Did you know it has been a month and an half since I last typed on this thing? Or that the letters from missionaries that I have been meaning to return have been sitting on my nightstand for two months? Or that I go back to school in five weeks?

This summer was supposed to be a time to spend time with family, relax and have fun. I guess there is some of that in there too, but come on. This summer has FLOWN!!!! The nursing program at BYU-I is year round, so if I get in next winter, this will be my last time living at home. Possibly forever.

In three months I turn twenty. No longer will I be a teenager. I will never again be a freshman in college. I am turning into my father as I worry about every possible twist and turn in life for the next...well, forever. The bags under my eyes from lack of sleep now have there own zip code. I have to sacrifice classes that I want to take at college for classes I need to take.

I guess you could say that I'm growing up. WHEN DID THAT HAPPEN?

It's On

Have you ever heard the words someone said but have no idea what they're asking? Better yet, you know what they are asking but believe the answer to be blatantly obvious? And if you're answer is no, then me neither, definitely. However, if this were the case it would go something like this...

The Dentist: Do you grind your teeth at night?
Me: Um...I don't know cause I'm sleeping.

The Man at the Carwash (very loudly): Lower your *%&#($% antenna?
Me: Seriously?

*Side note-My car is older than me. With the exception of Helen Keller, there is not a person on the planet who would look at my car and assume it has an electronic control to lower my antenna.

Then again, it may be a genetic thing...

A woman at Enrichment: What did you stuff the blocks with?
My sister: Stuffing?

Just a buzz

So, quick updates because if I don't do them now I will forget them forever and that would be bad and then the world would cease to spin on its axis and Martians would use it as third base in their kickball game and then we would all get motion sickness and (BREATH)...yeah.... So, I certified as a frickin' lifeguard. It was way too much fun, I needed a summer reminder of how much I love the water. The class was also taught by a man who is really a long lost identical twin to my cousin Johnny, which was intensely creepifying. I went to Los Angeles to look at hot men in kilts all day long and loved every minute of it, except for the sunburn till ya blister and ignored at Dairy Queen part. Oh, and the part where the people who's couch we were sleeping on had a Rottweiler. Upon hearing any sign of the aforementioned beast, I would curl into the fetal position to protect my face from the imminent maiming. Needless to say, long night. I also drove in LA traffic but am conviced that I was the scariest thing on the road with my sister playing navigator and alerting me to exits as we passed them. I went to Newport Beach, squidged my toes in the sand, and found the hospital I want to intern at when I graduate. It's two blocks from the beach. Heck yeah!!!

Hmmm...what else? What else? Well, I'm still working at the appraisal office and got onto a resort at Lake Las Vegas for a full-time lifeguard position. I have secret plans to implement, which I can't tell you about cause they're, well, secret. DUH! Anyway, I think that covers my life in a nutshell. I'm working on more clever comebacks to questions I won't likely ever be asked and, if I am, probably won't remember in the moment, but it keeps me busy.

I feel as though if I were to say any more, I would be wasting more time of those poor saps who read this blog for some reason unbeknownst to the cosmos and the punishment for that is severe papercuts in a shower of lemon juice. I submit no. Therefore, the end.

And then some...

So much has happened since my last update...an amazing military ball, sad farewells to freshman friends, two-day road-trips to Idaho and back, lifeguard training, family slave labor, and the list goes on, but that's not really what I wanted to say. I know I am a week late and probably more than a dollar short, but here is what I want the record to show about my mom.

All throughout childhood and even occasionally now, I have horrible night terrors where I wake up and cry for hours, then sneak down the hall to my parents room to crack the door and make sure my dream wasn't real, that my parents are still here and, hopefully, breathing (not hard to confirm with my father, he sounds like a logging crew). As I have try to cope with these scenarios, realizing that the day may one day come, although hopefully far in the future, I play out my response in my head.

Should anything ever happen to my mother, I would be inconsolable, because the world would have lost the greatest woman to ever grace it. The saddest part, however, is that people would scarce realize what a priceless treasure had been lost. My only consolation is knowing that, should I live in her image, as I should, I can be with my mother forever.

My Mother:
...the woman who drove me to North Las Vegas and back every Wednesday night for a year and a half during rush hour traffic
...the woman who gives more love and joy to the people around her than anyone to walk the Earth
...the woman who works at a job where she is scarcely underappreciated but entirely devoted to those who often refuse to acknowledge her overwhelming contributions
...the woman who pretends to like my crazy choice in movies, watching them with me when no one else will
...the woman who listens to my late night and all-hour rants, listening patiently till I figure out the answer myself
...the woman who practices the organ with time she doesn't have so that she can play on holidays when no one else wants to
...the woman who changed her entire life to help me train for a triathlon and did it better than I did
...the woman who never sits down, never says no, never takes a break, never stops serving selflessly
...the most amazing woman to ever grace the face of the planet, and leave her own invisible mark on every soul she contacts

My mother is the most amazing woman I know and likely, the most amazing woman I will ever know. Would I have one wish, it would be to mirror her influence in my life, and be as amazing a woman, wife and mother as she is. Every good thing I am or that I will ever be will be because of the most selfless, loving, simply amazing person I have ever know, a woman I get to spend forever knowing...my mother.

Random rantings...

Much to the disappointment of those who are related to me, this a random rant for me and I will not be posting pictures from our last get together. In fact, I don't quite understand your pull for this because you were all there, too. Anyway....
I have been having random thoughts in my head and wanted to spill them out, so here it goes. Oh, and before I get to that, when I stole my friend's computer during devotional to play on the Internet, I saw that she, and many others apparently, have been to this blog, so I'll do my best not to completely embarrass myself.
I am so torn with the prospect of leaving school in just under a week and a half. Home will be nice and I need to earn some money because it makes the world go round and apparently doesn't grow on trees (which is slightly ridiculous cause its made out of paper which is made outta trees), but I am going to miss Provo so much. I will miss the sounds of room mate dance parties and rebellious study breaks at four in the morning. I will miss walking through the Wilk and watching the dance classes in the ballroom. I will miss the explosions and minor quakes in the Benson (chem) building and the funny smell that can always be found in the Marb. I will even miss a fair load of my professors, truth be told, although not the work they assign. I will miss the sociality and smiling to random people without being considered insane. But I will miss more than that.
I once read a poem about people coming into our lives and quickly leaving, but how changed we can be. I'm learning, rather fast, that this is a perfect description of college. I have made so many friends here (special shout-out to Dr. Prusak's beginning swimming class, except Benji, I'm still partially mad about you pushing me into the pool in my clothes and then trying to flip over my inner tube while the lifeguard laughed). As the semester closes and I try to find words to express my gratitude and love toward these people who, in all likelihood, I will never see again, I find myself at a loss. But I can't hang on to everyone. And that's okay. The people that I have met here in Happy Valley have completely changed the person I am and the person I want to be. So, without getting too emotional, I get it. I'm grateful for what I got and I'm moving on, never forgetting the effect they had on me.

I will eventually get around to posting those pictures and even let you know how the move home goes. Oh, and I've recently developed a nasty habit of Blogstalking when I don't want to write my report on the benefits of pediatric brain plasticity, so tell your friends to beware!!! :)

Because my sister made me......

As is implied, I am posting under duress. I didn't specifically say what sister, but you can pick from the two and you'll be right either way.

I really have nothing to report. School is...going? What am I supposed to say? The days kinda blend in to each other, one assignment to the next; the tests stand out, although I would rather they didn't. I'm still having a blast, balancing nights on the town (in Provo???) and nights with a good book or chick-flick in my apartment.

I only have four weeks left before I am no longer a freshman in college. In all reality, this is the last time I will ever be a freshman. EVER!!! No pressure, though, right? I'm looking into some jobs for the summer already, preparing for my last round of mid-terms this week before finals, and being forced to register for fall classes before this semester is even over. Oh, and I get to go home this weekend. It will be my first time home in three and an half months, although you would never convince me that it has been that long.

Recent developments: I am an official romantic slob, usually with characters that are immortal...darn. The calendar in my room is still turned to October of last year. Guess I'm stuck being 18 forever. My music tastes have become somewhat more eclectic. I hear a song, I like it, I get it. I am pondering taking a water aerobics class this summer. I miss my best friend. I miss my dog. Only one of them is coming home and not for a long time yet. I have officially decided that sleep is a giant waste of 1/3 of my life, which sucks as I require more of it to function than my normal college buddies. I have so many things I want to do in life, to experience, to learn, and yet, here I sit. Maybe sleep has its benefits. At least I still have my dreams.

:) I will post some pics of the fam when I see 'em. Till then...

GO BYU!!!!!

You know, sometimes people tell me I can be slightly cynical with a hint of pessimism, and I'm like whatever, just call me Ray of Sunshine, so take this post in context.

Went to the BYU gymnastics meet and the hockey game. The gymnastics meet was fun, those girls are insane!!! It made me want to watch stick-it and do the tumbling I used to do for diving. I love back flips! Of course, if I tried one in my advanced age I could very well die. That, however is beside the point. It was a meet between San Jose State, BYU, Utah State, and the Boise State Broncos. Somehow, we managed to come in second, which is interesting considering that we have a very young team and were competing against other really good teams. Plus, we were in the front row, right in between the beam and the floor, with the vault behind it. We saw some amazing routines and some amazing wipe-outs (Go Broncos). It was pretty awesome, not going to lie.
GO BYU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (and random Bronco girl)

Yesterday, the day after the gymnastics meet, for those of you who are keeping a calendar, Tim, Brad and I went to a hockey game. Not only that, but there was free ice skating before the game if you were a student. I'm a student. Therefore, I went ice skating before the game. I was in the middle, skill wise. I almost killed poor Bradley with a viscious check into the boards (not really, but he did almost die), I almost killed myself on the dullest blades ever with ice that hadn't been zambonied since the dawn of time and felt like the rythym section of a motor cross race, and Timmy skated circles around us, forward, backward, and turning in a circle. Seriously, he's amazing. I'm trying to get him to teach me, but he was content to strut his stuff last night and I enjoyed watching all the cocky kids following him and trying to do what he did, then almost dying at mach 5 into the boards. It was a blast, although I felt like my feet were falling off by the time I got them out of the world's dullest, most uncomfortable, FREE ice skates.
Afterward was the hockey game, which we were creamed in and I may have gotten slightly violent with the taunting, but it was all in good fun. Except I think I scared Brad and Tim. Except they left for an entire period to get dinner, which I thought would be from a drive through. Turns out Brad ate an entire pizza in the car. But Tim bought me a licorice rope (my favorite!!!!) to make up for it. Other than that, our captain was in the penalty box seven times, I believe the ref's son was number 17 on the other team, and we lost horrifically. All in all, a perfect night. Oh, and my ward played Human Foozball/Soccer, but my lawyer says I can't talk about it until they find out if the other kid is going to live :)

Timmy and I. Brad managed to skate over and stop to take this picture and I believe Timmy is actually holding me up. Notice his uber-aura of confidence on the ice.Timmy is actually skating backwards to take this shot. Brad and I were skating forward but I believe we were in the process of almost dying when this picture was taken.Timmy doing something amazing... backwards. He's my hero.

The Three Musketeers. Don't know what I would do without 'em. GO BYU!!! And Brad, I'm really sorry about almost killing you.

The Cabin of Doom

So, my parents are here in Provo, and they're like, hey, the Rose's invited us to their cabin in Duck Creek and I was like, dude, no way? Well, it wasn't quite like that because we are educated and didn't walk out of Legally Blonde (which is a great show), but that was the general gist of it. We had a blast! Mike tipped over the snowmobile with us on it, their cabin was huge, seriously, and I road a 4-wheeler. Best of all though, my family was there!!! Oh, and Mike and Cindy. They were there, too. Cause it was their cabin...

Me and Alyson on the 4-wheeler. I think I'm in back in this picture, but I did get to drive!!! Scratch that off the bucket list.
My parents on the 4-wheeler. Look like they walked out of a James Dean movie. Or something like that. My camera almost exploded from their overwhelming coolness, but they were gone for over an hour (doing what???) so it had time to cool down.
Alyson stole my camera and took this picture which I found five minutes ago when I was uploading them. The Roses huge cabin with me on the bean bag and the old"er" people playing Mexican Trains.
Riding my chariot down the hill. The only time I actually made it to the bottom without dying. P.S. if Cindy ever tries to tell you to go down face-first, just say no.

Alyson on the Rose's deck, preparing for the stairs of doom. Or it could be me. It's hard enough to tell us apart when you can see our faces...
My awesome family. Well, part of it anyway. We hiked an awful long way for this picture (apparently the snow if front of the Rose's cabin wasn't good enough???) so enjoy it. I do.

Miss Me?

It's me again!!! Yay me. Anyway, when my parents were here, in Provo, we had fun doing a little bit of everything. We went to IKEA (it's okay to be jealous), played around in the BYU bookstore, got lost...somewhere, and went sledding on the ice hill of death in jeans and t-shirts. Yes, my friends, it was all that and more. And it was a BLAST. It was so nice to have my parents here. And Alyson, too, I guess. Just kidding, she's amazing too! I can't wait to spend time in Vegas this summer. It's going to be a blast.

P.S. there may have been some AMAZING stroganoff and french toast involved (not at the same meal, that's disgusting). Again, it's okay to be jealous.

So, it may be my mood, or the weather, or perhaps a misalignment of the planets, but today, more than ever, it seems like that front porch swing will never come. Don't get me wrong, things here are going great, just, well, different than I expected. I guess that is how life works though, isn't it?

This week was one of excitement and happiness; I had a blast. I had two tests this week and, suprisingly, did well on both of them. The first test of the semester is always the worst because you never know what the teacher has up his sleeve, but these were bearable. I went to my first BYU hockey game, not realizing that we were playing the best team in the country, but still had a blast through our horrific loss. I went and saw a modern dance performance on campus and loved it, even though I could find no one else with anything positive to say. I figure that if I don't understand the beauty of their artistry, it is not my place to criticize out of ignorance. I also went and saw Australia with Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman (my future husband!!!!). It was absolutely amazing. I, as a rule, love all movies, because, as stated above, everything has worth to someone, why not to me, but this was truly a wonderful movie. Although not a family flick it was incredibly family-centric. It was quite long and traffic (I know, traffic in Provo) prevented me and my party from arriving on time, so we were in the front row!!!! After lengthy icing and rehabilitation, my neck and back just might recover from the two and an half hour movie. Regardless, it was definitely worth it.

Things are going well in Provo. I am beyond excited to see my family this coming weekend and have missed them terribly. I'm working my rear off in school to try to prepare to spend time with them, but six days work wasn't meant to be done in four.

Regardless of my blue mood, the weather, or the planetary alignment, tomorrow will be a wonderful day. I will look around in awe at the God-given blessings I receive and take time to appreciate all of His wonderful creations. No matter what tomorrow may or may not bring, it will truly be a beautiful day.
Though the game was a blow-out for the other team, there was an AMAZING fight in the second period. The refs blew three calls and it was then all-out war. I love the primal brutality!!!!!!
I really didn't expect this picture to turn out at all, but I waved my camera in the air, Timmy jumped in behind me, and this is what came out. Not bad for a boched joke, eh?

An Interesting Dichotomy

So, I thought I would actually create a semi-serious post... and then I decided not to. Anyway, this is me not creating a serious post just to fill you all in on stuff.

I have begun sorting out responsibilities for this summer to be ready to apply to the nursing programs of BYU and BYU-Idaho for the next winter semester and it seems as though a year is not enough time. Classes are going, well, they're going. Interestingly enough, my English teacher thinks my writing sucks, not a direct quote cause he wasn't born this century and thinks only a vacuum can do that, but he doesn't like it at all, so I have decided to pester him relentlessly until I get a decent grade. I love my Bio-Organic Chem class, oddly enough, and just took my first test for it yesterday. All other classes are not quite worthy of note, but I'll try to create something excitement worthy this week.

This week I have attended two swimming meets and a basketball game. The swim meets made me want to swim better, harder, and faster, while the basketball game made me want to take ice hockey lessons. Go figure, huh? But I've learned to follow my heart and will be dutifully registering for the ice hockey class at the Y next fall. And SCUBA diving.

New interests this week are in the above sports and a sudden, inexplicable attachment to opera that can be explained with a Three Tenors CD checked out from the Provo Library at Academy Square. My thanks to all those faithful Utahns letting me use their tax dollars. Anyway, I think that is it for now and see ya next week!!!!This is a really cool picture that I am not sure you can tell, but I found this while exploring Utah County and as the snow melts and sublimates, it takes on this wave shaped appearance. You can kinda tell because of the white sections facing right. Thought this was super cool cause I miss the beach!!!!!! (Hint...Wink)

P.S. I have no idea why the above was posted as a link. Please disregard and chalk it up to the inefficiencies of technology or "kids these days." Peace and Love <3

to BE or not to BE

So, I sat in my apartment today, depressed by the fact that the university pool was closed and having a general apathy for anything that involved movement. So, as I sat contemplating the universe, it dawned on me that I had a choice that could not be procrastinated any longer. There were two options...Did I do laundry? or did I go to the store to buy more underwear? As college would have it, the latter was too expensive and I hauled my clothes to the laundromat where I was somewhat comforted in the fact that the girl next to me was on her EIGHTH load. Holy crap. I don't even own half that many clothes. Nor my sisters and that is definitely saying something. Anyway, the laundry is now done and I soon go to pick it up, but in the meantime, here are some pics from my awesome day exploring yesterday.

I drove out to Utah Lake after church and it never occurred to me that the lake would be frozen, but indeed it was. I had a blast on my first frozen lake ever and it was soooooo pretty.


This is the lake (can you tell?). I loved walking around while trying to avoid fishing holes.
This is me WALKING ON WATER!!!!!

Oops...Forgot

Oh, and in case I forget, my family got a musical doorbell that plays twenty-five songs. So, please, ring the bell.

The Best Christmas Ever

Just to be clear, I had a great Christmas. You know how you don't appreciate things till they are gone, well, family is definitely no exception. Were my mother around, I would not have lived on Marshmallow Mateys and Swedish Fish for finals week. Were my father around, my definition of "dirty dishes" may have been a little more strict. With my sister around, I would have always had a person to hug and squeal about Michael Weatherly with.
I didn't take a whole lot of pictures at home, but these are a few of my favorites. Hope you enjoy.


Ayo's engine obsession was in overload when we took him to play at Bass Pro Shop. He couldn't stop smiling.


Alyson just had to try on her life vest for the numerous world travels that are ahead of her.



Here's just one for the sentamentalist in all of us. This is right before I left (notice dad's glistening eyes), and yes, my hair, for the time being, is red and definitely a lot nicer than in this picture.

Games, Games, Games

Just to be clear, when I say that Nevada Power has a monopoly, I ain't talkin' about the game (which I've never played because my mother has bitter feelings about it). One of the last nights of my joyous trip home for the holidays had me experiencing my first memorable power outage. I don't know what people do without cell phones, but I used mine to call Nevada Power and give them a piece of my mind. Actually I got into a wicked fight with a recording, but don't fear, I gave her a swift talking to. I just had to write a post on this because my father saw this as the perfect time to use his spelunking lamp. Just like a kid in a candy store...

Me. Snow. Sweeeeeet.

So, for those of you not fortunate to live in the Mormon bubble that is Provo, Utah, I should inform you that it snows here!!!! Go figure, right? Well, it was a little startling at first, but I can now confidently say that boots are my friend, black ice only refers to when ice is see-through and that is usually on asphalt (which is black), and that feeling when you know you have no control of your car in snow is both liberating and terrifying at the same time. I am keeping warm and surviving, however, if only by the fact that cleaning our oven turns the entire apartment into Bermuda. It's also cost-effective since we pay for power but not gas. GO US!!!!! Anyway, for those of you wondering, this is typically what I look like on my way to school. Well, when it's snowing. Which it does. Awkward...