Absence Makes the Heart Grow Fonder?

So. It's been awhile... Sorry about that. I'll just pretend that you've all been eagerly awaiting another post by yours truly. Absence makes the heart grow fonder, right? Riiiiiiight.

Bullet list anyone?

Don't mind if I do. :)

• School is going pretty good. Busy, of course, but good. I'm taking a psychology class right now (adolescent development) and we finally, finally, started talking about psychology for the first time this Monday. 3 weeks into the semester. What did we talk about? The proposal that's going on about removing the 12th grade to save money. That's it. If it wasn't so not interesting to me I might be questioning why I went into such a hard major... too bad psychology makes me want to fall asleep after 15 mins.
  

• Don't worry that I spelled psychology wrong every single time I typed it in that last paragraph - again only proving even more that I've picked the right major. Yay for firefox's spell check. :)

• I've been sick this past week. I've decided that I don't like being sick while being in school. It's been a long time since that's happened... I guess my immune system can only hold out for so long. In either case, Braedon has been wonderful about taking care of me. Even when I'm all gross, stuffy, feverish, etc etc, he still tells me I'm beautiful and gives me kisses and get's me anything I need or crave. Including gelato. :) I just love that boy.

• I got my shoes for the wedding. I love them and I am so excited. Why? Observe:

That's right. Be jelouse.

• Braedon also got his wicked awesome shoes for the wedding too. Observe:

• Don't worry that the rest of the bridal party (minus the parents) are also wearing a varitey of chuck taylors. :)

• Speaking of wedding stuff - I've met with the Bishop and we've scheduled the day for me to go to the Temple. I can't wait. :) I'm going to start going to Temple Prep this week, we'll see how that goes. I'm excited.
  

• Me and the Hilly Face went to Ross this weekend and tried on some extremely ugly dresses and took pictures, just cause we can. Sadly those pictures are on Braedon's computer. Stay tuned.

• It may be silly or dumb.... but I would be lying if I said I wasn't extremely excited and looking forward to the season premiere of Lost.

Eeeeeee!

• I've been doing observations/Student Teaching of sorts at West Jordan High. I can only go every Tuesday, but I'm enjoying it so far. I haven't actually taught a lesson yet, but I will be next Tuesday. I'm really nervous, but excited. So cross your fingers that I don't suck at teaching. :S

• I'm tired and my brain is feeling uber non-creative, so I'm calling this blog quits.
  

fin.

The Start of an End.

It's 2010! (I totally didn't mean that to rhyme with the title, I swear)

Only 2 more days till I got back to school and start my last semester of my undergraduate career! It still seems really weird to me that this is my last semester of college. I'm a little nervous, but excited, to be entering this stage. I'm going to have to start my career soon.

Weird.

I've actually started the ARL process (Alternate Route to Licensing) and am also in the process of trying to get a hold of the principal at the school my sister teaches at so I can maybe start doing some observations and even teaching a lesson or two. I can't actually get my license until I've been hired to a full time or part time teaching position (which seems totally backward to me...), so I've actually already applied to a lot of schools (in and out of state - a job's a job, right?). So we'll see how things go with that.

The whole ARL process makes me nervous though. There are so many steps and things you have to do and all in a specific order, that I'm afraid I'll miss something or do something wrong.
I want to be able to start teaching as soon as possible so that me and Braedon can have some money... so I'm constantly on edge thinking of what the next step should be and so forth. Hopefully I don't mess anything up. :S

Anywho.

In other news. Me and Braedon have decided not to have the wedding reception at my house, as we had originally planned. The more I thought about doing it at the house the more stressed I got, so we finally decided to go out and find a place. Which we did (with a lot of help from my mom - she basically rocks when it comes to planning anything)! It's a newer place, but we went and looked at it with the parents on Saturday and I fell in love. So we booked it! It's call the Atrium, and it's almost like an indoor garden. Observe:

It's beautiful and I am really looking forward to having the reception there. Besides that all other plans are pretty much the same, and basically figured out at this point, again my mom rocks. :)

I guess that's about it. Life is going good. I've enjoyed this break so much and am a little sad to see it go. But then I just remind myself - 'one more semester and you graduate and then get married.'


It doesn't get much better then that. ;)

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!

:)