take time to realize...

1. I love surprises, there should be more of them in life!
2. Spontaneous: the only way to really live life
3. Country music is something everybody should listen to
4. I deal with the hard things in life on my own
5. Pretty Woman is my favorite love story
6. I have this problem with texting or calling people in the middle of the night
7. Honesty truly is the best policy. People should not get offended so easily
8. There's no boy like a country boy!
9. I love chocolate milk, but if I drink it out of a glass cup I want to gag
10. Part of me is starting to miss my long hair

Memory Lane

The other night, I was going through some things and found a paper where Er and I had written a lot of our jokes from when we lived together. D2 was easily my favorite apartment I ever lived in! We always had a blast! One night in particular was remembered though from writing "That was fun! Let's do it again in DECEMBER!" I also found a journal from those days and thought I'd share one of our many many funny stories from 2 weeks after I moved there...

September 2, 2008: "...walking out we were talking about what a good night it is, the kind of night where you'd sleep on your tramp. Long story short: obviously we don't have a tramp so we talked Ericka into sleeping in the back of her truck. So much fun and so hilarious! We were going to take the extra mattress out but we quickly learned that definetly wasn't going to work or fit so we improved with blankets and pillows. We didn't want anybody to know that we were out there so we were hiding whenever a car drove past. (It's a super busy road!) Me and Ericka started jumping up and pretending like we were going to scare the cars when really we knew they couldn't see us.

"One of the times we did it there was some guy standing over in Canyonlands parking lot. We didn't know he was there and we scared the crap out of him! He full on screamed and jumped back so we were laughing hysterically and just shot back down. We sat up a minute later when we got control again but he was already gone. Or so we thought... A few minutes later I was laughing at Julie cause she was convinced somebody had thrown something at her. I sat up to say something to her and right then a guy jumps out from behind the dumpster and yells "HEY LADIES!" We started flying around everywhere, totally terrifed!"

I was going to hide under my blanket, so I shot down right as Ericka went to sit up and see who it was. We butt heads so hard I still have a little bump this morning from it. Julie had no contacts in and her glasses were off so she couldn't see ANYTHING! She was on the end and was half climbing over Ericka in a panic and screaming "I know there's a man there! I know there's a man there!" and trying to get away from the edge. Turns out the strange man was really just our landlord Kacey. He was the one we had scared earlier but he was doubled over in laughter that he got us so much worse. We were less than impressed though. He doubted we would make it more than a few hours so we were even more determined to prove him wrong. After he left we took a ton of pictures and talked for a long time then we all drifted off to sleep.

" Few hours later, I woke up FREEZING! I didn't find out until today but the other two were laying there freezing too and all of use were hoping for Julie's alarm to go off so we could go inside. Nobody wanted to be the one to suggest we go inside to get warm. I was shivering like crazy! She has a shortened bed on her truck so my legs had been folded up all night. When I first woke up there were shoooting pains in them, but then they went numb and I couldn't feel anything from the waist down. So that's good right? When the alarm finally went off everybody was up and out within minutes! Julie was so funny when we went to put the tire back. That thing was heavy just to get out so nobody wanted to put it back. She crouched by me and Er and was giving this grand countdown, with no intention of helping. So we left it to her in the end. My legs still hurt today and I could barely walk inside to soak in the tub but it was so much fun! A cold but GREAT night! Britt is still odd and kinda scares me but even with that I know I'm gonna love living with these girls!"

TIS THE SEASON!

What do all of my beautiful friends have in common? They are alllll getting married within these next few months, starting with one week from today. I could go on and on and on with how great these girls are and how much I love them all but let's just say, their grooms-to-be are some dang lucky boys. I LOVE them all and couldn't be happier or more excited for each and every one of them. CONGRATS!

as of late...

Gooood news! Of the twelve pounds I lost in January, I have gained eight of them back!
One of my friends was watching a movie with me and upon remembering how ticklish I am, he started to chase me down to try and make me squirm. He succeeded! Too bad it was "Stop it______" that came out of my mouth. Let's just say ________ wasn't the name of my friend. Don't do that. It makes for awkwardness all around.
Grey's Anatomy...it's just as great the fourth time around as it was the first time
At one point, I wasn't going to do school this semester anymore. One week later I was reinstating at OneStop. Playing catch up is even less fun than doing homework as it comes. But I'm still liking school so that's a big plus! Crazy crazy crazy but it's good!
I have become increasingly more faithful in the power of the priesthood. I love literally feeling comfort and the power of the blessings that Jake and my dad have given me the last few weeks. It's like in volleyball when I'd put the icy hot on my shoulder before a game and within just minutes, I feel it slowly relax and loosen. It was kinda the same feeling but in my lungs. Just a feeling that things, everything, in life is going to work out and be okay. Peace in the situation.
Breakfast at Mimi's Cafe for the first time with mom was great. Not sure how I have lived here for so long and never made it around the block to go and eat there! It is divine. And fun to have some chill time with the mama!
On a 1:1 in psych last night, I got to talk to one of my coworkers for a few hours while my patient slept and hers was being transported. It was really good! She had a very similar mission situation that I did so it was so nice and comforting to be able to talk to someone with a perspective close to mine. Chalk that up as another tender mercy for the week.
I got a new room! I debated for a little bit if it would be a new room or a new house altogether but I think it worked out for the best. Obviously the wall hangings are still a work in progress but it will get there. I love it! It's so nice to have a room where I can not stand in the middle and touch everything by slowly spinning in a circle. It's nice to FINALLY have a room where my bed is not up on cinder blocks because I have actual space to put everything away.

I'm still on a cooking/baking kick. It has slowed down a lot more with me not feeling the greatest but for some reason I am somehow finding it fun to attempt my odd little meals lately. Even if it occasionally hamburger stirred into mac n' cheese.

series of unfortunate events..

Welp....I think I have some kind of curse over me lately. But it's making for some great stories if nothing else :) St. George this weekend was my big "get out of the crazy rut" plunge. From the night before I was leaving, chaos struck up and never let down.

Thursday-had quite the surprise with a change in school stuff

went to work and had a patient vomit all over my shoes

went to LEAVE work and realized my debit card from break was MIA

forgot my coat in the break room so ran through the rain and freezing cold air to my car

Friday-home from work at 6:17 am and leaving for St. George at 7:30 am

burned breakfast while trying to shower and pack at the same time

running (late) and out the door and my favorite purse goes swinging off my arm...broken!

get to meeting point and realized my pants out of the dryer had shrunk about 3 inches

dropped off package..quick tear up sesh at brunch

hot tub attempt=fail and a nearly frozen foot

Saturday-on the way out to go hiking, Shay and Thad thought they'd try to climb a tree that looked cool. It started off okay! Thad hopped out but Shay wanted to go a little bit higher. She was about 12-15 feet up and long story short, right after Thad turned and said "Don't fall"...she did. Watching her fall was almost slow motion moment. As soon as she hit, I was terrified she was going to be paralyzed. I think the best part of the whole week was when she moved both of her feet! Then my "coping mechanism" kicked in and I couldn't stop laughing. Luckily Shay was joking around too though so Thad joined in.

She was moving around some and we were at least 20 minutes away from cell service so we decided we'd go really really slow and load her in the truck. Shay never cries so when she was teared up and couldn't stop saying how much pain she was in, we knew it was time to go. The whole way down the mountain, everyone was still joking and laughing so the scary part was over. We sat in the waiting room for about 2 hours before her mom came out and told us that she had indeed broken her back. Boo! She got pretty lucky though and ended up not having to have surgery, even after they flew her to Vegas. She'll have a brace for a few months and then rehab but after seeing her fall and the tree root her neck almost hit, I'm just glad she's okay!...and still making jokes.

"Well you can tell the Dr. my cognitive reasoning is still there."

"Yeahhhh I think your cognitive reasoning left when you first got in the tree!"

Sunday- woke up feeling really sick but sweats and a shower worked wonders

Since we were leaving the next day, we started cleaning the condo and doing laundry. We went to Hill's grandparents to hang out and play games for a little bit. When we came home, she went to switch the laundry into the dryer. It was a large load of towels, jeans and sheets.

"So you know how it was kinda full? Well it moved forward a ton. I can't get the door to open..."

It was quite a process but after lotsssss of creativity we got the door open about 2 inches where we could pull a lot of the laundry out so the machine wasn't so heavy and then we were able to push it back into place. And get the door open...

SUCCESS! After this, Hill started to dye Andy's hair while I laid on the bed laughing hysterically over everything that had happened. Somehow it always happens that downtime after chaos, results with the three of us barely able to breathe and everything just seeming normal and okay again. And I love them for it!

the day of love

Once upon a time, in the summer of 2011, Mike and Zach came over for a little Sunday chat. At one point, I mentioned that I had never told anybody I love them. At least in a relationship setting (I probably tell too many people love ya...) Zach said "That's sad." Mike just stared at me and said"Yeah, it's a good feeling." I laughed, quite hard, and we moved on to talking about something else. Skip ahead to October and this boy I met at the start of the year, turned up in my life again. To make a long story short, I was down one on the "I have never" list.

(this one just makes me laugh...but it's a significant one so I like it)
This boy paid attention to the small details. The first night we hung out, I couldn't let go of hand warmers for more than 2 minutes so when he saw this huge box of them, he got it for me. I had long gray socks with a big hole in the toe so I laughed when I opened a bag at Christmas and saw 2 new pairs of long socks. "Since the favorites were a little worn out." He's the first boy I fell in love with and I realized that Mike and Zach were right. Love is indeed real and quite great. It's just a good feeling! He's the first person I want to call whether something is exciting, happy, freaky, weird, sad...pretty much anything.

Valentines Day was not at all how it was planned two weeks ago. I remember hearing a quote awhile back about falling in love with as many things as you can. I thought it was such a cool thought! So yesterday I made a list of not only the things I loved about this boy, but what I love about life in general: seeing your favorite songs performed live, a 42 once of Mt. Dew on longer than normal days, when Jaxon stands at the top of moms stairs and then goes on his "hi" kick and gives me a huge hug, the way that little boy says daddy, waking up and realizing I still have hours left to sleep, rainy days, surprisingly warm days and the nights I attempt making dinner and it actually turns out really well. I love it all!

Today was a great day. For one...I was ASSIGNED to watch Grey's Anatomy! School just does not get any better than that! Another bonus came in the form of the sun still being fairly "up" by the time I left for work. It kept me in a great mood for my little journey to American Fork. I made dinner tonight. I had 20 minutes to curl up on the couch in my quilts tonight. Lisa and I got to have a little chat for the second night in a row. I stayed at the school 4 extra hours after getting out of class and got a bunch of stuff done. And a to-do list assembled for tomorrow. When I got to work, I was 2 hours in and I threw up. Lots. Out of nowhere. Luckily I was already wandering to the bathroom, just not feeling right. I went back to my 1:1 room (did I really say I'll take the overdose people?! change of plans...) and after sitting in the chair for another half hour, I got a massive bloody nose. As in "change out of my scrub top" bloody nose. While walking to change, I threw up again. At that point I got a go home free card. So I packed up my homework and right as I left, I got to talk to my super super busy boy for a little bit. And let's face it, that makes a bad day good and a good day better.

Thank you God,

It was a grand day :)

A-Z but grateful!

January and I....not that great of friends. Despite the fact that it was oddly warm, it was NOT a good month. In just those four weeks, I lost about 12 pounds. I feel like I literally went through every single emotion from A-Z! Anxious, frustrated, happy, scared, timid,excited, surprised...literally anything! And ask anybody close to me, they'll tell you what a rollercoaster I was. Seemed like everyday I woke up determined to make it better, then something else would hit or something else came up and got me down some. And I'm pretty sure I cry more than I did all last year put together. Which I'm still not sure why but I guess tears are just universal and by week three I think my body was just used to it. Don't get me wrong, there were great parts of January too but in the words of Demps: "It's a good thing it's over." I realized today just how grateful I am for the guys in my family and how much they bless my life.

Daddio: there's something about dad where he can make even the bad situations seem just a little bit better. Even in high school when he'd go on business trips, things just didn't feel right at home. I'd always feel safer that first night he got back; knowing he was right upstairs was a huge comfort. I was texting him about money I owe him on Friday and things going on, and instead of being mad or frustrated with me, I somehow ended up with a dinner invite! My dad is the best
Jacob: Ash couldn't have done better. Jake fits right into our family. We always joke about the first Christmas he spent with us and how mom had to teach him "the rules." Jake is super down to earth and couldn't judge anybody if he tried. Saturday was finally my turn around from January but not before I had a huge breakdown. I knew that I needed a blessing but my dads phone was off. I didn't even hesitate with calling Jake and he was so patient while I tried to form words and didn't force me into talking about anything. I'd have to say he's my favorite brother in law.

The Elder: I was in the middle of checking (deleting) emails after class today when Taylor's came through. Before even reading it, I wrote him again to see if he was still online. He was and we got to email back and forth for almost 30 minutes, just chattin. I miss that kid! I'm so excited about how much he's grown though and much like when "my boys" from high school were on missions, his letters always make me feel so much better about life in general and help me to keep the bigger picture in mind. He's my favorite missionary in the family.

Sneaky T: This picture demonstrates Tanner perfectly. Even since he was little, he has always been so willing to help ANYBODY! And in any way that he can. There's sometimes that he just cracks me up. He'll want to dance battle me (knowing I can't dance at all), compare new songs or joke about taking me on a "date" if I'll pay. For the most part, he's always so happy and loves to get a stir out of my mom, which is comical for anybody around. I'm so pumped for him to move out of Utah Valley for a while when he goes to the U in fall and for him to "hook it up with some single roommates." Like I said...he's pretty funny. He's my favorite little-yet-taller brother.

I have the best roommates! One of them makes cookies for the days I'm stressed and don't want to go to work when I get called in. She puts banana bread in my cupboard for me to find. She humors me on our Beyonce drives in the snow. One lets me use her shower so I don't catch diseases in the one I'm supposed to use. (Fact.) She lets my friends crash in her room when they come visit for the weekend. And sometimes...they just know that it's gonna be a bad day so when I get home that night, they have a 6 pack of Dew and a cute note sitting on the table for me.
Sometimes I wonder if this 'growin up' stuff is really for me. Good thing it's not optional... It's tough to pray for an answer and then follow thru when the answer isn't the one that I wanted.
For now I guess I'll just stick to cute little kisses from my other favorite boy :)

the start of 2011!

JANUARY

-Kicked off the year with New Years in Vegas, then on to California

-Bubbs left on his mission to Tijauna

-Did the unthinkable and moved into BYU Housing

-Roadtrip back to St. George

-Saw Clayton after he was home for a few weeks

-Got my current "Intrepid" aka Kayne

FEBRUARY:

-Grandma Olsen died

-St. George trip again

-Tanner home from Peru

-AMAZING Jazz game and on the megatron 4 times

-Roadtrip up to Logan

MARCH

-Sang in CES fireside with J.Farns

-first time to Zupas with Troy Boy

-Festival Of Colors
-Sundance day with Nicole

-Baseball games started up

APRIL:

-Best April Fools day pranks EVER!

-St. George trip

-Put purple and red in my hair for the first time

-Tan Man went to PROM

-Kirk and Jon come home