Quick Update

Ryan's going to Burningham, England!!!!

Year One, Done

My first year of college is almost over...  It's weird.  I've grown so much and learned so much about myself.  I've met so many new friends that I absolutely love.  There have been some rough patches and trials, but I'm so glad I've had this experience.  Tomorrow is my last day of classes, and it's just biology.  It's so crazy that this has gone by so fast.  I seriously don't even know how to feel.  I'm so glad to have the semester done with, but I don't know if I really want to move home.  I love my family and friends up north, but this has basically become my home down here.  Being on my own has given me such a greater perspective on life.  I love being independent!!!  I guess it'll be good to see my family again though.  And to have home cooked meals!! I can't wait for that!  At least I know that I have relatively good grades as I head into finals week.  I am sort of stressed over my final paper in English, but it'll work out; and my nutrition test will be a breeze; and then there's dreaded biology...that class has seriously been my biggest challenge this semester.  My professor is super nice and way goofy, but I just have had the hardest time learning.  I've managed to bring my grade up to a B+, but it was a lot of hard work and studying!  I'll be so relieved when everything is over.  Sadly, my summer gets cut short my one month since I'll be moving back for RA training at the beginning of August, but I can't wait!  Everything will be so good.

And on a side thought, one of my great friends from high school got his mission call today! Ryan and me have been through so much together it's ridiculous.  I miss talking to him all the time about everything.  He will be such an amazing missionary and I'm so proud of him!!  He hasn't opened his call yet and I'm bummed I can't be there when he opens it, but it'll be awesome no matter what.

Me and Ryan!!

This past year has been amazing.  I can't wait for the next one!! :)

What I've Accomplished:

I graduated high school

I moved to college

 I made some amazing new friends

I ran Ragnar...twice!

Lots more has happened.  But it's just amazing looking back at all this stuff!

Resident Assistant

I got the job!  I came home from class today and checked my email and there it was:  "Dear Alyssa, Congratulations! You have been selected as an RA for the 2011-2012 academic school year in Cedar 2100."  It was by far the best news of this semester!  I am ecstatic and when I found out I literally jumped up and down for a minute.  I was on the phone with Kat and it was just great.  The ironic thing about it is that I currently live in Cedar 2100.  And in the same suite as the RA.  So I'll have the same room next year!  I am soooooooo excited.  I can't hold it in!  I sent a picture to my family of the email....Here it is:

This will be an exciting and new experience that I can't wait to have.  I will get to meet all my new residents and forge relationships and just have so much fun!  I know it won't be all rainbows and lollipops, but it will definitely be worth it.  I'm so grateful for the experience of being in the class and meeting all the amazing and wonderful people that were involved in it.  YAY!!!!!!

Angel's Landing

This weekend was pretty much amazing.  But mostly I just mean that late Friday night and Saturday were amazing.  I live in a building with great people and have awesome friends.  We planned a trip to go hiking in Zion's National Park because it is National Park Week so you could get in for free.  We went to Angel's Landing.  Now I was pretty wary at first because my mom has always told me not to do it and people die there every year basically so it's just kinda a sketchy thing.  But I went anyways.  I prayed for safety for everyone and that we could enjoy the beautiful day.  It turned out great!  The hike was 5.4 miles round-trip.  It was just so great.  It was fun to be in the sun and exercising and enjoying the great weather and just hangin out with the people I love.

This was the whole crew!

This was most of us taking a break in the shade.

After we hiked we went back to Ade's condo in St. George.  Jill made us a delicious dinner of chicken roll-ups, salad, and corn.  We went swimming, too!

Kate, Hayden, Chanty, and me left after dinner to go caving with some other friends.  It was crazy.  For those of you who don't know, caving is where you hike down into a cave, wear dark clothes, break glow sticks all over you and the cave, and then play hide-and-seek!  It was a blast.  It was a one-of-a-kind adventure and I loved it.

The whole day left me super tired but very content.  I enjoyed every second of it.  I'm so glad for all the people I've met here in Cedar and for the friendships I've created.  I don't know what I would do without people like Kate (and T even though she wasn't here) and Kathryn and Parker.  They are amazing examples and truly genuine people.  I love them all.

ARE YOU OKAY?

My littlest sister is the cutest thing ever!  So I'm studying and then I just got a call from her and she goes, "Lyssa, are you okay?" I said, "Yeah, why?" She said, "There's an earthquake in Cedar City." And I asked "When? This morning? I live in a cement building, I didn't feel it."  Aimee's response, "I don't know when.  Yeah.  Okay, bye"

Oh my sweetest thing ever.  Her cute little voice just makes me happy.  I don't want her to get older.  She's nine already and I can't believe she's growing up without me there to watch it!  It's weird to go home and see her and my littlest brother taller and more mature and just it's weird!!!  I love them and the little things they do to put a smile on my face.

This was like 3 years ago, but it's the most recent one I have of just her.  We were at Disneyland and me, her, and my dad went to all the little kid rides.  This was for the merry go round.

This was the same vacation in California.  I buried her in the sand at Venice Beach.  That was one of the best vacations ever.  One of Aimee's goals is to save up to go to Disneyland.  It says so on my wall at home since she's taken over my room.  It made me smile when I saw it.  I love her to pieces.

I'm a Human Pet. . . . .

So Mitch came up with this story one night of how I was his pet human.  Awesome, right?  Here's the jist of it:  he feels bad for me because I live in the dorms and spend the majority of my time in my room (mind you, I don't care that I spend my time doing homework in my room, he just thinks I do).  My room is the equivalent of a kennel.  So because he feels bad that I'm cooped up in here all the time, he likes to take me out to feed and play with me.  Yeah, isn't he just the best?  So I'm his pet human.  I love it?  Not really, but it is kinda funny at times I guess.

Anyway today he calls me because I didn't have English and asked if he could come visit.  I said sure so he came to my "kennel" and we talked for a bit before he wanted to take me to lunch.  We went and got pizza at this new place in Cedar (it was way cheap and pretty good btw) and then went to the store to get donuts and then went to the park where we sat on the grass and went down by the little river (he fell in it when he tried to jump to this rock that was too far away, sooo funny!) that runs through the park, then took me home.  His version of our mini-date:  I fed my pet, took her to get a treat, took her for a walk, and played in the water with her before returning her to her kennel.  Who else can say they have a pet human? haha....  Anyway, it was really fun and I enjoyed it.  I even went along with his little pet theory.

So I'm a human pet.  Don't you just love it?  Depends on the day for me, but I guess it will make a funny story when I'm older.  He thinks it will too.  So like last week when his roommate wanted us to go camping and so did I but he didn't I tried this argument with him, "Well, when you're older you can tell your kids this:  When I was in college I took my pet human camping!"  Didn't take, but it was good while it lasted.  So if you can't tell, Mitch is kinda crazy, but it's fine, we like him anyway!

FHE

I can't explain how much I love my Family Home Evening group.  We always have so much fun and it's just great spending time with them.  I love it!!!  Last night we played twister and ate this delicious chocolate pudding pie with oreo crust that Danielle's mom made.  It was delicious.

Kat and Andi-Butts in the air.  Love it!

Us all tangled crazy because we were moving separately instead of as a group.  Later on in the game I ended up under Kat and it was tricky.  Me and Matt were the final two and I nudged him with my butt to win.  It was great!

So I love these guys and am so grateful I was able to be friends with them.  They are amazing girls (and guys when they come haha).

Family.

Basically I just love my family. They are the best. And I can't wait to see them, well some of them this weekend! It's their Spring Break right now so my parents and probably just my younger sister Ainsley are coming down to visit.

My dad is kinda crazy I guess you could say. He's pretty funny… But he's just weird. I remember watching Recess as a kid on Saturday mornings… As a family we went to Recess the Movie when it came out in theatres. My dad thought it was just the greatest thing ever. So since then he loved watching Recess with us whenever it was on. I also know that my dad's favorite book is Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sandek. I love the one too. My dad is also pretty funny when he impersonates Heimlech the caterpillar off of A Bug's Life. I have no idea how he does it.

My mom is so sweet. We didn't get along in high school, but now I think it's just because we're so alike… Now we talk and when I go home on weekends I like to hang out with her. She is an elementary school teacher. This year she has a second-third grade split class. She is amazing at her job and she loves it, most of the time anyways. The only thing I wish I could help her with is cleaning the house and what not. She works so hard at her job and my siblings just aren't very much help to her and so I just feel bad that she has to put up with it. I'm sure I was the same way growing up, but I still wish that one of my siblings would realize that even just emptying the dishwasher or sweeping the floor is a big help to her.

My favorite older brother Andrew. Well, he's got that easy because he's my only older brother. I love him! It's weird that growing up we basically never spoke unless necessary and then it was only minimum words… A few weeks into his mission I got a letter from him saying how much he wished we had had a better relationship and how he wanted us to be close from there on out. I bawled reading it. But ever since then it's been great. We emailed every week of his mission and I was there for him when things got tough between him and his ex… Now that he's back we don't get to talk a lot since we're both crazy busy with school and he's working, but when we do get the chance it's always a good one. Today we talked about how he took Dennise on a date and things might get serious between them. It's weird to think that, because I think Dennise is a senior in high school…but maybe she's my age…I don't remember! Either way, I'm happy for him! Dennise is super cute and her family is absolutely amazing. It's only too bad that she lives in Cali and he lives here in Utah haha

Austin. He's ripped. As a middle child he's pretty well at blending in. He's quiet and hides in the basement when he is home. He's always working or at school or working out or doing something with lacrosse. It's always fun to come home and see him though. One weekend he came up from behind me and poked me in the sides. Another time we went to a movie and just hung out. It's fun now that I'm not at home that I can kind of cultivate my relationships with my siblings more. It's probably easier because I don't have the tension of living with them…..that's horrible but the truth.

My lanky younger sister Ainsley comes next. She is beautiful. She's just this skinny little twig of a girl who is like 5 foot 10 inches. Where she got her height from I don't know. But I'm not too jealous. She plays lacrosse too and as far as I know she loves it. She's extremely quiet, but around her friends she likes to laugh a lot. Me and her aren't super great friends, but I'm trying to work on that. It was rough when I was home over Spring Break and she went to hang out with her friends instead of spending time with me.. But what can you do when you're 15. But tomorrow it's her sweet 16! I'm excited for her. She hasn't taken driver's ed yet though, which is probably a good thing, because she's extremely distracted and that makes for not a great driver.. I'm sure she'll get better though. Or at least I hope she does.

Avery and Aimee. They come as a pair. And even though they're not twins, they could be. Avery is almost 11 but he could pass as a third grader probably. He's just little for his age. Aimee is 9 and just a diva. Together they are absolutely horrible. Sometimes they can get along, but I swear they just bug each other and scream at each other and just annoy everyone else around them. But they're cute. Aimee sleeps in my room since I'm not there anymore and she's just a mess. But it's cute. I think it was over Christmas break that I noticed a goal on my wall. It said "Goal: Save up to go to Disneyland" Adorable, right? I thought so! Avery is just growing up, so although I said he could probably pass as a third grader I'm really not sure anymore. He's probably grown and could be as tall as me by now. Who knows! Avery is an amazing athlete, especially at baseball. He's on a competition team right now I believe. I wish I could be that good at something. And Aimee is just Aimee. I love those two little end children though. Even though the majority of the time I'd say they drive me crazy.

And that's my family. We're pretty cute I guess J haha Mostly we're just the Simon's though. And I wouldn't have it any other way. I love them so much and pray for them daily.

Conference Weekend

I love conference :) It gives me a chance to listen to the soothing voices of our apostles.  And even though I end up falling asleep, I know that it was good.  I'm so grateful for all our apostles and the work they put into their talks.  What they say, is especially for us, straight from God.  It's truly amazing.

My weekend started off with a BEAUTIFUL Friday.  I had two classes and then was able to enjoy the rest of the afternoon.  I sat outside and read for awhile then came inside to clean.  It felt so good to be able to clean and do laundry.  I just felt so productive and accomplished.  I finished reading my book (The Lucky One by Nicholas Sparks...so great!) and then went outside again because Sam, Hillary, and Jenna were playing with chalk and I thought that sounded fun.  When that was done I went to watch Tangled with Susan, Anna, Bree, Amy, and Carly.  That is the best movie!  Well, one of the best at least.  Then we got Icee's and candy and went to the park.  We found this girl's phone and while trying to figure out whose it was we read some texts from this boy Elliot.  They were hilarious.  I can't even begin to tell you.  Anyway the girl came back and I gave it to her.  Me, Bree, and Carly were spinning on the tire swing and started to not feel so great, but then I still ended up throwing up Icee.  I do not recommend it if you can ever avoid that situation.  It was like sweet but acidic and not fun.  We went back to Bree's and watched She's the Man and that was the extent of our night.  It was lots of fun!  And I ended up sleeping at Amy's in Micadyn's bed because Kat's sister was here and I told her she could have my bed for the night.

Well, Saturday morning I went to breakfast with Kat and Natalie to IHOP.  Then I watched conference with Amy and then we went to The Grind to try some drinks and just walked along scenic Main Street in Cedar City.  We went to the store and got stuff for caramel popcorn too!  Then we went to Bree's to watch the afternoon session with Anna, Susan, Bree, and Carly.  It was great!  Breezy made us delicious cinnamon pull-aparts!  Me and Ames went to The Tempest Retold later that night and then to Applebee's with her friend Matt who was in the comedy.  Bedtime was calling my name by then even though I'd napped on and off.

Sunday!! I watched both sessions at Amy's with her, Anna, and Susan.  We made caramel popcorn and played card games in between the sessions.  I love those girls.  I remember at one point waking up during the afternoon session at the end of C. Scott Grow's talk.  Yeah, "See Scott Grow"  I got a kick out of it!!  Elder Richard G. Scott's talk was probably one of my favorites though.  He talked about marriage and how us young single adults need to get there, but he didn't make it seem like a huge deal.  I feel like he focused more on getting guys to ask on dates and make them meaningful so that the relationship can be meaningful and possibly lead to a meaningful marriage.  He's been one of my favorites ever since primary.

Basically this weekend was so much fun!  I love the girls that I get to hang around with and they are all such great examples in my life.  I hope everyone enjoyed conference as much as I did!!