I Wouldn't Mind

Merrily we fall out of line

Out of line

I'd fall anywhere with you

I'm by your side

Swinging in the rain

Humming melodies

We're not going anywhere until we freeze.

I'm not afraid anymore

I'm not afraid.

Forever is a long time.

But I wouldn't mind spending it by your side.

Carefully we'll place for our destiny

You came and you took this heart

And set it free.

Every word you write and sing is so warm to me.

So warm to me.

I'm torn, I'm torn

To be right where you are.

I'm not afraid anymore.

I'm not afraid.

Forever is a long time.

But I wouldn't mind spending it by your side.

Tell me everyday

I get to wake up to that smile.

I wouldn't mind it at all.

I wouldn't mind it at all.

You so know me.

Pinch me gently.

I can hardly breath.

Forever is a long, long time.

But I wouldn't mind spending it by your side.

Tell me

Everyday I get to wake up to that smile.

I wouldn't mind it at all.

I wouldn't mind it at all.

Thank you He Is We for this amazing song.  It is exactly how I feel but he doesn't even know.

Afraid?

So I think I have a problem.  Every time some amazing guy comes into my life, I push them away.  I know I'm afraid of commitment, but that's not even what these boys are necessarily asking for.  They just want to take me out and have fun, but I can't even let them enjoy that.  Is it because I subconsciously know I'm really in love with Loaiza so I don't want to even have anyone else try??  That just seems ridiculous though.  Andrew probably doesn't even realize how much I like him.  Really really like him.  A lot a lot.  And it's pathetic that I like him so much, right?  No.  Because seriously I just love how amazing he is.  He's my dream guy no doubt.  But is it terrible that I can't enjoy the company of other guys who want to take me out and treat me right while me and him are 5 hours away and we haven't even verbalized the feelings between us??  Ah I just need to chill.  And talk to Andrew.....  I just don't know how to do it because we already don't talk a lot since we're both busy with school and work.

Everything has to work out though.  It just has to.  And then everything will be okay.

I Love my Family of Friends

This past weekend was truly amazing.  I was able to go "cabin-ing" with the best friends I could ever ask for.  I truthfully was a little worried about it, but I don't even remember why now.  It also slightly stressed me out that I found out a few of my residents were really sick right as I was leaving.  I felt like I was abandoning them in their greatest time of need...not really, but close to it.  Anyway, we drove up to Richfield to meet up with Katelin, Tiana, Bryce, and Joey.  We stopped at Cyd's and I got to talk with Brett (holy moly I don't know why I have a crush on that boy.. but I do).  Then we headed off to Kate's cabin!  It was pretty much a hilarious drive up.  Partway there Brian started flashing his brights at us, so we flashed ours at Cyd so that we could all pull over.  Really nothing was wrong, just Brian's car full was dancing and being funny.  Then a little while later Cyd almost hit a deer.  She slowed down enough that by the time she reached it she only gave it a little smack on the butt, but it was still a pretty scary thought.  When we got to the cabin it was freezing cold outside and snowing.  But the cabin warmed right up and we cooked pizza, played Wackee Six, and Just Dance on the Wii.  Some how it was all the sudden 3 in the morning... Kylei, Tiana, and I decided to go to bed.  Kylei fell right asleep, but me and T ended up talking and laughing until probably 4:30.  And nobody heard us.  But I swear we were so loud.  It was the best.  Saturday we all woke up really late and made french toast for breakfast.  Then we headed down to Fishlake where we hung out and took pictures and threw snowballs.  The rest of the day was just relaxing and having fun!  We had Hawaiian haystacks for dinner and played Suck & Blow and Truth or Dare.  It was really just a game of Dare though. And holy moly the things we dared each other.  It was really nasty in all honesty but a ton of fun.  We went to bed really late again and then cleaned up the cabin and headed out the next morning.  When Kate and myself stopped at her house to shower before church we found out we were locked out.  So we headed to her backyard to see if we could maybe pop a window open.  Her dog Kia is the craziest dog I've ever met!  And I'm scared of dogs.  Needless to say we couldn't open any windows so Kate's dad came and opened the garage and then we got ready.  We went to the single's ward in Richfield and then back to Kate's where her mom, Polly, had made the most delicious dinner ever.  I can't even begin to you guys how much I love Kate's family.  They treat me like I'm their own daughter and are just too kind.  I love them to bits and pieces.

Honest to goodness though, my friends down here at school are my family and I couldn't have asked for any better.  The girls are such great examples and are so funny.  Then there's those absolutely amazing Taco Boys.  Seriously, everyone is just the best ever.  I don't understand how they're that awesome and why I deserve them.  But I love each and every one of them for their unique personalities and the light and laughter they bring to my life.  Thanks everyone for the fantastic weekend and I love you all!!!

I've Become A Horrible Blogger

I spend my life either doing homework, working, or sleeping.  I used to feel like I lived at my work when I worked at the Rec Center.  Nope.  I literally live at my work.  I work for University Housing, hence they house me.  My residents come to me all the time.  I love them, but there are times when I just want to get away from it.  But of course I have homework that decides to suck up all my extra time.  I miss my friends!  I feel like I barely get to see them and it saddens me.  Random side note..freaking everyone and their dog is getting engaged or married or pregnant I swear.  And what am I doing?  None of the above.  I feel like I should be doing more or finally finding someone.  But no, I'm not.  I just cause myself drama with boys.  Not even necessarily drama, but headaches for myself.  Take Andrew Loaiza for example.  What is there going on between us??? It's driving me crazy.  I feel like there's something there, but I don't know because neither of us will say anything.  I've had the biggest crush on that boy since I was a sophomore in high school.  He's a returned missionary going to Utah State University.  He's my brother's best friend.  My parents love him.  Freak, I love him.  I might not be in love with him, but I'm surely willing to fall in love with him.  Oh my goodness why can't I just make up my mind with boys?  Joey is extremely nice and so cute and just amazing but of course I have to go and be all awkward and ruin things.  But he's still willing to take me on dates.  I'm such a horrible girl.  I should just be happy when something is going good but I can't.  Okay well I feel like I'm done venting now.  On a happier thought, I love Pinterest so much!  I find such cool/amazing/inspiring/great things on there everyday!

Here are some of my photography pictures.  Not super awesome but it's whatever.

 And this is Kate, Fenja, and me eating papusas that the Taco Boys made us for dinner one Sunday.

I did powderpuff and Maso Muli totally smoked the other team!! 30-6 baby :)

 I went to St. George with Emily and my roomies!

 We took Eva to the hospital.

 A good part of my floor going to the Homecoming Football game. We won.

 Emily became a model at Applebee's.

 Sierra also became a model for my photography.

I did a spa night with my girls and we did face masks and nails!

So I'm Taking a Photography Class...

Alright, so I decided to take photography because I absolutely love taking pictures and just pictures in general.  And I really like the class.  But when it comes to knowing what to take pictures of, I'm at a loss.  I'm trying to be creative, but it's rough.  Myself and Bree were just walking around campus since our class got out early and I saw bike racks so I figured I'd take a picture of that.  Now there's this thing called shallow depth of field.  So that's what I was going for.  But I'm not going to use this picture as my final for it.  I want to get a better one, but it will have bikes in it!

The background is blurry, while the red bike is in focus.  That's Shallow DOF.

Then here's a picture I'll probably use for Greater depth of field.  It's of my residents at our Beach Party activity we planned.

Everything is supposed to be in focus from side to side for greater DOF.

So I'll definitely keep posting my photography adventures.  But I just don't feel like a super awesome photographer haha....

Here's another picture that I just enjoy.

Mosiah 2:41

"And moreover, I would desire that ye should consider on the blessed and happy state of those that keep the commandments of God.  For behold, they are blessed in all things, both temporal and spiritual; and if they hold out faithful to the end they are received into heaven, that thereby they may dwell with God in a state of never-ending happiness.  O remember, remember that these things are true; for the Lord God hath spoken it."

Once Upon a Time

So today in church I was flipping through my scriptures reading all the old handouts and things that were stuck between the pages and what not.  I came across the talk "Your Happily Ever After" by President Dieter F. Uchtdorf.  I'd forgotten how much I loved this.  Here's what I had highlighted and underlined:
1)  Heavenly Father offers us the greatest gift of all, eternal life, and the opportunity and infinite blessing of our own, "happily ever after."
2)  The leaders of the church love us, pray for us, and rejoice in our faithfulness.
3)  "Once upon a time" promises something:  a story of adventure and romance, a story of princesses and princes.  Nice overcomes mean and good overcomes evil.
4)  Isn't that what we all desire:  to be the heroes and heroines of our own stories; to triumph over adversity; to experience life in all its beauty; and, in the end, to live happily ever after? (I had written to the side "yes.")
5)  These words are true:  You area beloved daughter of Heavenly Father, prepared to come to the earth at this particular time for a sacred and glorious purpose.
6)  He loves us so much that he granted us this earthly life as a precious gift of "once upon a time," complete with your own true story of adventure, trial, and opportunities for greatness, nobility, courage, and love.  And, most glorious of all, He offers you a gift beyond price and comprehension.  Heavenly Father offers to us the greatest gift of all, eternal life, and the opportunity and infinite blessing of your own "happily ever after."
***Here is where I felt the spirit.  I've been going through some trials of my own that I like to think I can take on by  myself, but really I need His help.  So I said a prayer.  I don't often feel the spirit as strongly as I did there.  I was reassured of my Savior's love for me and was reminded that He is always there for me, no matter what I'm doing or what I might be going through.  He sent me here to earth to learn these things and to help me with them.  Someone once told me that Heavenly Father would never give us something we couldn't handle.  So even though it might seem rough at times and like there's no way to turn, there is a way out and we will get through it.
7)  Such a blessing does not come without a price.  It comes only though understanding who you are and what you must become in order to be worth of such a gift.
8)  Every fairy tale has one thing in common:  they must overcome adversity.
9)  Has there ever been a person who did not have to go through his or her own dark valley of temptation, trial and sorrow?  (I wrote to the side, "no.")
10)  Sandwiched between their "once upon a time" and "happily ever after," they all had to experience great adversity.
11)  There must be opposition in all things.
12)  In stories, as in life, adversity teaches us things we cannot learn otherwise.  Adversity helps.

That was just the first page of the talk.  This was something that I really needed to read.  Funny how things work out, huh?  I'm simply writing my story, it started with "once upon a time," and I'm slowly but surely making my way to my "happily ever after."  I've got my own set of trials and temptations and sorrows, but I'm working through them.  I have the help of my family and friends and bishop(ric), but most of all, I have my loving Heavenly Father.  He's there with me every step of the way, sometimes carrying me when I feel like giving up on everything.
Now, I know I've said it before, but I really don't boast of my spirituality, partially because I feel weird doing it, but a lot because I like to think I'm independent.  But this is one of those things that I hope I never forget, because it has really helped me realize somethings in life.  God is there for not only me, but everyone around me, and he loves each and every one of us sooooo much.  Jesus Christ died for us, and through him and the atonement, we can be with our Heavenly Father once again.  I love this gospel so much.  I'm so thankful for it and what it brings to my life; I don't know where I'd be without it.

I'm Obsessed

Found this on StumbleUpon.  It's fine that I love spending my time on Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, and there, right?

The Good Life

I love living on my own!!!  Seriously, it's gotta be the bestest thing ever.

And I love living in Cedar City.

1)  It's small enough that there's not tons of people, but big enough that there's not nothing to do.

2)  I get to see awesome people all the time.

3)  I'm pretty sure I meet someone new every day.

4) My besties live here too!

5)  I just love it. Period.

So classes started yesterday, and they were good.  I had Marriage & Family Relations and Spanish yesterday.  Today I had Photography, Chemistry, and Spanish.  In a couple weeks I'll also have a Chemistry Lab, but til then my Tuesdays have been shortened two hours!  I really like my professors so far.  They seem really chill...  Another random fact, they're all male.  Weird.  I didn't notice that until I was thinking about them all and realized, huh crazy.

I've loved seeing all my friends.  I've yet to see Micadyn, but other than that I'm pretty sure I've seen everyone!  It's so fun to see everyone's smiling faces and just how happy they are.  It's just the good life!

I Never Realized.

Today marks the end of RA training.  We had a little staff party/get together tonight and I honestly can say I've never felt more at home than I do right now.  After we played around and took pictures and had made banana boats (super awesome and yummy :)), Teata had us all gather around the fire in a circle with our backs facing the fire.  Three people at a time went around touching others as he read off statements like "Touch someone who has taught you something" or "Touch someone who you care about."  Simple statements like that.  I never realized how much I have touched people's lives by just being myself.  I didn't necessarily go out of my way to help someone or say something because I knew someone needed to hear it.  I simply was myself and that made all the difference.  I just never realized it til then.

My cheesy side of the whole night though.....It nearly felt like a testimony meeting with the "spirit" that was there. It brought back memories of girl's camps and youth conferences.  Crazy how everything in life relates back to the gospel in some way or another.  I'm not one to boast of my spirit or how spiritual I am, because that's definitely something that I struggle with.  But this was an amazing testimony and relationship builder and the solitude that comes with it is awesome.

At this time in my life when I'm dealing with so much with myself and my family, it's reassuring to know that I have such wonderful people surrounding me and willing to help me with anything that I'm going through.  The friendships I'm making and the lasting relationships that are being built are what I'm going to be relying on.  I can't wait for Katelin and Tiana to move back to Cedar; I miss them soo much!  They keep me sane and holy cow I love them more than they know!

Sorry for such a random spiritual/touchy-feely post.  Everything is just so good right now.  I feel so good.

The Provo River Fiasco

Simply put, it was a minor catastrophe.  What started out as a fantastic idea ended in losing the following:  one pink powerade, one red flip flop, and a tube.

First off, Cindy's tube was missing the cap so it wouldn't keep the air in it.  Easy fix, we put me and her on one tube with Clay on his own.

Wrong.  Me and Cindy were struggling to maneuver our tube from the second we jumped on.  We managed our way away from some trees to shortly find ourselves headed for rocks.  We put our feet out and pushed off of those only to find ourselves in the swiftest and strongest of currents headed for the skinniest part of the bridge.  We're screaming and freaking out and the next thing we know we're hitting the bridge and I'm sucking in a lungful of water.  I surface and start grabbing all of our belongings that I can while Cindy is holding onto the popped tube.

We're hitting rocks and bumping along the river as we're carried downriver and all we're trying to do is get to the side and not drown.  Probably one of the scariest moments of my life, but funniest experiences too.

After like a few minutes of scraping up our legs we come to a stop and figure out all that we've lost.  We were both in one piece and Clay was just really concerned that we were okay.  This seriously happened 30 seconds into our float.  So the trip lasted less than 5 minutes.  It's fine.  We walked our way back to the truck and hopped in.  Clay gave his cousin a call and we went to their community pool.  It was really nice to just chill and not worry about anything although I definitely felt like some hobo with only one flip flop.  So that was my minor catastrophe but I enjoy telling the story now.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Life at RA Training

Alex, Hilary, and Jana hiding in the lavender bushes

We spent probably a good 20 minutes sniffing febreze scents.

sitting in class....

after our snowcone run!

we all had red tongues :) me, heidi, eva, jana, hilary, alex

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Now, a midst all this crazy and fun times with Clay and Cindy and Johnny.  I had major drama going on at home.  My parents were wanting me to be home at midnight, and I think that is ridiculous.  So I wasn't following it.  I would get home around 1 or 1:30.  Finally after the rodeo day I believe, my mom was waiting up and we had this huge blowup outside our house.  What it came down to was basically if you live in this house you follow my rules and if you don't follow the rules then you move out.  So I was ready to move out and was just fine with that.  It was a week before I headed back to Cedar so I wasn't too concerned.  Cindy and Johnny have an extra room and I'm always more than welcome to use it.  Anyway, the next morning my mom felt way bad so she let me stay til I moved.  Needless to say, I haven't talked to my mom since I moved.... I feel bad, but at the same time I'm really serious about never going home.  I'm not going to follow the midnight curfew and I'm going to hangout with whomever I please.  So now I'm moved to Cedar and where I'll be next summer no one knows!

Well Everyone, I think that is my life caught up.  I sit in a classroom for 8 hours a day currently learning about different protocols and stuff about the university.  Oh and I have a small crush on a gay man. Is that a bad thing?

Everyone, I love you much and can't wait to see everyone in the next couple weeks!!!!!!!!!!!!

"Holy-Damn-Moly"

I love Cindy.  And this is my favorite thing to hear her say.  And it's how I feel lately.  So holy damn moly, my life is so crazy I can't believe it!  I really love blogging, but I've been horrible at posting, my apologies.  My life takes over and I forget things.  But I just needed to update this and I have a lot of stories to tell I feel.  Because I know that Kate and T and waiting to hear about them since I haven't seen them in ages and ages (two more weeks ladies and we will be reunited!!!).  Anyway, one week ago I moved back to Cedar and it was about freaking time!  Let me lead up to that point though.  Oh goodness, I haven't been on here for a month so this will be good.  Alright, well I think I left off with the weekend of the 4th at Clay's house in Provo.  That was just the beginning of fun with him :)

So Clay is 28 or 29. That's fine right?? I dunno......  Okay, well it was either the next weekend or right after that but we went back to Provo because we were going to try and go to the Spanish Fork rodeo.  We didn't end up being able to get tickets so we just had dinner and walked  around the carnival thing.  Johnny bought Cindy dinner, but that's expected cuz they're married right?  But then Clay bought me dinner.  So I was like um okay??? I didn't know what to think.  Then while walking around the carnival he played this game and won a stuffed animal monkey and gave it to me.  And picked out purple cuz he knows I like that color.  Cute right? Except that I'm still way confused at what's going on.  Finally later on we were all talking about something and he said the following "...we're on a date."  And I don't say anything out loud, but in my head I'm like is he being serious?  What is going on?  Freak, I dunno.  So then the next day is Sunday and Clay came to Bountiful to hang out with us.  We went to some friend's house and just talked and roasted mallows.  Then Monday we had these huge plans to float the Provo River (Story to come).  Anyway, we ended up spending the day at this pool instead and then going to the Spanish Fork Rodeo that night.  It was way fun and my first time ever at a real rodeo!  So anyway that was the end of Clay for that week...Til Saturday anyway.  That Saturday I went on a really awesome 6.5 mile run with Cindy, Scott, and Schatzie.  Then headed to Johnny's golf tournament with Cindy.  Next we headed to Provo to go hang out at the pool with Clay.  Clay picked me up at one point and threw me in the pool and when we were going around the lazy river he was always doing all this flirty stuff like holding me under the waterfall or dragging me backwards.  It was just a way chill day and then we went and got some groceries, made a delicious dinner of shishcabobs or however you spell it and fruit and veggies and chips and this yummy salsa dip.  Then we put in a movie, and me and Clay cuddled.  Guys, I'm 19.  What am I thinking?  Well, I for sure don't know!  Clay is just a sweetheart and way nice and when the night had ended we had kissed.  WHAT?????!!!! Yeah, I know, crazieness.  And then I moved two days later.  It's fine.  We've talked a little but what can you expect when we're both way busy and he like has a real life and job and I'm in college.  It's fine.  Did I mention he was married a couple years ago and his wife left him?  Yeah......... People, I have no idea what I'm digging myself into.  If anyone knows, please inform me.

Here's the cute purple monkey Clay won me!

Okay I feel like this is a long enough post and with way too much deep information that I'm completely clueless about.  More will follow, be excited!

Post of a Post

http://katelindeejensen.blogspot.com/2011/07/heres-glimpse-of-my-mind.html

Kate is amazing.  I love this post of hers and need to share it!

Catching Up

Holy Moly! It's been a while since I last posted.. Like a month??  I dunno.  But Ragnar was awhile ago so I'll go with that long.  Anyway, Linds told me the other day to update my blog, but before I did that I had to catch up reading everyone's blogs!  And here's what I decided.

1.  Blogs are soooo much better than Facebook

2.  I like reading blogs

3.  Blogs keep me updated in my friends' lives.

4.  Number 3 is the best reason ever.

5.  That's all.

Now let me catch you up on my life.  Since Ragnar, I still haven't talked with Mitch much, nor have we gone on that date.  He's a whole story that I'll talk about later.  I've hung out with my boss's brother a couple times.  But Friday night wasn't awkward finally!  I blame it on his cousin.  She kinda attached herself to me at church and then hangs out with me at church.  And I sat by her at his homecoming and then kinda afterwards at his house party thing.  And really I just felt weird cuz I had known the guy 3 days!  But the more I thought about it, the more I was like, no this is his cousin's fault.  But Friday night was so much fun!  I worked til 8:30 and then hurried home to shower so I could go out with Cindy and Johnny and some of their friends from Idaho who were staying with them.  Cindy's brother and some of his friends ended up joining us and it was so much fun.  They are soooo funny.  I just love hanging out with them.  And sadly, I like hanging out with Cindy and Johnny even though they are 6 and 9 years older than me because they are REAL.  And compared to my friends from high school.....they're actually willing to put forth the effort into inviting me to do stuff and to go places to do things.  I dunno, I just enjoy it so much more I guess.  I love my friends from high school, but things are way different now.  I'm different.  They're different.  It's all weird.  Anyway, we just went to dinner at Salt City Burger and then back to their house and played with their dog Schatzie.  I love their dog.  She's crazy and so cute.  She does the best tricks too!  Another thing I did this past week with Cindy and Johnny was go to the Bee's game!  I can't wait to go again this week because there's a firework show with it :).  Okay, so Cindy's brother Brent.  SO FREAKING CUTE!  and his friend Jeff, also way attractive!  I wish I wasn't moving in 3 weeks so that I could get to know them better.  But I'm also way glad to be moving in 3 weeks so I can get out of my parent's house again.

Let's see... I really can't think of what other things have gone on.  I went to Richfield to visit Katelin and Tiana one weekend.  Kate was in the Miss Richfield pageant and she is just so beautiful and talented.  I love those girls so much.  They're literally my best friends.  I wish we lived closer though.  Not much longer til we'll be back in the same city though!!!!  We also went up to Hayd's farewell in Fielding the next day.  That boy is amazing and I'm way glad I met him at SUU.  The weekend after that I went to Provo to hang out with Cindy and Johnny and their friend Clay.  We drove to Mona and played at this rope swing!  Me and Cind just laid out on the lake/pond thing.  Then we went back to Clay's house, got dressed, and then headed to get pedicures :)  Two 17 year old boys did our pedicures.  And they did a really good job.  They just took 2 hours to do it haha  Anyway we headed back to Clay's where the boys were watching fights.  Then we had a fire and watched the Stadium of Fire firework show and had s'mores.  It was a great day and so much fun.

Last night I went shopping with my brothers and then watched How Do You Know with my mom and sister.

Lately I've been feeling way sick too.  Thursday night I was throwing up.  Then my stomach still hurt way bad on Friday til late in the afternoon.  Friday night was fine.  Then Saturday around 1 p.m. my stomach had this intense pain and it was horrible.  Ever since then anything I eat makes my stomach upset.  So basically I'm way hungry but I don't want my stomach to hurt.  It SUCKS!

Well 3 weeks and 2 days til I move back to Cedar.  I can't wait!!!!!!!!

Ragnar!!

Alright, so this weekend was Ragnar.  But let me rewind a bit!

I went on my date with Sam.  It was fantastic! (I've been saying fantastic a lot lately... It's my current go-to word.)  We went bowling, went to Wingers for dinner, and then went back to his house and roasted s'mores and played uno.  It really was such fun and so chill--no pressure!
I also went on my date with Alec.  I just don't think anything is really there. He's nice but not my type......  And I feel really bad because I think he really likes me.  The girl that set me up with him just kept telling me how he kept saying how excited he was.  Hopefully I wasn't too much of a bummer date.  Story with this date!  He said he'd pick me up at 7.  I was like sweet, I'll be off work then.  I got stuck at work because of this dumb girl who wouldn't give up on trying to get her job back after we fired her.  So obnoxious!! But I get this call from my mom "Hey, so your date is here..." And I was like "uh, send him to the rec center..I'm so sorry"  So obviously that was an awesome start to a first date.  Actually, I felt way dumb and way embarrassed and way bad.  But then we went mini-golfing, which I actually beat him at I'm pretty sure.  And I'm horrible at golfing, so that's saying something haha.  Then we went to Yogotogo to get frozen yogurt.  Around 10 I was way tired so I was like, can you take me home? Ha!! Ah I'm such a horrible date you guys!  But yeah that was how that went.  And he still wants to go on another date with the girl who originally set us up.  Uh, we'll see........
Still no date with Mitch.  He's still being weird and I'm tired of waiting around for him.
My boss's brother came home Thursday!! And ohmigoodness he is ATTRACTIVE!  So much cuter than his pictures :)  I helped babysit his little nieces and nephews while he was getting released Thursday.  Then I didn't see him Friday.  Saturday him and his dad went up to Ragnar to watch Cindy run.  So I saw him Saturday as well.  Then yesterday (Father's Day) was his homecoming.  I went and hung out with his family and just totally felt like this creeper cuz we barely met. But Cindy was like no no, you just need to hang out with less people and not such a busy time.  Plus my family loves you and having you hang out with them.  So then I felt a little better, but still, I want to really get to know him!  And it'd be fantastic if we dated :)!!!!!!!!!

Alright, so onto Ragnar:  I didn't really train at all, which wasn't smart.  But I still did it!  My first leg was 5.6 miles, second leg 4.9, and last leg 7.7.  The last was the worst because my hips were hurting way bad and no amount of ibuprofen was helping.  So that really sucked since the last leg was uphill mostly and it really just sucked.  But anyway that was my weekend and it was lovely!!!!  I hope I get to know Brent better and that something happens there.  Because I had the realization last night that my summer is half over!  And then my dear friend Mason reminded me today that I haven't even had a summer fling yet! Haha so I can't wait to see how things works out.

I love all you sweet people who read this.  And you're all just FANTASTIC!! <3

???????

all i have on my mind are questions.

remember mitch? yeah. so he moved to chicago to sell pest control for the summer, right? and then he kept telling me he missed me.  i simply told him not to and that really he only missed my kisses. and he said that he loved my kisses but he really missed me. i didn't know whether or not to really believe him. and i still don't. i'm still way confused!  the day before memorial day he called me and said he had a question for me. so i get all nervous what he's gonna ask. and he asks me if i'll go on a date with him the next weekend. i told him he was in chicago. he told me he was moving home. i said yes.  now this date still hasn't happened and me and him talked a little bit about what's all going down or not going down or whatever. but i'm seriously so confused! i just want him to tell me all his thoughts that he supposedly has.  so now i just have questions. questions for him. questions for myself. questions for us.  i have no idea what's going to happen and it's driving me nuts!!!!

til then though... i'm stuck wondering. and getting dates with other guys!  there's this boy, alec. he told my friend lizie that he thought i was "so hot. so attractive." so now we've been texting and seen each other a couple times and talked on the phone once too.  but i don't really know him.  so i'm excited for that date whenever it happens.

i'm also supposed to double with my brother.  he'd go with gabi and i'd go with gabi's brother sam.  so it'd be a cute little brother/sister double. haha. too bad my brother sucks and is always "tired." i don't believe him. i think he's just lazy.

next up, is cindy's brother.  she set me up writing him while he was on his mission like a year ago maybe? and now he gets home from his mission next thursday. it's craziness! so i guess a date with him will happen soon too.

i'm excited for lots of dates. but my biggest concern right now is mitch and what's going on there.  so yeah!  those are my thoughts right now and i just felt like saying them aloud.

oh and I MISS YOU KATE AND T!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Life Since May 5.

I've worked 40 hours every week.

I've hung out twice, but mostly just once.

I'm stressed.

I took another job.

I'm not keeping that other job.

I planned Summer Orientation at the Rec.

Somebody told me they loved my kisses and missed me.

I don't believe that somebody.

In fact, I wish that somebody had never said anything.

I want to go on vacation.

I feel out of touch with everyone.

Basically, I'm a workaholic and have no life.

:(

BUT....
I CAN'T WAIT FOR JANELLE MONAE AND BRUNO MARS CONCERT!!
:)

However, I'm not depressed.  I just want my summer to be more than it's currently turning into.  I miss all my friends from Cedar.  I love my work friends, but there's lots of new people there and I dunno.  It just feels like high school there and there's soooo much drama it's ridiculous.  Thank goodness that my summer is one month shorter than everyone elses.

I love my friend Lindsey.

Something Worth Writing For: You are something divine- More beautiful and glori...: "You are something divine - More beautiful and glorious than you can possibly imagine. This knowledge changes everything. It changes..."

She has awesome quotes on her blog and she is just amazing herself. I'm glad I get to read it :)

It's been awhile!

Wow, I haven't been on and written anything for a bit guys!  But I made it safely back home to B-town and just in time for my younger bro to have to go to the hospital.  He spent 3 and a half days there! He had pancreatitis and was in a lot of pain.  So I'm glad I was home so that I could watch my littlest brother and sister while my parents were at the hospital with him.

But life has been good I guess! It's crazy weird being home and I'm not sure how I like it.  I miss my best friends Kate and T.  And I miss Cedar in general!  I'm headed back tomorrow for a doctor's appointment though, so that will be fun!  I'll probably grab me some Maggie Moo's or Costa :)  I love food!  Probably a little too much haha...

So yesterday was Parker's farewell.  It was sad! I'm gonna miss that boy.  He was one of my first friend's down in Cedar City.  He's got an amazing testimony and such a strong spirit about him that I know he'll do wonders in the Ukraine.  I wish him the best of luck and all my love!

Opening his present...

Looking at the cool cover.....

His priceless face when seeing it was a scrapbook!

The biggest hug he ever gave me for that present

All of us Cedar friends!

Me and Parker.  Such a great guy.  Have the best two years Perker!

Two More Days

In about 48 hours I will be in a car with my mother headed home to Bountiful.  I can't wait!! I finished my 10 page English paper, filled out all my study guides, and am basically ready to go!  I have two exams on Thursday, Nutrition and Biology, but me and Kat might take the Biology one tomorrow so we can just get it over with.  I seriously can't wait.  And I'm almost done with the New Testament (which was a goal for this semester!).  I have like 4 chapters or so left in Revelations.  This semester has been amazing!

I still don't know quite how I feel about moving home though.  I love all my friends from high school, but things have changed so much.  I've changed so much.  I don't know what this summer will bring, but I'm sure it will  be good.  And next school year will be even better!

Oh, and me and Kat went on a walk today.  Mainly I needed to refill a prescription, but it was lovely day outside so we walked all the way to Cafe Rio (it's there so we went) and then over to Walmart and then all the way back to our apartment.  It was lovely.  Two hours of peacefulness.  I will miss that girl when I'm back here at SUU and she's all the way up north with the cows at USU.

Sin City

It was my last weekend in Cedar.  That's sooo crazy you guys!!  I'm so glad that I've met and become great friends with girls like Katelin, Tiana, and now Kylee!  We left Thursday night for our trip to Vegas.  We went and walked the strip for a couple hours and got pictures.  We had wanted to see the Treasure Island show, but they cancelled it last minute because of the lame wind.  But we got to watch the fire show thingy outside of the Mirage and then the water show outside the Bellagio.  It was amazing.  We stayed that night and T's sister's house and even watched "What Happens in Vegas" to go along with our trip.  The next day we went shopping... We were in the biggest Forever 21 store.  I'm pretty sure I got lost a couple times.  It was seriously dizzying.  And I think we spend a good two or so hours in there.  Pretty crazy.  But it was definitely worth it.  After shopping we went to the Adventure Dome at Circus Circus and rode the roller coaster that went all around the dome; it was pretty great!  Our fun was almost over, but we went and saw Kate's aunt and some others that Kate hadn't seen in a really long time.  I'm happy she got to see them!  It was finally time to leave...But we did stop at Menchies in St. Geezy on the way home for some delicious frozen yogurt!  I loved the weekend and the quality time spent with those beautiful girls :)

Us on the roller coaster!

Katelin, me, Tiana, and Kylee with our frozen yogurt!

Kat and I spent most of our Saturday packing and cleaning....This was the finished product of moving all of our stuff near the wall.  Our room is so empty now, it's weird!  I'm gonna miss this girl!

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!!