"Why Do You Live?.."

So I finally decided I should go to a singles ward while I'm home. I like my home ward and get worried about singles wards but I have actually had a ton of fun. And not only did I give just going to church a try, I went to ward prayer and f.h.e too. I haven't been one to enjoy ward prayer or go to f.h.e often but I realized it's because of the people IN the ward. I didn't want ward prayer OR f.h.e to end. F.h.e especially because I haven't played water games in a long time and water fights are always fun :). I have also come to pick up old friendships that had been lost and gained some new ones as well. Old friends that I can't believe I lost touch with and new ones that I may already regret making.

Um.. so I realized that in the past week I have liked and wanted to date 3 different guys. 2 still could have potential but 1 definitely does not. The 1 being the new friend I may regret making. Let's just say his looks, and possibly car, is all he has going for him. It's supposed to be the more you get to know a guy the more you like, well in his case, it was opposite. I'm pretty bummed.

Eclipse came out today. We kept the tradition of going at midnight and each movie seen in a different city (the latter not actually being a planned tradition, it's just how it happened). This movie was better than the first two. They keep getting better with each movie which is good. I still am not a fan of Bella. She does seem like she is finally starting to act better though. I still hate Edward. I mean come one, HE IS NOT ATTRACTIVE!! And, of course, I am still in LOVE with Jacob. Yes I am one that might be a little obsessed with how gorgeous he is. I am not ashamed. Team Jacob all the way!

The best news came out on Monday. The HARRY POTTER 7 trailer!! I have been waiting for the trailer to come out and now that it did, I don't want to have to wait until November to see it! And I have to wait a whole year to even see the whole thing! I like the fact they are doing 2 parts because more will be shown from the book, but do they really have to make us wait 8 months in between?! Ugh. There is already one scene that I know I'm going to be disappointed with which sucks but at least I've been warned so I don't have high expectations for it. But I'm still STOKED and must admit I have watched the trailer a few too many times where I can already quite along with it. Hence my title and last line of this post.

Yep I'm a nerd but I don't care.

"..Because I have something worth living for!"

Highlights

My week has been pretty busy and I had a couple posts that I started but never finished but now I don't feel like finishing them. So I'll just take some time and post the highlights of my week.

MONDAY: went shopping and bought some much needed clothing items followed by a cold stone visit with Anna and Trello for family night. I do love that family.. Later Ellen had the best idea to make a rice krispy treat sculpture. So, in honor of Toy Story 3, we made Rex. It was so much fun and turned out sooo great! well.. it would've if we had put him all together. But sadly it got too late so we had to postpone the finishing touches until the next night.

TUESDAY: woke up very tired from not much sleep and went babysitting. I lucked out that the baby was sick during the night so she took a nap for 3 hours allowing me to sleep for 2 AND she seemed perfectly happy and well while I watched her. It was a good babysitting day. Ellen and I had another fun night making up our own smoothies and ending with You've Got Mail.

Rex, once again, was postponed.

WEDNESDAY: busiest day of the week. Two friends brought me lunch and hung out with me for a bit so I wasn't too lonely with a sleeping baby. Had a triple baby shower for my sister and two cousins. That was very fun- I do love my extended family and love every minute of our get togethers. Ended the night at the drive-in with some great friends. Toy Story 3 was amazing. Didn't expect any less. Prince of Persia was weird. Might have been better if I wasn't so tired and cold. And sadly Rex was still not assembled so he didn't get to join us.

THURSDAY: started off the morning with a grumpy brother because I made him get out of bed to go mowing. We mowed 5 lawns in record timing allowing enough time to get home and get ready for Lagoon. Spent the day at Lagoon with my family. I have forgotten how much fun Lagoon-A-Beach is. Jarem lost his wedding ring but it luckily was found. Ended the night VERY exhausted.

FRIDAY: finally got to sleep in later than 7 for once this week, but was woken up by my brother at 9 to repay me from the morning before. Took that same brother to buy something he will just sell in a week. Spent some of the day with Tiff at Costco grocery shopping and picking up treats for my party. Spent the rest of the day getting ready for said party. Party was a success. Family got an apple computer.

SATURDAY: mowed lawns then quickly showered and got ready for a party to watch the USA world cup soccer game. Fun party but ended very sadly when the US couldn't come back a second time resulting in a loss and elimination. Played some on the new computer taking some fun pictures on photobooth. Went to a party with Stacey and met some interesting guys that hit on me.. too bad they weren't cute.

And now for once this week I will get to bed before midnight.

Goodnight.

My Biggest Role Model

If I could only pick ONE person that I think has really taught me and influenced my life the most, I would say that person is my dad.

He has always worked hard and doesn't quit. He has always stood by my side with anything I have done in my life. He has always been involved in the sports I've done. He has always supported me in my choices. He has always made me feel safe and protected. He has always shown concern and approval in the boys I have dated. He has always made me feel better even if he didn't know it.

He has always been there for me no matter what.

My dad is the reason I am who I am. I would definitely say I take more after my dad than my mom. I've even been told I look more like my dad so I guess it all fits and makes sense. But anything I do or say or the way I go about a situation is influenced by my dad. I try to be like him. He is the type of person who hardly ever gets mad. He is the type of person that will always care more about others than himself. He is always giving and never wants anything in return.

So you can see why I want to be like him.

He is the BEST dad I could've asked for.

I LOVE YOU DADDY!

I always have and I always will!!

Happy Father's Day!!

1920's

Why is it that the 80's is the most popular decade themed party? Occasionally you here about 70's and 50's too but you almost never hear about the 20's. I don't get it- the 20's were awesome!

My friend Ryan always has parties in his parents basement during the school year and he came up with the great idea of having themes for the parties. So last night we tried out a 20's theme. Oh boy was it fun! They had a bar with many choices of drinks (obviously non-alcoholic), many tables with gambling type games, and everyone dressed up- which definitely adds to how much fun it was!

I spent most of my time at the bar. It was pretty enjoyable to order drinks such as Shmooze or an Apple Martini and watch them mix it right in front of you. :)

It really was a great party and I can't wait to do it again during the school year when many more people can come!

One Year Older and Wiser Too

Well I am now 20. I don't feel different nor did it even seem like my birthday. I expected that. Having a birthday on Sunday limits activities that can be done to celebrate. It just felt like any other Sunday. But it wasn't the Sunday part that made it not feel like my birthday. There weren't any surprises- I knew every gift I got and really only had two to unwrap. There were no candles to blow out. There was no party. There were some tears (and I wish I could say tears of joy.. but I can't). But I don't mean to make it sound like my birthday sucked. I still was with family all day. I still got sang to plenty of times. And I did have many people wish me a happy birthday, even if it was facebook that had to remind them ;) haha.

But birthdays are definitely not as fun when you get older. I miss the total excitement when you're a kid. So here's some pictures of the good ol' days when life was a lot more exciting and had less drama and stress.

My Week

This is the ADORABLE little girl I get to watch twice a week. She has got to be the best baby I have ever watched. Like really, she NEVER cries! It makes life SOO much easier. We play and have so much fun. I'm super close to getting her to laugh- which is my goal this summer! But now it creates a problem because I know that I'll expect that (a super easy going baby) when I have kids and it'll probably be the opposite or something. Ha but it's definitely super fun and I love it! It makes me really feel like a mom. It'll be the exact same when I'm married and have a baby when I'm a stay at home mom. Crazy. No worries though- it has also made me realize that I don't want kids any time soon. And even though that's obvious because I'm not married yet- I'm more meaning after I get married kids will come a while later.

And now speaking of marriage- my friend Sara got married Tuesday and boy was it weird to go to her reception. I can't believe she is married! I knew she'd be the first, but it's still sooo crazy! And pretty sure she set a very high bar for receptions. Hers was sooo cute and fun, it'll be hard to top it. So I decided it's a good thing I won't be getting married for a long time because then maybe people will forget hers and not compare it to mine hahaha. But anyways, it was fun to see some old friends again!

Tonight was Stacey's preview for Miss Utah. I felt bad because not too many people went, but it was good to see her part of the pageant without having to see 53 other girls, over the course of 5 days, and pay lots of money. She looked beautiful and I wish her all the luck at Miss Utah!

I missed out on Abbey's bridal shower tonight to support Stace so I hope that went well. It would've been fun to go back to Logan and hang out with those girls again, but I chose to support family tonight. But I still have my awesome present in mind that I will give to her hopefully next week sometime if I make it up to Logan to hang out.

Mmk well, it is now 11 and I have been sitting on my computer forever and I think I'm going to go to bed. I finally get a break from my multiple jobs tomorrow so I'll get to sleep in and have some fun. I'm planning on running some errands and also maybe actually going to try shopping for myself. There are things I need/want and I am going to try to make myself buy them haha. It's almost my birthday after all so don't I deserve to spend a little on myself?

I guess we'll see if I will actually pull through..

Bring on the Income!

Soo the first week of summer I was SUPER lazy. I sat around pretty much all day and watched TV shows and sat on my computer. My mom didn't like it so much and didn't want this summer to turn out like last one (cause instead of one week of being lazy, it was every week haha). I told her it wouldn't because I planned on finding another job to increase my income. I did apply for a bank but that was a failure. I waited forever for them to call me but it never happened and I really didn't want to go job hunting. So, not surprisingly, I procrastinated. Then all of a sudden I found myself offered some other little jobs and I now have about 5 job titles for myself this summer.

Lawn Mower
Office Secretary
Roofer
Nanny
& Swim Teacher (well possibly)

Lawn mower isn't any different from the past couple years.

Office secretary is just little random stuff I do for the family business that is busy work for my brothers but perfect work for me. It'll also be the type of stuff I'll be doing in the future after I graduate and become the accountant for the business.

Roofer. That is definitely a new experience for me. Today was my first day and I'm already pretty exhausted. I will only do tear-offs though so I guess I can't really call myself a roofer- but I'm pretty good at throwing away shingles and cleaning up :). And it's just fun to work with my dad and brothers- get a little taste of what they do everyday.

Nanny is what job I will be starting tomorrow. I am going to nanny two days a week for my cousin Andrea. Her baby is only 3 months old and is so adorable! It should be way fun. I always wanted to be a nanny but when it came down to it I was scared, mostly of going someplace by myself and taking care of some strangers' kids. But this will be perfect because they live only 15 minutes away and I know the family so it'll be fun! I'm excited :).

And then lastly I might become a swim teacher. My sister-in-law Marcella wants to pay me to teach Benny (her son, my nephew) how to swim. She thinks it will be great to have just one on one time so he will learn a lot faster and obviously I am so good with kids that it would be no problem for me ;) haha. So hopefully that works out cause that would be a lot of fun too.

I actually also might be a dance teacher. This one isn't a job though because I won't be getting paid. It will be just for service. But I hope it works out because I need to get back into something dance related! I miss it. A lot.

So looks like this summer won't be like last summer. I will now be super busy and earning lots of money. And it works out great because all the jobs are during the day so I still have my nights I can be free to play :)

Gotta Love Sundays :)

So remember how I finally started complaining about the weather? Well today was PERFECT! If everyday during the summer was like today, I would be one happy girl :). I got the nice hot sun during the day (which on any other day besides Sunday would mean I get to swim and lay out) and then the day ends with an AWESOME thunder/lightening storm complete with dancing in the warm rain! Like seriously- PERFECT.

Some other added bonuses to today were finally going to a single's ward and seeing some old friends, a nice Sunday nap, homemade Cafe Rio with the fam for our monthly dinner with everyone, and listening to Tiff and Blake predict what will happen in the last couple chapters of Harry Potter. Yes Harry Potter makes the bonus list. I miss the predicting part so I have to settle with hearing others. I almost went over to their house so I could listen in on reading time because let's face it, I'm obsessed with Harry Potter and it's pretty hard to pass up an opportunity to listen to the best part of the whole series! It's also fun to listen to them read it for their reactions :) Oh I am such a nerd. But the whole storm caught me off guard and I was distracted. With two things I love- it was a hard choice. So I guess I chose to not be too big of a nerd tonight.. ha

We tried to take pictures of the lightening because it seriously was so cool. It looked like veins through the sky. But of course it's super hard to take it at the right moment so these were the best we could get.

Love ly

I just came home from a bridal shower for a friend I have known a LONG time. Like back to the elementary days. It was sooo weird but very exciting. It was so fun to see her happy and talk about all the plans for the wedding. Pretty sure I found myself super jealous and really wanting that in my life. It didn't help when her fiance came at the end and seeing how cute and in love they are.

I want to be as happy as her.

It's funny because a lot of people expected me to get married pretty soon after high school (and I don't really understand why they would ever assume that. I would just laugh because I knew it wouldn't happen- nor did I want it to) and now here it is 2 years later and I'm still as single as can be and watching SOO many other girls my age get married. Like really, it's CRAZY! I have another really close friend getting married this coming Tuesday! It's just so weird.

It has become quite entertaining to see how many people my age are actually getting married though. I've started a collection of wedding announcements :) haha I have a specific wall dedicated to the announcements I get. I think I'm up to around 10 so far with some still on the way. It's pretty epic.

Also- aside from wedding/marriage stuff, my sister and her husband finally bought a house this past week and so all last night I helped move stuff for them and I found myself jealous and wanting a house. Hearing her talk about what to do with each room and how to decorate/paint made me wish I could think about that stuff.

So I guess in the past two days I have found myself wanting a house and a fiance.. hmm..

Lovely.

The West Indies

One of my good friends is out serving a mission right now in the West Indies. He was sweet enough to send me a little package for my birthday- and in this package was a flash drive with some pictures and a couple videos and I would like to share some of those with you. Mostly just because this place is GORGEOUS! Like really, I think it would be torture to be a missionary on these islands because I'd just want to stay on the beach and swim in the ocean every single day and then watch the sunset!

Don't you agree??

(the second to last picture is a jellyfish in the water! cool huh?)

Now aside from all the beautiful landscape pictures, here is a video that is classic. It is hilarious and so typical of this friend- not to mention it was hilarious to watch with my mom and sisters. Just picture us all jumping and laughing at what happens..

Did you jump at all? haha

This friend has now been gone a year. Actually, it's exactly a year from today. So he still has one more year to serve the Lord and take even more amazing pictures.

I'm pretty jealous.

Rain Rain Go Away

When I start to sing for rain to go away- you know it has rained WAY too much. Normally I get giddy when it rains and love it. I mostly love big storms though- but even just little rainy days make me happy. But now I'm actually starting to get SICK of it, which is a big deal. I want it to be sunny so I can swim and lay out!! Yesterday I finally did get to swim in my pool for the first time this year, but it was still cloudy and windy so it wasn't the best. I hoped today would be better- but no, it's back to being rainy and I want to curse it!

Come on Sun. Won't you please come out??