the eye can see.
"I don't want to watch that movie!"
More corn.
"WWWAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!"
*sigh*

But despite all the screaming children, I really did have fun! I knew I would. I signed up for it knowing what I was in for, and I had a ton of fun.

Nauvoo was really fun. It was cool seeing everything again and remembering from when I was there 6 or 7 years ago. I loved seeing the temple, it really is one of the most beautiful temples in my opinion. Of course there were lots of cute mormon boys to see :)

Ohio was awsome. I loved staying in the cave (the room with no windows so its pitch black) with Sierra and Jenna. I saw Harry Potter, and I didn't like it, though I still enjoyed it. Then I saw The Proposal. So. Funny.

Maryland was..... green. Very tree-y. Very buggy and humid. But it is very pretty, and I hear the sea food is great! However, I didn't eat any sea food. I wanted to try seeing if I could not eat any meat for a week. And I got through the week! Everyone thought I was crazy to go to Maryland and skip out on the sea food, but I knew I was going to come back sometime, and I would just have some then :)

My mom came and picked up Jenna and I and flew us home. Aaaaah home sweet home. I missed the heat, and the space! Maryland felt so closterphobic. Despite that Maryland has way more oxygen giving trees, I feel like I can breathe better in Tejas.

We stayed long enough to go to Mariah's birthday party at Jump For Fun. Awsome place, loved it! And we also went to a dance/fireside, where we got to hear from Sis. Dalton and her husband :) I got to see Edmund from Chronicles of Narnia AGAIN! I even said something to him!
Jenna spent the night with friends from school.
And we got to go to our small ward. It's not that much different. Just that most of my friends are gone :( but we all have a permit atleast, so we'll be able to drive to eachother to hang out very soon.

Right now Jenna and I are in CA. We had to fly to Austin first, then from Austin to CA. Jenna flew in first, lucky duck. First thing we did when we got back was go to an In N' Out. I am so glad I am not actually a vegitarian. Then we swam in the pool. Then it was to the beach! It's wierd being in the calm, florida like south padre, and then in the cold, rough waves of the pacific. We know we'll get wallopped trying to surf next week.

We have two weeks in CA before Jenna leaves for Maryland, and I go home to Texas. And I'm sure I'll be posting tons of cool things we'll be doing. Next week: DISNEYLAND!!!!

Summer

2009-07-24T19:58:00.000-07:00

I can't believe how fast summer flying by! I wish it would slow down. Everyday I think about my impending doom: Mrs. Lambert's English Class. u.g.h.

This summer has been probably my busiest but best summer ever. Jenna and I have been inseparable. Out of one month we have spent only a few nights away from each other. I keep waiting for us to crack and start screaming at each other like sisters, but so far so good.

Here is us playing with makeup and taking pictures for thousandth time :)

For many of my friends, our high adventure trip is the highlight of the summer. First impressions were not so great. It was hot. Five of us had snorkeled in Hawaii, so murky, muddy, and extremely salty bay water was just plain nasty. But I guess it somehow grew on us.

Everyone got to touch a sea turtle, some of us touched a sting ray, and I touched an octopus! Jenna and I kayaked very close to a dolphin. Of course we went way outside the boundary line (naturally, we're gonna get in trouble together), but we saw a dolphin! So it's worth it, right?

We burned. Badly.

We sailed; Jenna "accidentally" ran into the "hot coasties".

We snorkeled in 3 foot water with some crazy sea animals. I saw a sting ray again though this time it was a lot bigger and I didn't stick around.

We burned.

Everyone surfed, and everyone stood up.

We prepared for what we thought would be a tropical storm, but turned out to be nothing.

We burned.

We flirted with the mormon boy scouts.

We visited a coast guard station, where Jenna and I decided we needed more time to be guides in CO and SP and go to BYU as well as a cosmetology school/dental hygiene, and still be in the USCG for 4 years.

We were the second group in five years to kayak 3 miles around the jetty's to surf side.

We totally dominated in a game of volleyball against the boys.
We FRIED. But that mean a good tan so we didn't mind so much.

We "thought" we heard someone walking outside our tents every night. Happened to be a trash bag.

We were sandy head to foot all week.

We were cut up head to foot.

We named the crabs.

We had the BEST staff. A bit smaller than last years, but that meant that you got to talk to them more and get to know them. They really were just like us, just a little older. Same maturity level :)
We loved hanging out together.
WE HAD A BLAST!!!!

Just For The Record

2009-06-21T19:08:00.000-07:00

So I know i've been taking some pretty long breaks in between posts, and so now I have both an opportunity to update this, and record something that I really REALLY enjoyed and that I don't ever want to forget!!!

This week was Girls Camp. Theme was LOL, Living Our Legacy. It was so good I loved it! I was a first year YCL (double meaning there: It was my first year as a YCL, and also I was over the first year girls). I loved the first years. They are so excited about camp, they love EVERYTHING. They aren't old enough to be all hormonal and have an attitude, and they haven't experienced the really good camps to compare to, so this is just the best thing they have ever done!!! It's great!!!

The camp we had was all old western style, and our cabin was attached to some stables. There was a big cafeteria, and a million little cabins with names like Broncos, and Carriage House on them. There was also ballroom, a theatre, and a pool house. But I'll get to the pool house later he he he....

The first day, the Gang and I explored every inch of that place. We found an old abandoned truck, some poles with animal figures in top surrounding a fire pit (we called is the Salem Witch Trials Place, don't ask me why), some goats in a pen, some adorable kittens in a chicken coop, some crazy barn with an invisible animal. I swear there was something that growled at us in there, but we couldn't find anything.

The meals by the way, were so small. We barely got anything to eat! Maybe I just eat a lot....

Next day all the other girls came. We had the usual first day: Take group pictures, unpack, get to know the camp, get to know the YCL's, eat, have devotional. It was nice!

Jenna and I would always intend to go back to the cabin to pick something up, and almost every time we got in that cabin we would fall asleep on the beds that we laid down on for "just a couple minutes".........zzzzzzzzzzzzz..............

The next day the leaders got on to us about not being with our girls. We were much better that day..... except when we went to the pool house....

Jenna, Kelli, Nicole, Kisa, Rebecca, Erika, Mariah, Lauren and I all decided to go tell scary stories in the pool house. The pool house was not very far away from the cabins, but apparently it was just far enough. As we were all heading out there, we saw all these other girls coming out of their cabins and heading in a million different directions. We even heard some other girls saying they were going to other cabins to tell scary stories so we were definitely NOT the only ones. We got inside the pool house and we all huddled on the one little couch, and whoever was telling the story had to sit in a chair just in front of us. To freak ourselves out even more, we turned out all lights except one on the far side of the room. The stories were OK, until Mariah started sharing her personal ghost encounters. And Oh. My. Gosh. You have never seen a bigger bunch of chickens than us. Kelli, Kisa, and Nicole ditched us because they got so scared.

Once they were gone Mariah continued, and I still have no idea how it happened but before you know it we were screaming and running in all directions to get out. Mariah tackled Jenna and was yelling "NO you are STAYING to hear the rest! None of you are leaving yet!"

We all huddled back on the couch shaking and clutching each others arms.

All of the sudden I look out the windows on the doors and I see two leaders with flash lights not far outside the pool gates. I pointed out the window and said "Look, there are people out there!" Immediately all the girls are going "Oh Emma, please cut it out you are really freaking me out!" and I just said "No REALLY, look they are right there! Oh my gosh you guys! We are totally busted!" and we are all echoing the same things "oh crap" and "shoot" and "what were we thinking? Are we supposed to be in here?"

Lauren had the perfectly brilliant idea to go turn off the lights, as to NOT attract attention though I must point out it did the exact opposite. The leaders came in the door on the opposite end from us and just like the cops shining there lights in your car window at night, they flashed there lights at us and asked "Who is in here!!!!?". We managed to mumble out some "saginaw" and "Mariah and Jenna and...." and then Sis. P was pointing out the doors saying "Bed. NOW."

You didn't need to see her face to know that there was the biggest, sternest frown you have ever seen. And boy did we get out of that pool house fast. Two more seconds and we were across the field and in our cabins.

We sat on our bunks and talked it over again, all repeating the same "Oh craps" as earlier. We all agreed that we had three options that could have saved our skins and they were 1) leave with the chickens Kelli, Kisa and Nicole. 2) just left when we started getting freaked out, and resisted Mariah. and 3) tackled Lauren when she went to turn off the light. But, we all agreed that we didn't regret it for a second!

Next morning we were all given a talkin' to of course, and we were all on our best behavior of course. I was EARLY to flag, whereas the day before I didn't even go. And I didn't skip a single activity.

So I did do some things right. My first year girls really liked me, I think :) but I also was HORRIBLE! I feel so bad about some of my behavior, and I am just so glad that none of the younger girls noticed that I was late and sometimes ditched a lot of the meetings.

So, I have vowed that I am going to be on my very best behavior next year. And I will try to fill the shoes of the best YCL ever, Holly. I am so glad I was able to go to camp when she was my YCL. She was amazing and now I can look back and remember all she did and try to be like her.

For Caroline

2009-05-10T18:02:00.000-07:00

Caroline's been complaining that I haven't updated my blog. Why? Because there just isn't a whole lot to write about! I just haven't been doing anything interesting lately. Am I complaining? Nope :) I like a little calm....

I must mention the two great movies I've seen in the past month: 17 Again and Star Trek. I loved them both, want to own them both, and totally recommend them :)

Yesterday was our Crew Car Wash. We thought it would be a total failure and we would have to close up shop early. It was cloudy and all weather reports promised rain. We were blessed, and we got no rain, and quite a few people came. One of our very first customers gave a HUGE donation, and I am talking HUUUUUUUGE. I don't know that I can say just how much, but it was a lot, and we were very surprised and grateful.

I went to Women's Conference last week with Holly and Madre. I liked it, and I am glad I went. However, I don't think I will go again till I am a few years older. I was 1 out of the 5 sixteen year olds there.

I spent quite a bit of time wandering around BYU campus. I went bowling with Dad and Holly, got my best score ever (75), and had a really great time.

I am torn. Dad wants me to finish Cosmetology school and then move on to BYU and get a business degree. I love BYU, but I am sure I would fail every class... so I am not sure that I really want to go there. And that's a lot of money to be spending too. Cosmetology school is expensive enough as it is.... Thank goodness I still have a few years to decide.

3 'o clock, rise n' shine!!!

2009-04-14T00:54:00.000-07:00

It's three in the morning. I woke up around 2:30 because I had this CUH-RAZY dream. In the dream, some lady kept picking out all these skirts with price tags on them just like regular clothes, but the price was the level of how bad I had to go pee......? Like 7 was sorta bad, and 24 was "I gotta go right now". So I got all mixed up and confused, woke up and had to go to the bathroom. So I got up and went, tried to go back to bed again, couldn't because I kept thinking about the dream, and then I had to go again. There are only so many times you can go and still have to go 5 min. later!!! Is there something wrong with me?

So I kept trying to just go to sleep, forget about the dream, because if I think about it then it will come, and I will just get up and go to the bathroom.

So there I am laying down trying to relax and fall asleep and I can't..... because I have to go again. Stupid recurring dream... When I get stressed out and I really just want to relax, I have to do some Yoga. So I dragged myself out again and went into the living room, opened the DVD cabinet and searched around for a Yoga DVD I wanted to do. Dad took it on his trip dangit, so now I am wandering around the Internet trying to find something interesting to do. Why is it no one is on Facebook at 3:02 in the morning? I have over 100 friends there is bound to be someone who can't sleep like me, right?

There's no competition

2009-04-01T18:43:00.000-07:00

This is me:

This is the Cake Lady:

First Date

2009-03-28T07:31:00.000-07:00

Last night I went on my very first date!!! But it was a blind date. Blegh. I like knowing who it is, it's so much less stressful. It was stressful for me because I was afraid it was someone I didn't even know, and I don't make conversation very well, and it would just be awkward... Well I was dying to know who my date was, and I did find out before the actual date, which I kind of feel bad about. Someone who knew, told someone who told someone who etc... told me. So I calmed down QUITE a bit :)

I went with Anthony, this CRAZY guy, but he was very gentlemanly and nice :) Also there was Rebecca + Sam, and Garrett + Carly. We went out to eat, and then went to Garrett's place and played Apples to Apples, pool, and watched a movie. I had a ton of fun!

Next time, I would really like to know who my date is, and I want Jenna to be there. I always imagined Jenna being there on my first date. Next time then!!!

Also yesterday I picked up an application for a lifeguard position at the rec center. Preparing for my first job, and my first date all in one day. I am getting old FAST!....

I'M 16!!!!!!

2009-03-14T13:09:00.000-07:00

Yea I am sixteen!!!! I feel so old. But really....16's not that old. Just a little over a decade and a half.

Last night was prom. I was so stressed and running behind and freaking out, I didn't grab a camera OR a phone on my way out the door. So please excuse my lack of pictures.

I hardly slept the night before. I was stressing out about my hair, my legs being so freakishly white, and being too dressed up and too many other things to mention... thankfully my hair turned out pretty good if I may say so myself :) my legs were vampire white, but there was nothing I could do about that (stupid weather hiding all my sun). And there were tons of girls WAAAAAY more dressed up than me so no worries there.

I danced with a guy Jenna and I thought looked just like a Jacob Black and would you believe it, his name is Jacob!!!! We had a good conversation and he was really nice, so I had a lot of fun!
I rode on an automated bucking bronco. So. Fun. The girls had to change into scrubs, or put sweats on underneath their dress in case it flew up as you flew off the bull. I wish I knew how long I lasted... I think it was somewhere between 15 and 20 sec.

All my peeps spent the night with me after prom, and we had cake in the morning. I picked angel food cake, with strawberries and whipped cream so it was pretty much the same as waffles. It was delicious Caroline!!! And I am still working on my huge slice :)

We spent the next hour and a half we had together wondering what we wanted to do, and we finally decided we would figure it out this week since it's spring break.

UUUUUUURRRRRGGGGHHHHHAHKJHIRUHGFJSNSJBVNYQTEU.....

2009-03-04T19:11:00.001-08:00

So I have a pile of clothes I decided a LONG time ago I would take to Plato's Closet to get some cash for. Well I was cleaning out my closet today, and as I was sorting through my clothes I kept finding things I didn't really wear anymore... were too small... I didn't like... and my pile of Plato clothes just got bigger and bigger. Then I started daydreaming...
I imagined myself walking into Plato's Closet with my bag full of clothes, them sorting through it while I walked around and looked at some of the other clothes, maybe bought a couple items, and then they called me back to the desk to tell me I had earned (drum roll) $70!!!!!! (*UNBELIEVABLY HUGE GASP!!!*) Cha. Ching! Now I can buy a hair curler, some new makeup at ULTA, more clothes, accessories for prom etc....
So I talked to Dad, told him I had to go to Plato's closet. We went. And I walked in, gave them my clothes, came back thirty minutes later and the lady said "The only thing we liked was this (white polo shirt), and we will give you 90¢ for it. And we donate the rest (my other 10 perfectly good shirts) to–" some charity I don't remember. 90 cents!!!! ? I hate plato's closet. And I am NEVER going there again.

The store was filled to the brim with clothes, and they were all 70 (I hate that number) percent off. So I am sure they were being extremely picky and choosy because they were overloaded already, but... I still wonder. Maybe I have really bad taste in clothes....?

Peace!

2009-02-27T21:24:00.000-08:00

Tonight I went to a TAFA friends sweet sixteen, the theme was dress to your favorite era.

I was a hippie :)

I don't know why but I just did something on here and now my letters are all messed up. Oh well, I guess I will have to deal with it...

I went with my friend K, who came back to TAFA this year. Yeah!!!! I missed her a lot and I was really sad when she left for a year. I am making her try out for a choir next year that we can be in together :)

She was a hippie like me, though I was a little more over dressed....

Ah! They are normal again!!!! I met L tonight, she is really sweet and funny and I like her a lot.

It was a little hard joining in the conversations and cliques at first, but I got to know a couple new people in the end, I had a blast :)