Heathers Happenings

Happy 24!!

2011-09-25T21:35:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday to me!!!!! Last week I had my first official birthday while in school, since I was in Elementary School that is......A birthday as a teacher is fun....but not as much fun when my students all ask me why we can't just have a birthday party that day ;) That being said, I had a GREAT day!!! One of my students told me "I know what I can get you for your birthday! I will be really good all day." What a great present, especially from a student who usually drives me a bit crazy. The funny story of the day happened when my class first found out it was my birthday. One of my GATE kids (gifted and talented) asked for the date. When I told him, he looked up at the board and said "Oh my gosh, it's your birthday....it says on the birthday board that your birthday is on the 19th and today is the 19th, happy birthday!" What followed was a whole lot of happy birthday wishes which then one of my students said, "Wait, does that mean you are now a Mrs. instead of a Ms.?". I laughed so hard.....oh children......The rest of the excitement came from almost every child I passed in the hallways telling me happy birthday....I have no idea how they knew who I was, or how they knew it was my birthday, but it made me happy anyways.

Anyways.....The Saturday before my birthday I went out with a bunch of friends to Lucille's BBQ, which is one of our favorite places :) we had a lot of fun laughing and talking, and just hanging out! Then we headed back to our apartment to watch Thor, which is always a plus :) On Monday, we just invited our old roommates Nikki and Laura over for some ice cream cake.

I am now officially 24, which honestly doesn't feel a whole lot different than 23. I guess another year older but not too much wiser ;) I do have to count my blessings this birthday. I have started my second year of teaching at a most wonderful school and even though I have had a lot of struggles, I am grateful for the opportunity to work with such wonderful people. I have an amazing roommate who listens to me complain about school, helps me figure my problems out, and always pays attention when I need help. I have the most amazing set of parents who are willing to drop everything and help me when I need it. My mom is most amazing and will talk to me for hours at a time when I need a listening ear or some good advice. I also have the most amazing family. Although at times completely crazy, I know that I am loved by all of them!! I have so many blessings in my life and I am grateful for times like these that remind me of all of the blessings that I have.

Madame Tussauds

2011-09-25T21:12:00.000-07:00

Back in August before school started, Madame Tussauds Wax Museum was having a special day where teachers could get in for free. I had never been to a wax museum before, and it was quite exciting. I went with some of my friends, and we had fun posing and "meeting" with our favorite celebrities. It was a great to relax and do something exciting before school started out again and we became so busy we could not take a break :) Stephanie, Jennifer, Laura, Nikki, Jenavive, and I really had too much fun, as you can tell from the pictures!!!

4th Grade

2011-08-03T21:38:00.000-07:00

What's that you say?? You're excited?? Well, you should be :) I found out about a month after school was out that I was not only getting hired again for next school year, but I was hired back at the same school in the same grade!!!!! Oh my, I am so excited :) I think that it really hit home when my office manager at the school called me yesterday to ask me to send them a supply list to go home for my students. I know it may sound cheesy, but I was SO ecstatic! I get to start the school year at the very beginning! I have been reading and preparing and buying and I can NOT wait for the school year to start :) I'm pretty sure it will be a most wondrous school year!!

4th of July

2011-08-03T19:59:00.000-07:00

Who doesn't enjoy some 4th of July fun?? This 4th was quite amazing. I was way excited to go home because I wasn't able to go home last year and I missed out :) BUT, this year was most definitely a memorable occasion!! With eight kids and eight adults, the house was full of commotion....Alan and Mary came with their kids, Adrienne and Jason came with their kids. It was just a bit crazy, but at the same time not quite crazy enough. We spent some time at some places I hadn't been in a long while and then a fireworks show to finish everything off. I love spending time with the family, even if all of the kids wear me out (one of the advantages of being single is that I don't have to deal with kids all the time-except for during the school year). When I got there we went to the zoo and this is my newest niece Amanda, first time I had seen her!
She is so adorable, and a very happy baby.
We went to the beach and then decided to stop by Camp 18, which is a restaurant. Outside of the restaurant is a stream (I guess it could be a river...) Anyways, here is a picture of me and the grandkids present on the 4th.
We also took a trip downtown and walked along the waterfront. We saw some ships, watched the bridges go up several times, and enjoyed the view. I love the colors of Portland, and often miss them while living in the desert of Vegas :)
Me with Alan's kids at the waterfront.
My most wonderful parents and I
Yet again, did I mention how much I absolutely LOVE the scenes of Oregon??

At the beach :) Brian (my brother in law) claims that I don't enjoy the beach because I didn't grow up around the "real" beach. (such as California where he grew up) I agree that it is probably true. The middle of the summer and we were FREEZING hanging out on the beach for just a hour or so...but you have to admit it is quite beautiful!

Me with Amanda again, she is so cute!!
And then my other niece Abby, she is going into fourth grade this year and it is hard to imagine that I could be her teacher (since I am teaching 4th this year) Wow, how my nieces and nephews are growing up, I remember when I held them as little babies....memories :)

A trip to the Tillamook Cheese Factory is a favorite. I refuse to eat any other cheese than Tillamook, even though it is a bit more expensive ;)
And then we get to the main event. Here we are loading shells into the mortars for the big show! Coming from Vegas my family was making fun of me because I actually was getting cold on the 4th while they were all sweating and hot...

And the crew. You have me, my dad, Alan (brother) Noland (friend of Alan's), David (brother), and George (friend of David's) It is true, I am the only girl in the picture....We didn't realize I was the only girl shooting until the pictures were being taken...I guess that is another benefit of being single, I don't have any kids to look after so I can be free to do as I would like!!

Overall, a wonderful trip. I have to say that I am grateful to my parents because it sure is a lot of work to not only have so many people in town at their house, but to also prepare for the fireworks show. We had a LOT of fun, I am so glad I went, and I feel blessed to be a part of such a wonderful family....even if we are on occasion slightly dysfunctional (which family isn't?? I take it as a sign of love :)

Our New Apartment :)

2011-07-07T20:39:00.000-07:00

My roommate Theresa and I just moved into a new apartment. We were very excited to decorate and organize things and even though the apartment is smaller than our house, we feel like it gives us a lot more room than our house did. I definitely have a larger bedroom and a larger bathroom and I do not have to share either :) As much as I love Theresa, having my own bathroom is quite amazing!! So, take a tour with me through our new apartment!!!
Our welcome mat coming into the apartment.
Welcome to number 2222 (I love our apartment number)
The view out our front door.
Coming down our front steps. We have our own stairs that are not shared with any other apartments. We really like that!
Welcome to our Living Room. Off to the right is our front door. Then you have our new couches and coffee table. There is a matching end table in between the two couches.
Our TV and that side of the room. We really like the little ledge that you can see at the top of the picture from our vaulted ceiling. We spent some time deciding how to decorate it and the only thing we have missing is the temple picture we are still saving money to buy :)
The other side of the wall in the living room that leads into the kitchen. You can see the entrance to the hallway and the rest of the apartment to the left. You will notice that the wall is brown. We were able to have accent walls painted by the maintenance before we moved in. The brown is one of the colors they offered. The other walls are colors we went and picked out and brought them the paint. We really enjoy having the accent walls painted, it makes it feel like home :)
Another view of our living room going into the kitchen.

Here is our kitchen. We love it, but wish there were more drawers and cupboard space. We got a baker's rack that you see on the right of the picture to give us some extra storage space. We also have mugs hanging from the wall above it.
Here is the dining room. Again, we have an accent wall painted red. The table we have is temporary. Theresa is saving up for a nice big table from Sam's club. But, the folding table actually works great for now!
Leading out from our dining room you have the balcony. We don't use it right now for anything but storage. We want to eventually put some chairs out there that we can sit and read in, probably we will do it when it isn't so hot outside.
Here is my room with my purple wall (I quite enjoy that purple color). I got a new bed when we moved and am loving the queen size !! The only thing I don't like is the vertical blinds. They tend to clang together when they get a whiff of any type of breeze, which wakes me up if I'm not in my deep sleep stage yet....
Another view of my room.
My walk in closet I am now in love with. It was one of the things I was looking for in an apartment and I absolutely love the space it brings :) I am able to hang everything up and I ended up not getting a dresser-At least not yet.
Here is my bathroom. I LOVE having my own bathroom. Theresa has the master room and so she has a bigger bathroom but, believe it or not, this bathroom is double the size of my old one, so it is quite spacey. I love the counter space and the ability to walk around in the room. I also love that it is all mine and I don't have to worry about having my stuff all out and about :)
Another view of my bathroom. You can see my shower and shower curtain in the background. We tried to put up a curved shower curtain rod but were running into something in the wall we couldn't drill through, so I had to use just a regular shower curtain rod.

Just outside of my bathroom and bedroom we have a hallway closet that stores our games, vacuum, mop, and some kitchen appliances. It looks a little disorganized-just the way we like it ;)Here is the hallway leading to Theresa's room.
And that leads us into her bathroom. She has the master-yes, I offered it to her. I am jealous of her bathroom. Her counter space is incredible!!
And here is her shower with the curved shower curtain rod.
We then have her walk in closet which she claims is slightly smaller than mine....
And her room, with her blue accent wall. One of the things I really liked about the apartment is the space of the rooms. Although she has the master her room doesn't seem too much bigger than mine. The biggest difference is her bathroom.
Another view of her room with her mirror that we can not figure out how to hang up.....one of these days we will try something that actually works :)
And a final view of her room as you walk in the door. I do quite enjoy looking at her colorful room and I love the color of her blue wall!!

All in all, we absolutely love our new place. There are a few things we would change, but everything else is wonderful. We feel like we are living on our own with real bills to pay that are in our name and not others. We have loved decorating and organizing the place and absolutely love every minute of being here!! If you ever find yourself in Vegas (well, technically Henderson) don't forget to stop on by-seeing it in person is so much better than in the photo's :)

New Style (at least for the hair)

2011-06-26T23:50:00.001-07:00

School is out, and I decided I needed a new style.....OK, so actually my new style came the week before school was out, I just needed something a little different. Also, if you weren't otherwise aware, it is quite hot in Las Vegas in the summer time, so I decided on a shorter hair style with-yes, you can see it now, can't you- feathers in my hair. Now, you might say, as my mother said when she found out, "You did WHAT??" But really, I find it a fun change, and having a blue, white, and pink striped strikes in my hair does make me happy :) Bring on the summertime!

Field Day

2011-06-17T14:49:00.001-07:00

The end of the school year brought with it the most wonderful field day :) I was a little nervous about it, but mostly really excited. In this first picture, you can see my classroom in the background :) Anyways, we had an entire morning of fun and games and I loved these first few pictures of some of my students in the sack race.

Luckily we live in Vegas and it was quite hot on this day, which means the most amazing water games! My students made it their mission to get me as wet as possible :) I joined in at all the water games and got myself completely soaked :) I brought a squirt bottle to spray down my kids and they, in return, dumped buckets of water all over me :)

This is one of my fellow 4th grade teachers. She is most amazing and her students decided that they needed to completely soak her as well....and then they went after me. Our battle scars show in this picture....two completely soaked teachers :)

This is a picture of my class, and I absolutely love all of them :) I can't believe the school year is over and I am officially done with my first year of teaching. I know that it wasn't the best year in the world, and it took a LOT of work, and I am also so glad it is summer and I have a chance to relax. But, I feel blessed to be able to have worked with this wonderful group of students and that I had the opportunity to make wonderful friends at Aggie Roberts as well. I hope I will be able to be there next year :) Many of my students were begging me to come back and teach them in 5th grade :)

Mom's Visit

2011-06-17T14:27:00.000-07:00

Mom came to visit me for a bit at the end of April. She was a huge help in my classroom....if only I lived near home, then she could come into my classroom all the time to help out :) My kids really loved having here there and really missed her when she was gone...
I took my first day off while she was there and we went apartment hunting. Theresa and I decided to move out and get an apartment on our own. We had been looking for a while and her parents and my mom happened to be in town at the same time, SO we decided to take the day off to do some apartment hunting. We found a place we loved, signed the papers, then went and did some furniture shopping. We also went down to the strip for our favorite activity-the Bellagio water show :) Of course, even though it was quite warm out, mom was freezing and borrowed Theresa's coat :)

Unfortunately, when we got there, there was no show. Instead, Heidi Klum was there filming something....the best picture we could get is below. We don't know what she was filming, but we stood around for a bit then decided to leave.

Inside the Bellagio is their most amazing gardens. We walked around for a bit and took some great pictures. I love that garden :)

The day mom was flying out we took a trip to the M&M factory and In 'n Out for dinner. It was a great week and we had so much fun. I love it when I get to spend time with my mom (I also love spending time with my dad) and am so glad that she was able to come and visit me :) We had a great few weeks of working hard in my classroom and her helping me to get ready to move!

Spring Break

2011-06-17T13:57:00.000-07:00

Oh Spring Break, thinking of you, I wish I could return....who am I kidding?? I'm now into summer time :) I decided to get out of town over spring break, take my car on it's first road trip with me, and visit some most amazing people :) I went through Utah, made a quick stop in Provo and headed up to Logan to visit Trevor. We of course stopped at our favorite Chinese place for lunch and had some Tiny Spicy chicken....yum :) We drove around, did a lot of talking, and bought a new Blu Ray player, which we broke in watching the extras on Harry Potter 7....It was a great day, and I often wish I could still go back to visit.....

After the trip through Logan, I headed up to the great town of Rexburg. I went to visit my sister and the town that I so loved for a while. Isabel and Logan are adorable and I had fun spending time with them that week. I wish I had taken a lot more pictures, but I just have a few. Isabel fell in love with my car and threw a fit when we tried taking her car seat out. She called it her red car.

We went up to campus to check out all of the changes....I could not believe how different it all looked. When walking through campus, It was almost like I had never been to school there....The new auditorium is quite amazing, and we enjoyed walking through it. We also went the MC and I could not believe that I had walked through that building almost every day for four years...

After the trip up to campus, I had to stop by my old favorite place...the Coco Bean :) I LOVE that place and I always think of how much I miss it.....Starbucks can't even do it justice! So, I stopped by there and got one of my favorite carmely goodness treats :)Overall, a great week full of relaxation and fun. I had fun spending time with my sister Amber and her family. I loved going to Logan to see Trevor. And, my short visit to Angela's ended up being a great time as well. I wish that Spring Break were longer than a week, but I loved every minute of it. It was a much needed break from the school year, which was wearing me out.....

A Sunday Trip to the Temple

2011-06-17T13:41:00.000-07:00

Theresa and I went to the Temple one Sunday night, walking around and taking pictures :) I love visiting the temple. The grounds of the Las Vegas temple are amazing and I could spend hours there :)

Gladys Knight

2011-06-17T13:34:00.000-07:00

One of Theresa's (my roommates) co-workers is related to Gladys Knight, so when she opened her new show here in Vegas, they gave everyone free tickets! Although not really knowing Gladys Knight, we went anyways and enjoyed the show and music and just getting out on the town :)

My New.....

2011-03-13T11:37:00.000-07:00

Since I got my job, I had been debating on getting a new car. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE my Buick, it's been with me since a learned to drive....such great memories accompany me in that car :) But it is hard being on my own and single and really not knowing anything about cars to keep up with it. I decided that I really wanted a new car that I would not have to worry about breaking down on me, or not starting on me. So, I started looking into new cars. I searched on the internet, went and spent hours test driving multiple kinds of cars, and looking for the perfect vehicle. I left for the dealer here in Vegas one Saturday morning not necessarily planning on buying a car, and left with my new love :) It is a used 2009 Nissan Altima. (Only had 9300 miles on it) It was a great price on the car and it was a step up from the base model, so I was excited to have some extra features. I loved the dealer I went through, Theresa was there to help give me moral support, and Dad was just a phone call away :) It was quite the experience, this car buying stuff....I felt so excited about it, at the same time I watched my savings disappear, and I now have the first major loan of my life. But when I look at my car, I love it. It's all of the little things that I keep discovering that makes me love it even more each day.

What happened to that great Buick??? I ended up selling it to one of my co-workers. They got a front from the junkyard and replaced it from my accident. They absolutely love the car, and seeing it in my school parking lot always makes my heart feel a little ping of love and remembrance. But, I am glad that someone else was able to find a use for the car that went through my family.

Christmas!!!

2011-03-13T11:07:00.000-07:00

Our Christmas celebration started as roommates at the most wonderful Cheesecake Factory. We spent the time talking and laughing, prepared to all be leaving for home the next day :) Not to mention the excitement of having a two week break from school! These would be the lovely ladies I live with, they are all most amazing :)

After Cheesecake, we exchanged stockings and gifts....Yes, Laura gave me coal.....
One of my students made this ornament for me and I loved it!!
I surprised my dad by coming home in time to see his Christmas concert. It was an amazing concert, and I love my dad! It was fun to go with my family and see it :)I am quite disapointed in my picture taking at home for Christmas, because these are all the pictures I have to share....We had a great Christmas and Angela even decided to join in the craziness of the home life :) I enjoyed spending time with them and I enjoyed spending time with all the family. It was a much needed break from my crazy life. I love going home, and I love all that my wonderful parents sacrifice to help me (and others in the family). Thanks mom and dad for always being there for me :)

Liz Visits- Happy Thanksgiving

2011-03-06T18:19:00.000-08:00

Thanksgiving was quickly approaching and all of the things happening in my life added up to me wanting a nice relaxing break at home for the holiday. So Liz decided to come down and visit me for the week of Thanksgiving. She needed a little warmth away from Rexburg :) So we spent the week together. She came to school with me and we spent a lot of time on the strip, watched The Variety Show, and had a lot of fun talking and spending time with each other. (It's not like we hadn't seen each other in a year or anything) My friend Leah had her mom, Aunt and Uncle in town and she invited us to have Thanksgiving with them, and I invited them to make their Thanksgiving at my house :) They were most amazing, cooked everything for us, and we had so much fun together. Here is our feast!!
Liz making a most amazing Apple Pie, Leah's Aunt and Uncle were so funny, they couldn't believe that we were making it homemade :PAnd as proof of me being worn out we have me, taking a nap, before the feast....

Accident

2011-03-06T18:12:00.000-08:00

I got in my first car accident in November, luckily it was not a bad one. I was on the freeway on my way home in rush hour and just didn't stop in time...No one was hurt and he had a little tiny dent in the bumper of his truck. Unfortunately, it ended up a little more damaging on my car. He decided also that he had to call highway patrol even though there were no injuries and his car was basically fine. What resulted from it?? An expensive ticket and a mandatory traffic school (which is new-my friend who is a lawyer took care of my ticket for me and just told me the price and conditions). Anyways, the Buick with a slightly busted up front end, courtesy of me and my stupidity...

So You Think You Can Dance

2011-03-06T17:44:00.000-08:00

My roommates got me hooked on the show So You Think You Can Dance last summer. We got together with another friend Alex and would have a party to watch it every week. So of course, when we heard they were touring and stopping in Vegas, it was a must that we go! It was a most amazing show and we had a little too much fun together :)

Happy Birthday Theresa

2011-03-06T17:38:00.001-08:00

My most amazing roommate had her birthday in November so we got all dressed up and hit the town :) We went to Planet Hollywood for dinner, made human statues in Ceaser's Palace, walked the the Wynn and Encore, then posted ourselves in front of the Bellagio to watch several water shows-not forgetting our random dancing out on the street in between shows :) How I love my amazing friends and the fun that we have together!!The girls that I love to spend time with :)

Me, Theresa, and Andrea

Bite of Las Vegas

2011-03-06T17:30:00.000-08:00

I love living in Vegas!! I went with some of my friends to Bit of Las Vegas back in October. They basically have a bunch of restaurants come and you can eat all this different food-it's like a sampling and advertising. They have bands playing all day. We sat on the grass eating all sorts of different food, talking and laughing and watching the bands playing. It's true- I saw Switchfoot, Plain White T's, Sara Bareilles, Ryan Star, and Christina Perri. It was a nice break from my normal everyday school chaos :)

Teaching

2011-03-06T17:17:00.000-08:00

Yes, it has been a long while since I have posted. It turned into the kind of situation where I hadn't posted about multiple events for the longest time and so I decided I needed to wait, and before I know it multiple months have passed-very eventful months-and I had not shared with you the most wonderful opportunities the single life in Vegas has to offer :)

First of all, I blame my not posting on these beauties below:
These are my pride, joy, and stresses of my life! I was hired as a fourth grade teacher in October. They pulled five or six kids out of all the other fourth grade classrooms and stuck them into my room. The first few months of school meant 12 hour work days and little sleep. It was stressful getting my classroom up and running. Then it turned into being difficult to maintain my classroom :) These kids make me laugh, cry, want to pull my hair out, and teach me some of the most influential lessons a person can learn. I am grateful for the opportunity I have been given to help these kids grow and learn. There are so many ups and downs in teaching and there is no guarantee of a job next school year, but for now I am loving every moment of my life and enjoying every smile my students bring my way.

Disneyland (Again)

2010-08-08T21:42:00.000-07:00

Disneyland has to be the happiest place on earth, especially when you visit twice in a period of three months......
Yes, I did decide to go to Disneyland with Adrienne's family and my dad. It was a so much fun! Going to Disney with kids brings all of the excitement right back to you. When I went with my roommates it was pretty magical and fun, but everything is so different through the eyes of a child :) I got to see the princesses at a special princess lunch, and a whole bunch more characters at the character breakfast. Although kids can be stressful and can complain and get very grouchy when they are tired, I would not trade the experience of going with them :) Just a few pictures that emphasize the fun trip. I also might mention that this trip was taken a little while ago, but I am just posting about it!

I CAN NOT Wait!!!!!!!!!

2010-08-08T21:38:00.001-07:00

While I am on the subject of movies, I have to mention the one I am most excited about coming out....and soon (November 19). Although it is slightly disappointing that it will be in two installments and the second one will not come out until next July, I still am SO excited!!!! I know......the random thoughts and post updates of my excitement....

Inception

2010-08-08T21:32:00.000-07:00

So, I saw this movie yesterday, and it was truly amazing. I must say that I was expecting it to be good from what everyone said about it, but truly, it was even better than I could have expected. I was not really expecting a movie so thought provoking. I don't talk about many movies on my blog, so to be blog worthy is a pretty big deal..... I think they should have more movies like this that really make you think. I don't want to give anything away because, well, I want to you to go and see it and think it as amazing as I thought it was :) Anyways, not often do you get a movie that really has you on the edge of your seat, has your mind reeling with every detail, and is like a puzzle.... I quite enjoyed it. If you have not seen the trailer yet, I have posted it. (If you get this in an email you will have to go to my blog to see it) Really, you will be blown away.....

Mothers

2010-05-11T14:20:00.000-07:00

Why yes, it has been a while since I have written, and a few of these events happened a earlier in the year, but they were still amazing enough to write about :) So, back in March/April, my mom came to visit me here in Vegas! We had a lot of fun. I love hanging out with my mom, talking and shopping. I especially like sharing a room with her. We would talk and some of the best conversations come when you're about to fall asleep :) Anyways, the pictures are in a backwards order, but they are here.... Thanks mom for coming and making me happy! I had so much fun and I love my parents for everything they do for me :)

On her last day here, we went to the temple. I love the Las Vegas temple. It is so beautiful outside. I love the grounds because they remind me a little of Oregon with the green, you really don't see much green around here!

Mom was amazed by the palm trees, especially the ones that we like bushes. This one spread out especially large in the top, it was huge!
Of course there was a visit to the strip where we visited the M&M store, I love the store and what you find inside!

I think I should just drive this car right out :)

We went to see the Donny and Marie show, it was pretty amazing! We were in nose blead seats but it was still great :) Thanks to Angela for suggesting we go! We also went and saw Phantom of the Opera, which was a great show. We didn't get any pictures of us there unfortunately, but I thought it was definitely worth mentioning. You can not come to Vegas and not see these shows, they are both amazing:)

At the Bellagio gardens, I love visiting and seeing all of the different themes that they have. It is always changing and always filled with fresh flowers which makes it smell wonderful!

At the cactus garden and chocolate factory. I never even knew that there was one here, and there are some beautiful cacti from all over the world.

Disneyland

2010-04-12T12:44:00.000-07:00

I went to Disneyland over spring break with my amazing roommates. We had so much fun! It is only a four hour drive to Disney from Vegas. We left early Tuesday morning and spent Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday at the park and headed back on Friday. We took a million pictures, as you can tell from this post... I love the roller coasters, some favorites would be California Screamin', Space Mountain, and Thunder Mountain Railroad. Tower of Terror was another ride we went on a few times, although it was never my favorite....
I LOVE the electrical parade, that was so much fun to watch, and has always been a favorite of mine. The weather was pretty good, it was partly cloudy and sunny, it didn't rain on us even though it was supposed to...
I seriously love Disneyland. It is so much fun to go and ride on the rides and hang out with friends and to take a break from regular life :)

This was the wonderful idea that we would go on splash mountain before we headed out for the night. It was cold, and we were soaking wet before the big drop, and this is what we looked like afterwards... I must say that it was definitely worth it :)

Christmas

2010-02-09T12:14:00.000-08:00

So it has been a while since I have had an update...no excuse for that, but it is time for an update:) I went home to Oregon for the Christmas break. It was so much fun! I loved going home, relaxing, hanging out with the parents, and seeing my brothers. It was fun to relax after the stressful student teaching experience. While I was there, I got some of the snow I love seeing, something that does not happen in Vegas. It was most beautiful, and mostly gone by the next day, which is fine with me:) I was very excited to get the new super mario brothers wii, and I played it every night, getting fairly far before the end of the break.
After a few years of torture, my computer finally decided to give out on my...go figure...so I invested in a new one. My laptop of choice is an HP G71...a recent feature I have come to love is the new webcam, Liz and I have been trying it out and it is really fun to talk on the webcam, and a lot cheaper than calling:) This computer has been so nice because it is like a portable desktop. I have been able to use it just like a desktop computer, and it doesn't take up as much space as one. So, that is my love, my wonderful computer:)
When I left Oregon, I was ready to leave, but saddened. I really miss the green and rain...but it is nice to have it warmer. I love the holiday time when you get together with your family and spend time with them, it is one of my favorite times of the year!

Thanksgiving

2009-12-24T09:44:00.000-08:00

I had a most wonderful Thanksgiving with my sisters in Utah this year. It was fun to do something different, and as much as I like to go home for Thanksgiving, it was actually still nice to spend it with some different family. I spent two weeks with my sister Angela and then Amber and her family came down for the actual Thanksgiving weekend. I love being around my niece and my nephews, even if they are a little crazy:)
We went to Temple Square to see the Christmas lights. I have never seen them before, or I have seen them but I was too young to remember;) It was so cold, especially coming from sunny Vegas...They were absolutely beautiful and I loved everything about it!

My amazingly cute niece! I love seeing her. I lived in Rexburg with them for her first year, so I got used to seeing her, and she got used to seeing me.... Anyways, I was so worried that she would not recognize me and that she would not remember that I was her favorite Aunt:) But, I think she did recognize me. On her first night there she wanted to come to me and after that she warmed up to me really quick!
I also got my hair cut and although it wasn't too much shorter than it was, many people haven't seen my hair this short.....I really like it short, although some people like it a little longer!
Overall, I had a wonderful thanksgiving and I am happy that I was able to spend it with my wonderful family, even if it wasn't the entire family.

Student Teaching....OVER!!!

2009-11-28T18:52:00.001-08:00

So I am now officially completely done with college. 100 percent college graduate, 100 percent no more tests, quizes, classrooms....well, that's not entirely true, but I am SO excited:) I finished my student teaching last Friday and I am going to miss my class so much! Here is the present that they gave to me, along with a few other very cool presents presented on my last day.
So they basically took this class picture and then my teacher got this mat and they each wrote a little note to me and signed their name. I love it! I keep looking at it and rereading it. Some of the things that they said were so good and I keep getting sad every time I read it. I really enjoyed my student teaching experience and I really liked my class and cooperating teacher. I learned so many things from this experience, and I think that I am finally one step closer to being a great teacher. I think that it is so interesting what I learned in the classroom seemed to go out the window and I was just in survival mode, trying to get through everything I needed to teach. Which, in all reality, didn't surprise me because we were warned that it might take a year to really get into doing things differently. My teacher that I was with was so supportive and taught me a lot and answered all of my questions. My students were so much fun. I really enjoy the fifth grade, I just felt like there were some things that I was teaching them that weren't necessarily solidified in my own mind (It reminded me of the show Are you Smarter Than a Fifth Grader)
All in all, I found that I love the school district and system in Vegas and I really enjoy the area. I decided to stay in the area for at least a little longer and so I moved into a house with three other girls that are in my singles ward. I will have my own bedroom and share a bathroom. I have applied to be a sub, and interviewed and everything, and I will be seeing in the next week or two whether or not that will work out. I am excited to go into different classrooms and to teach all different students. I will be happy to learn and grow even more by being a substitute teacher. Hopefully I will be able to get a teaching job by next school year. There are a few new elementary schools opening in the district, so I will be seeing if I can find a job at one or something....we'll just have to see:)
I feel like Vegas is the place for me right now, and I am happy to be staying there. I am thankful everyday for the Lord's guidance because I don't know if I ever could have made the decision to stay without His help.

Oh Las Vegas

2009-11-22T09:32:00.001-08:00

A little trip to the strip on one of the last weeks of Students Teaching. We went to M&M World, where I bought a cute magnet and key chain, and a walk down the strip in the morning, when you don't have drunk people staggering around:) We also went to the newly opened hard rock cafe. That place was a lot of fun, and their food was pretty good too, if not a little expensive:)

Halloween

2009-11-22T09:12:00.000-08:00

The day before Halloween, it was actually the day before Nevada day, we had a Halloween party at school. They have this huge Halloween parade, and with about 900 kids that were not on track break, this was a huge massive caos in lines....The kids costumes were adorable, my favorite was the little kindergartners, they were so cute! There was a little buz lightyear that made me smile! After that, we had a halloween party. I decided that since it was Halloween, I was going to dress up, as a student:) I had my students guessing all day as to what I was dressed up as! I was wearing my Pyro shirt, so they were guessing things like "fireworks salesperson" and such. It was fun....still no one guessed who I actually was:) It was a lot of fun, and I loved my students costumes as well.
Nevada day creates a wonderful day off before Halloween, so I decided to go to Utah! I had so much fun hanging out with my sister Angela and her family. I must admit, though, that the wonderful warmness of Las Vegas was missed:)
Anyways, we went to my nephews school Halloween carnival. That was a lot of fun, I was reminded of my own elementary school days when I had those amazing carnivals:)
We also carved Pumpkins. Angela and I shared this pumpkin and made a super cute face on it.
The next day, we went trick or treating at Macy's, and then we went to visit my grandma. My sister and I decided that we needed to go to the mall, and it was complete madness because of the trick or treating in the mall, although Bath and Body Works is quite nice. We went back home and I helped make some jack-o-lantern grilled cheese sandwiches. We also had potato soup, french bread, and ghost pie:) It was so delicious.
I went out trick-or-treating with the nephews, they looked adorable in their fireman outfits:) They were cute running around and knocking on doors.
I had a lot of fun, I don't think that I have ever done Halloween with little kids before. They are so cute with how excited they get, and even though they don't get a lot of candy, they are fun to be with on such an exciting holiday!

Mr. Magorium/Don't Be Shy

2009-10-04T20:25:00.001-07:00

This video is definitely an absolute favorite. For those of you getting this update, you will have to go to my blog to watch the video, but not only is this movie, Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium, a most fantastic movie, but this song from the movie has become a favorite of mine. If you have not seen the movie, it is a wonderful family film, I watch it all the time. Again, the video is super good, so you should go to my blog and watch :)

Hoover Dam

2009-09-19T19:59:00.000-07:00

The Hoover Dam is this enormous thing built seemingly in the middle of nowhere and very amazing. Just outside of the city of Boulder and along the border of Arizona, it truly is amazing. I had a lot of fun just walking on top and looking out on the rocks. I didn't actually go on any tours or go into the visitors center because it cost a lot of money, and we really didn't want to spend our money on it.... Monica had a little too much fun making dam jokes such as, "This dam escalator is small" or "This dam wind is going to blow me over" and such....

If you make these pictures bigger, I am on the Nevada-Arizona state line, two different states at once :)
They are building this massive bridge so that you can cross the border between the two states without having to go over the dam, and this is what it looks like now. You can click on the picture to make it bigger, and believe me, it is huge! I don't remember when it is supposed to be done, but they have been working on it for a while.
And nothing like some glasses from the gift shop to have some fun....

Yogurtland

2009-09-19T19:40:00.001-07:00

The most amazing thing for me in this life has been ice cream...ok not exactly, but it really has been a love :) I have discovered a new love, and that is for frozen yogurt from yogurtland. Here's the deal, you go through, as you can kind of see in the picture, and choose what flavors you want and actually fill your cup yourself. Then there are all of these toppings that you can put on top of the ice cream, including different types of cereal, which you can also see from the picture... Then you take it up and you pay for it by the ounce. So, it's 33 cents an ounce. Whoever thought of this was a genius and obviously needs to open one wherever I may live.... I have definitely gone back there a few times....

Vegas

2009-09-19T15:34:00.000-07:00

I figured that it is about time for a blog update, and what better way to spend my birthday but to listen to some new music I just bought and write some blog entries?
So, after Shawn and Marci's wedding, Monica and I headed out for Vegas. We flew into SLC and took a shuttle down to Angela's house in Provo, where we met up with my car. Our first randomness of the car ride was seeing this on the freeway......

We laughed pretty hard at this one :)
After this little adventure, we got into my car, had to take it through a car wash because it was so nasty, and then headed out on our ride to Vegas! We were in four states in one day. Oregon, Utah, Arizona, and Nevada.

We were quite excited to be in Nevada when it finally rolled around. The drive was pretty boring, especially though Utah. When we hit Arizona, it was fun to be driving through the canyons instead of mountanious green that I usually drive through in Oregon. It was way pretty, a little boring, but still a little different scenery. When we first saw Vegas we were very excited. I must admit that it wasn't as impressive as when me and my roommates were coming back from Utah and saw it at night. Holy cow does Vegas look much bigger at night than during the day, especially from afar. So, anyways, once we found our way to my apartment, with some help from the handy dandy GPS, I was so happy to be in there finally. It was probably at least 110 outside, although I would guess that it was even more than that. I checked in and we unloaded my car while poring sweat in the heat.... My roommates were way nice when I first met them, and I was genuinely excited to get to know them better and to be here in Vegas for a new adventure.
After spending a few days moving in, we decided it was time for a little fun in going to the strip. We went to the M&M factory and the coke store, which is basically just like walking into a store. Oh, and the coolest part is the fact that in the M&M store, they totally spray the smell of chocolate, so it smells like chocolate in there all the time...
At the M&M world, we saw a 3D movie, not as exciting as the ones at Disneyland, but not too bad either...

Here we are showing off our purchases....Monica took some pretty amazing pictures, and we had a lot of fun. We walked up and down pretty much the entire strip, half in one day and the other half in another. Here are some more pictures of what we saw....Lastly, we saw the Bellagio fountain show. So amazing! It comes on every 15 minutes after 8, so we were able to see it three times. It was way amazing.

Visits

2009-08-02T22:46:00.000-07:00

I went to Angela's house for a week after my graduation. I had fun playing with my nephews and holding my new nephew who was just two weeks old. We took them bowling and I playing the Wii with my older nephew, he loves playing the monster truck game. We also went to the temple open house in Jordan, whose name I can not for the life of me remember. At least, I remember it but don't remember how to say it, the Oquir mountain, and yes, I know that is probably not how you spell it :) This is the second temple open house that I have attended, the first was the Rexburg temple open house which I also was able to volunteer at. I love walking through the temple and can't wait until I can one day go through it myself. I know that it truly is the house of the Lord, and I am grateful to be a part of this gospel where I am able to look the the Lord to help me and visit His temples.

Graduation

2009-08-02T22:26:00.000-07:00

It's true, I have graduated, although it isn't complete graduation because I still have my student teaching, but I walked this last semester. So, I am excited to be done and moving on with my life after college. My mom and dad came up for the ceremony, and the took about a million hours of video (OK, not that much, but a lot) and I loved having them there. I also had Amber and Mike come and see my walk and I was excited that they were able to be there for my special time. I loved attending BYU Idaho and I know that it was the place to be. I loved my teachers and the people that I met. I learned so much from others experiences as well as from my own. BYU Idaho is such a wonderful institution where I could feel the spirit of the Lord everyday in my classes. There are wonderful leaders and everything you learn is tied in to the gospel. I know that BYU Idaho was the right place for me and I am excited to take the knowledge that has been entrusted with me into the world. I don't know where I will go from here, but I am very excited to move on with my life and find a career. I love and am thankful for all of those who helped me to get through college, especially my parents who helped me financially and who also encouraged me to keep trying my hardest and to keep going with my dreams.

Life as I know it....

2009-07-25T09:13:00.000-07:00

So, I have had a lot of craziness the past month or so. I finished up school, went to Oregon for the fourth, went to Utah for my nephew's baptism, and have been packing and in the midst of moving.....so much fun....thought I would share with you a few pictures :)

At J.V.'s baptism, my nephew, doesn't he look so handsome??? Lucas, my nephew, and I, this is in Utah of the same weekend. We were trying to keep him out of Amber's family picture with grandma, and I ended up with a picture of him!
My new nephew, Spencer, and I. When we went to my cousins wedding, one of my other cousins was walking around with this tiny baby. I was thinking, well that is a cute little baby! Come to find out it was my new nephew :)

These are my other super cute nephews all together at my cousins wedding, making mischief and playing in the water...

My brother Alan and sister Amber at the wedding, along with Mike and Isabel.Fourth of July FIREWORKS!!!!! OK, so I had so much fun over the fourth of July and Isabel was super cute... I thought that this was cute with Isabel.

Another of our whole group, minus dad, at the fireworks.
We were in the bird atrium at the Zoo, she looks half scared, half interested...hahaha...I like this picture:)

Have YOU Heard of This Movie??

2009-07-01T15:29:00.000-07:00

So, I just have to say that I am way excited about this movie. I really love the book and I am excited to know what they are going to do with the movie. This trailer makes it look as if it will be a very good movie....

Rain, Rain, and Thunderstorm...

2009-07-01T11:00:00.000-07:00

Let's just say that I love thunderstorms...This last month we have been getting an absolute ton of rain storms, although the weather has decided to be sunny now...I love rain. I know that it has something about growing up in Oregon sunshine. I have decided that extreme rain coming down plus thunder and lightening is my new favorite, it's true... I would go out on my porch all the time and watch the extreme rain and feel the thunder and lightening. Yes, thunder and lightening and rain, I love you :)

Complete and Utter Excitement...

2009-07-01T10:56:00.001-07:00

Can I just say that I am so excited for this?? Yes, I do have midnight showing tickets, and I will be seeing it soon!! Two weeks from tonight :)

Catching Up

2009-07-01T10:30:00.001-07:00

Yes, it's true....I am a terrible person the last few months at the updating of the blog:)
I have been busy in my LAST semester of college! Can you believe that I will be graduating in three weeks??? I know that I can't:) I will miss all of the good times here at BYU-I, but I am also excited to move on from my classes.
This semester, my practicum placement was in a developmental kindergarten class. I was really nervous about it, and I was scared that I would have no idea what in the world I was doing. But, it turned out to be an amazing experience. My students were so cute and they were so smart! I don't think I ever realized how much kindergarteners really know about the world...
Anyways, after that was over, I was put into a summer school kindergarten classroom where I was able to work with hispanic students who had very limited English. It was really an eye opener on how to help students who are not at grade level or are not understanding what is taught in the classroom. I really loved both experiences and I think that they both helped me to understand more about my abilities.
Now, I am done with practicum and summer school and am sitting around in all this extra time that I now have, wondering what to do with myself:) I am trying to be productive, let's see how well that has gone...

Oregon Trip!

2009-04-26T19:30:00.000-07:00

During the break between semesters, I went to Oregon along with my sister Amber, my niece Isabel, and my roommate Liz. I had so much fun!!! We have pictures from going to the falls, I decided to take some pictures of the water where it shows the movement as well as the beauty of the waterfalls. We loved seeing all of the green, it is such a change from the brown of Idaho:) The beauty that God has made for us to enjoy is amazing!! I went and showed Liz the temple and all of the wonderful flowers are out. We also did a lot of shopping:) Liz officially named my mom the extreme energizer bunny! There's a couple cute pictures of Isabel in the mix where she was just plain cute, and some with Isabel and grandma and grandpa. Overall, it was a most amazing vacation. It was really hard to leave home to come back here, especially when I was used to staying home in the summer. It is a hard semester, but I am having fun and learning a ton!

John Schmidt meets Taylor Swift and Viva La Vida

2009-04-26T18:07:00.000-07:00

So, I was just reading one of my old roommates blogs and I discovered the most amazing thing ever!! This video of John Schmidt playing Love Story is amazing. I'm pretty sure I might like it just as much as the original. I love John Schmidt!!!! Thanks Monica:)

Sunshine Makes me Happy

2009-04-07T16:25:00.001-07:00

HOORAY for 50 degree weather! I am sitting on my couch with the windows open and wearing capris rocking out to Jason Mraz:) I love Jason Mraz and sunshine, they make my finals week more exciting!

No Time for Breaks

2009-04-07T15:49:00.000-07:00

I have decided that this semester I am destined to not have my car. I mean, it's not like I am using it the last few days, but the fact that I have a car sitting in the parking lot is somewhat comforting. I'm sure that Amber is getting tired of running me around. Anyways, I was parking up at the Hinckley on Friday when my car got ran into. I was sitting there waiting as someone who was coming out of their parking spot when there was a crash and I looked to my side and there was a car in the side of my car. It just about scared me out of my skin. So, it wasn't too bad, but I have this great dent in the side of my car. I went around to some different shops to get a quote and it is currently in a shop being fixed. I should have it back tomorrow, which I think is funny because I leave for Oregon on Thursday.... Oh well, life is funny is some ways:)

Weather and Such....

2009-03-29T16:23:00.001-07:00

So when you live in Rexburg, there are certain things that go along with the territory. For example, living half an hour from the mall, or not having anything but a Walmart and Kmart, or having to drive four hours to get to an airport.... But, the one thing that I really don't like about Rexburg is the random snow. Throughout the fall and winter it is not that suprising, snow every day plus wind is fine, normal (even though I do not enjoy it) Well, when it hits spring, I really want to see clear sunny days. Not a day of 60 degrees and a day of 20 degrees. Well, it seems that the winter really really doesn't want to leave.... The last two Sunday's have been crazy weather, I guess it's a good thing that it's Sunday and I don't have to go anywhere. I guess I am kind of liking it because it will probably be some of the last times I see snow for a while....Currently, it is 28 degrees and the wind is blowing at 29 mph. On top of it all, it is snowing...Joy! Seriously though, I am not the biggest fan of the weather currently...

Final Photography Project

2009-03-22T15:05:00.000-07:00

For my final photography project, I had to choose a theme and take pictures relating around that theme. I decided to do music, and the three things I love that bring me music: flute, piano, and my iPod. I took four pictures of each and then mounted them into frames and onto a piece of black board. I first show all of the pictures I took, then you can see the three separate final products. I had a lot of fun with these pictures, and it made me realize how much I love music, especially how grateful I am for the talents that I have been given to do music and to play the piano and flute as well as having the technology to be able to listen to my favorite music wherever I am.

Hair Cut

2009-03-22T14:05:00.000-07:00

I decided my hair was too long-the longest I had ever had it in four years!! I went to the beauty school yesterday and told them to chop it off! They took off about three and a half inches and I walked out of there thinking "What in the world did I do?" But, today I am enjoying it. I especially like how it doesn't take as much shampoo or style time:) I am getting used to it, my roommate is still trying to get used to it, she loved it long... but it's nice all the same!

Car Troubles

2009-03-22T12:41:00.000-07:00

I love my car, there is no doubt about it. If I had a choice between a nice new car and my tank, the tank would hands down be my decision. So, I get in to drive it and it starts ok but then starts to putter down the street at a striking 20 mph, not wanting to go any faster. AHH!!! I was freaking out! I couldn't believe that my car was broken, and who knew whether it could be fixed, literally.... So, I took it to the shop, believe me, it barely made it there. I was thinking, Oh, a day and it should be back to me, right?? Wrong!! They replaced the fuel filter, tried to replace the computer(but that wasn't the problem so they took it out) and they took it all apart trying to figure out why it was still not running....After TWO WEEKS!!! without a car, I called Brett, my sisters brother in law, and he gave me the name of a really good mechanic in the area. So, I called him, his name was Paul. I need to get my car away from the shop that couldn't figure out was wrong with it and to another guy whom everyone said if he couldn't figure it out, no one could. So, I went to go pick it up and low and behold it didn't start....lucky me!! I had to call a tow truck, sit there and wait for it to come, then Amber and I went out to Paul's (About five minutes out in the middle of nowhere), gave him all my information in hopes of soon having my car back, but my hopes were already dashed:( Paul seemed confident that he could fix it. He called me a few times and said he knew the problem, only to call me a dew hours later to tell me that wasn't really the problem.... A week later, he called and told me to come pick up my car, it was ready!! I was sooooo excited! He said that after trying to replace a few different things, he ended up replacing three of my fuel injectors. And guess what, it works!! It is amazing. I drove away from there so happy to actually have my car back!! In the last two months, my car has been equipped with a new muffler and tail pipe, alternator, cadalidic converter, fuel filter, and three fuel injectors. Surprisingly, the toll for all of that was not too bad, you gotta love the small town mechanics:) It is hard to be here without a car. I had to rely on Amber to drive me around everywhere, thanks to her new car:) She was so amazing and willing to give me rides to and from the elementary school, grocery store, and laundry matt. Three weeks without a car is completely killer! I can't believe people can get around here without one, and I definitely appreciate my car even more now than I did before. I think my roommates appreciate it a little more now too, since they were without rides for so long! I definitely appreciate my parents for giving me my car so that I could get around, I love it!! And that car has history. Pretty much every one of my older siblings drove it. And, on the upper plus side, it actually fits my stuff in it when going on a road trip, a feat that can rarely be accomplished:) Welcome back Tank!!!

Isabel

2009-02-23T14:57:00.001-08:00

I went and watched Isabel for a few hours the other day, and I took a few cute pictures of her. I really liked this one. She has the biggest smile and makes me laugh with all of her grunting:)

Trip to Utah

2009-02-23T14:39:00.000-08:00

Last weekend, I took a trip to Utah for presidents day. I was so excited to be able to go and spend time with my sister Angela and her family. I also had my other sister Amber with me. I loved going down to Utah and having a fun relaxing weekend. We went and visited family, went shopping to the mall, and played with my nephews. We played DDR and my nephews had fun dancing on the pads. I also enjoyed seeing Chelsea, we loved talking and hanging out. I miss her as my roommate, but love to visit:) I loved the weekend, and wish that every weekend was a three day weekend.

Photography Assignments Catch up

2009-02-23T14:24:00.000-08:00

So, I have been pretty busy this past month and haven't been able to update my blog, yes it really does make me pretty sad...So, here is a catch up of my photography class:)

Assignment 2:

Assignment 3:

Assignment 4:

I'm in love.....With Picasa

2009-01-20T15:26:00.001-08:00

So, I have been experimenting with Picasa and I have found out that it is not only an amazingly easy software to use, but so much fun!! I had fun with creating some collages, and here is the one that is currently on my desktop.

Photography Photoshoot 1

2009-01-20T15:09:00.001-08:00

I am taking a beginning photography class right now and I am enjoying it:) These are from my first photo shoot, I had my roommate Liz along, and it was fun. My assignment was to photograph one subject in natural light. I chose to try out two different ones, loved both the photo's that I came up with, and had trouble choosing which one, but I had fun choosing the sunglasses pictures.

It's Christmas Time

2009-01-02T21:13:00.000-08:00

Christmas is a wonderful time where I love to spend time at home with my family, even though not everyone is able to come home for Christmas. I had a most wonderful time here. The biggest surprise was the huge snow storm that stranded us in our house the week before Christmas. It is so much more snow than I have ever seen here in Portland. It was fun to see the snow, but I didn't love it because I see snow constantly in Rexburg, and I like the break from the cold and I love seeing my wonderful rain:) But it only lasted a week and a half, and we had a white Christmas, which I don't remember happening before either. So, we had fun playing in the house together:) I had a wonderful time doing puzzles and playing some games. We really enjoyed spending time together, cooped up in the house.
For Christmas, Santa gave me something that I had been asking for all year, a Wii! So, we had a lot of fun bowing, golfing, and playing tennis as well as Mario Kart and Dance Dance Revolution. I am still deciding whether I am bringing it back to school, my mom wants me to leave it at home, I think it's because she wants to play and use it:)
So, a wonderful season of joy and giving. I took my friends children out shopping for presents. While out, I asked them what their favorite part of Christmas was. Each said that their favorite part was not the presents, food, or worldly things, but celebrating the birth of Christ. I am thankful this Christmas to be reminded of the simple things in life and how I can look towards my Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. I love the Christmas season, not for the presents, but for the ability to spend time with family and to celebrate what Christmas is all about- the birth of our Savior who came down and suffered for our sins and than died for us so we could live with our Heavenly Father again some day. I love the Christmas stories that share the birth of the Savior and the true meaning of Christmas. May the Christmas season bring joy and peace to everyone throughout the year, not just at Christmas time.

Thanksgiving, Time of Thanks!

2008-11-27T19:31:00.000-08:00

On this thanksgiving day, I have been pondering what I have been given and what I have to be thankful for. There are many things in my life to be thankful for, and I am happy that I am able to have a day that I can ponder on those things that make me most thankful. I try to think of everything, but sometimes that is difficult, as everything in my life is such a great blessing!
1. Family
2. Friends
3. Gospel
4. BYUI
5. Books
6. Christ
7. Technology
8. Good Movies
9. Pictures
10. Children
11. Scriptures
12. Heat
13. Talents
14. Music
15. Inventors
16. Police/Firefighters/Military
17. Love
18. Roommates
19. Good Food
20. People to talk to
21. Parents who understand
22. Phones
23. Holdiays
24. Car
25. Bed with nice mattress:)
26. Blankets
27. Sleep
28. Doctors
29. Simple Truths
30. Education

Random Fall Pictures

2008-11-02T17:55:00.000-08:00

I was thinking that I should put in some random Fall picts, mainly of my niece, because she really is cute:) I have a lot of fun playing with her, and I wish I lived around more of my family so that I could play with my other Niece's and Nephew's! Maybe that will be my goal one day, but for now, I think that I will just enjoy the fact that I live around one of them:)

Happy Halloween!

2008-11-02T17:38:00.000-08:00

Yay for Halloween!!! When I was growing up, Halloween wasn't a huge deal for me. I think that it was because I had siblings that were so much older than me and stopped trick or treating when I was very young. I don't remember much of Halloween's as a child, besides mom making us pick out all of the sticky candy and gum and throwing it away:) I remember a few costumes, but they were usually hand me down costumes that mom would create for me. Not that I'm complaining, I loved what I dressed up as. I remember once dressing up as a Hobo, patches on levi overalls and everything. But, I don't think that I trully appreciated the act of dressing up untill I got to college. College Halloween is more of: I have no money, what can I put together that I already have that will look like a costume? Well, every year I just throw a bunch of things together, and I have fun with the whole dressing up concept. Not because I get to go out and buy a costume and wear it, but because I can make something up with what I have! As a child, I always looked forward to getting all of the halloween candy, and that was fun, but now that I am older, I love just dressing up, going to a party, and having fun, no matter how much of a dork I feel like!! Hope you enjoy some of my Halloween pictures, this year me and two of my other roommates dressed up as who's. I was Super Hero Who, Cami was Dr. Who, and Marie was Bed-Time Who...

Roommate Fun

2008-10-19T18:43:00.000-07:00

Today after church, we went to the gardens on campus to take some roommate photos. It was a lot of fun, a couple of hours worth, and we came out with some pretty cool pictures as well, at least I think so:)
Just for future reference, here are my roommate's names from left to right: Marie, Liz, Me, Saren, Cami, and Bekah.

This is my new boyfriend, Chad, we have a lot of fun together....This is the wonderful and beautiful Hinckley building, where I spend most of my time. It is the education building, and it is also at the top of the hill, it does wonders to have to hike that hill every day....I really liked this picture of the Hinckley surrounded by trees. Oddly enough, there is always at least a foot of snow on the ground right now, but this year it has actually been pretty warm, count your blessings I guess:)

Class Cancelation

2008-10-13T10:49:00.000-07:00

One of the saddest times of my days are when my roommates are sitting around when they usually have class. When asked why they aren't in class, they tell me that their class was canceled. Canceled??? Why does everyone else get classes canceled but mine!! I always get jealous about them getting to sleep in, watch a movie, or just relax during that hour. But, alas, I never have a canceled class. Today, on my way up to the Hinckley, I heard a fire alarm going off, and a fire truck heading up towards the building. As I walked closer, I realized that the huge mass of people outside of the Hinckley and the alarm going off meant I might not have class....maybe.....Anyways, I waited outside in the complete freezing cold(30 degrees) and waited for a verdict. About fifteen minutes later, our teachers started gathering us to say that we will not be having class that day, for that hour. What great luck! I guess that it isn't necessarily luck, but I still was excited to have an hour off, especially on a monday:) Don't worry, I'm pretty sure everything is all right in my wonderful Hinckley building, I heard it was something to do with wiring?? I'm just basking in the wonderfullness of a canceled class, an hour to myself, to (hopefully) get a little homework done....

Birthday Story

2008-10-04T18:25:00.000-07:00

Ok, so now, a few weeks after my birthday, I thought I should blog about what I did:) Let's see....I went to class in the morning, Old Testament with Brother Baron, so amazing!! Than I went and painted a pot for my art methods class, it doesn't look the greatest, but at the same time it isn't that bad;) I enjoyed heading over to my sister's house for the remainder of the day where I played with my niece, and hung out. Chelsea came up to visit me for the weekend, which was pretty much amazing!! She came over and we had super good homemmade mac and cheese, which is the most amazing mac and cheese that you can ever have. Than, Mike made us some unbeliveably good brownies. We watched Batman, the first one, and I opened my presents from my mom! I got a super cte wallet tat I had been eyeing for about two months, and it is amazing, and I also got a purse to go along with it!! Chelsea and I went back to my apartment to party with the roommies. We decided to go to Denny's at 2 AM, yes, I know....but it was actually amazingly crazy crowded, we had to wait for a table!! Anyways, we went and had a great time, than I got like three hours of sleep and went to a conference for one of my classes all the next day. It was an amazing day, and an amazing weekend. I sure miss my old roommates, but I am getting used to the new ones. Sometimes it is hard to get used to change, especially for me, but I know that it does take time and eventually I will be used to these roommates:) Overall, it was an amazing weekend, and I had so much fun. I am now 21, which is wierd, but I'm getting used to it....

Birthday Wishes

2008-09-20T20:45:00.000-07:00

So, here it is...the big 21... I'm not sure if I feel much different about things now that I am 21, but I definitely am feeling a bit older. Like my sister said, "You're no longer considered a teenager:)" So what does turning 21 mean when you're a Mormon? I have yet to figure that out, but I know that someday I will look back on my 21st birthday and smile. It was filled with great friends, activities, and a little craziness:) 21 is merely a milestone in my life, another thing to categorize into my life's lists of activities, and I think that it should mean something more. What it should mean is beyond me, but all I know is one day I will figure it out, hopefully. I feel somewhat responsible for myself now as well, like many decisions rest upon me. Part of me is happy about growing up, the other part is wishing things could be the same. But if life were the same, how would it be exciting? And why would I be motivated to accomplish anything?? Life is complicated, but I love it. I love living life, making decisions, learning, growing, having fun, being crazy, and having people to love and people to love me back. Having the wonders of nature around me, Heavenly Father's hand in my life, and knowing that I can make a difference in the lives of those that I meet. Life is life, sometimes it is good, other times it is not so pleasant. But no matter what the occasion, I am always thankful that I am me. So, here's wishing a happy 21st year of my life, another year to try my hardest, work towards my goals, and hopefully try something new, exciting, mystical....

Seattle Vist to Monica!

2008-08-29T18:48:00.001-07:00

After our trip to Portland, Chels and I drove up to Seattle to visit our other roommate Monica. We had so much fun seeing the sights of Seattle, going to Pikes place, seeing a lot of different views, and having fun with my roommates, reliving old times. I had such a great time and we had a bunch of fun picts that we took!
At Gas Works Park, it had a wonderful sunset and a beautiful view of Seattle!
The sunset

A view of downtown Seattle
Monica and I
I definitely need to get these glasses:)

Chels in Portland

2008-08-29T18:33:00.000-07:00

A week ago, my roommate Chelsea decided to come and visit me and see the sights of Portland. We went to the Rose Garden, the Japanes Garden, downtown Portland, rode the max, streetcar, and the aerial tram, visited the Tillamook Chees Factory, went to the beach, and saw the temple. I had so much fun with my wonderful roommate and she enjoyed seeing the sights, meeting interesting people, and hanging out. It is always a lot of fun to go into downtown Portland becuase there are many interesting people that decide that they want to talk to you, or tell them your story, or, as a woman on the max told us, "burglarize our conversation":) She butted into our conversation and told us that she was burglerizing our conversation and just started talking to us, about what we were just talking about.....Anyways, it was so much fun, and I was excited to have someone to show off Portland to!!

Some of the flowers that we found at the Rose Garden!

Chels and I at the Rose Garden
A nice view of my beautiful Portland:)
Yes, he is my new boyfriend, we will have great stone children....
Looking up at the Porltand Temple
Riding the Aerial Tram

Cake Time!

2008-07-31T20:58:00.000-07:00

My adopted Niece's had birthdays this week, and since none of my nieces and nephews live near me, I dote on them and make them whatever cake they want:) It's a good chance to try something new and get creative, and I have a lot of fun creating from what they tell me they want. Kristen's turned seven and decided that she wanted a basketball cake, why she wanted it is beyond me, she doesn't even play basketball, but I was happy to comply. I decided to make a basketball going through a hoop. Ezrie wanted a pig cake, so I looked up some ideas and I came up with this cake. I wanted to practice making roses with the extra icing, and than decided to make the cake more girly and add them to it! All in all, I think that they didn't turn out too bad...

A Pyro's Good Time

2008-07-06T21:38:00.000-07:00

It is amazing, a blow up of fun:) My family started this tradition when I was younger of setting off the big fireworks shows on the fourth, and other times of the years. My dad has his Pyro's license and we are assigned a show each year. You have to be 18 in order to light so this was my second year lighting and it was amazing:) You get to wear the fireman's gear, hat, goggles, coat, long pants, ear plugs, the works. I also got a flare that I held the entire show that I used to light the mortars with. I was in charge of the boxes, which is where you light one fuse and like 20 mortars all go off. you have to light it and than run, because it has such a huge blast. But, it is a lot of fun, and I am hoping that even when I don't come home in the summer I will be able to come home for the 4th! Here are some pictures of what went on, like I said, if you ever feel like getting a fuse and lighting a mortar it is a lot of fun:)Setting up the shells in the mortars

A Sign that was on the boxes of shells, this is what was on the boxes I lit off:)
All of the crew in between all of the mortars
All decked out in our fireman's gear
An aerial view of the set up, all of the boxes on the left are what I set off
A view of my brother setting off, this is what it looks like: explosives in your face:)
One of the fireworks we created
That's me below the fireworks that were going off
I am about to light off another box on the right side
Me right behind a box that is going off
My dad setting of the finale, it looks like he is blowing up:)

Brother's Visit

2008-07-06T21:29:00.000-07:00

My Brother just left today with his family, they were visiting here for a week. We had a lot of fun. Again, I had to work a lot so I didn't get to do a ton with them, but we went to the children's museum, Build A Bear, and we did a fireworks shoot. I didn't get many pics, but here are the few:)

My nephew made a cute turtle whose shell is like a backpack at Build A Bear

My other nephew made a pirate dog, super cute:)

With all of the "bears" that we made that night!
My nephew and I at the fireworks shoot, I was complete in my Pyro shirt;)

My Sister's Visit

2008-07-06T10:30:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago, my sister came and visited for a few weeks with her kids. I feel bad because I feel like all I really did was work, and when I look at the pictures there are only like five pictures of me with them, but I guess that's OK, I was still around... I had a lot of fun. I have been volunteering at the children's museum and I was able to get them in for free. We played there, and had so much fun. I love seeing all of my niece's and nephew's and am so glad that I have been able to have the opportunity to be the youngest in the family so that I can spend time with all of them:) Here are some pictures, hope you enjoy;)

My niece Abby and I, ready for churchAt Build A Bear, we had a great time creating our bears:)

My nephew and I at the Children's Museum

Their last day here, I'm complete in my Kindercare uniform:)

Ikea: Fantasy into Reality

2008-06-29T11:00:00.000-07:00

So, how come I have not been dragged to this store before now? It is like aisle after aisle of pure fun and joy:) I went to Ikea with my mom a week ago and we spent over three hours there. Not only do you get to walk through and see all of these rooms all made up, you than go downstairs and it's a store!! You can go around and buy all the stuff that you have just seen! Needless to say, I bought a few items;)

Disneyland

2008-05-11T19:14:00.000-07:00

I just got back yesterday from Disneyland! I went there with my brother's family, they have three boys. It was so much fun, and I am missing being there, especially when I think that I have to start work again tomorrow:) But, it was an amazing week, tiring, but fun. We went to Disneyland for four days and than Seaworld and the San Diego Zoo. I have some pictures here. Some of the funnest parts of the week were my nephew who is two. He was so scared of certain rides and than afterwords he decided that he "liked it" a lot. It was funny. I also loved going on some of the bigger rides with my nephew who is four. He loved the fast roller coasters. The youngest is around six moths, and he is so cute! I loved playing with all three of them and seeing their amazement at everything! I have added some pictures from some fun events.

Feeding the Dolphins at Seaworld, I got to pet them too!

He is just so cute:)

Tigger and I

Entering SeaWorld

At the San Diego Zoo
San Diego Zoo is one of the only zoo's in the US that has the Panda Bear
Just outside the San Diego Zoo, I like the bushes that are shaped all cool like:)
Outside of California Adventure taking a picture with a letter:)

I like this pic of me and Mickey

My nephew and I looking cool!

The Castle at Night, beautiful!

So, it was a great week, and we had a lot of fun pictures. I am so grateful that I had the opportunity to go do this with some of my family. It makes my time I get to spend with them a little more special, and memorable. A perk of being one of the last singles in my family:)

The Summer Plans

2008-05-10T22:07:00.000-07:00

I got my job back at Kindercare for the summer. I'm excited, but at the same time it is a little sad because a lot of the people I worked with last summer have left and things are much stricter this summer than last. I was made temporary lead teacher in the wobbler room, which is 12-18 months. The kids are way cute and the experience is good for me. I am able to do lesson plans and plan out their learning and games as well as be the boss in the classroom. It is exciting to know that the experience that I have gained will pay off in helping me to get to this position. So, an exciting summer lays in wait for me and I am going to have a great attitude about it and have a fun time!

Just Havin' Fun

2008-04-15T15:38:00.000-07:00

So, the semester has come and gone and I am now home for the summer. It is a little sad, but I am excited to be here and I have been having fun with my mom and dad. But, before a semester can change and move one, there's the last night with the roommates, and this semester we went out with a bang! We decided to dye our hair, temporary of course, and I was going to try and keep it in for my family to see it the next two days when I saw them. Sadly, I have brown hair which means that I don't really get much color to show up in my hair, but I am happy with how the rest of it turned out! I almost wish I were blonde, as you can see their hair dying experience was much more dramatic! We had a lot of fun, I didn't get much reaction from my hair, but that's ok, I didn't want much...Check out some of the pics!

The Cocoa Bean

2008-04-10T09:17:00.001-07:00

Yesterday Monica and I were celebrating our last time together and decided to go try out The Cocoa Bean Cafe. It was pretty much amazing. They had all of these delicious cup cakes and hot chocolate or cold chocolate drinks. Amazing, and in the middle of Rexburg, it made us feel like we were back in Seattle, or Portland!This was their mint chocolate cupcake, amazing.
Me drinking the most amazing chocolate drink EVER!! Caramaly chocolatey goodness!

Happy April Fools Day!

2008-04-10T09:10:00.000-07:00

So, April Fool's Day came and went with only a few minor scratches:) I woke up and all of my clothes were gone, later I found out that they were all in my roommate closet....My other roommate woke up with peanut butter all over their bedroom door handle! I fell for that once when I walked into their room! So, I got back the culprits by taking shoes, about 50 pairs, and taking blankets and such....it was a fun day, a day to watch your back, but a fun day.....

The Peanut Butter door handle
My clothes in my roommates closet, she's from Rexburg and so her sid eof the closet is usually empty(The left side)

Happy Easter

2008-03-24T21:47:00.000-07:00

So, we had an easter feast in my apartment. We made cheesy potatoes, steak, and roles. It was pretty much amazing. And, all of us were together, so we decorated easter eggs and had a lot of fun. We then made a fort in our living room and spent three hours in it, and had way too much sugar. So, of course, sugar highs plus a confined place equal everyone being super hyper....

Decorating Another Cake!

2008-03-24T21:43:00.000-07:00

The Relief Society in our ward had a birthday party and each apartment was in charge of making a cake, this is the one that I decorated for our apartment. It didn't turn out exactly how I envisioned it, but it is close enough. There was one apartment there that cut out the hat and left only the rest of it for people to eat and they took the hat home. Anyways, it was fun.

The Goose Girl

2008-03-13T17:55:00.000-07:00

So I just finished reading this really good book called The Goose Girl by Shannon Hale. I want to read more from this author! I loved the book and had fun reading it. It is based off of the Brothers Grimm story Goose Girl. It's about a princess who is sent to another kingdom to be wed to a prince to help the peace between lands, but on the way she is betrayed and has to fight for her title again. You should definitely read the story, it is excellent!

My Brain

2008-03-08T15:30:00.000-08:00

For my Education Psychology class, I had to make a brain and label all of the different parts. I made my brain out of candy, it was all very exciting. The only problem is that I used very little out of the main package, which left me with a LOT of leftover candy....

Here is my brain, this is before I labeled it and such...

Printer Adventures...

2008-03-05T19:03:00.000-08:00

So, my printer has been, well, stupid, and I have now spent many hours giving it one on one attention, is it any wonder why it still isn't working?? I keep telling myself that this is a duel to the death, only one can win, and when I compare things I don't think it is my printer that will be winning....

Sunday Pictures!

2008-03-05T18:44:00.000-08:00

My roommates and I went to the Rexburg Temple after church one Sunday and took a bunch of fun pictures. It was cold and windy and there was snow everywhere, it just happened to be snowing that day, surprise surprise...Yes, we should all be models...