A New Year.

Some are probably expecting all of my New Year Resolutions on this post. Well, that's not the case this year. I figure, that it is only an important NYR if I can keep it without being reminded or an attitude of  "I'm-scared-of-the-judgments-of-others-if-I-don't-keep-it". And you know, I think it will hold a higher accomplishment value if I can do all of the things I want to this year for myself; not for others. So while I need the support and encouragement of dear friends and family, I would like you to continue just being there for me. Thank you so much for your love! I have felt it strongly this past year.

And now, as 2010 has closed {with all of it's jobless-ness, moving, finding myself again (which is tough!), and all of the other negative things} I will leave those negative things behind, remember the finer moments of 2010, and hope, work, and pray for an even better 2011.

Finer Moments of 2010:
-Cleaning the Sink @ Angie's with my Roommies.
-Sledding & Watching Movies on the Bigscreen @ the McLaughlin's in Idaho.
-Directing the Ward Choir with LOTS of help and support of others!
-Singing in the BYU Women's Chorus & Being on the Publicity Committee when we 'Sold Out' a Solo Concert.
-Having Friends Come Visit me in Utah (Oh HEY Katie Williams!)
-Mom Coming up for Women's Conference
-Movie Nights/Going on Midnight Runs with Roommies and Nora.
-Blogging
-Road Trip to SLC to see Merica & Jaron get married and getting to see the rest of the Martin/Jansons too!
-Going to see the Gila Valley Temple
-Teaching Swimming Lessons
-Getting a New Job
-My last talk with Nora before she Went on a Mission.
-Going to Parker to Hang out with Kaighty Scott
-Visiting Ally Snow on Her Birthday
-Hanging out with the Brittney Chapman in Mesa
-Going to Josh & Kayla's Wedding Reception
-Shooting some engagements for Ben & Mallory
-Flying to Utah and Spending a week re-united with my BFF's (Honey, WHERE is my SUPER SUIT?!)
-Getting to see the Taylors
-Watching a FABULOUS BYU football game-We won!
-Having Sheri Ward come and visit AZ
-Thanksgiving at our house
-Running a 10k, doing one the next monday, and then going 10 miles the next monday after that.
-Having a Game Night at Grandma Gail's and Papa Tom's with Mary too!
-High School Lunch table Reunion.
-Singing in the Ward Choir and doing the Descant
-CHRISTMAS!
-Fireworks Christmas Night
-Going to Olive Garden with my Family to hang out and laugh our heads off.
-Going to see 'Tangled' with Mom & Stephie right after Olive Garden.
-Having a Girls night at Grandma Janet's
-New Years Eve Party at our house

I'm sure that SO many other moments could have been on that list. 2011 is going to be a Grand Year. I can feel it!

I hope that 2011 is a year of happiness for you too!

{♥.}

"Honey? Where is My Super Suit?!"

So I was going through my pictures trying to remind myself what has happened in the past month...wait, month and a HALF?! Oi. Well there really aren't many pictures (my camera broke.) so I have to remember by myself.

First & best of all- I went to Utah to Visit! It was one of my Favorite Vacations ever.

Wednesday- Andy Picked me up at the Airport and then we went to his house to work on his blog. It was so good to catch up with him! He then Drove me to Provo {THANK YOU ANDY!!!!} so I could see my beloved roommates! When I got there Tara was home and so we screamed and hugged and then watched the Disney Channel {an old pasttime of ours}. Then Kelley came home- there was more screaming and more hugging and lots of "I miss you!"s. We just caught up with each other and decided that we were STARVING and that we'd wait for Alex so we could all go get food. Enter Alex- MORE screaming/ hugging {do you see a trend here?} and catching up. We decided to go to Sammy's- one of the most excellent places for shakes and burgers. Seriously- I had a coconut cupcake shake. I know you're thinking, "so what?" WELL, they use a Gourmet cupcake from The Cocoa Bean and then blend the whole thing into yummy thick ice cream! It's to DIE FOR. Plus the Decor is so cool. Polaroid pictures everywhere and a custom mural on the back wall. We then went home and ??? I'm drawing a blank- most likely we popped in a movie- OH WAIT. Kelley went to the Library, as did Tara and Alex studied and I watched 'gLee' and 'Lie to Me'. Thennnnnnn- I believe I went to bed after chatting with Alex. Kelley got home super late and left early so I didn't even see her til later the next day. But I did go and sleep in her bed after she left- and the Landlady brought in a group of boys to tour the apartment- I just acted like I was asleep. I was TIRED.

{Sammy's!}

Thursday -I went Shopping. Hardcore. I walked up to Buy Low and then hit the Dollar Tree- Then I went to Seagull Book and Then to Shopko....By the time I got out to shopko- It was POURING rain. So I went back and bought a poncho {Don't judge- I had lots of bags to carry and the umbrellas were like $12. The poncho worked better PLUS it was only $5 and BYU Blue. I then walked across the street to Down East Basics and then to Albertsons. Whew! After that I walked back to Apt. 1 and THEN I walked up to the BYU bookstore to shop some more and meet Tara after School. I honestly don't know how I got everything home in my carry on that was already full when I arrived. Oh- well I DID forget my new sweatshirt. :( But hopefully I will mail money to my roommies soon so they can send it to me! {Or maybe I should visit again?!}Haha- then I put on a Moustache that I had gotten out of a 50 cent machine and had a good time with it. Anyway, That night Dave came over! {More yelling/hugging.} We had a blast and a half trying to catch hershey kisses in our mouths from across the room.Tara and Val {More Screaming/hugging} were throwing them to Dave and I. Haha- they were EVERYWHERE. And Dave and I kept saying the same things- same brainwave. It was pretty funny. "Honeeeeyyyyy? WHERE is my SUPER SUIT?!" HahaHA! Poor Tara- Dave and I  bashed David Artchawhatshisface pretty bad. {Really- WHY would the Mormon Tabernacle Choir pick HIM to be at the Christmas concert?!} Then Kelley came home and we all just chilled- That was one of the best nights of my life. I LOVED it.

{My Moustache.}

{My Cousin posted the picture below on my FB. It's my Great Great Great Grandpa. See the Resemblance?}

Friday was SUH-WHEET! I got to meet Julie's Fiance Tony- they are adorable!  Anyway- That night Kelley and I got Dave's Laundry from the Dryer for Him and apparently we grabbed the wrong Laundry basket- Whoops! In our defense, he said it was blue and that was the only blue one around...At least we got the right laundry, Right?! Hahaha! That gave us a good laugh when we found out what had happened. A little while later Kelley and Tara and I went to Macey's to get some dinner and while we were there, I saw Sooz and Mason!!! I was so good to see them! We then headed out to Lehi to go to Hogwarts! We had so much fun getting to meet Gilderoy Lockheart, {Who is a flirt} Professor Trelawny, {Who knows us pretty well} and getting to shop at Honeydukes! {Dave & Alex we were bummed you couldn't come!}When we got home Kelley's parents {who are totally amazing} came over and brought us COOKIES!!!! Lots and Lots of Yummy Cookies! Dave came over and we discovered that both of us were sick {must have been on the same brainwave still} and then he had to leave to work on his paper some more. We all were chillin' and then Katie and Luke came over too! It was fun to catch up with them too! That night, I'm pretty sure that we stayed up studying for Kelley's Anatomy test. Blugh. She is smarter than I'll ever be- there is no way I could remember all of those origins and stuff. Whew! We also listened to Adam Lambert's "If I had you" about a trillion times. :)

  

Saturday was GAME DAY!!!!! Tara and I woke up and went to the Homecoming Parade and Ate Blue pancakes- and took pictures and watched Dave in the Parade.

Then we headed back to the apartment and waited for Kelley to finish her test... Kelley's parents were awesome enough to give me their extra ticket, so when Kelley got back,  Tara, Kelley and I painted our Faces and went to the Game...

It was a BEAUTIFUL day, and guess what? WE WON!!!!! Those of you who have been tracking BYU this season will know what a blessing THAT was! Haha! It was a GREAT Game! We then went to meet Dave {He's on the Drumline.} And I met some of the McLaughlin's Friends from Hawaii! They were so FUN! We all just laughed and laughed! K, T and I then took tons of pictures and headed back to the apartment. We watched bull riding for awhile and then we put in 'Ever After'. We all fell asleep- and then had to wake back up and go to bed.


Sunday was Fantastic!!! We got up and ready for church, then Dave came over and we all walked to church together. Church was Great! It was so much fun to see everyone! People were like, "Are you Back?!" "Where have you BEEN?!" and "We've missed you!" Needless to say, I felt loved! {Thank you 43rd Ward Family!} After church I got ready to go- It was so sad. I packed everything up and then Joseph came over to catch up-What a good hometeacher! :) OH! And Kari and Kimber came over too! Before Church. I loved seeing them. After we had sat around for a little bit, it was time to go to the airport- so Kelley, Tara, Alex, Dave {with his Laptop and paper} and I  jumped in the car, ate some delicious Shannon breadsticks and headed to the airport singing all the way. It was so sad when I had to leave them! :( More hugs- no screaming...and then I walked into the airport. The only upside to being at the airport is that after I got through 'Suh-curity' in about 10 minutes, I was looking for somewhere to eat and an old black guard asked me if I was ok- "Yeah I'm just trying to find somewhere to eat!" And he handed me a saltwater taffy - How sweet. Had it been in Phoenix, , I wouldn't have eaten it- but Salt Lake City? Why do I think like this? Ha-OH well!
The Flight home was good. And It was good to be home.

Thank you so much for letting me come to Visit guys! I miss you all SO much and Can't wait til the next visit! Love you!!!


{♥.}

"And It's Another Cougar..... FIRST DOWN!"

So here's the "random things" update...

Last Weekend I went camping with my roommate Kelley and my new buddies Jennifer and Lyndsey. Whoo! It was GORGEOUS! We didn't have a tent, so we just slept out under the stars. Ahhhhh. I would do that again in a heartbeat! :D We went hiking and had a dance party, I won like 12 billion games of solitare, we played uno, and roasted starbursts and made smores....mmmmm. I LOVE CAMPING!!!



In other news, the sun was ORANGE a couple of weeks ago. It was SO WEIRD!!! Sign of the times? Who knows?



As most of you know, I made the BYU Women's Chorus as a 1st Soprano!!!! The funny thing is that I had been a 2nd Alto until College, a 1st Alto in A Capella, and then I got to BYU and they all keep telling me that I'm a Dramatic Soprano! (?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?) When I went into my preliminary audition, I told Monica that I had been an alto my entire life, so she checked my range (which goes from a D below middle C to an F above the high high C. [middle c high c high high c] ) and she looked at me and said, "You sang ALTO?! WHY?!?!?!" haha! I laughed so hard. ANYWAY, the director's name is Jean Applonie, and she gave us one of the "Soprano pep-talks". (Don't be so loud, you blow the choir away, etc.) It was SO CRAZY to be on the receiving end of that talk. Sister Applonie has also had to tell us that there is a very operatic soprano cutting through the rest of the section....and that she needs to blend in...whoops. My bad. Between Ted trying to get me to be a soloist and Sister Applonie trying to get me to blend, it's been a very interesting music year.... BUT we got to sing for the Prophet at devotional on Tuesday! IT WAS FABULOUS!!! I loved it! My mom and one of my friends said that they swore they could hear me singing. haha! Crazy.



And Last but DEFINITELY not Least, on saturday my friend called me and told me that His family had an extra ticket to the BYU football game, and asked if I wanted it! HECK YES!!! It was in Legacy Seating! It was SO SO SO SO SO nice! I sat next to Mason (10) and Stewart and Sooz were across the Stadium. The 4 of us even got to go onto the field and welcome the team to the field! (Devin is a Trainer for the team.) WAHOO! I was standing right there!!! AHHHHHHHH! I love football!!! Love love love love love it! Too bad we lost the game. Boo. But it was crazy fun! Thanks Devin and Sooz! :D

ANYWAY! That's life for now!!! Peace out!

HOMECOMING!!!

Drew in 8 years...

Matt in 12 years...


HOMECOMING is the most wonderful time of a college student’s life. It’s my favorite week of the semester. I wasn’t going to do much for it this year, but my instincts kicked in & I ended up wearing these HUGE blue glasses to school. It was SO much fun! I got so many funny looks. One Girl was talking to her friends and when she saw me she started laughing & Snorting SO HARD. Don’t get me wrong, snorting isn’t bad, but this girl did it like 15 times in 5 seconds. Lol. It made me laugh. The saddest part was that my glasses broke at about 11:30. I didn’t get to wear them very long at all. Oh well. It was great while it lasted! I got to go to Homecoming Spectacular with Ally. OH IT WAS SO SO SO GOOD! (This is an understatement!) We had such a great time! I also went to the Homecoming Parade on Saturday morning. It was FREEZING. Literally. It SNOWED!!! In OCTOBER!!! Crazy! It was so GOOD! C: When I went back to my apartment, I decided that I wanted to go to the HC Football Game, so my friend Nicole found me an extra ticket!!! I was SO excited! I LOVE FOOTBALL! Yes, I know, weird girl. But I really do. The game was exciting, but also FREEZING!!! The best part was that we won!!! Yup! I went to a BYU football game and they won. (Shocking huh? With their winning streak they had going…lol) Anyway, it was an amazing homecoming week. I’m true blue through and through. C:
♥.