Bun Friday

It's a tradition.

Kaylee and I do it every week.

Be there or be square.

Christmas

My parents took Kaylee and I to Mexico so that was basically our Christmas present. And oh boy what an awesome present it was! So it was really nice to spend actual Christmas focusing on time with my family and remembering why we have Christmas in the first place.
Christmas Eve I woke up and went visiting teaching. All by myself. I'm so brave you don't even know. Then I helped Elise finish her shopping. We had five people she needed to get stuff for and it only took us three hours and a few treks through the snow.
I got called into work early so at 12:00 I took off my cute Christmas outfit and put on my boring work outfit. It took me almost fifteen minutes to get to Jordan Landing and the blizzard was insane. Right about then I was thanking myself for biting the bullet and spending so much money on new tires. Anyway, I went to work and Rachel and I cleaned while Ashley took the deposit to the bank. Over an hour later Ashley came back and we were suuuuuper slow so she left. We basically just sold gift cards and cleaned. Then at four Rachel left and Shambray came in. I got REALLY upset and sad that I had to be at work on Christmas Eve instead of at home with my family. Plus, I was ultra bored and hungry. Shambray and I chatted a little and then we discussed closing earlier than 7:30 like originally planned.We only made nine dollars from 3-4, thirteen dollars from 4-5, and then six dollars from 5-6. So, we called Steve to see if we could go home early. He didn't answer so we asked Emily and she gave us the OK. We closed up the store and then it was back into the snow to go home.
It was so nice to be back with my family! We ate yummy dinner and opened our pajamas. Kaylee and I matched, of course. So we documented the moment. Shane read us a funny story and gave us "crap from my closet" gifts and they were hilarious. I love him. He's the best! Then we watched The Polar Express and went to bed.

We all now how excellent my iPod is at taking pictures... :P

This is one of the only pictures I got of Christmas.

But that's okay- we were really happy :)

The next morning I got up and took a shower and got ready so that I didn't look like such a bum all day. My siblings and grandparents came over and we had breakfast and opened more presents. My mom and dad gave me new sheets and soccer sweats <3 I was SO EXCITED. Seriously. That's exactly what I wanted! Kyle gave me some cute new scarves and my grandma gave me some barrettes and a charm bracelet. Plus the stuff she got for me in Mexico. :) We ate again and just hung out. Then Elise came over and we gave each other our presents. She gave me a Minnie Mouse from Disney World and a Blink-182 shirt. I also loved those :)
We went to her house to see her family and Ashley came over. We went to Jamba so that we could get another part of Elise's present- a box of soy milk concentrate. Hahaha she was stoked! Then Elise and I got in her car and drove around the whole state just like always. We discussed work and my fears for becoming a manager. We talked about our friends and how great they are. Suddenly we realized that it had been two hours and we didn't even remember where we had driven. We cranked up the music and jammed out to Avril Lavigne. I always love our car trips together :)
It was a really great Christmas and I was happy I got to spend it with the people I love most.

*Does Cartwheels*

Look at dem grades doe.

I'm so happy.

So, so, so, so, very happy.

I did it. 

And I did gooooood.

And even though it was hard,

I survived.

Bring on next semester :)

Also,

 

Notice anything different about my clock in receipt?

Probably not...

So I'll give you a hint.

It says MANAGER.

(and of course I kept it and hung it on my bulletin board. duh.)

I'm now officially a Team Lead.

Well, when I finish my book work I will be. 

But still, I get to manage my own shifts now!

And when I assign a cash drawer to my name, I'm a manager. 

I can void stuff and edit people's clock in/out times and such. 

I can do the safe count under my name.

 I can check hourly and labor and whatnot.

When I clock in the screen says, "SMILE! Have a great shift! :)"

I'm finally allowed to have that key Emily gave me in July.

And know the security code that I've also had since then.

I'm basically the boss. ;)

Hahahaha

But really though.

Getting promoted after working at Jamba for only 8 months is incredible.

I don't think it's happened before and I have a lot of pressure to do a good job.

But, Emily says she knows I can do it and I'm really excited.

Yay for my life!

:)

12/12/12

Apparently this is supposed to be some big huge deal.
And normally it is for me.
I mean, I went nuts on 11/11/11.
It was an awesome day and I'm never going to forget it.
But, today was average.
I finished my last test of the semester at 12:04 this morning. I was stoked to finally be done with all that homework!
I sold back two of my books to the campus store and got $51 for them so that was nice! It was more than I thought I was gonna get! So I went and bought myself more crap that I don't need :P
I got silver glittery Vans and a cute shirt from Hollister. Also, I bought yet ANOTHER bra from Victoria's Secret. I'm addicted. It's NOT okay. And I got part of Elise's Christmas present... which will remain a secret until she opens it :)
Then I went and got my toesies done. I've been so stressed out lately it was really nice to have a moment just to relax. I mean, besides the tickley parts hahaha! I was the only one there so she spent a lot of time on me and did a really great job. My feet suck and it's nice to get them taken care of every now and then. They always ask me if I'm a dancer. I just laugh and say no and then they look at me like I'm a freak. I'm just gonna start telling them that I am so I have an excuse to have such bad calluses :P
After that I got to go see some of my very best friends. I absolutely love that I can still walk into the band room and have at least 13 people run over to hug and say hi to me. It means the world to me that they still get excited when I come to visit. I was so worried about that when I graduated. That everyone would forget me and be like meh Kara's not really that great and we don't miss her. But, they haven't done that yet so that's good ;) hahaha I just love those kids. So much. And I'm so proud of how hard they work!
Now in just two short days I get my long awaited vacation. My parents, grandparents, little sister, and me are going to MEXICO :) It's def gonna be the best Christmas cruise of all time. I'm so excited :)
I guess 12/12/12 wasn't as lame as I thought! :)
<3

College From a Webcam

This semester involved lots and lots and lots of homework.
I mean really. Every single day I had at least an hour of stuff to do.
Which I know probably isn't a lot, but for a girl who has never done homework in her life... that's just a lot.
Anyway, sometimes I got super bored so I opened up my webcam and took snapshots of how I was feeling.
Let me share some of those with you today.
Now, I must warn you. They are not of super high quality but I think you'll get the idea.

The beginning of the semester was something like this:

Somewhat enthused.

Also, I love the Institute Building :)

My first big paper was a 5 page research paper on poverty and welfare. It was kind of a joke how not seriously I took that assignment. So this is me, wasting time at Challenger.

Preschool classrooms can make you go caraaazy.

And it was wicked cold in there.

Sometimes I just wanted to throw my computer across the room because the stuff we were reading/writing responses to in my writing class was just ridiculous.

It was 11 pm, I had been at work for seven hours, and I really just wanted to sleep.

hahahahaha.

For some reason I thought it would be a good idea to procrastinate my cultural analysis until the very last minute. I mean really though. I didn't start writing it until the day before it was due. It was a seven page paper on the topic of my choice. We were asked to write about something in the media that influences our culture. So naturally, I chose to write about the movie Mean Girls and how bullies are portrayed as popular and how that affects real life high school situations. I was at a complete loss for things to say and I watched the movie twice in hopes for inspiration. I ended up going to see Breaking Dawn Part 2 at 7:00 that night and when I got home at 10:00 I still didn't wanna write my paper. Finally at 11:00 after much convincing, I sat my butt down on my bed and cranked out that paper. I finished before 2 am and I was totally shocked. I thought I was going to have to stay up all night writing that thing. But I didn't. Oh, and I got an A. ;)

I had a photo shoot for a picture to put on Facebook and this was one of my favorites.

I started getting kind of crazy...

I was so flipping tired.

hahahahahahaha

And now, here I am at the end of the semester. I had just finished my last nutrition test that I probably failed. I had only one thing left on my homework To Do list. I was ready to just sit down and cry because I was so close to the finish. But I didn't. Because I'm a mighty Ute. And mighty Utes don't cry!

Back at the Institute Building, my most favorite place ever.

:)

And I actually edited this one because it's going on Facebook. HOLLA.

Also,

Accurate.

Have a happy Christmas break! :)

The End Is Near

Holy Hannah.
My first semester of college will be over on Monday after I finish my last history of rock and roll test.
That is absolutely insane.
I can't believe how fast the time went by!
Seems like just yesterday I was writing this and this.
Wowza.
Anyway, I've learned a lot of really important things since I started college. Some academic, some not.
I learned that: You HAVE to sleep. HAVE to.
Working more than 25 hrs a week is death.
Procrastination is not the answer.
People don't care if you get ready or not, so you might as well just be comfy.
Fake it til you make it!
Always check for personal belongings before exiting the train.
STUDY. STUDY. STUDY.
Writing papers the night before they are due causes panic, releasing pure genius.
A's are EXTREMELY hard to get.
Textbooks cost more than an entire paycheck.
Eating is a good idea.
Walking is good for the soul.
Institute is the greatest thing to happen to me since seminary.
Boys really do eventually grow up.
Saving money is more important than having "stuff".
Being a semi-grown up is harder than it looks.
Having friends is important. They make life a lot happier.
Never take early classes.
Making To Do lists just might save your life.
Parents are the single most amazing thing in the world.
And most importantly, GO TO FREAKING CLASS. No matter how boring it sounds or how hard it may be, just freaking GO.

I hate to say this but I learned a lot of those things the hard way. And that's just a fraction of the things I've learned. I learned so much about writing, money, and nutrition it's crazy! I loved my classes (cept for history of rock and roll. That basically sucked.) a lot! I had some really great and influential teachers. I'm so thankful for all of them and for the opportunity I had to go to school. I truly am so blessed.

Also, I've been doing basically nothing but homework since last Tuesday.

I'm ALMOST done.
:)

Alexander Cole

I'm here to tell you about one of the friends I made this semester. I'm extremely grateful for him and I want to be able to remember this experience forever. So bear with me. It might not make a whole lot of sense or be very interesting, but I just don't want to forget about it. So here goes. :)

The time was 11:45 on Thursday, September 13, 2012. I was eating lunch by myself in the Institute Building like I always did. I was on iwastesomuchtime.com and laughing my head off. Just then a guy came over and sat by me and asked me if I was in Brother Page's class. I told him I was and he told me he was too... but only on Thursdays because he's a bio medical engineering major and has a whack schedule. I remember talking about classes and school and whatnot. We talked about our life dreams and goals and I found out he graduated from West Jordan High School in 2009 and recently returned from a mission. He was so nice and I remember he was eating brown sugar pop tarts. Pop tarts are basically a food group to me, so I was happy we had some dumb little random thing in common. Eventually it was 12:10 and time to go to our classes. He asked me what my name was and then I found out his was Alex. I walked to history of rock and roll with the BIGGEST smile on my face.
We ate together every Thursday after that. He started sitting by me in class and would then walk me to FMAB after lunch because it was on the way to his other class. We never ran out of things to talk about and I loved that. We just talked about life and got to know each other better. We always laughed and I never stopped smiling. He just made me so happy. I was so glad to have a friend at school and a reason to dress nicely :P
One Friday I was riding the train to school and I was so tired. I think I was asleep before I even got to Sugar Factory Road. Hahaha. Anyway, if you can imagine this, I was wearing my Pokemon sweatshirt and I was participating in Bun Friday. I was out cold on the train with no intentions of waking up until I got to South Campus. Basically I looked ridiculous. Well, since I usually slept on the train I always had random people come sit in the seat next to me and we both just kind of ignored each other and I didn't really think anything of it. This day was no different. It was 11th West and someone got on, sat next to me, and started reading. Typical. I woke up a little bit but didn't open my eyes. I thought, "haha wouldn't it be funny if Alex was sitting next to me?" I brushed off the idea because I knew the chances of that happening were very slim. But, I guess they weren't so slim after all. At about Murray Central I opened my eyes, looked to my right, and saw him sitting there. I stared at him for a minute in disbelief and he looked at me and smiled and said, "Hey. I was gonna wake you up but then I decided it looked like you needed to sleep." I felt so dumb. SO DUMB. hahah He told me he liked my sweatshirt and we talked about Pokemon for a bit. We talked about work and whatnot and then he said, "We should hang out some time." and I was like, "UH. YEAH." When we were almost to Stadium where he gets off, he asked me for my number and told me he'd call me tomorrow at 5:00. I was so happy for the rest of the day. SO happy.
The next day I worked all morning with Zach and he helped calm me down a little bit. I was so nervous/excited and was trying not to get my hopes up just in case he didn't call. I got off work at 4, went home, tried to make myself look more like a girl and less like a smoothie, and waited. At 5:00 he called me just like he said he would and gave me the run down of the plans he made for us. I was so happy he actually came up with something for us to do! I love activities :)
I drove to his house (I only got lost for like 7 minutes! Which is good because he lives on like a farm and it was kinda hard to find. So HA!) and sat in my car for a while trying to calm down. I was so nervous. I wanted to just turn around and go back home. I didn't want to accidentally say or do something stupid and have him never talk to me again. Eventually I grew a pair and walked up to the door. He answered and smiled at me and it made me feel 1000x better. Seriously. I went inside and met everyone and then we walked over to his aunt's house with his sisters and brother-in-law to ride horses. I didn't fall off OR die. I was so impressed with myself :)
After that we went back to his house and ended up watching good old family home videos. Oh. My. Gosh. Can we just go back to the 90's? Seriously. Those were the golden years! hahaha Everyone dressed so great and said awesome things! Abbey was trying to find a clip of her singing in a school talent show to show to her husband. Since she couldn't find it, we ended up watching most of the tape and I laughed so hard I thought I was going to pee. There was some wicked funny stuff on that tape and Alex and I kept looking at each other and laughing about the silly things he and his siblings used to do. Then we made/frosted cookies and chatted some more. His mom joined us and we played Rummikub. At 11:30 Alex walked me out to my car and we hugged hahaha and I drove home and told my parents all about my evening. It was so much fun. I was so happy :)
Ever since then we've ridden the train to school together every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. He always makes sure to call me if he's ever not going to be on the train so that I don't freak out and worry. I'm glad he's okay with how strange I can be. He is constantly reminding me that I'm fine and my life could always be worse. He is the best example of hard work. He takes ridiculous classes and does really well in them. He never gets stressed out and I just don't understand it. hahaha He's just awesome. I love the conversations we have. I've learned a lot of really cool insights on the scriptures from him. I love the way his face lights up when he talks about Scotland or people from his mission. He's always got a funny story for me and lets me tell him about my life. :)
He teases me about the awkward and embarrassing things I've done when he's around. Like the time I thought a button fell of his sweater and made it a bigger deal than it needed to be. Or when I couldn't stop laughing about the 3rd Nephites thing that Brother Peters said. Or my personal favorite is when one night I was at his house and we were looking at pictures on his computer and for some reason I grabbed his arm and was like, "oohh.." OUT. LOUD. He laughed at me and then flexed his arm and needless to say... he's got some muscles :P
I'm so sad that we only have one more lunch and train ride together. I have no idea if I'm ever going to see him again after Friday. I really hope I do but if I don't, I'm still really thankful for the time that I've spent with him and for the friendship we've made. He's one of the greatest people I've ever met. I just really like him.

"WILL YOU TAKE A PICTURE WITH ME?!" 

"Right now?" 

"YES!" 

"Yeah but you better hurry." 

"OKAY!"

literally the conversation we had before taking this. hahahah.

:)

Thankful Thursday Part 3

It's Friday. Whatever.

November 16th- My Siblings
Winter Siblings Unite is our motto! Haha oh my goodness I just love my siblings. My sisters rock, my brother is the best, and my in-laws are even pretty cool ;) We just have so much fun together all the time and I appreciate each one of them. Chantel is always willing to help me out with whatever I need. She'll drop everything to hang out with me or do me a favor. She is always willing to go out to lunch or shopping. She definitely spoils me! She's so sweet and a dang good cook! Kyle is my only brother and he's a lot like me. We just kind of keep to ourselves even though we are super awesome ;) He has saved my butt quite a few times whether it be giving me a ride somewhere or letting me in the house when I come home after hours... haha! He is absolutely hilarious and I just love him. Kaylee my little sister rocks my world. It's fun to watch her grow up and interact with her friends. She's just cute and is always bouncing off the walls. I'm glad that we have the chance to spend so much time together! She always makes me smile with her silly jokes. Shane is Mr. Fix It and can help me solve any problem ever. He's never more than a phone call away and I love that. He'd do anything for me and my family and I really appreciate that. He's always so nice and I really love being with him! Plus he's got the best laugh. It's just awesome! Natalie is our newest family member and we all adore her. She's a hard worker and so adorable. She's always got good advice and some sort of delicious treat. I'm glad she's part of my family :)

November 17th- School
It's hard. Very hard. It stresses me out and makes me so nervous. I'm constantly worried about how I'm doing and I've always got some sort of project due. But, I really do love it. I am so blessed to have the opportunity to go to college and to get an education. Not everyone has that. Plus, my school totally rocks. :)

November 18th- My Ward
It was Sunday and church was just great. Relief Society was about service, Sunday School was about service, and Sacrament was about service. It's important to show our gratitude for what we have by serving and blessing others. I am so thankful to have lived in this ward my whole life with such incredible people. I've learned so much from them and their examples of service.

November 19th- Hugs
Seriously. Who doesn't love hugs? Monday was hard and I just felt so crappy. I was at work and Zach just walked up to me, put his arms around me, and didn't let go for a long time. I wanted to cry. He was so comforting and sweet to me the rest of the night. He could tell I was upset and didn't know how to approach me about it so he just hugged me. That's all I needed. I love hugs and sometimes you just need one. Or ten. Either way, I'm thankful for them.

November 20th- The US Military
How blessed I am to live in America overwhelms me. There are SO MANY people who have dedicated their lives to protecting me and the ones I love. I could never imagine having to be on the front line, fighting for my country. I'm definitely not brave enough for that. I am so thankful for the people who do it so I don't have to.

November 21st- My Home
I love my house, I really do. I'm so very thankful for it! I've spent the last 16 years of my life living there and it's wonderful. I love being able to have a home that keeps me safe and warm. It's the best place to just chill and have a good time with people I love. I can't imagine not having a house and I really am so grateful for it.

November 22nd- My Family
Thanksgiving rocks! I'm so glad that we have a special day every year to celebrate all the things we are thankful for with people we love. Families are the basic unit of society and we would be nothing without them. I absolutely love my family and I don't know where I would be without them!

Sorry about the no pictures ): Maybe one day I'll edit this and add them... but probably not. haha I just wanted to get this posted before November ended :P

Hope you had a happy Thanksgiving and found things to be thankful for!

Kaylee and I sure did! :)

Boy, the NBA Kid

I know it's Tuesday but whatever. Just be happy I'm posting something ;)
I was going through my phone pictures and found this beauty. Hahahaha.

So this one time Geoff tried to teach me how to play basketball. It was a disaster and so much freaking fun.
I got home from school and Geremy (Geoff's brother) called me and asked if I wanted to go with him to pick up his contacts. Since Geremy was my friend and I loved random adventures, I was like HECK YES! Geremy came and picked me up and Geoff was with him. I got all excited because I loved Geoff and I didn't get to see him that much. Since Geremy's car was little and Geoff loved me and always treated me really well, he sat in the back of the car and held dear to his basketball. :) (hence the picture)
When we got to the eye doctor, Geoff and I just stayed in the car. We just sat and talked about life and such. That's what we usually did since we went to different schools and didn't get to spend a lot of time together. When Geremy came back out we drove home and then he decided to ditch us. Geoff called his mom and asked if it was okay if we were in the house by ourselves as long as we stayed upstairs and just watched tv. Haha he was the cutest kid :) She said yes and we watched Marley and Me/Tommy Boy. We just sat on the ouch and he held my hand. Aw. ;)
When his mom got home our movies were over so we went outside to play basketball. The end of Geoff's street is like basketball central and that's where everyone in his ward just plays. We walked down there and I was so nervous. I super ultra mega lightening suck at sports, especially basketball. Geoff tried to teach me the basics of shooting and how not to look like an idiot. I definitely failed and he still laughs at me for it to this day. It was fun though :) I honestly love basketball and I wish I was better at it... haha.
Then I started getting hungry and my mom called so I had to go home. He walked me to my house just like he always did and made me feel a little better about my serious lack of skills. He said things like, "It's okay if you can't play basketball. You're cute." He always knew how to make my heart melt :P (CHEESE)
Geoff was my bestest friend back in the day. We kind of adored each other and always had fun when we got the chance to hang out. We could talk about anything and always had each other's backs. It's been over three years since the first time I looked in his eyes and thought to myself, "I never want to be without this kid, ever."
Since then our friendship has changed a lot and it used to really bug me. But, now I'm grateful for that. He's always been exactly what I needed and I'm glad we are still friends. It took me a long time to realize that we were never, ever getting back together. That was a hard concept for me to grasp since I thought he was so perfect. Haha stupid, I know but honestly I'm just really glad I got over that and could be friends with him again. I finally got my closure and oh man, was it great. :)
I still look up to him a lot (literally, now. He's grown like a foot since we became friends hahaha) and admire his hard work. He does so well in school! He has so many friends and always treats girls nicely. I've always loved that about him. He always opened doors for me and made sure that he knew I was taken care of. He's just one heck of a kid and I'm so glad I got to know him before he was all popular and whatnot ;)

The end.

Thankful Thursday Part 2

November 9th- My collection of winter clothes
It snowed pretty hard on Friday and I was walking around campus not cold at all. It's because I own five pairs of boots, six coats, countless hoddies, hats, and scarves, four pairs of gloves, and a million pairs of fuzzy socks. Utah winters are intense and I'm really glad I have all the equipment I need :)

November 10th- Kittens
Saturday was a really hard day. I almost died (not really) driving to work. I was there for seven hours and it was just stressful. I came home and was so upset and had a hard time thinking of things to be thankful for. So, I got on the internet and looked at pictures of kittens. Calmed me right down. I love those cute little animals.

November 11th- Primary
While my dad has been recovering from his surgery I have been helping my mom with her primary class. I love those little kids. They are so adorable and say the best things. The lessons and songs are so simple yet so powerful. Primary teaches the Gospel in the simplest form and sometimes that's the best. They just stick to the basics and teach principles that develop testimonies. I absolutely love it.

November 12th- My car
I've been driving the Bronco for a while now and I absolutely love it. It makes weird sounds sometimes and gets horrible gas mileage. It has a 32 gallon tank for which I have to take out a loan to fill up. The dash board is basically falling apart and it has giant holes in the seat. But I love that thing. It gets me where I need to go and it has given me a lot of great memories. I've kissed all of my favorite boys in there and it has been the place for many great conversations. Not to mention all the great family trips it's been on. My parents bought it 17 years ago and have taken it all over the country. Back when I was little I never knew one day I'd be driving it. It totally rocks and I am very thankful for it.

November 13th- My BFFs
AnnaBomb and Elise. I got to spend time with both of them that day and it was nice to have chats about life with them. Sometimes I really miss seeing them every day but it makes me appreciate the times we get to be together even more. They've always been there for me and I appreciate the friendships that I have with both of them. They just rock :)

She's so pretty and I love her :)

Juss going to work!

November 14th- Music
I am a bandie. Well, not technically anymore but I still am in my heart :) I absolutely adore music. It makes my whole entire life wonderful. I love classical music more than anything ever. Studying it has made me appreciate it so much more than I ever thought I would. I feel like I hear music differently than most people. Sure, pop music is fun to sing and dance to, but it is not musically interesting at all. I'm into the stuff that involves theory and genius ideas. It just makes me happy when I'm watching classic Disney movies and I am able to pick out different character's themes. It's the best! :) I just love music a lot and I'm very thankful for it. I am also thankful for all the incredible people I've met because of band!

Middle School :)

My first marching season.

This was from Davis Cup and it was COLD.

Geoff and Edgar were like my besties!

Band Tour 2010

Disneyland

Great kids on that there back row!

My all time favorite picture and I just can't get over how cute it is.

Thanks Kayla... :)

Pep Band Jr Year

Sometimes I really miss football games... ):

Marching Band Jr Year

Styx :)

I loved being section leader for these fine kids :)

Just hanging out one night.

Seriously love them.

When we dressed like the staff on Super Hero Day at band camp.

Holla.

Cept CJ picked that day to not look like himself...

Marching Band Senior Year

To the Summit and Beyond...

<3

Senior night in Vegas.

3rd place.

Never forgotten.

The Marching Utes Experience

Best day of my life.

So much freaking fun!

Special thanks to Andrew, Josh, Collin, Matt, Anna, Layson, Bunnie, Scotty, Malcolm, Ger, Ryan, Kolby, Kara, Kayla, Jess, Jordan, Geoff, Christian, Josh, Nichole, Edgar, Jay, Katie, Garrett, Kaitlyn, Riley, Polo, Jake, Eva, Caleb, Kyle, CJ, Mr. Simpson and pretty much everyone else for being the greatest people to ever happen to me.

November 15th- Jesus Christ

Today we had an awesome lesson in institute about the Atonement and it really made me think yet again about how thankful I am for Christ. Last year Brother Johnson's Plan of Salvation lesson completely opened my eyes on how essential the Atonement is. Since Adam and Eve made the choice to come to Earth, we all are here today. And we are all cut off from the presence of God when we are born. Since we are just tiny humans we are not able to withstand the glory of God and cannot ever be with him again unless we are perfect. Since no one is ever going to be perfect, we're all never going to make it back to God. UNLESS someone could come here to Earth, suffer for our sins, die for us, and then return. Jesus Christ agreed to do this for us and because of him we are able to repent when mistakes are made and learn to be perfect like he is. If we didn't have him, there is no way we could ever live with God or our families again. I am so thankful for Christ and that he did what he did so I could live a happy life. I love my family and I am so glad I get to be with them forever. I am so thankful that I have a reason to strive to be better every day. I am working towards getting married in the temple to the man of my dreams and I am so excited. I love the Gospel and I especially love Jesus Christ. :)

Buying Things Part 2

So my second big purchase of my lifetime happened today.

(Well, third I guess if you wanna count the $312 I spent on textbooks....)

I bought myself some tires. Four of them. And they were not cheap.

Last Saturday when I was driving to work in the snow I practically slid off the road and ran into the curb. Bad. So when I got home my dad told me I needed new tires and I was like well that's nice! So since he's a great dad he did some research for me and found the best thing for my situation. He set up an appointment and we went today to get them on.

We went to Discount Tires cause Discount Tires rocks because Alex works there... haha :) Oh and they are nice and just so happened to have what I needed :P Anyway my dad and I sat in the waiting area while they put them on and I read a Family Living magazine or something. It made me really want my own house and cute kids to start traditions with. Hahaha.... someday! Eventually the wait was over and I got my keys back and happily drove away! 

Cept then I had to go to the bank to get money to pay my dad back. That part wasn't so happy. Since my dad also rocks he agreed to pay for half which was AWESOMEPIECE. :)

I'm just happy it's over and now I can safely drive in the snow!

Gotta have a self pic ;)

Thankful Thursday Part 1

(Title credit goes to Ashley :))
On Facebook I've been posting what I'm thankful for every day.
And on here I would like to elaborate on those things a little bit for the next couple Thursdays.
:)

November 1st- TRAX
I ride the train to school every day and it is honestly so nice! I love not having to deal with driving or traffic! There is a stop right by my house and it only takes a few minutes to get there. I know I'm always going to be on time to school and it's nice to have a place to do homework and relax. I usually end up sleeping (if I'm not chatting with the person sitting next to me) and it rocks. It's the best way to kill an hour because I think we can all agree life is tiring and naps are wonderful :) Anyway I am just very thankful for my free UTA pass so that I can get to school every day!

My favorite seat :)

November 2nd- My Parents
Now, there are many reasons I am thankful for my parents but this particular day my dad was getting surgery and so my mom took work off to take him to the hospital/take care of him. I know that's kind of expected of your spouse but I thought it was really sweet how caring my mom was. My whole family was a little nervous that things weren't going to work out and we were all very thankful that he's okay now. I just really love my parents and appreciate how much they do for me. They always make sure I have everything I need :)

Look how cute they are :)

November 3rd- My job and the ability to work
It was a Saturday and I had to go in from 9:30 to 7:30. It was a long day and I knew it was going to be hard. Plus, who wants to spend their entire weekend at work? (I had also worked Friday from 3:30 to 10:45) But then I thought about how many people don't have the opportunity to work or can't get a job for whatever reason. I am thankful that I am able to work and love my job so much. Jamba is the greatest <3

 Slacking baked goods is def my favorite.

I'm the best at it ;)

I love this quote!

My aunt has it hanging by her front door in her house.

Such a good reminder :)

November 4th- Blogging
I posted 3 times that day. I love being able to write down my thoughts, feelings, and memories. It totally rocks! Memories mean the world to me and I am so thankful for my blog. I don't post a lot but I know one day I will be thankful for the things I have written.

November 5th- My writing teacher
Probably seems weird but I love my writing class. It's hard and a lot of work but I honestly do love it. My teacher is incredible. She's a grad student so she GETS us. She's not a stuck-up "Dr. Wetlaufer" she's simply "Ms Wetlaufer". Her motto is, "There is no wrong when you are learning." I love that. She doesn't demand perfection from us because she knows she's there to TEACH us. When we got our narrative papers back I noticed that I got an A on it and I was so happy! I love being good at something, finally! But, not everyone did so well. That particular day she told us that she was canceling our plans for the day and was going to give us a lesson on commas because there were so many people who made simple comma mistakes in their papers. She got kind of mad but it was so nice to have her there to work with us and get us to understand a simple English concept. She just rocks. I love how helpful and realistic she is. It's nice to have a teacher like that for my first semester of school.

I was SO. HAPPY.

November 6th- America and having the right to vote
As you know, I voted early last week but Tuesday was actual election day. I was overcome with gratitude for being an American citizen and having the right to voice my opinion in society. Even though my vote probably didn't matter, I was thankful to even have the chance to do so. America rocks, let's be honest. The values this nation was established on are totally what I believe in. Even though we have kind of strayed from those values over the past 200 years, this is still a great place to live. We have so many opportunities for success here. I have a deep love for America and I am so thankful to be a citizen.

November 7th- A beautiful fall
(p.s. people, you don't capitalize seasons. Stop capitalizing seasons. They are not proper nouns.)
(Sorry, just a pet peeve of mine...)
Anyway, the weather has been so nice this fall! (Yes, I know it's going to snow tomorrow. But still. It has BEEN lovely) The leaves have been gorgeous and the weather has been awesome for the most part. I love walking around campus with huge trees that leave crunchy leaves everywhere. I love being able to wear cute fall outfits without having to cover up with a coat. I love wearing boots and not getting them wet! It's awesome! I'm really going to miss this fall but I'm thankful we had it. :)

Seriously. Look at those leaves!

November 8th- Missionaries
I have SO MANY friends who are serving right now and are about to leave. I am so very proud of them. I don't think I could do it. I couldn't leave my family and go somewhere I've never heard of, eat weird foods, be with people I don't know all day, talk to strangers, live out of a suitcase, be on my best behavior all the time.... the list goes on and on. I admire these kids so much for preparing to serve the Lord for two years (or 18 months for my sistas). It's incredible to have such good examples around me all the time. Right now is such an important time to share the Gospel with people. All the generations before us were told to "be in the world, not of the world" and we are being told to go into the world and pull people out of it. It's so scary and so awesome at the same time. I am thankful to have the Gospel in my life and to have that anchor holding me in place. Life can be hard, we all know that. Times can get tough, we all know that. Temptations are stronger than ever, we definitely all know that. Making decisions is so much easier when you've already got them made. This is the time when you've got to rely on your testimony to pull you through. I just feel so blessed to know the truth. :)

Well, that was fun! I love thinking of something to be thankful for every day. It makes it so much more meaningful. Even if they are just little things, you've got to always be thankful for something. It makes for a happier life for sure!

Registration

At 7:00 this morning I submitted my schedule for Spring 2013.
Thank the freaking heavens it worked.
I was so amazed, I print screened it and blogged about it.
Trying to decided what to take next semester was a nightmare.
I have 5 classes, 14 credits.
Wish me luck!

I'm still so amazed that it worked!

:)

The Snow has Snew

I am sad to report that snow has struck Utah.
:(
It was about a week and a half ago but still.

I hate cleaning off my car.
I hate how stupid people drive in the snow.
I hate having wet feet.
I hate being cold.
I hate the constant fear of falling down and looking like an idiot.
I hate ice melt.
I hate shoveling.
Hate. Hate. Hate.

But for some reason, this time, it was okay.
I was walking around campus in basically a blizzard and ended up just laughing.
I put my head back and caught the flakes on my tongue.
I happily sang It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas to myself.
I forgot about how bad my hair was about to look, how cold my fingers were about to be, and how stupid I was going to look, and embraced the white powder falling from the sky.
It was one of the happiest days of my life!
Probably just because it was a Thursday...
I love Thursdays.
Because. Alex. :)
He's amazingwonderfulhilariouscutesweetdifferentawesometalented.
We watched Peter Pan and played Foosball last night.
He told me stories about his mission and showed me pictures/videos of the people he met.
We laughed. And laughed. And laughed. Just like always.
We ride the train together every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.
Plus we have Institute/lunch dates on Thursdays.
We just talk about everything and I love having him as a friend.
I'll let you know how things work out.
:)

I love my life.

Homecoming 2012

For the past three years Homecoming has been a big deal. Like, big. Being in band and all I got to participate in pretty much every aspect of homecoming. In fact, we call it "hell week" because that pretty much sums it up. It's exhausting but also the greatest thing ever. So anyway, now that I'm graduated I still get to participate... just differently. :)

Elise and I went to the game on Friday night at which it POURED rain the entire time. ENTIRE TIME. It was really fun though! We just kind of laughed about the situation and got hot chocolate after. It was weird to stand in the student section. That's something I never got to do because I was always with the band. The cheers were fun and I screamed so much! Since Copper Hills is Copper Hills, they lost. But whatevs. It's nothing new. :P

My best friend is cute :)

And on Saturday I got to go to the dance! About three weeks before my good friend Jordan asked me by completely covering the floor of my bedroom with shredded paper. I got home from work one night and opened my door to this:

And I was like :O

My bedroom is pretty big and my entire floor looked like this.

It was nuts!

The silly note he left me...

No idea why he called me sweet lips but it made me laugh so...

:)

 Finally found all the wrappers!

Since I was tweeting so much about the mess Geoff and Jordan very nicely agreed to come help me clean up.

What sweeties ;)

*NOTE: It was about 11:30 pm and I couldn't tell you why Jordan had that hat on. Again, it made me laugh. He's just awesome in his own little way.

I'm still finding paper in random places...

Like the cuff of my pants. 

Awesome.

I answered him with some delicious cupcakes and we both got all excited and stuff. 

So the day of the dance he picked me up and we went to Geoff's house to play scud and have a little meet and greet. I felt so weird being the only one not in high school but whatever. I'm really good friends with all the boys that were in the group so it was just like old times!

We went to The Dome in Draper to be amazed and eat frozen uncrustables. They were quite yummy :) When that was over we went back to Geoff's house and they blindfolded us and drove us away to some unknown place. Jordan walked me over to a tree, handed me a bag, said "okay take off your blindfold.... GO!" and then we all had an epic flour fight. It was SO MUCH FUN. I've never done anything like that before and I ended up laughing for most of it. :)

After the fight! 

It was totally nuts.

Also, Carter and Kaity were just...not there?

Then I came home to de-flour myself and get ready. I didn't really look super awesome and I feel bad. I just wasn't feelin' my dress that day. Meh. haha oh well good thing it doesn't matter AT ALL!

We took pictures at both our houses and then went back to Geoff's for dinner. We ate soup in a bread bowl and I was perfectly happy and content. That is one of my favorite foods and I was stoked. Plus the boys were real cute serving us and stuff. :)

Our cute group :)

The dance was awesomepiece and Jordan and I sang our hearts out during the slow songs. I just can't take slow dancing seriously anymore. It's so much more fun to scream the words of the cheesy love songs ;) I will never be able to listen to Don't Wanna Miss a Thing without laughing ever again. That was my absolute favorite part of the dance. My date totally rocked :)

After that we went to Geoff's again to eat cupcakes and watch a movie. Jordan and I secretly made fun of Geoff for trying to put the moves on Natalie with the movie Hitch. Mostly because that's what he used on me... so we were like "HEY MAN GET SOME NEW TRICKS." I'm glad Jordan was there to help me through that moment. I could have ended up super jealous and angry but instead I was able to brush it off like eh, she's not that special ;) haha again, my date totally rocked. And I'm glad he understood how I was feeling and helped me feel better. Yay for friends!

When I got home I realized that I left my flower in Geoff's fridge and I was super upset. I have all six of my corsages in my bedroom and I didn't want to lose my favorite one! I asked Jordan if he would get it for me later and he said sure. I got all nervous and mad at myself for forgetting it. I thought I was never gonna see it again. But, the next day I was sitting on my couch and he texted me "mailbox ;)" and I RAN out there to find this:

I thought it was cool that he used one of our greatest inside jokes to return my flower to me.

I love people who appreciate sentiment!

Plus, this is seriously my favorite corsage.

It was so freakin' pretty! 

Now, this may seem kind of weird so I feel you should know the background story. But, even with knowing the background story it will probably still seem weird. Whatever.

So, Jordan and Carter started the tradition of putting random things in my mailbox my junior year. Sometimes they were awesome, sometimes they weren't. My favorite time was on Christmas morning at 6:30 am Jordan texted me and told me to go check my mailbox. When I opened it there was a cute little baby doll inside and I was so happy! Back in the day I was known as the "band mom" because I was always cleaning and making sure everyone was okay. So in honor of my obsessive compulsive mothering of my friends Jordan decided that I needed a baby. I named her Megan and I still have her sitting on my bed to this day. I love that freakin' baby! I had no idea Jordan was even getting me anything and I certainly didn't think it would be something that meant a lot more than most people thought. I love my friends. Especially Jordan! I am so glad he asked me to homecoming! I had a BLAST! :)