These Are the Moments, These Are the Times

After our temple session Friday night, my family and I set out to enjoy some quality time together in Rexburg. Our first initiative was to get some dinner at Craigo's- a Rexburg original pizza place. You can tell you're in Idaho when they serve pizza with potatoes on it :) I really like Craigo's and it was fun to share it with my family. After dinner we were all pretty tired, and went back to the hotel they were staying at for a little hot tubbing.

When we arrived the hot tub was fully occupied so my sister and I decided to try sitting on a ledge in the pool... it wasn't quite the same. It was however,, entirely entertaining. A father, two little daughters, and one little son (all probably age 10 and under) were playing in the pool. The father was trying deperately to keep his kids from bothering us or any other guests. The children were trying desperately to be normal, rowdy, little kids in the pool. We were splashed over and over and the little girls liked swimming over to us and explaining how they used to take swimming lessons and such. The boy was my favorite though, he was shouting across the pool to his dad trying to get some attention, and it sounded something like this:

"Dad! Dad! I'll swim for you! Dad, Dad! I'll swim for you! Hey Dad! Dad! I'll swim for you Dad! ....."like a monkey! or a soldier! I can swim like a monkey!.... or a soldier! ... or a monkey!... or a soldier!... Hey Dad! I'll swim for you!"

After half an hour or so, my mom eventually asked the current hot tub occupants if we could have a turn and they were very nice about it. The boys came out and joined us, and we enjoyed chatting and relaxing. The spot I sat in had like 5 awesomely powerful jets on my back, and it was SO nice.

Enjoying pizza and the hot tub~ (that's Amanda trying the "Spudalicious Pizza")

After the hot tub, we left the parents to get some shut eye and headed back to my apartment. The three of us had fun playing air hockey in my lounge. Amanda and I are pretty even in skill, and Justin can dominate both of us. The best part was while giggling uncontrollably, I scored 4 points for Justin (hitting the puck into my own goal) in rapid succession. After the fourth one, he and I both lost it and melted to the floor in hysteric laughter. It was fabulous :)

air hockey fun

We went back to the apartment to chill with my roomies. Brandt also came over to hang out with us and we mostly vegged a bit while Emily (roommate, not me) finished watching "Annie" on TV. Pickle headed back to the hotel, and the rest of us sat around being ridiculous, chatting, watching you tube, and letting Brandt entertain us. For a glimpse into our craziness, read some quotes of the evening in my sister's blog post.

chillin' at my apt.

This is one of the many ways Brandt entertained us (that's Amanda blogging in the background):

Amanda and I tried to be cool and watch "Brothers Grimm" while we had our sleepover in my living room. It didn't really work. We crashed too quickly. I was SO sleepy when it was time to wake up. The fam headed out around 9:30 Saturday morning which was far too soon. I already miss them! It made me feel very loved to have them all in Rexburg with me. I love them SOOOOOOOO much :)

A Heart Don't Forget Somethin' Like That

In preparation for my mission, I was able to go through the temple for the first time last night. It was a very special, spiritual, and sacred experience. I know I won't remember a lot of what happened, but I will always remember how I felt. One of the very best parts? My whole immediate family was able to be there with me. I'm the youngest and the last to go through, and it was such a sweet moment to see my beautiful family all together in the Celestial room of the temple. I love them so very much. Even with leaving out details, I do realize this is a rather personal post... it just makes me so happy that I just have to share how happy I am and why!

Here is my amazing little family in front of the Rexburg temple last night:

When I Grow Up, I Wanna be Famous

My first photo shoot for Mormon Artist magazine has finally been published! I'd tell you more about the magazine and what they do... but it's probably more effective for you to just go read it on their web site.

Photographing Jack Weyland was a lot of fun. He's a very sweet man, who's pretty shy about the whole photography thing, but was a really good sport! My favorite photo from the shoot is the angled black and white one, so I was really happy they chose to use it.

Here's the article featuring my photos :)

And here's the home page of the magazine :)

Just Haven't Met You Yet . . .

It's that time again!! Song of the week! I was right about Wednesday's being crazy overwhelming though. I really don't have time for this, but that's why I need to do it. It's healthy to take a break and enjoy a little music.

I'm sure a lot of you have already heard this song, and hopefully already love it. Regardless though, you should definitely check out the music video. I'm always a fan of breaking into song and dance in everyday places. I wish it happened in real life on a regular basis. (I mean... including people besides me... it's not as fun when you're the only person singing and dancing. And yes, I really do sing and dance in random places, including the grocery store.)

Gotta love Michael :)

Roommates! Meet the Roommates!

I have some pretty rad roommates this semester. Here's a little about each of them.

Emily (yes, we have two Emily's) is 18 and is from Maryland. She's a Mechanical Engineering major and is very smart. She's also very talented at painting cool nail designs, and she happily helps me make my nails look awesome on a regular basis. She really likes Toaster Strudel and Spaghettio's .

(enjoying some magical hot chocolate!)

Chun is also 18 and is room-roommates with Emily and is from Korea and California. She's also incredibly brilliant, and just applied for the Nursing program. She has a rice cooker that speaks Korean... we're pretty sure it's throwing insults at us... possibly plotting to explode and kill us. Everything Chun ever does is pretty much adorable.

(Chun trying on some 3-D glasses we bought)

Vanessa is 19 from Malad, Idaho... and I have no idea what she is studying or if she even knows. She is off track, and just working this semester. She likes having fun, dancing, dressing up, whatever! She's pretty cool.

(Chillin' while we watch a movie)

Lauren rooms with Vanessa. She is 19, from California, and engaged to be married in less than 2 weeks! She's not around all that much, being busy with school, wedding planning, and being engaged. She's also applying for the Nursing program.

(Lauren w/her fiance Allen)

Last but certainly not least, is my roomie Katey! She's 19 (almost 20) from California. She is hoping to get into the Photography program, and is a very talented photographer! She and I had fun doing a photo shoot together a couple of weeks ago... and we pretty much have fun together all the time. She loves all things Johnny Depp and has an awesome sense of style. I could brag about her forever. We were basically meant to be roommates and she rocks my socks.

(at a black light dance party)

Those are the girls I live with! We have a lot of fun together, and learn a lot from each other. It's a fabulous apartment!

If Only it was Saturday, Saturday!!

(Oh how I love that song by The Rocket Summer!)

I love the weekend, and even though this weekend was far less productive than it probably should have been, it was especially enjoyable and rejuvenating. My favorite accomplishment of the weekend? Making homemade lasagna from scratch! I have a really awesome authentic sauce recipe from my mom, who got it from my grandma, who got it from some Italian guy or something. It's delicious, especially when made with real fresh ingredients like fresh garlic and parsley. Fresh onions are excellent too... but my eyes react really easily while mincing them:


The picture doesn't quite do it justice, but trust me- LOTS of watering.


It was also pretty amusing that while I was making the sauce Saturday- my roommate Emily was making Spaghettio's on the adjacent burner. The juxtaposition was amusing:



This is a photo of the partially eaten final product... the photo makes it looks nasty, but I promise it tasted like heaven:


So here's some highlights of my delightful weekend...


-Grocery shopping and playing w/ Brandt and Katey:


-Brandt letting me drive his car everywhere we went- I love driving and miss it!

-Going to Comic Frenzy (improv comedy show) w/ Katey and watching Brandt perform:

(not sure where our pics and videos of him peforming went?)

-Saturday and Sunday sessions of Stake conference

-Napping because church started and ended way earlier than usual :) , here's my roommate Emily during her nap:



-Dinner w/ roomies + Brandt + Landon:


-After Sunday dinner activities including cleaning up, playing "Big Booty", playing the "laughing game", massage/back scratch train, overall craziness and relaxation:

I have no legit explanation for this video... except maybe insanity? Enjoy ;) :

-Dessert swap w/ the boys from Delta Phi 3 and girls from Mountain Pines 308:

(pics will be added later)

All in all- you should be jealous of my weekend. I have some really amazing friends and roommates am really really grateful to have them in my life right now.

I Don't Mind, if I'm in Texas

BIG NEWS!!!!

This post is a little delayed... so most of you probably already know this... but in case you didn't... I'm going on a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints! I have been called to serve in the Texas Houston East mission for 18 months, and I enter the MTC (missionary training center) on January 13th.

I'm so incredibly happy and excited about it! It just feels really really right, and that's the best feeling in the world. I'm also delighted that Beaumont, TX (where I lived from ages 2-10) is right in the middle of my mission. I don't think there's another area of the planet that I love more than where I'm headed :) (as much?- yes. but more?- no.)


Here's just a few pics of my super supportive family and friends after I opened my mission call:

(video of the opening to be posted later as well as other prep updates)

There were more people there, whose support I appreciated so much! I want to thank all of you who have been so supportive as I prepare to serve. It really means so much to me, and I love you all!!!

Hey Soul Sister!

I think I'm going to start posting a song of the week... and I might try to to do it every Wednesday.... because today is Wednesday and I'm posting a song right now. Not only that, but Wednesday being in the middle of the (crazy, busy, overwhelming) week, it's good time to take a breather and appreciate some sweet tunes.

This week's song is "Hey Soul Sister" by Train, and it is amazing. My friend Davita was singing it in ceramics today and said I should look it up. I'm SO glad I did. I've just listened to it at least 4 times, and just can't get enough! Some songs I listen to over and over just because I love them, and others because they have such fascinating lyrics that I can't fully understand its brilliance in just one listen. This song falls into both categories. Enjoy!