Jiggawatt Overload!

Want some further perspective into the mind of me? Sure ya do.

• I've noticed that when I listen to my iPod that I end up skipping 5 or 6 songs before I actually stop and listen to one. This isn't because I don't like my music, it's more due to the fact that I always think the next song is going to be a better song and one I'm more in the mood for.

• Along with this I've realized that I almost never skip one of my jazz boys - Harry Connick, Michael Buble, Tony Bennett, Jamie Cullum, etc. I love me some jazz music. Mmmmm. Sings to my soul. :)


• This thought then made me think of how I want more jazz music not only for my own enjoyment but for the playlist I have imagined in my head for the wedding. Anyone want to help a girl out with some more good old fashion jazz music? Mel Torme, Frank Sinatra, Louis Armstrong, Bobby Darin, or any of the boys mentioned from the previous bullet would be nice...
  

• Me and Braedon made homemade icecream last night. It was delicious. Mmmmm. And then we watched Anastasia on a good old VHS. It was pretty dang awesome. Braedon must really love me. :)
  

• I still can't believe that tomorrow is 2010. It seems like I've been waiting for 2010 to come for so long. Now it's here. Weird. Awesome. :)

• I don't think I have mentioned this yet, but me and Braedon got a very nice new SLR digital camera for Christmas. We love it. We haven't had a ton of time to play with it and get to know all the settings and such, but we are excited to learn more about it. We both love taking pictures so much and now we have a camera to make it even more fun. Don't worry, I'm sure you will all see plenty of pictures in the future. :)

• I got my hair cut last weekend, by Braedon's Aunt Jodi (who is amazing by the who). And I love it. She cut off all the dead ends and then added some layers and more bangs. It's not a huge change but I still love it. And it kind of makes me feel like a rock star. Not because it looks like rock star hair, but I now can shake my head and mess it all up and it still looks good. Perfect.
  

• New Years week is always a slow week at the office, so my dad decided to have just me man the fort so him and my mom could take some time off (very much needed and deserved time off). But I've been able to watch a lot of movies while I work - including all three Back to the Futures. Man do those movies have a lot of good quotes. One of my favorites is the phrase "Jiggawatt overload". In what situation is that not a funny term?

• Speaking of work, I'm very excited that there is none tomorrow and that I'm done today at noon. Woot! Happy New Years everyone!

Goodbye 2009

With the new year just around the corner I thought it would be fun to write a post about highlights of 2009. (I know, so original huh? No one else has thought of this.) Now some of these highlights may not be super significant to you the reader, but they are to me so you get to hear about them anways. ;) Also, this has the potential to be an extremely long post. You have been forewarned.

• Fort Building with Kelci and Bay - This wasn't some super monumental occasion but I don't think I'll ever forget it. In Janurary of last year I went to Provo to play with my wonderful Kelci and Baylee friends. :) It was an adventure of ice cream, fort building, watching clue, and then talking (more like venting on my part, sorry Kelc) till 3 in the morning. Me and Kelci were already pretty dang close, but I think this night helped strengthen our friendship even more. Ah the magic of fort building.

• Random Trip to Longbeach - Sometime in Feburary (around Valentines day if I remember right...) me and Chelsea decided to take a quick trip with her family (via Jet Blue) to Longbeach California. And when I say quick trip, I mean quick. We headed out at 5 in the morning one day and then headback again around noon the next. Short, but perfect. We visted an aquarium, and of course the super cold beach. I don't care what temperature, I will always love the ocean. Mmmmm. Beach. I will always remember this trip and the fun adventures me and Chelsea had. Like the real live pimp, my first and only In and Out experience (totally over rated), running on 3 hours of sleep, and of course the Longbeach Airport losing power. Good times. :)

• Emcee for And...Go! - 2009 was the year I started to Emcee for the Improv group And... Go! I love it. I'm not gonna lie, I was pretty dang nervous the first time they shoved a microphone into my hands and put me infront of a live audience, but now I enjoy every minute of it (and the power that a microphone can give a person). I love this group and I am so glad to be a part of it and to call all my fellow And...Goers friends. If you haven't seen a show, come to one, you will laugh. That's a promise. :) Check us out at andgoimprov.com

• Magical Monumental Moab Trip - What started it all! It's crazy to think that this trip happened just 7 or so months ago. Through my brother and a couple of other friends from the And...Go troupe I was invited along to this trip, and how grateful I am that I was. I had no idea that this trip would invite so many new and wonderful people into my life, and for that alone it deserves a special spot in the history of my life. Add on top that it was just a very fun trip period! Hiking, cooking, climbing, jeeping (even though I didn't really take part in the jeeping...), fire rocks, pop rocks, lots of fun and lots of laughter. I've always loved Moab and I'm so excited to go back again this upcoming year!
  

• Real Games!! - One of my new aquired friends from Moab happened to be a total and complete Real Soccer fan. He quickly invited us to a game and I (along with others I'm sure) got hooked. I had never been that big of a fan of watching soccer games, but when you watch them live with good friends and add in the awesome spirit of Rio Tinto, you can't help but fall in love. I now try and go to as many games as my schedule and budget will allow. And boy am I glad that this was the year I decided to jump on the wagon. Go National Champions!! :) So awesome.
  

• Party's Party's Party's! - Along with my new awesome friends and new awesome adventrues came some awesome parties. I would like to give a special shout out to Gavin for planning most of these! We've had 80's Birthday Parties, Funday Monday's, Ultimate Frisbee Parties, Pirate Parties, Beard/Chili Parties, ice skating parties, etc etc. Everytime we've had a blast and taken way too many pictures. ;)
  

• Camping Slash Cabin Adventures! - I love camping, and luckily I have friends that do too. :) We didn't get out as much as we had planned this past summer, but when we did it was a lot of fun. First was the McLelland Cabin. My grandparents own a cabin about an hour past Evenston (and oddly still in Utah), by Bear River. It's always been one of my favorite places to go. The best part of the cabin is that you don't have to feel pressured into doing anything. It's beautiful and peaceful and relaxing. But when you are in the mood to do something you can go on hikes, go play down in the river, swing on the awesome giant swing set (seriously guys, it's ginormous) and so forth. It was fun to have a bunch of friends up to enjoy it all. Also over Labor Day Weekend we went camping up by Mirror Lake! It was wonderful. There ended up only being a few of us, but we still had fun. Me and Tay even tryed canooing in Mirror Lake. :) I can't wait for summer to come around again and do some more camping!

• Concerts! - In September we went to two concerts. The first was Matt & Kim and was by far one of the most (if not the most) fun concerts I've been to. Matt and Kim have such stage presence and love for life and music that it just spreads to the whole crowd, I dare one person that went to that concert to say they didn't have fun. And then to add to it all, we were able to stay afterward and talk to and get pictures with Matt and Kim! Thanks again to Alex for buying all the tickets. You rock my friend! :) The other concert we went to was Flogging Molly. Oh man. It has always been one of my goals to go to a Flogging Molly concert, and I am so glad that I was finally able to! Thanks go to Ken for keeping us posted on all things Flogging Molly. :) It was such a fun concert, and they are all so talented that it just amazes me. So awesome.
  

• Braedon Comes Home!! - Definitely a monumental occasion for the year of 2009. I won't really go into a ton of detail on this cause there is a whole nother blog dedicated to it. But needless to say I am so glad to be done with this whole waiting for my missionary business. It's so nice to have Braedon home. I love him so much!
  

• Engaged!!! - Again, there is a whole nother blog dedicated to this, but it still needed to be added. I am so excited to be getting married to my high school sweet heart, my first love, my true love, and my best friend. May 13th can't come soon enough.
  

I guess I'll stop now (told you it would be long). It really has been a great year - though very hard at times, especially with Braedon gone. Luckily I am blessed to have so many wonderful people in my life that help support and lift me up. I have a really good feeling about 2010 (maybe it's cause I'm graduating and getting married... maybe) and I'm looking forward to all the new adventures to come. Thanks to all those who made this year great!

Here's to 2010. :)

I Believe In Christ

I've been thinking of writing this blog for a few days now and I'm still not exactly sure what I want to write.

I love Christmas. I love spending time with family, I love the happy spirit, I love all the things that everyone else loves about Christmas. Sometimes though I get a little sick of how commercial things can get and how easy it is to forget exactly what Christmas is about. Christ.

There is a Christmas song by Relient K (weird I know) that I have been replaying over and over in my car this year, because to me, it get's across the message of what this time of year is really about. I would suggest you take a listen, it's a good one. For those not able to listen, I've also posted the lyrics:

"And with this Christmas wish is missed the point I could convey, If only I could find the words to say to let you know how much you've touched my life. Because here is where you're finding me, in the exact same place as New Year's eve, and from a lack of my persistency we're less than half as close as I want to be

And the first time that you opened your eyes did you realize that you would be my Savior?

And the first breath that left your lips did you know that it would change this world forever?

And so this Christmas I'll compare the things I felt in prior years. To what this midnight made so clear that you have come to meet me here. To look back and think that this baby would one day save me, in the hope that what you did that you were born so I might really live.

And I, I celebrate the day that you were born to die, so I could one day pray for you to save my life."

I am so grateful for my Savior and all he has sacrificed for me. I am grateful for the Christmas season to remind me of his birth and his life. I'm grateful for the reminder to try and be more Christ like, to serve others, love others, and bring peace into others lives. I hope we can all remember what Christmas is really about and remember our Savior. Remember that he was born, lived, and died for us, so we could have eternal happiness, be saved and one day return to our Father in Heaven. I believe in Jesus Christ, he is my friend, brother, and savior and I love him with all my heart. I can never express how truly grateful I am for him and the life he has given me.

Merry Christmas everyone!

:)

Something Profound and Noteworthy...

...is not something you will find here. You have been warned.

-Brain is tired. Too tired that I actually don't feel like reading my book. Gasp. I know.

-Christmas is next week. What the what? Seriously though... when did this happen?

-Thursday is the last day of the semester. Oh blessed day.

-I turned in my Advance Calculus take home final today. I spent a grand total of 22 hours on it. It was a huge and ugly test, but we finished it, and we slammed it! Our teacher basically told us all that we passed the class. I'm expecting a B. :)

-I got my work schedule for next semester. I don't work past 6 on any day. Thank goodness. 14 hour days on campus are not my favorite.

-I've been going to the chiropractor again to once and for all fix my screwed up neck from my car accident last year. I love it. My neck loves it. And the insurance company is paying for it all. Perfect. :)

-I love my friends. Seriously. I have one of the best group of friends anyone could ask for, that loves and supports each other more then I thought imaginable. We may not have known each other for the longest time, but it seems like forever (in the best way possible). I couldn't ask for better people in my life. I know they care for me, cause they tell me so. They support my decisions and beliefs and never try to make me do anything I don't want to. And surprisingly enough they want me around (weird I know) and even though I can't hang out often, they make sure and invite me to things and let me know I'm missed. And they give me hugs (I love hugs). Basically they're the best. I love you guys.

-I love my family. (Apparently I'm in a grateful mood today :)). I am so blessed to be completely honest when I say I truly love and like all of my family. Siblings, parents, in-laws, and all. They are some of the greatest examples to me and are always there for me. I love spending time with them and am lucky enough to be able to most weeks. They are a crazy lot, but so full of love (even if sometimes it's sarcastic love). I don't know how I ever got so lucky to have each and everyone of them in my lives. They all have sacrificed in some way for me and done so much for me and I am grateful for them in so many ways. Especially my wonderful parents, who have done so much for me I can't even fathom it. They all are my best friends, I love you fam!

-I love Braedon more then I could ever say (you knew this was coming). He is so amazing to me. Lately he has been working so hard at his job to earn extra money for us, and I am so grateful for all his hard work and loving support that he is always giving. He is always super understand when I have to spend our few hours together studying, and often times keeps me on track when I want to slack off. I couldn't ask for anyone better to spend the rest of my life and eternity with. He laughs with me, (including at my stupid math jokes). He worries about me driving home safely. He gives me hugs, whever I want them. He is already there to help support me through school (be it moral support or some extra money to pay for tuition). He helps me stay strong in the gospel and makes me want to be a better person every day. He truly is one of the most amazing people I have ever met. And he loves me, and I never doubt it. I love you hun. :)

-Basically I love my life. It's wonderful, and full of wonderful people, and a lot of joy filled experiences. And when those hard times come along, I always know I will be okay, cause I have so many people surrounding me that support and love me. How lucky can one girl get?

Apparently pretty dang lucky.

Avalanche

Less then a week.

At this time next week, I will be officially all done with finals. I just have to keep reminding myself that I will make it out alive to see that day. Also the thought, that once I'm done with finals I only have one more semester left and I'll be graduating, helps ease the burden a bit.

A bit.

The last week and a half of school is always like an avalanche or a crashing tide. One moment you think you have a hold of everything and that you are all caught up, and the next you are buried in a mound of snow or a wave of salt water--trying to catch your breath and stay alive. (And by snow and salt water I of course mean homework, studying, tests, more studying, and more tests.) I'm just hoping I can ride the tide and handle it all.

Or maybe I should just learn to grow gills or breath under huge amounts of snow...

The later might be easier..

.

Dear So-and-So.

Dear Universe,
I want to become a part of this weird sensation, of writing letters to oneself or other random objects, like everyone else seems to be in. Will you help me out with that? Thanks.
Love, Me.

Dear Advance Calculus,
You are a very difficult class. Could you maybe dumb it down? Just a little? For me?
Love, Me.

Dear Pajamas,
Thank you for being so warm and comfey, you make the 13 hour school days a lot more bearable.
Love, Me.

Dear December 7th-16th 2009,
Please don't suck the soul from my body? And maybe you can try and not be so crazy stressful and brain-draining? Thanks.
Love, Me.

Dear Braedon,
I love you. Why on earth do you put up with my craziness? Let's get married, okay? Perfect. :)
Love, Me.

Dear Books,
Why do you have to be so tempting and wonderful? Don't you know I need to focus on school? Why do you have to trap me in your pages of mystery and plots, especially when I should be listening in class? Don't worry though, I'm not mad. I still love you. :)
Love, Me.

Dear Family,
Seriously, could you be any cooler, awesomer, wonderful, or loving? Nope. I think not. Thanks for all you do. :)
Love, Me.

Dear Life,
I know I complain at times. Probably too often. But I do love you and appreciate you more then I could ever say. Thanks for all the wonderful experiences and joys you bring me.
Love, Me.

Dear Running Shoes,
I miss you. Do you miss me? Lets hope next semester we will be spending more time together.
Love, Me.

Dear Me,
You are smart. You can do it. Give yourself some credit. Be still.
Love, Me.

Dear Dry Erase Markers and White Board,
You make homework and studying so much more enjoyable. How did I live with out you guys for so long?
Love, Me.

Dear School,
You will not get the better of me. I will defeat you in the end. You have been a worthy adversary and a constant companion these past years, but I will triumph. I will win. You're just gonna have to deal.
Love, Me.

Dear May 2010,
Please come quick? Thanks.
Love, Me.

Dear Social Life,
I know it's been a while, but don't worry, I'm still here. Please don't hate me for not visiting much lately... hopefully one day you'll understand.
Love, Me.

Dear Blog Readers,
Seriously? You really read this nonsense?
Love, Me.

To that Fat Goose

I'm not sure if any of you have heard this song before, but it always gets stuck in my head around this time of year. It goes like this:

"Christmas is coming the goose is getting fat. Please put a penny in the old man's hat. If you haven't got a penny, a haypenny will do. If you haven't got a haypenny, then God bless you!"

Go youtube it. It's pretty awesome. ;)

The reason I bring this up is cause today I came to the realization that it is almost December.

When did that happen?

I am so looking forward to the break this week (even thoudh sadly it will be Braedon-less since he is in California with his family). It will be so nice to spend time with my wonderful family, catch up on school work slash house work and so forth. And then after that we are on to December. Woot! Why am I so looking forward to December 1st? Well I'll tell you!

1) I can officially call in and schedule our Temple date. :) May 13th. Put it in your calendars.
2) I am that much closer to being done with the semester.
3) Family Christmas parties.
4) Going to see the lights downtown.
5) More hot chocolate. (Yes I realize that it doesn't need to be December to get hot chocolate, but I didn't want it to feel left out)
6) Christmas Break.
And finally,
7) Christmas. Obviously. :)

So here's to that fat goose! May he get fat fast and may December come quickly and stay long. And of course, here's to remembering the season. To putting a penny in someone's hat - so to speak. I am so grateful for my life and those in it, hopefully I show that gratitude and can show it even more in the coming months. I love you all! And I hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving :)

Cheers.

And... Yes!

So. In case you haven't heard...

I'm engaged. Officially! :)

Finally, right?

So I've been asked by many people to post how Braedon proposed so here it is.

First off there are a couple of things you need to know.

Think To Know Number The First: I designed my ring. I hadn't planned on designing my ring until about 2.5 months ago when, while sitting in Sunday School, I started to doodle and a design was formed. I love how it turned out and I'm glad that I have something that is my own and fits me. :) Observe:

Thing To Know The Second: Because we were having the ring designed it meant that we had to wait out a certain time period for it to be finished. So in other words, the ring wasn't supposed to be done till Saturday the 21st. Well, Wednesday the 18th I got a call from the Jewelers with the news that my ring was ready. Why did I get the call you ask, and not Braedon? We still have no idea... so I text Braedon, told him it was done and that was that.

Thing To Know The Third: For those of you who may not know... I emcee for a local Improv Group called And... Go! (insert plug here: andgoimprov.com check it out - especially if you have no idea what improv is... trust me, it helps make more sense of the story to come). On Wednesday's nights we have practice. Braedon likes to come and watch.

Thing To Know The Forth: There is a certain game we play in improv that is called "Day in a Life", where I go and ask one of the audience members to tell me about there day from start to finish - with every little stupid detail. After we finish hearing about there day, the actors then act it out from start to finish. It ends up being extremely funny.

Thing To Know The Fifth: Braedon has only been able to surprise me once in my life. No joke.

On to the story.

So like I said, I got a call from the jewelers informing me that my ring was done at about 2:00 in the afternoon Wednesday. I then text Braedon to let him know, thinking he probably wouldn't even be able to pick it up till maybe tomorrow, if then. So the day progresses and I finally finish up with school and head over to Braedon's to work on homework until he get's done with work. I get a call about 5:30 from Braedon who is stuck in traffic and will be home in about 20 minutes. He finally gets home, showers and we eat dinner. Then it's time for Improv practice! We get in his car and drive on over.

Improv practice was going just like normal. Until Clint (a member of And... Go!) says "Let's play 'Day in a Life', we haven't played that one for a while!" So I say okay. And then Clint picks Braedon to tell us his day. So Braedon tells us his day from start to finish and the game begins. Clint decided to be Braedon, and I was played by Kurtis (who is growing an awesome beard right now by the way. Sweet.) As the get towards the end of the day Braedon interupts them and says "Oh wait! I forgot to tell you something I did today" and proceeds to whisper into Clint's ear...

This is when I started getting wary.

Clint then declares "Oh yes! That's right! I forgot, I had gone to the flower store first!" And he walks over to the door that leads into the room where his wife has flowers that Braedon bought and were apparently hiding in his car. She hands the flowers to Clint, who then hands them to Braedon and says something to the effect "I'll let you take over from here". And then Braedon got down on one knee and asked me to marry him!

I, of course, said yes. :)

It was perfect. And a complete surprise. I wasn't expecting him to do it that night since we didn't even know the ring was supposed to be done. But apparently when I told him it was done he started making calls and figuring out how he wanted to do it. He had his mom pick up the ring for him and when he had called me saying he was stuck in traffic he was just coming home from the flower shop. He knew if he did it that night it would be the only way it would be a surprise... and that it was.

So there you have it! We are finally engaged and I couldn't be happier. I love Braedon so much and I can't wait to be sealed to him for time and eternity. He loves me so much and treats me so well, I couldn't ask for anything more of him.

I love him with all my heart.