Jenna

Another Winter Survived @ BYUI

2010-05-16T19:05:00.001-07:00

Here's a summary of the amazing Winter semester of 2010.

We...

... kicked off the new semester with a dance/cultural party with our new friends.

... played in the snow.

... had private, pizza, homework parties.

... trekked through the snow to get to church. This is nothin'. We had a ridiculous amount of snow all semester.

... made Relief Society treats (I got called as a RS teacher, again - always awesome)!

... pulled pranks (Anny's not putting Kaylie's food in her cupboard, she's packing it, so she can hide it).

... rollerbladed. Well, Anny rollerbladed. I ran after her to make sure she didn't crash and burn.

... pulled more pranks.

... went to concerts.

... watched "TV" (thank goodness for Hulu, Dad's DVD collection, Redbox, and Netflix).

... packed 7 people into my 5-seater truck.

... had clean rooms.... occasionally.

... enjoyed Colie visits.

... picnicked.

... photoboothed.

... drank a lot of Jamba.

... enjoyed (?) snow, melting snow, no snow, snow, melting snow, no snow, snow....

... roadtripped.

... fought.

... had wonderful married Sara visits (where we would stare blankly at a computer screen, apparently).

... and said "goodbye"s.

And, perhaps, we studied a bit, here and there ;)

A Few Noteworth, Never-Documented Pictures/Stories

2010-02-21T16:00:00.000-08:00

Last semester:

Halloween

Okay... so, somehow our toilet got clogged, and when I say clogged, I mean, it got clogged, overflowed, soaked the rug we had in the bathroom, started seeping into our hall carpet, then proceeded to leak through some random cracks and drip onto our kitchen counter.

I threw everything that was on the floor into the bathtub. The water eventually stopped (I'm not exactly sure what I did...) and I proceeded to get rid of the water by using Sara's shower squeegee and a dustpan.

I think that this is my greatest motivation to get married... so he can take care of this sort of stuff ;)

There's more to this story...

During this clog fiasco, Sara grabbed a chocolate. It says, "Joy is found in the smallest of moments. Like now!" I guess this was a good reminder of, "Come what may, and love it."

You may have seen our music video. Well, I will spare you all of the many ridiculous pictures that we took and give you a special viewing of my favorite.

For the grand finale...

Anny couldn't reach the big bowls.

Another Louisiana Christmas!

2010-01-20T11:45:00.000-08:00

I was able to spend my Christmas break in Lousiana with my mom and Georgie. Kris, Leslie, Isaac, and Kaylie even came down for a few days! My family isn't very big on picture taking, so here's a taste for you ;)

Some of the houses down there are awesome! Here's one of them. This isn't even the biggest or prettiest! They were so cool.

My mom pointed out to Georgie that his earring holes hadn't closed up yet. She regretted it later.

Our beautiful Christmas tree. Which we bought on the 23rd and decorated on the 24th ;)

Kaylie is the cutest little girl EVER. She was so much fun. Being the cruel family that we are, however, we took her in for some torture time. I will spare you the in-between shots, but here are the "before and after" pictures of miss Kaylie getting her ears pierced!

She was such a good sport.

We went all out to experience the true southern delicacies.

dirty rice

hush puppies

crab cakes

shrimp gumbo

frog legs

alligator

the works ;)

It was a great break. The only thing missing was my dad! We love and missed you, Dad!

ROADTRIP!

2010-01-18T16:00:00.000-08:00

So, the roomies and I spent a wonderful week in SoCal with Sara's family. We drove to San Marcos, stayed for Thanksgiving break (we get the whole week off, gotta love Idaho!), and drove back. It was an incredible week, with many exciting events!

We left Friday night for our overnight pit stop in SLC at my Aunt's. Here is Anny begrudgingly taking a bite of her 2nd ever Taco Bell sampling!

The next morning we took off around eight a.m. and my two travel buddies were both passed out pretty quickly. Thanks girls.

Here we are somewhere in Utah, where you could literally see where the weather was better on the other side. We had clouds all the way up until this point, then we didn't see them until our trip back to Old Iceburg ;)

My dad served his mission in the San Diego area, so he had a few suggestions for us. He made us go out to an amazing restaurant, which he generously told me to use his credit card ;) (Don't worry, we didn't have any of the exotic cocktails...)

We stayed with Sara's family and it was a blast! She has three sisters and one brother (the youngest out of everyone). We got to help out, meet tons of new people, and have sooo much fun. At one point we were trying to help Sara pick out her and Zach's song and this is what ended up happening....

Aren't they cute?

And, of coure, we did some shopping. Anny absolutely fell in love with her long, lost love of a jacket...

not really.

Sara's sister and best friend threw her a bridal shower. It was super cute and not too raunchy... per Sara's request. The games were fun and people got super creative. Here's our lovely model rommate, Kaylie.

Meet Amanda. Sara's sister, Megan, and I were the designers of this lovely piece ;)

No explanation.

Our last outing of all un-married women! Woohoo!!!

We'll never tell what we did ;)

Thursday was the nice and busy day. Zach's side of the family was getting Thanksgiving dinner ready for about... EIGHTY-ish people, while Sara's side set up the reception hall/barn. Of course, we ran with Sara's side. It was nice to feel helpful.

Beautiful Gumpy babe hauling some of the goods...

I think that this may be the last picture we have of single Sara.

Gorgeous Anny... and me.

Here are some of the decorations. It was all SUPER cute.

Clean-up!

(We did help, I promise).

We drove back that Saturday and picked up Sara's cousin/straggler, Andrew. We stopped in SLC again and, of course, hit up Temple Square. AND we saw and talked with Elder L. Tom Perry of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.... for the third time ever!

It was a very, very, very good trip, but needless to say, we were pretty worn out.

Another One Bites the Dust

2009-12-13T17:13:00.000-08:00

Our beautiful Sara got married!!

She got married to a great guy (that's right, I approve).

Introducing, Zach and Sara Allen!

Obviously, we did not want to let her go.

(In my opinion, I don't think that Zach is trying very hard).

But lo and behold, we had to let go.

Sara and I have been through

trillions of dishes,

257 pictures

235 rolls of toilet paper,

182 adventures,

90-ish credits,

45-ish mac and cheese dinners,

11 months,

6 trips to Utah,

5 church callings,

4 birthdays,

4 music videos,

4 roomates,

3 semesters,

2 wards,

1 skinny dip,

1 AMAZING friendship,

and

0 arguments (wink, wink),

together.

Love you Sara!

We miss you!

Maybe Someday...

2009-11-09T09:36:00.000-08:00

... I'll be more embarrassed by this kind of stuff and stop posting it ;)

For your viewing pleasure...

It's November!

2009-11-08T11:11:00.000-08:00

Yes, yes, I'm a big slacker.

So, October was a good month. I am loving school. It easily and quickly felt like home again long ago.

Here's a small summary of what we have been up to.

We made our traditional bi-annual trek down to my Aunt Christine's for General Conference! It was a blast, as always. My Aunt Christine always treat us so much better than we deserve and she constantly reaffirms to me how wonderful a lady she is! The talks at Conference definitely prompted a lot of thought and gave me things to work on.

Here is Zach and Sara. Zach didn't think that Sara wanted to be seen with him... he had a pretty grody mustache at the time. (19 more days until they get hitched)!

My beautiful roomies.

L to R: Kaylie, Anny, Sara.

Our crew, right before going into the conference center for the Sunday afternoon session. Sidenote: that was the session where Elder Holland gave his going-down-in-history testimony and talk on the Book of Mormon. We were so lucky to be in that session and truly feel the strength of his feelings and knowledge.

The day after we got home from General Conference, we had the privilege to wake up to this. It melted by the afternoon and we have only had one additional snow-stick since then.

On October 13, Elder Dallin H. Oaks gave the devotional here at BYU-I! He spoke about religious freedom. It was pretty intense. It made the news all over the place. If you haven't read it, I would recommend it. Sara and I were able to get tickets to attend the devotional. We were able to sit in the same room with apostles of the Lord while they gave incredible testimonies. And they weren't just heartfelt and testimony-building talks (though they were these things, too), but they were powerful, truthful, and blunt talks.

Sara's cute Halloween cookies.

We participated in a huge stake service project. We pulled weeds and painted fences. We were rocking awesome weed-pickers.

The stake provided us with styrofoam cups to put our paint in. For brushes, we used the gloves they provided us with to pull weeds. It made for an interesting service project. The paint was eating through the cups so quickly. I ended up with 3 stacked cups, and it eventually ate through all of them.

P.S. The weeds were pokey.

Lalalala

2009-10-18T00:48:00.000-07:00

Well, my internet does not happen to be the best in my apartment. It works really great most of the time, but random things don't work, three things actually: email, uploading pictures to blogger, and submitting my accounting homework. Hmm... lovely. So, maybe someday I will upload pictures. We'll see. I'm not a big fan of the "all words" posts, since I'm not as entertaining that way ;)

Cupcakes and Caves

2009-09-28T21:50:00.000-07:00

Okay, I am going to go backwards in my stories :)

This is what happened monday night

6 cupcakes

4 roommates

You do the math ;)

I made this delish pizza last tuesday!

Garlic chicken something or other.

Now, for the good stuff...

(I don't have pictures for this one, but I have good reasons).

Saturday night, Anny's friend from back home, Corinne, invited us to go to the caves. We have never been, but have heard a lot about them. So, we were planning on meeting right after the Relief Society General Broadcast, around 8 at Corinne's apartment. Sara was driving our group in her Honda Civic. The group was: Sara, me, Anny, Zach, and Sara's cousin, Andrew. On our way, Corinne called and recommended that we bring a truck, because the last time someone drove their car, the underside got ruined. So, we got my truck and went to Corinne's apartment. Skip ahead: we were on the road on our way to the caves. We drove about thirty-five minutes on the main drag until we turned onto a dirt road. There were 2 other vehicles with our group: a BIG truck and a hefty suburban, so my truck looked like a midget, plus I was last in our little "follow the leader" crusade down the scary, windy, BUMPY, rocky, dusty, and LOOONNGGGG dirt road. All those words: understatements. It was terrible. I've never been off-roading whatsoever with my beautiful truck and it's only two-wheel drive, so I was scared for my poor Gumpy's life. At least twice, we heard very large rocks hit the underside of my baby. It was terrible. Sara says that she wishes she could have recorded all of the sound effects I was making in sorrow for my vehicle. Moving on, the other two vehicles got WAY ahead of us and after a while we couldn't see them at all. Terrible. Nonetheless, we kept on trudging. After about 45 minutes on this ridiculous dirt road that was slowly killing my truck, we came to a "T" in the road. We could go left or right, so we chose left, because it seemed the most sensible. This road was MUCH smoother. It was wonderful. After about ten minutes on this road, we see another car going the opposite direction, so we figure they are just leaving the caves and stopped them to ask how much further it was. They informed us that we were going the wrong way: they were heading to the caves, too. Me: "But where did you guys come from?" Them: "Oh, the main road is just like 2 minutes away." AHHHHHHHH!!! We couldn't believe it. We had taken the ridiculously long way!! Anywho, we followed them, and it took us about fifteen minutes to finally get to the caves.

That's way too long of a story, I'm sorry. But the caves were fun. It was already ten by the time we got there, so we only got to stay for a little longer than half an hour (curfew is midnight)! When we were leaving the caves, the rest of our group had just gotten there! It took us just around an hour to get home. Gist: we're never hanging out with those people ever again and I officially am IN LOVE with my car. I have a new found respect and love for him: he endured much!

The end.

Side note: About five minutes into our off-roading crusade, we came to a HUGE flock of sheep. It was hilarious. They were basically flanking the road, and a couple were even in the road, so we had to find our way around them. Just a funny incident.

Back to the Daily Grind

2009-09-20T22:10:00.000-07:00

So, I decided that I am only going to post about the fun things. No schoolwork. We'll see how long that lasts. The roomies and I are trying to make this a very hard-working and diligent semester, but at the same time make sure that we have a teensy bit of fun and a little bit of social lives :)

The first Saturday we were here, we went to the sand dunes to hang out at a bon fire. It was GIGANTIC! So much fun.

This guy carved his and his fiancee's names into the sand with a heart, poured gasoline into them, then lit them on fire. It was really clever and looked pretty awesome.

You've met Zach before, Sara's fiancee'. He's very secure. I told him to "be sexy" in this picture.

Yesterday, we went bridge jumping. It was a blast!! Holy cow. It was just a pedestrian bridge and it was probably around 30 feet above the water... not too bad. The first jump was a teensy bit intimidating, but it was worth it. I have so much respect for professional divers now!

I kept on trying to take pictures with my phone, but every time I just ended up capturing their legs. Bummer. Anyhow, Sara was the bravest and jumped right in.

You are probably getting a messed up impression of Zach, but oh well. He's a goofball and Sara still loves him.

Zach actually took this picture... gotta love it.

Good & true story:

Sara decided that she wanted to hold hands and jump in. Well, this is what we think ended up happening.. she jumped farther out than I did and we ended up pulling each other. We ended up landing really weird in the water. She chipped a tooth (a really small part, she says the size of a grain of sand or so) and I bruised up my leg nicely.

Anny, Kaylie (NEW roommate, with same name as old roommate from Fall '08 semester and close to other old roommate, Kayla, from Winter '09 semester... crazy), and I decided to swim out to the rocks in the middle of the river. Sara and the boys hung back and made a pretty funny movie.

We were all pretty exhausted as the day went on... as you can tell.

Sara had made me a cake on Friday and we lit the candles today. I have such good roomies.

More to come later!

Blackberry Art!

2009-08-23T22:40:00.000-07:00

The aunts are here.

That can only mean one thing.

BLACKBERRY JAM!

We worked hard.

8 batches

and

51 jars

later...

I decided to have some fun with the leftovers.

Old, torn up jeans...

... plus reject blackberry goop...

...plus a pair of these...

... equals art.

;)

Roadtrip!!

2009-08-23T21:59:00.000-07:00

Anny and I left Monday morning, with Bitsy in tow, for San Francisco. We spent time with my mom until we headed to Utah, Wednesday morning. We spent time with another roommate, Sara, on Thursday. Friday was Kaylie's (another roomie's) wedding and reception. Anny and I headed home on Saturday morning. We actually made some pretty good time. Less than 14 hours from SLC to OH.

Anny sits about 2 inches away from the steering wheel.

The bed of the truck was pretty full. I had to take stuff to my mom in SF and my Aunt Christine in SLC, plus my mom filled it even more with a coffee table and boxes of food (for BYUI) until we dumped it at Christine's.

In-N-Out!

Anny "could have sworn" that they had chicken burgers... and "crinkly" fries.

My mom treated us to some legit Chinese food. Guess how many people were eating. Hint: less than 4, but more than 2. Kind of ridiculous.

Then, she took us to Ghiradelli for a rockin' sundae.

Anny and I were equipped with our sunglasses and Hanna Montana hand sanitizer.

Travel buddies!

Kaylie was gorgeous and they are a wonderful match. He is a good guy, through and through, and that's a lot coming from me.

Tribute to Old Bitser

2009-08-23T21:39:00.000-07:00

Well, Anny and I headed off on a roadtrip (post to come) partly to take my dog, Bitsy, to my mom in San Francisco. She's going to keep Bitsy, since I'm heading off for school soon. We've had Bitsy since I was around 6 years old. The house is so quiet without her!

This was a couple of weeks ago. I took her for a walk and didn't feel like carrying her (empty) plastic, potty bag.

After a nice rain shower.

She did awesome on the 15-ish hour car ride. She sat behind the passenger seat in my truck in her little bed the whole way.

I gave her some of my In-N-Out burger, so of course she wanted more. I spoil my puppy.

She has made herself right at home, once we spent the night at my moms. She claimed Finnegan's (giant) bed as her own.

Life of a Single, Almost 20 Year Old

2009-08-02T23:24:00.000-07:00

Here's a picture narrative of the wonderful single life!

The view of downtown Frisco and the Bay Bridge from my mom's neighborhood.

Try doing this with your fridge.

Lots of babysitting.. for some pretty awesome kids!

A few weddings, here and there.

Vandalism. Of course.

This is probably my favorite part:

Who doesn't love pizza?

The End.

Worst Moment... EVER!

2009-08-02T23:14:00.000-07:00

Blue Cheese.

Nuff said.

Julia's Bridal Shower

2009-07-13T14:00:00.000-07:00

For those of you who don't know... my beautiful, wonderful, amazing friend, Julia, is getting married in less than two weeks! She asked me to be her MoH, so I have had some planning to do. This past Saturday I threw her her shower. It was a little crazy. I just returned from San Francisco on Thursday and the shower was on Saturday.

Midnight trips to Winco

3 a.m. bed times

9 a.m. wake-ups

Lots of cleaning...

cooking...

cutting...

organizing...

preparing...

phone calls...

brainstorming...

it was a blast.

Have I ever mentioned that I love throwing parties. Only trouble is... I've never been to a shower, let alone thrown one! So, it was an adventure. I learned a lot. I now know a lot of things that I would do different. Here's a snippet of the festivities.

Since I went right from home to Utah to San Fran, I was not able to clean up the major damage my brother and I created until I returned from visiting my mom.

Before:

After:

We invited about 80 people to the shower! Talk about insanity. So, I was prepared for the worst. I only had about 30 seats (thanks to President and Sister Lantz!), so I prepared for some floor sitters... with pillows!

Nicole was my shopping buddy. Cart full of food. Hours at the grocery store. Speedy trip to Dugualla. Lots of math and guesstimating. Second-guessing at the dollar store.

Sarah B helped me out so much!! It would have been a ton more work and time for me if I had not had her gracious and incredible help! She sliced, chopped, washed, organized, mixed, dipped, drizzled tons of the food!

Sister Fowler was also generous enough to make a delicious eclair dessert (the hit of the party, I will have you know). On top of that, Ciera also lent a helping hand and made her awesome PB rice krispies. Thanks ladies!

Before:

After:

Seriously?! They barely made a dent. Plus, this wasn't even nearly all the food. I didn't even put out the chips and salsa. There were a lot more fruit and veggies. Lots of drink. More chocolate popcorn. Ah well. I think just under 30 people came and it was a fun group!

Enjoy these scandalous pictures of Julia. Tip: make sure to click on the pic, to get some good detail ;)

She got away with some rocking-awesome gifts.

I hope everyone had fun. We played a couple games, ate some yummy food, talked lots, laughed some, and enjoyed watching Julia open her presents!

Again, I learned a ton. Anyone need a shower/party to be planned?

;)

Frisco & Chino

2009-07-13T13:30:00.000-07:00

I got to visit my mom in California for 9 days! It was awesome. I actually started to miss the Foggy City.. and my mom, too... I guess ;)

Over the Fourth weekend, my mom and I drove down to Chino, to visit my grandma. Kris, Leslie, and the kiddos also met us down there. It was so much fun. I haven't seen my grandma in such a long time. She is such a wonderful and good lady. I also loved reminding her that she is the one who raised my crazy mother.

Gma & Izy

It was in the nineties the whole time we were there. Beautiful and sunny.

LOVED IT!!

Isaac loved his stickers, even when TuTu (Hawaiian for Grandma, what Mom requested to be called) stuck them all over his tummy.

I guess I was just jealous at how easily Kaylie fell asleep, so I thought I would try it out...

We went to my Uncle's house for Independence Day. I got to see/meet some cousins I have not seen in years. I really do have an awesome extended family. They were so much fun.

My mom was in charge of the food. Let me tell ya.... she knows how to do food. There was sooooo much of it!! This is just one of the three counters/tables of food. It was awesome and delicious!

I love this picture. Bottom left: my cousin, Daniel. Top: family friend, Cathie's, granddaughter, Nicole. Bottom right: gorgeous cousin, Autumn. Middle: baby Kaylie.

Isaac loved playing on my grandma's piano. He was so good about it. He didn't pound on it, like a lot of kids would do. It was kind of weird.. he made it sound really pretty, actually.

He was super excited when he was shown the magic of a player piano. It was so much fun. We got to listen to listen to pretty, fun, older songs. My mom sang. Isaac and I danced.

He loved dancing with TuTu!

Sara was amazing and drove up from San Diego to visit Sunday afternoon, while all the piano festivities were going on.

When my mom and I got back from Chino, we went to go pick up Finnegan. I always forget how huge he is. Plus, he is seriously a wild beast in the car. It was kind of ridiculous, hilarious, and scary all at once.

A friend of Mom's hooked us up with some killer SF Giants' tickets. We were in the fourth row behind 3rd base! It was so much fun.

Thanks for putting up with me for so long Mom!

New Niece!

2009-07-13T13:15:00.000-07:00

After the loading of the truck, Kris and I headed to his home! It took forever! We don't know why the trip took us so long, but it did. Despite the time it took, it was still a lot of fun. I've always wanted to take a road trip with him!

I got to meet my niece for the first time! She was born April 28th. She is an incredible baby. I honestly only ever heard a bad cry once, during the whole time I was there! And it was only because we were trying to get her to take a bottle. She falls asleep super easily and does it a lot. When she is awake, she is very content and easily pleased. Oh yeah, and she's adorable. Kris, however, thinks that she looks like a demon in this picture. Nice.

Meet Kaylie Kristine.

Here's my buddy, Isaac! I swear, he gets more and more awesome every time I see him. He is hilarious. He is such a good 2 year old. He speaks very well. I love him to pieces!

Quick story: Isaac has always called me "Nenna." This past visit, however, he started calling me "Jenna-t," I have no clue where he got this. When I visited last Thanksgiving he would add a "T" to the end of "no," so maybe it's the same thing... pretty entertaining.

Thanks Kris and Leslie! I had a blast!

Oh Halle Babe

2009-07-08T16:18:00.007-07:00

So, in my Hawaii post, when I mentioned that I had to steal all of my pictures from the Lemmes, this was a lie! I do have Hawaii pictures of my own. Allow me to share a few.

A good tool to entertain kids (or anyone for that matter):

Photobooth

Halle and I started it off, then Haven joined in.

Eventually, Asher wanted to know what all the hoopla was about, so he joined the fun.

Then, Haven got bored/sad (who knows)...

and left. Soon after Haven's departure, Asher decided he had better things to do.

Halle stayed strong...

... and very entertained...

... for quite a while actually.

Top Model on our hands?

214 pictures later...

Halle, you are awesome and I love you to death!

Thanks for entertaining yourself... and me!

I Heart Whidbey!

2009-07-07T16:55:00.000-07:00

Seriously? I never want to take this for granted.

Keeping Tabs on Dad

2009-07-02T12:05:00.003-07:00

I have been trying to convince my dad to get a blog since he got deployed, so all his friends and family can keep tabs on him. He finally consented to having me posting some of the emails that he sends to the fam. I also think it will be a nice memory blog/journal for him to look back on. I'm keeping it private, to protect him and the sensitive information. Let me know if you would like to be invited. I know he would appreciate it, and so would I. And hey... maybe in commemoration of Independance Day you can go through and read each and every single post!!

Kris' Damage

2009-06-29T10:55:00.000-07:00

So Kris and Aunt Christine visited the weekend before this last one. Kris went through all the attics (yeah... we have like three or something) looking for his stuff. We got it all together and loaded it all into my truck and took off to Utah on a road trip! Here's a taste of what we went through :)

Yep.. that's Daisy Duck and a shark's jaw.

And this is a stuffed bear stuck to the top of a giant, tin can lid.

Meet Gumpy.

We (mostly Kris) loaded him beautifully the night before we left and (barely) crammed him into the garage for safe keeping.

We're professional.

And we found this nifty jacket!!! You go Miami Dolphins! Can you imagine it? Winter in Rexburg... skirt and Dolphin's jacket :)

Roadtrip w/ brother = about time & a blast!

Sidenote: I am such an adult. I drove home all by myself. I didn't doze off or anything. It was beautiful. 5 hours to Rexburg to spend time with some amazing friends and 13 hours the next day to home, sweet home. 10 mixed, burnt cds made it all possible (I definitely recommend it).

President, Don't Look at This!!!

2009-06-15T13:15:00.013-07:00

For those of you who don't know, I went to Hawaii with one of my favorite families at the end of April to help out, sort of as a somewhat nanny. Mike had a dental convention to attend, so they made a family trip out of it. So, now that it has been over a month since going to Hawaii, I figured I might share some pictures :) Just a tidbit: I didn't bring a camera (I know, I know, dumb girl), so I had to steal all the pictures from the Lemmes.

Here's the fab fam. We all got lei'd at the airport :)

We got there, stopped at Costco to get some goods for the week, settled at our temp home, then headed to the beach! My mom's favorite, actually.

Bellows Beach

It was a little bit later in the afternoon, but still gorgeous!

I absolutely love the girls in this picture!

Everywhere you go, there's a picture perfect moment full of natural beauty! Almost like Whidbey Island ;)

Sunday, we attended church. We got the times wrong, so we weren't able to attend Sacrament meeting, but we got to catch Relief Society, Priesthood, Primary, and Nursery. Everyone needs to visit a Hawaiian ward. Everyone was so incredibly welcoming and warm! It was wonderful. President and I got lei's and kisses on the cheek. It was awesome.

Then, we headed to the USS Arizona Memorial.

Here's the oil coming from the 67.5 year sunken ship.

Mike took this awesome picture of the Memorial.

After that, we went on an amazing scenic drive. It was a super long road up this awesome hill/mountain thing. Asher asked if we were in a jungle. We stopped a few times to get some incredible shots of the view.

Oh, and keep in mind I had to deal with this...

... and this the whole time! Sick, huh?

Mike attended classes at the convention from monday until thursday, from about 7:30 til 4. So, we hit the beaches! This picture is basically the epitome of our beach time. Halle hoppin' the waves with me or President, Haven on her hands and knees pretending to be a dog or playing with her whale or doing who-knows-what (she was content for hours upon hours doing this), and Asher would get semi-close to the water then go play in the sand, back and forth between the sand and water. We spent 5 and a half hours at the beach our first day. And the kids did not get sunburned! (President and I did awesome *toot-toot*). We didn't do so well on keeping ourselves all sun-blocked up though :(

Everyone was pretty tired the whole time, but the kids were all sorts of sleepy.

We hit up the market at the stadium on... Wednesday, I think. Halle was a kick-butt shopper.

This is the house we stayed at for the first six days/five nights in Hawaii Kai. It was huge and awesome. We don't have a picture of the second house, but it was just as awesome in a different way. It was a lot more ethnic (you walked in and knew you were in an authentic Hawaiian home). We were on the North Shore, about a block's walk to the beach.

This...

... and this was our view from the first house.

Thursday:

We hit up Blow Hole. I'm kind of anti-wave-pictures. My dad scarred me from visiting there a few years ago, and he took about a trillion pictures of the same-looking waves :)

It was super windy (not good when you're wearing a skirt, just FYI).

Then, we picked up Mike from his last class and headed to the second house. We made a pit stop at the Dole Plantation, ate some wicked pineapple ice cream, and checked out the tons of pineapples.

Then, we headed to the beach right next to the house. The waves were INSANE! They were huge and super close to the shore. Needless to say we didn't go wave-hopping.

Eventually, they eased their way in though. I love this picture of Halle. Her face looks so happy and laughy.

Friday, we headed to BYU Hawaii and...

... the PCC (Polynesian Cultural Center). My favorite (and I'm sure, everyone else's favorite) guy was there making fire, busting open coconuts, making milk, and cracking people up.

After touring some of the "islands" we went to the luau, where the kids got invited to do some dancin. How funny are Asher and that other little boy?

Girl picture!

After the luau and a dash of shopping, we went to the big show. Which was awesome!! Asher was exhausted. Don't ask me how he fell asleep with all the drums, foot pounding, yells, singing, flame throwing, music, and dancing.

Mike and President were going to attend the temple, but it was boarded up for cleaning or something! So we decided that they would be blessed because they had full intentions of going.

Saturday we went to yet another beach (we had to have gone to at least 4 different ones). After attempting some snorkeling, Halle, Asher, and Mike were hard at work at their awesome sand castle/village/kingdom.

After the beach, we had to try the famous shave ice (I'm still uber confused as to why it isn't shaveD ice) of Hawaii.

We headed for home early Sunday morning. And it's been everyday, normal life ever since. Thanks Lemme fam!! It was wonderful and marvelous and fan-flipping-tastic :)

Title explanation: check out the P.S.S of this post :)

Be thankful:

I cut the picture count down from 248, then to 45, then to 28, and left out a lot of commentary... and I may have just forgotten a few things about our trip...

Fastest Way to Mow a Lawn

2009-06-14T21:20:00.000-07:00

Just get an awesome friend to help you out :)

Dad's Makeover

2009-05-31T17:26:00.003-07:00

Sharing Time: Motivation

2009-05-29T16:56:00.004-07:00

How do YOU stay motivated?
I want to know.
I asked this to my Beehives (the 12-13 year old girls in my church) a couple of weeks ago.
For example:
How do you stay motivated to...
... keep the house clean?
... say your morning and evening prayers?
... do your homework?
... eat healthy?
... be nice to all the people around you?
... get out of your bed in the morning?
... turn off the TV?
... stay positive?
... exercise?
... read/study your scriptures?
... call people back?
... serve others?
... exercise?
... read instead of play computer games?
... be obedient?
... resist your temptations?
... do ANYTHING?!?!

There were three girls in my class on this day and they all had completely different answers.
Beehive #1: Her motivation is "fun." She makes sure that, no matter what she's doing, she is having fun!
Beehive #2: She couldn't quite pinpoint her motivation(s).
Beehive #3: She gave a lot of pat answers, but in the instance of being nice to her brother she broke down and admitted that she just doesn't want to get yelled at by her parents. I think that her motivation for daily life is peace and not having drama.

I want to know your answers!

Kablam!

2009-05-24T17:30:00.000-07:00

Once upon a time, I really stunk at blogging, but luckily that weird streak has ended!!!
What has happened in the past month you ask? Let me fill you in.
I finished my first year of college!!!! Woot woot! Can I get an AMEN!!?
I've dabbed a bit in the bagging industry, yet again. Good money people!
Aunt Christine has visited TWICE!
Made a quick trip to Hawaii.
My dad left to go have some fun with guns in Afghanistan.
I've been partying with and teaching and helping out and wreaking havoc on our beautiful Beehives in YW.
And me madre es aqui... right now.

Summer plans?
Three trips to Utah:
- Special Uhaul trip with my special vehicle.
- Baby blessing.
- Wedding
One trip to California:
- Mother, Grandma, whole lot of other family.
Hundreds of trips to Heaven (i.e. Donut House).
One exhilarating, crazy, fun-filled Seattle wedding.
One magical week at Girls Camp as "Camp Mom" ;)
Hang out with the most favorite OH peeps.
Try to get this darn house in tip-top shape!!
Try to keep up with the blasted lawn!
Perhaps read a bit.
Party, of course ;)
And maybe work in between all those things, eating, and sleeping.
Want to add to the list?

Not many pictures, so you'll have to cope with these old ones :)
Top to bottom:
1) CRAZY finals week. Made about 3 to-do lists (sorted by priority, subject, and due date), and lots of schedules!
2 & 3) Our magical recycling adventure. Accumulated through the whole semester!
4) What happens when you don't eat a precious pineapple right away.
5) The result of rushing to leave for a 4 hour drive and not realizing the consequences of your procrastination until two days later :) I'm expert at getting anything out of carpets now :)

Aaahhh.. to be home.

We're Really Good at Making Fools of Ourselves

2009-04-13T16:00:00.001-07:00

Bloopers

2009-04-13T01:00:00.001-07:00

Enjoy :)

General Conference Apr '09

2009-04-13T00:45:00.002-07:00

We <3 General Conference with all our <3s!!!!

We got Saturday afternoon tickets... it was fantastic.

And you have to love the Conference Center in its ridiculous vastness.

Oh, and we were seated behind the ASL video screen. All that sign-languaging was somewhat distracting, but so awesome!

We could almost make out the General Authorities' faces!

After Conference, we headed for some grub at Sizzlers with my aunt, Christine, and Sara's madre (she had a psychology conference there, so we met up on Friday, which was awesome). Kayla, me, Sara, and Anny had to cram in the back. It was quite cozy.

Anny flew into Idaho Falls the day before Conference, so we picked her up on the way to SLC and she stayed with us all week long and drove home with me!

Then, Saturday night - the traditional midnight stroll around Temple Square... along with some girly picture-taking.

Remember Kaylie?

From my first semester?

Well, our little darling met up with us Saturday night for some excitement! She's going to need some excitement before being sealed for time and all eternity in August. What a traitor.

Pff... I'm so sure.

No worries folks! I REALLY don't plan on getting engaged ANY time soon!!! Honestly, I will be trying my darndest!!!

Saturday, Kris, Leslie, Isaac, and unborn baby-girl came up! It was awesome to hang out with them!

It was an amazing weekend! Got to hang out with my favorite girlies. Got to meet Sara's mom, who is rocking-awesome, in case you were wondering. Got to play with Isaac-man. Kris fed us crepes. Got to hang out with Leslie and her cute-pregnant self! Got to spend time with Aunt Christine (honestly, one of my very favorite women in the whole world!), we talked a ton, ate a good amount, she spoiled us, and the girls and I just fell in love with her even more (thank you thank you thank you, Aunt Christine)!!! And of course, we got to receive some guidance, counsel, and love from the prophets and other general authorities.

Ciera Darling...

2009-04-03T23:00:00.001-07:00

Happy Birthday!!!

The roomies and I made this special video for your special day. I hope you enjoy. I also hope that your day is spectacular!!

Love you!!

Crime Awareness

2009-04-02T19:14:00.004-07:00

The Developing World

This is one of my favorite classes. It has been so enlightening and informational. In this class, we learn about and study the underdeveloped/third-world countries. We were put into groups and the chose a specific country. My group chose El Salvador, so that is where our focus has been all semester. For a wrap-up, our final assignment is to develop an action plan within a specific area that is lacking attention and aid. We chose to attempt to raise the awareness of crime. Crime is such a huge problem in El Salvador. There still exists much unrest due to the 12-year civil war, which ended in 1992. The government, economy, and every-day life for citizens has been improving considerably, but there is still much to be done. There is a substantial amount of gang activity within El Salvador. Without very effective law enforcement and with the corruption that exists in the Salvadoran government, there is much support and assistance needed. Our goal is to raise awareness of the strife and brutality which presides in this beautiful and culturally-rich country. Please take a couple of minutes to watch our video and perhaps pass it on. Thanks!

If you want to know how to help the people in the developing world (and in a really simple way, too), you should check out my previous post :)

How to Change a Life

2009-04-02T18:30:00.005-07:00

In my Developing World class, our instructor introduced us to an amazing concept, which I had never before heard.

Microlending.

It's brilliant. People like you and me lend money to people in the developing world.

To further understand this, watch this.

This is such an amazing way to give, without even giving that much in the end (because you eventually get it back).

Kiva is an incredible connection to those in need of assistance. Our professor has a Kiva account with some other professors at the school. While in class, he pulled up his account on Kiva and lent out $50 right then and there. It's so simple. I would encourage anyone and everyone to join in this awesome epidemic.

Look Mom!!!!

2009-03-31T20:32:00.003-07:00

Your fave sweater!!!

Oh, and Megan,

Your fave skirt!!!

10 days :)

"Back to the Cell" and Makeovers

2009-03-29T21:30:00.001-07:00

Yesterday, we had white glove. We had to clean our apartment. And I mean superdy-duperdy clean every nook and cranny of our apartment. Needless to say our apartment was spotless. Part of this was taking any decorations or random things of any sort off of the walls. We again live in a prison. Bummer day.

We got to leave Jesus on the wall though :)

Also, a couple of weeks ago, Sara's boyfriend, Zach, let us give him a makeover.

This is what he normally looks like:

And after:

We straightened his hair, then experimented :)

And Sara decided I needed to experience the wonders of "teasing." I don't like teased hair, and I don't think this helped.

12 days :)

Thanks to All

2009-03-19T10:58:00.000-07:00

This was a while ago, but it just popped into my mind.

I went to NNU to visit Megan in January and a sermon was given that was pretty interesting. Basically...

Sometimes our problem isn't that we don't give thanks to God, but rather, our problem is not giving thanks to the people around us.

Tonight, I was thinking about some of the people I love so much and how much they mean to me. Then, I started to think, "I hope they know this." But how would they, unless I told them?Have I told them? I just assume that people know what I'm thinking and that they know how appreciative I am of the small things that they do, but that is a horrible assumption! And obviously, I am not as appreciative as I think I am, otherwise they would know. I need to take action.

Just a thought. Thanks :)

Side note: Just three more weeks of school!

"Why Mormons Build Temples"

2009-03-13T11:45:00.003-07:00

This is an amazing video.

To go along with this awesome response.

GoniColieWeekend!!

2009-03-10T08:15:00.002-07:00

This past weekend was fan-tastic!!

I got to go over to see Megan and Nicole.

I only have one class on Thursday and one on Friday, and the one on Thursday was cancelled, so I decided to skip my Friday class, so I could leave Wednesday night for Nampa. I am so glad I did; so worth it.

Over the weekend, we:

watched movies

went out to dindin a few times

ate at their rocking-awesome cafeteria

talked, talked, talked

played board games

went to a couple classes

saw a musical, Godspell (which was awesome)

hung out with Nicole's pop (he flew in Friday night)

got sconed

ate a lot of food

chilled a lot

and took lots and lots and lots of pictures and videos

I ended up with about 130 ish pictures and 25 ish videos (realize, that the majority of the pictures were taken on my macbook in about two sittings)

Here's a taste of how weird we are

If you didn't already know :)

Mine and Megan's goal was to get a decent picture of the two of us... since all of the ones I have are of us goofing off... what's new? Well, I don't know if you would say that we achieved our goal :)

The Boise temple is awesome!! It is super pretty and it is seriously right off the freeway. Plus, this picture is pretty cool, too.

Megan and I got pretty bored one night, while Nicole was with her dad at the hotel. We stayed up until about 6 a.m. Crazy. We made a ton of videos (six super interesting ones of which are on facebook). These are only the craziest and shortest. The other ones are between 1 and 6 minutes :) Be thankful that I am sparing you.

The left one is for Nicole :)

Tripolar Sky

2009-03-02T17:11:00.004-08:00

My friend, Carly, blogged about the craziness of the weather here. You'll have to check it out. Crazy snow on Thursday, beautiful blue skies all weekend long, and today it rained :) Funny stuff.

Kaylie Visit and More Creations!

2009-03-01T23:00:00.001-08:00

It has been an amazing past few days.

Friday, we started the weekend off by taking about thirty of these type of pictures.

I'll give you a normal picture, so you can know what these girls actually look like.

Top row (L to R): Kayla (this semester's new roomie), me, Sara (room roomie from last semester).

Bottom row (L to R): Claire, Chelsea, and Becca (our next-door neighbors).

I decided to experiment with pancakes... again.

I mixed brownie and pancake batter. It was pretty interesting. They fell apart really, really well at first, but eventually I kind of got the hang of it. They were way good. I put white chocolate chips in all of them. My favorite ones were the ones with bananas! Delish.

I didn't use all of the brownie batter, so I put the rest of this tin. On top, I added: marshmallows, white chocolate chips, and crushed up vanilla wafers. All of the different textures were awesome!

Ciera gave me the best/easiest pot-pie recipe!! Everyone loved it!

Mix:

Cooked chicken pieces (I used 3 breasts)

Bag of frozen veggies

Can of cream of chicken

Can of cream of mushroom

I just used frozen pie shells. Baked at 375 for about an hour, checking every so often. So easy! So delicious! Sara was really mad when she found out that other people had finished off the leftovers. Thank you, Ciera!

One of our neighbor friends from last semester came to visit with Kaylie. Whitney (on the left) lives here in Rex and she was so delighted to have her bestie (Aly) visiting from Utah!

Kaylie brought her FIANCE' along. That's right. She's engaged. August 21st in Provo. So much for having our six girl apartment all set up and figured out. But he is an absolutely amazing guy and Kaylie is so happy... of course. They are so cute that it is GROSS. She reads to him. They dance all the time. Actually, we had a few other girls over Friday night, Kaylie and Nate were slow-dancing and three of the girls started to CRY!!! I had to leave the room. Sick.

Saturday night, Sara, Kaylie, and I had a waxing party. The next day, Nate wanted to see how bad it hurt. So, Kaylie tried a tiny strip on the back of his neck. We think she did it wrong (pulled the wrong way or something), because he ended up going on saying things like, "That didn't hurt. What were you girls complaining about? Don't be sissies." Well, Kaylie tried again...

It was an amazing weekend. Nothing too exciting. Lots of talking. They got in Friday evening and we just hung out, stayed up til 3 ish. Saturday, went to the temple at six a.m. Got out of the temple by nine. Hung out. Went to stake conference at 7. Bride Wars at nine (good movie)! Talked. Wax party. Talked. Bed between 3 and 4. Sunday, stake conference at noon. Kaylie, Nate, and Aly left around 3:30. It was an awesome, yet exhausting weekend.

Fatty-Pancakes and Tornado-Snow

2009-02-27T10:30:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I made some rockin' pancakes. I just used regular pancake mix, then added:

banana slices

milk chocolate chips

white chocolate chips

brown sugar

vanilla.

It was delectable. For reals. They were kind of hard to work with, but totally worth.

The snow was CRAZY here the other day. It came in spurts and didn't last very long, but it was insane. This video does not do it justice whatsoever. I hope you like Sara's narrative.

Sara had gone to class when it was like this. When she got to the building her whole front was white. By the time she got to class she was drenched. Crazy stuff.

Pond Skimming and Intense Hopscotching

2009-02-22T14:15:00.002-08:00

A couple weeks back we went to a pond-skimming school thing. It was crazy. I didn't know what it was, so for those of you who don't... there was a gigantic mound of snow on top of an already huge, steep hill (the same hill we went ice-blocking last semester). At the bottom of the hill there was a giant pool of water. The goal for all of the people was to make it to the end of the pool without falling into the water. Everyone wore costumes, there were different prizes for crazy things (e.g. making it across the pond, best costume, best wipe-out, etc.), there were over 100 contestants (we only stayed for the first hour and only around 25 people had gone), and people had a bunch of different modes of transportation (snowboards, skis, intertubes, garbage lids, and one guy was on a chair!). Luckily, it wasn't snowing and it wasn't near as cold as it could have been. I really don't know how someone didn't die or get frostbite or something. Needless to say, it was hilarious.

Sorry if the pictures didn't turn out too well.

Here are a few of my faves:

Meet Cupid (I think it was a week before Vday or something).

Cat in the Hat.

Whoopee-cushion Man

There was an insane amount of people there. This is only one of the corners of people.

Here is my favorite run. We saw them walking up the hill with this chair, so we waited for this guy before we left.

We have some pretty awesome new neighbors: Chelsea, Claire, and Becca. They are crazy, loud, laughy, nice, and just overall very entertaining. They decided that we should make a hop-scotch on the balcony outside our dorms. The weather was super nice to us yesterday (yet again :) !!!) It took a pretty long time actually. We were quite creative with it, so it turned out pretty intense and tiring. Here is Sara making the first run. The other girls are behind her. Oh, and you might want to turn the volume down before you watch this, it sounds a little obnoxious. Enjoy :)

Sara's Got Skill

2009-02-22T14:00:00.000-08:00

Are you impressed? I sure was.

Pizza Pull-Aparts

2009-02-22T13:55:00.000-08:00

My mom had sent me the recipe for pizza pull-aparts a good while ago, but I think I deleted it from my email, so I kind of had to wing it. I used 3 tubes of 10 mini-biscuits. I pulled them apart before baking, but my mom told me afterwards that you are meant to pull them apart after, but oh well, it still turned out beautifully. Then, I covered them with jarred spaghetti sauce, a layer of shredded cheddar cheese, layer of pepperoni, another layer of cheese, and on one side I added ham. I baked it at 400 degrees (what the biscuits called for) for I don't know how long. I took it out 2 or 3 times to check the biscuits in the middle. I'm sure there are a lot of ways to make this dish better, so go at it!!

Sara, Whitney, and I probably ate a good 3/4 of it, and the rest was eaten a bit by our neighbors and later as left-overs for Sara. Everyone said they really liked it.

"Spring is Upon Us"

2009-02-19T11:44:00.004-08:00

That's how President Clark opened the past devotional on Tuesday. I didn't believe him at first, just thought it happened to be a non-windy/snowy/ridiculously-chilly day. But I was wrong! It's starting to get so warm! I am so excited.

I drove to Provo this past weekend with 3 of our neighbors. On Monday, when we were getting ready to leave, I said that it was really warm. One of the girls replied, "I know! I keep on seeing people wearing jackets and I just think, what the heck are they doing?!" It was probably around 38 or 40 degrees. Pretty awesome.

Break-ups and the Atonement

2009-02-10T22:55:00.008-08:00

Disclaimer: This might be hard to understand. I can be a bit confusing. It's a little tough to put into words.

Tonight was a tough night for Sara. She has been seeing an RM, Zach, since the end of this past October. They weren't taking it too seriously and were taking it slow. He is a super good guy; I approve, that accounts for a lot. Not divulging or going on with too many details, she broke up with him tonight. She didn't feel he was the right one and she didn't want to lead him on, he felt it was right. He was completely crushed and she is heart-broken. She came home tonight, right afterwards, and broke out into tears. She is always smart and strong, even now she is, but she is hurting.

I talked to her for a little bit after she had been alone in our room for about ten minutes. After I left the room for her to call her mom, I let my tears flow. I just feel so sad for her. I wish she wouldn't hurt so bad. I wish Zach wouldn't hurt so bad. It wasn't some big, dramatic event or mistake. Sara felt it was right, and she thinks Zach eventually will, too, but for now it is painful.

This is such a miniscule event compared to all the hurt in the world, but it has made my mind race. Thinking about how much I love Sara and wish I could take her pain away, it only brings me to think about Christ. This break-up has caused a lot of sadness. It is nothing compared to losing a loved one, or a failed marriage, or sickness, or tough situations or choices, or injury, or abuse, or a boatload of things. There is so much pain everywhere. There are so many constant hardships all around us. The love I have for Sara and how much I wish she wouldn't hurt or how I would rather take on that pain for her, I can't imagine how a mother or father, or just someone closer than Sara and I, feel for their children or loved ones and hurt so much more than in this situation.

I can't imagine how many times stronger those feelings and desires are in Christ. How could Christ have suffered so much pain? How could He have done what He did for every single one of us? How could He have loved us so much? How can He love us so much? How can we even begin to contemplate or imagine as powerful of an event, as the Atonement? How could He have come down to this place from His throne above? How could He have given up His life for us? How could He suffer through people like us tormenting and persecuting Him to such a great extent? How can He have so much love for us individually after our negligence, our unbelief, our constant veering from the path, our weakness, our pride? How could He have been so willing?

I have been so curious about the Atonement this semester. My mind is constantly being driven to it. I have not even begun to understand the power of it. My prayer is that I will always focus my mind and heart on Christ, His love, His sacrifices, and His ultimate sacrifice. I pray that I might always build upon my faith and knowledge and everyday be able to understand it just a fraction of a bit better. I pray that Christ will always be the center of my life.

A hymn in relation.

We sang this at the end of Devotional today. It's absolutely beautiful.

Number 129

"Where Can I Turn for Peace?"

Where can I turn for peace?

Where is my solace

When other sources cease

to make me whole?

When with a wounded heart,

anger, or malice,

I draw myself apart,

Searching my soul?

Where, when my aching grows,

Where, when I languish,

Where, in my need to know,

where can I run?

Where is the quiet hand

to calm my anguish?

Who, who can understand?

He, only One.

He answers privately,

Reaches my reaching

In my Gethsemane,

Savior and Friend.

Gentle the peace he finds

for my beseeching.

Constant he is and kind,

Love without end.

Kissing Help!!!!

2009-02-10T10:15:00.000-08:00

Help!!!!

Please, please, please.

This is ridiculously important.

I need to find a poem that I can't remember too well.

It's at home...

on my computer and printed out in a box somewhere.

But that doesn't really help me out here.

I am employing everyone's help in this quest!!

It's about kissing.

About not giving your kisses away.

Something having to do with a dollar.

I'm sorry I can't give that many details or remember it that well.

It's driving me crazy!!!!

Help, help, help!!!

Happy Birthday Goni!!!

2009-02-06T23:01:00.002-08:00

Rexburg Happiness

2009-02-05T22:10:00.001-08:00

Two theories:

1. This is a very, very mild winter and we are very blessed.

2. I was so frightened before I came here, people were saying things like:

"It feels like your face is going to fall off"

"Your nostril hairs will freeze"

"The wind makes you wish you were dead"

"No, no, no, you don't even understand how cold it is. I mean, really"

"You're going to have to wear three thick jackets, two layers of pants with long-johns underneath, four pairs of socks with heavy fur boots, a scarf for your neck, a scarf for your face, a good, strong hat, earmuffs, and a hood"

I think I was so scared, and so many people said so many things like this that it has just turned out to be a bit better than what I was expecting.

I'm guessing it's the first theory, because people were pretty serious.

Don't get me wrong... it's pretty nice and freezing, but it's not as bad as I thought it was going to be.

Last week it got down to -25 degrees, last week was probably the worst. This week is supposed to be grand... it's supposed to get above freezing!! Fantastic! The lows are still supposed to be in the teens, but that's okay!!

I'm staying nice and warm with my nifty hat. No worries :)

This was before devotional. I was uber warm and cozy!!

We had Elder Christofferson visit us and speak! It was fantastic.

That post will be coming shortly.

(Sorry for the Myspace-esque pictures.

Kind of conceded, I know.)

This is how not to stay warm.

Oh, and only nine weeks until this semester is done.

Don't get me wrong. School is going great.

But I am super looking forward to the summer :)

Mmm... Taters

2009-02-05T19:54:00.003-08:00

Ok... if any of you are like me and had never had nor heard about tater-tot casserole, then this post is for you! If you have had it, then I guess you can just completely disregard this. Sara and Kayla had both had it before, I guess I'm just lame.

Mmm mmm mmm. It is delish. My mom gave me a recipe for it forever ago and I didn't try it until tonight. It is super easy and yummy. Oh, and I'm pretty sure it will clog your arteries quite nicely.

Ingredients:

2 lbs. ground turkey cooked, seasoned, drained (I just used beef)

3 two-pound bags tater tots

2 cans cream of mushroom soup

2 cans evaporated milk

2 cans cream of chicken soup

Directions:

Brown meat and place in large casserole dish. Cover with tater tots. Mix soups and milk together. Pour over top. Bake at 350 degrees for one hour.

I halved the recipe. And it actually turns out I quartered the amount of tater-tots (didn't mean to do that, but it was still bien).The three of us got super full from half of what I made. Sara says it is her new comfort food and I have to make it for her whenever she is sick. I had some corn on the side, and it's super good mixed in. :)

Later days.

First Step: Tolerance

2009-02-03T18:55:00.000-08:00

My Developing World teacher brought this article to our attention a while ago. It's a "This I Believe" article. Pretty interesting. I really like his closing remarks, I think everyone can learn a bit from it... I know I sure can.

You can find the full article here.

"I have long believed that it is unnecessary to understand others, individuals, or nationalities; one must, at the very least, simply tolerate others. Tolerance can lead to respect and, finally, to love. No one can ever really understand anyone else, but you can love them or at least accept them.

Like Tom Paine, I am a world citizen. All human history is mine. My roots cover the earth.

I believe we should know each other. After all, our lives are all connected."

Your Bday Song

2009-02-02T13:02:00.004-08:00

You need to check out this website.

Put in your birthday and it will tell you what song was number 1 on the billboards on your birthday! Isn't that exciting?? Mine was "Girl, I'm Gonna Miss you" by Milli Vanilli. Special, huh?

Darn You Brad!

2009-01-31T00:00:00.003-08:00

The only song I ever without-fail cry for is the hymn "I Believe in Christ." But I don't really have an everyday ipod-on-shuffle song that I cry to, until now.

"When I Get Where I'm Going"

By Mr. Brad Paisley

I've had this song on my ipod for a very long time and it has never really effected me. I thought it was a nice song, but not uber fantastic. Well, I heard it for the first time since Grandpa's passing the other day. I burst into tears.

"I'm gonna walk with my grandaddy,

and he'll match me step for step,

and I'll tell him how I missed him,

every minute since he left.

Then, I'll hug his neck"

Who does that?!?! Just typing it made me make that ugly scrunch-faced cry. It is an incredible song.

It came on just now and the same thing happened.

But no worries... a Christmas song came on right after that, so that lightened the mood :)

MotherDaughter

2009-01-22T17:23:00.003-08:00

See any similarities?

Funeral Pictures

2009-01-21T23:00:00.007-08:00

The funeral was perfect.

It wasn't too long.

It wasn't too short.

It wasn't chaotic.

Loved ones were all around.

Memories were shared.

There was much laughter and smiles.

Not a terrible amount of tears.

It was a happy time.

He would have been pleased.

He was pleased.

I know it.

Dustin & Ciera,

Thank you so much for giving my family this wonderful way of remembering this wonderful tribute.

For the Eyes of Women Only

2009-01-20T19:00:00.001-08:00

Lane Bryant

is wonderful.

On Monday we went on a find-a-decent-bra excursion.

Nicole said she really likes Macy's, especially because they are so helpful. So, Macy's was our first stop at the Boise Mall. They measured me and said I am either a 34DD or a 36D. The search ensued. Nicole was my bra-fetcher. I tried on at least 12 bras. I ended up being okay with 3 of them. I bought one. $65 later we explored the rest of the mall.

The last place we ended up was Lane Bryant. We intended on going there; Anny swears by Lane Bryant bras. We saw on the tags that the smallest band size they carry is 36, so I tried a 36D. I could only find one 36, and the lady said it was because they discontinued 36s last spring, so that's what they had left over. Well, lucky me, it was too tight. The lady informed me that their bras run small. Quite ironic, if you ask me. So, we then proceeded to 38D (holy dang). I tried on three bras there and bought two for only $54!!!

Besides the facts that: the lady was so much more helpful, it was tons easier to find one I liked, they actually had full coverage bras, they have super good support, their selection was a lot more sensible for the bigger-busted ladies... Lane Bryant bras are just so much more comfortable!!!

Moral of the story:

Lane Bryant is they way to go...

if you are well-endowed.

Sorry for the lack in pictures ;)

I GOT SCONED!

2009-01-17T22:45:00.001-08:00

DO NOT WATCH THIS IF...

... you have a sensitive gag reflex

... your love for me is very conditional.

If you do watch this, you're volume needs to be turned up.

FYI: I was ridiculously, super full and was dared to eat the rest of my excellent scone.

This is how I have spent my weekend so far:

Friday:

2 a.m. left school on the Salt Lake Shuttle to Boise airport

8 a.m. Megan picked me up and took me home with her

Chilled

10:20 a.m. went to Chapel (heard a very thought-provoking sermon)

Chilled

6 p.m. went to downtown Boise to shop and EAT DELISH SCONES

Today:

10 a.m. Shopped, ate, and walked around with Alie a bit.

4 p.m. partied with Nicole's birthday-girl roommate

9:30 p.m. saw Quantum Solace (another story for later)

Round 2

2009-01-11T22:00:00.005-08:00

So, second semester freshman year is going to be quite different.

We knew we would be saying goodbye to Kaylie. She is on Summer/Fall track, so she wouldn't be rejoining us for Winter.

What we were not aware of was the fact that Anny would not be returning for Winter semester. Family stuff came up and she felt she should stay in Washington for the semester.

What can you do?

So, this past week, Sara and I returned to a much different dorm.

We are already missing them a ton. I love these ladies so much and it is so weird not to have them here with me!

However, we will all be reunited Fall '09!!!

Anywho... Kayla is our new addition! She is a very nice balance of upbeat, fun, and laid-backness.. She has a lot of family here (mainly cousins), so she is in and out a lot. We haven't gotten a great chance to get to know her, but I can tell we will be getting along superbly in no time!

Sara is fantastic. I love living with her. It's a lot more laid-back this semester, and she helps a lot with that. Her beau is Zach. He is an RM... nuff said.

No, he is a really cool guy and I don't mind having him around all the time. Just a really great guy. (P.S. He requested that I blog about him).

Classes seem very interesting so far. I am taking:

Basic Music Theory

Origin of Life, Earth, and the Universe

The Developing World

Professional Communications

Book of Mormon Part II

Business Law and the Legal Environment

Pretty crazy line-up if you ask me. I am going to be learning a ton this semester. Already, I know I have at least double the reading from last semester, which is good. I am very motivated. No monkey-business this semester! I think I may go to the library every once in a while or something :)

So, here is my winter semester philosophy/plan.

I'm not going to be social. I don't feel like it. I'm going to go to a TON of instrumental/theatrical/vocal performances and such. Otherwise, I'm gonna be a hermit. It's too cold outside. I don't want to date anyone. I want to read a ton of books. I want to kick butt this semester.

I want to serve a mission. I don't want to be a typical LDS girl. I want to see the world. I want to serve. I want to explore. I want to figure out who I am. I want to work on becoming the best person I can be.

Funeral

2008-12-29T16:07:00.001-08:00

The funeral is going to be on Saturday the 3rd at 10 a.m.

George Frederick

2008-12-29T09:15:00.001-08:00

Grandpa passed away at 5:40 a.m. today.

He always liked being early.

Aunt Christine was with him. She was reading him a letter and talking to him. I was able to see him and he truly looked at peace; he has the past few days. It's not a sad time. It's a happy time. He is with his sweethearts (I'm sure he is having an interesting time right now). He went how he wanted. In his own home and (somewhat) asleep. He lived a great life.

The funeral will be Friday or Saturday. The family is doing well. I think we are better now than we have been the past few days.

Everything is working out very well. Heavenly Father really is perfect and watching over us all. He has made so many circumstances and situations work out beautifully. We have so much to be thankful for and we have had quite a few things happen recently to remind us of our many blessings.

And, of course, we had this wonderful man blessing our lives each and every day, which I'm sure he will continue to do.

Kaylie

2008-12-22T23:01:00.001-08:00

Happy, happy birthday, Kaylie dear;

Happy days will come to you all year.

If I had one wish, then it would be

A happy, happy birthday to you from me!

I love you so much and hope your day is incredible!

4.5 Days Until OH!!!!!

2008-12-08T23:00:00.006-08:00

We're down to crunch time.

Only four days, nine classes, 11 assignments, and four exams until I have completed my first semester of college!

The girls really want to take a bunch of pictures this last week, so here are just a few (of the BILLION that they have taken).

Marge and Nephi

Soulja Girl and me

Trust me.

It is like this every night.

Seriously? How gorgeous is this girl?

(Anny, not Jasmine)

Amazing roomie!! She puts up with A LOT.

Meet my second family!

4 girls and all the boys except for one are moving.

So, the fam will be changing a bit :(

P.S. I think that Winter is finally here to stay.

It snowed last night, I think it's going to stick around for a bit, and be added to every so often..

It's eleven degrees right now :)

I know. I know...

It's just the beginning.

Christmasy Temple Square!

2008-11-30T14:00:00.001-08:00

Let me just say that I have not been as excited for the Christmas season as much as this year!

It probably just has to do with the fact that I'm away from home right now.

The sight of anything Christmas gets me so happy!

LIK and I took a trip up to SLC to visit Aunt Christine and see Temple Square!

I love, love, love this picture.

This mini nativity scene is on the reflection pool.

Gorgeous.

I hope these pictures bring you some joy and get you a little more excited for the celebration of our Savior's birth!

Just to Prove the Awesomeness of My Bro

2008-11-29T22:30:00.001-08:00

There were three and a half of us eating Thanksgiving dinner together... Kris, Leslie, me, and Isaac.

Kristopher made four pies.

Coconut cream, apple, cherry, and pumpkin.

How was your Thanksgiving?

But Who's Counting?

2008-11-29T10:30:00.001-08:00

Two weeks, to the hour exactly until

....

I AM HOME!!!

Vacay with Isaac & Fam

2008-11-28T13:30:00.001-08:00

BYUI students get the whole week of Thanksgiving off. It is fantastic. So, I came down to stay with Kris, Leslie, and Isaac. It has been a blast; thankfully, it has been relaxing at the same time. Isaac is awesome! He has a ridiculous amount of character and is just super happy. I've only captured a small amount of hilarious things that he has done, so I hope you enjoy.

1st video: what you don't do while babysitting. Afterwards he ran to the door and kept saying "Dada?" and eventually started crying.

2nd video: Kris had put him in the Christmas tree box and brought him to Leslie and I guess he really liked being in the box...

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving and are having an amazing start to the Christmas season!! Play that Christmas music (we are)!!

Dr. MLK Jr. Incredible Letter

2008-11-20T20:30:00.000-08:00

For my Farewell to Art class we cover a ton of history. The reading for tomorrow concerned the Civil Rights Movement. We've all heard a ton about MLK Jr. and his well-known speeches, but I guess I have never realized just how incredible and brilliant of a man he was. We had to read a ten page letter of his for tomorrow and it was so worth it. I don't know if anyone will read this (which I highly, highly encourage), so for now I am posting this for when I someday look back on my schooling and learning.

This letter was in response to a statement made by eight white Alabama clergymen entitled "A Call for Unity." In it the clergymen agreed that social injustices existed, but argued that the battle against racial segregation should be fought solely in the courts, not in the streets.

It is truly inspiring and deserving of some pondering. I hope to be able to apply this to our world now. I also wish to apply it to me personally: how I treat people, my ability to work for greater causes, and to not sit idly by.

November Pics

2008-11-20T19:30:00.000-08:00

Our quote wall is coming along quite nicely.

I'll have to blog some of them someday.

The BEST outfit ever.

Instead of shorts, imagine a white skirt and you have one of my Sunday outfits ;)

Snow! This was early in the month and hasn't snowed in a while.

It only stuck around for a couple days.

We've had highs in the 40s and 50s all month. Very grateful.

Random roomie pic.

Sara is excellent at stick figures.

Sara, Anny, Me, Kaylie

This is our neighbor Alyson.

Kaylie wouldn't give Aly her shoe back.

Sara, me, and Dusty at our FHE Thanksgiving!!

Kaylie is definitely our main form of entertainment.

One night she decided to dress up as a librarian and prance around.

Meet our stalker squirrel.

If Thou Art Merry

2008-11-12T08:00:00.004-08:00

All of the devotionals we have here at BYU-I are incredible.

I have not been disappointed in the least with any speaker.

My favorite so far is Wendy Bone, "If Thou Art Merry."

I highly encourage you to read or listen to her message.

It is truly inspiring.

To read.

To listen.

Please. Do it.

You can also find any past devotional here.

I also recommend Elder Yoshihiko Kikuchi's talk on October 28th.

Drama doesn't equal Importance

2008-11-08T09:00:00.001-08:00

So, last night we saw Ghost Town.

We couldn't stay for the last 10/15 minutes, because we would be late for curfew...

BUT

It was good. I recommend it. There was an incredible quote in it.

I can't remember it word for word, but it went something like this...

"Just because you think that your life is boring and not exciting doesn't mean it's less important than those with drama."

I just love this. I don't think my life is boring in any way, but (and I'm sure you've heard this from me) I think that I haven't had any trials or hard times in my life. I never get depressed or bummed out about it, I feel very grateful and blessed. However, I just feel sometimes like I have such a weak testimony and way of thinking about life compared to others' whose lives have been ridiculed with hardships, or even just a couple noteworthy hard times.

Sometimes we (I) crave drama. Sometimes we (I) want controversy. This isn't how our Heavenly Father wants us to think. He wants us to be appreciative of what we have. Lately, I've been looking at my longing for trials as selfish. I should take my good life and circumstances and use them for good and to help others. Being at school and around so many LDS kids with such different backgrounds and with such tough trials and circumstances I feel like a spoiled brat complaining about my easy life. I'm going to work on it.

Prop 8 Fast

2008-11-02T11:03:00.003-08:00

Hi everyone!

I'm not sure how known it is, but...

Tomorrow there is a 24 hour fast going on for Prop 8 to pass.

Spread the word and I hope you participate!

Halloween Fun

2008-11-02T00:32:00.002-07:00

Kaylie was gone for the weekend.

Her brother got baptized!

So, her water bottle was representing her.

Here are our costumes!

Me: Rainbow

Sara: Carrot Top

Anny: Miss Sunshine

Kaylie: Water bottle/rain

Hope everyone had an excellent Halloween!

Creepers, S. Bread, Twin, and Look What I Can Do!

2008-10-31T17:00:00.000-07:00

Computers are fun.

We did a scavenger hunt for FHE this past Monday.

I won't bore you with them all, but here is one fun one.

"I can't believe we all fit in here!"

My roommates and my favorite pastime is to be creepers.

We constantly look out our windows and watch people.

While we eat dinner we just stare outside.

When it's dark outside and we want to see people we turn off the lights.

And Sara... Sara is the worst of us all.

Here Mom...

I made sausage bread last night and it was gone in no time...

especially when five boys showed up and devoured what we hadn't eaten.

Meet Dusty.

Dusty is my brother, George's, twin.

They haven't met or anything, but they are exactly alike in so many ways.

Very crazy. George, take a look at your future bestie!!

There will be another post very, very soon.

Happy Halloween!

Best Side of BYU-I

2008-10-23T23:34:00.004-07:00

All I have been blogging about since I have arrived at this wonderful school is all the fun I am having. There is no spiritual side to any of these posts. Sad, huh?

Well, it's basically impossible to sum up the huge amounts of spiritual experiences I have had here, the tons of things I have learned through the Spirit, how the Spirit is constantly and apparently here, so for now I'll tell one tale.

Monday I was somewhat frustrated, so I called up one of my friends so we could go on a walk or something. It turned out that he was in the Taylor Chapel reading "The Infinite Atonement."

That's it. That's my story. Here I was, frustrated and bored, wanting to be distracted and get away from my issues, rather than getting focused and trying to find some way of inviting the Spirit back into my heart.

The whole time we were walking we just talked about the Apostles, Conference, the school, missions, etc. I almost feel like a fakey. I know the stuff, but do I automatically think of the Lord when a problem comes along? Scary.

Everything here is wonderful and the Gospel is all around, but it's so easy how we lose track of the simple and most important things. The problem isn't saying my prayers or reading my scriptures or that I'm rebelling in any way, but it's not as deep as it should be. It just seems like I'm scratching the surface and doing the minimum. I'm working on it.

I hope everyone is doing well. I hope that everyone is not just grazing the surface, but delving deep. I hope everyone is remembering to be happy and know that the Lord is there.

Sugar (with a hint of fruit) Sandwiches

2008-10-18T09:00:00.000-07:00

It has almost become tradition at night time for me to make sandwiches for everyone.

And everyone usually includes 3, if not all, of the roommates and at least 3 other people.

At first I just made PB&Nutella.

Then, I grilled them.

Then, I started experimenting.

Various ingredients used in various combos:

Honey

Nutella

Applesauce

Banana Slices

Blackberry Jam

Marshmallow Cream

This wondrous creation below is the ultimate.

I'm telling you. Applesauce on a grilled sandwich is heaven. The outside is crispy while the inside is gooey. Delish. Try it!

Left: Jelly and Applesauce

Right: Nutella and Marshmallow Cream

I recommend: Jelly and Nutella sandwich

Applesauce (with cinnamon) and anything sandwich

Don't forget to grill like grilled cheese!

You must try it!!!

NightyNightBed

2008-10-16T22:44:00.008-07:00

Our favorite person in the world to tease/prank/love is Kaylie/Marge/Francesca/Waldo. She is wonderful and happy and just amazing.

Tonight we decided that we would take her bed outside. And we did :)

Scene of the crime.

Sara hiding.

The night is dark and so is Anny, so you can't see her.

She said it. Not me.

Francesca's reaction.

Not as exciting as we were hoping for. But oh well.

Podunk

2008-10-16T13:07:00.002-07:00

I just got an e-mail from my bishop...

"The university is going to give away their excess potatoes this Sat. They will dig them at 12:00 noon and it will be first come first serve. The field is located adjacent to the electrical sub-station below the aboretum off 7th south.there will be a limited number so get there early.

Bishop Scott"

Tell me what you think...

Conquering My Fears

2008-10-13T22:11:00.003-07:00

I did it!!

We went to Idaho Falls to shop on Saturday :)

Oh, and I thought I should share this picture with you.

SNOWWWW GRRRRRR

2008-10-09T14:00:00.002-07:00

The horrid inevitable has made itself manifest

through tiny white flakes falling from the upper hell.

- Room 207

Sad day.

Prop 8

2008-10-09T13:46:00.007-07:00

A fireside was broadcasted last night concerning Proposition 8 that is going to be voted on in California. We were encouraged to make our support known any way we can... they recommended blogging about it and even putting it on facebook.

I am in full support of Prop 8. We as a society need to protect the sacred union of a man and woman. We want to protect the integrity of our families. Marriage between a man and a woman is ordained of God and we cannot allow that sacred ordinance to be defiled.

Protect Marriage

LDS Newsroom: Divine Institution of Marriage

Pizza, Sippy Cups, and the Creation

2008-10-07T23:21:00.005-07:00

I forgot to get a picture before we devoured my delish bbq chicken pizza!!

Thank you, President!!

The first in, hopefully, a long line of

crazy, yummy, cheap college creations.

PB and big milk chocolate chips on a tortilla

warmed up for 20-25 seconds in the microwave. And fold over.

However, Anny says that this insults her culture...

Tag :)

2008-10-06T15:25:00.000-07:00

3 Names you go by:

1. Bobenna - mom

2. Nenna - my fave little kids

3. Pumpkin - roomies

3 Restaurants I love:

1. Claim Jumper

2. Cheesecake Factory

3. Flyers

3 Trips to plan on this year:

1. Provo/Salt Lake for Thanksgiving

2. Hopefully Nampa at some point to visit Megan, Alie, and Nicole

3.OH for Christmas

3 Things you want badly:

1. Get decent/nice grades this semester

2. Become a nicer/less-sarcastic person

3. For Isaac, Rylin, Brinlee, and Asher to remember me and my name :)

3 People who will (had better) do this:

1. Leslie

2. Ciera

3. Anny

3 Pets you have/had:

1. Misty: siamese/devil cat

2. Bitsy: my sweet, crazy hyper, 15-ish year old cocker/beagle pup back in OH

3. Edward: apartment fish (it's actually Kaylie's, but that's ok)

3 Things you did yesterday:

1. Watched Conference!!

2. Went to the underground where all the GA's park (almost ALL of them have Toyotas)!

3. Drove home :)

3 Things you ate today:

1. Spaghetti

2. A brownie

3. An apple

3 Fears:

1. Falling away from the Church

2. Getting a divorce (I know.. I'm not married yet, but it's legit).

3. Driving in the snow, walking in the snow, being cold in the snow, freezing from the snow, being anywhere in the area of snow... :)

3 Things you plan on doing today:

1. Write letters

2. Homework

3. Go to FHE

3 Things you plan on doing tomorrow:

1. Homework

2. Go to devotional

3. Go to classes

3 Favorite Holidays:

1. World Heart Day (Sept 28)

2. National Hugging Day (Jan 21)

3. National Dance Day (Apr 29)

3 Favorite beverages:

1. Virgin Pina Coloda

2. Milk

3. Martinelli's