2 Fantastic Dorks and a Late Halloween

I'm not going to lie, I don't go crazy for Halloween. My yearly goal is to figure out how I can wear normal clothes and spend as little money as possible. This year was even worse because I worked a lot of extra hours that week so I didn't have time to go out and find a costume. I ended up being a "Nudist on Strike." That way I could wear regular clothes and spend 6 minutes and 89 cents on my costume. We had a multi stake party and I won "most controversial costume." My parents were so proud! :-)

I had to post more San Diego pictures!

I miss those cheeks! Seriously my very favorite tiny person!!

The strangest phenomenon happens when you get together with a high school best friend and you become that age all over again! I have to say we both had a gigantic case of REVERTIGO!

We definitely revert back to 15 years old everytime we are together. Suddenly I have the urge to say things like "my truest", laaaav it; and "I don't know" (but with the extra pronounced "t")

(: only 3 people will get that joke, you know who you are! :)

So after a wonderful game of MASH (never too old by the way).....

We had to take these glamour shots!
I was laughing so hard tears were actually streaming down my face!

We learned we had some very useful talents. Kate, for one thing can make her chin magically grow 8 inches. And I can make only my left eye go cross-eyed, while keeping my right one straight.

Both talents are bound to come in handy I'm sure!

I wonder if my cross-eyed talent is hereditary....

We of course bought twinner outfits so we could do what I think is the creepiest photo shoot I have ever done.

Matching tank- $12

Matching cardigan- $30

Creepy sister wife picture that still makes me laugh out loud- PRICELESS

I'm so lucky to have had friendships that I know will truly last a lifetime. That it doesn't matter how long it's been, or how different our lives are, we are still just us. 2 fantastic dorks! Thanks again Kate! Love ya!

San Diego

Wow! Last time I posted I said I wouldn't go 5 months and here I am again 5 months later! I can't believe how fast time goes. Last Friday I flew to San Diego to stay with Kate and Jeremy (and London of course). I had an absolute blast! It's been a while since I've laughed so hard I had to really concentrate to breathe. I was 16 all over again! It was overcast the whole time I was there but I didn't even care. Not great beach weather, but PERFECT shopping weather! A girl needs a good shopping spree every once in a while. We did get to the beach once to take some pictures. It was freezing but totally worth it!

You can tell how cold the water was by looking at my horrifying neck muscles! I didn't even know they could do that! :)

I'll post more pics later. These are all we took with my camera (I know how disappointed you are in me mom) :) Kate took a bunch too though so don't worry!

Breaking The Silence

Wow! It's been a really long time!! I cant believe it's been like 5 months since I last posted. I guess life just happens like that sometimes. I was going to post all my Washington D.C. pictures just as soon as I got back, which didn't seem to work out so well. I'll try to post some later :) I guess most of you read my mom's blog so probably know a little about what is going on right now. At the beginning of the fall I started noticing I had a lump in my neck, below my left ear. I didn't think much of it at the time and just decided to watch it. I finally told my parents about it a couple months ago and they started pushing me to go to the Dr. I finally made an appointment with an ENT (ear, nose, and throat specialist). I've also been having some sinus issues again so I thought I could kill 2 birds with one stone. So I went in there a week ago and they CT'd my sinuses and ordered an MRI of my neck for Friday. He said my sinuses were a mess so he wanted to do surgery on them again (EEEAAKKK). So we did the MRI and had the follow-up appointment Monday. They found 4 masses on my parotid salivary gland. But they still don't know what they are (The radiologist and Dr. disagreed a little I think). So he put me on some killer antibiotics and steroids to make sure there are no underlying infections. No change yet but its only been 2 days, so I keep hoping! My dad actually got me into his ENT in Salt Lake for next Tues. so we'll hopefully know more then, and I can get a second opinion on the sinus surgery.

I just want to say thank you for all the prayers that have gone out on my behalf. I know how much it has helped!!! I appreciate all of your love and support. I am so blessed to have such wonderful friends and family!

Oh yeah, I never followed up on the 21 day challenge: It's been great! This last week has really tried me. I found I can have 13 kinda cruddy hours, but when I pray at night I know how much my Savior loves me. That's really all I need, I can go to sleep knowing it's been a great day!!!

Hope you all have a great week! I'll try not to be 5 months next time! :)

The Coma, the birthday, and the 21 day challenge

Last week we had a big birthday party for our roommate Jamie. So I decided to make this cake my mom told me about. Its like a triple chocolate, peanut butter, cream cheese frosting DREAM! It was gone in like 10 minutes and got the nickname "The Coma". It was delicious!

We also made another cake and these super easy candies. They are pretzels, topped with either rolos or caramel filled kisses, and we tried different combos of marshmallows and m&ms. You just melt the rolo or kiss on the pretzel at 200 degrees for 5-8 minutes and push them down with the m&m or marshmallow. They are really addicting.

Some of our friends who came, it was a blast!

I am super excited because I am going home TOMORROW for 10 whole days. I am so stoked to see my family! I cant even explain how much I love these people. I am so grateful to have them in my life. This has been the hardest year of my life, of their lives. If we didn't have each other I don't think any of us could have survived it. I also believe I have grown more as a person, that we have grown more as a family, than in any other year of our lives. So, for that I am truly grateful. I am grateful for the courage and never-ending faith my dad has shown through his toughest year. I love my mom for the support and strength she has given him and us. I love my brother and sisters (yes Syd, you too!) for always being willing to laugh and cry with me. You are all my very best friends! I would rather roll on the ground laughing with you guys, than do anything else the world! You are my HAPPY PLACE!

I can't believe it's almost Christmas. I've really tried to think about the true meaning of Christmas this year, trying to strengthen my relationship with Christ. I believe above all he wants us to be happy, he wants us to have joy. That's how I came up with the 21 day challenge. Everyone says it takes 21 days to create a habit. I want to have 21 great days. I figure then it will be a habit and I'll always have good days. So a few days ago I decided to try it. I've been coming down with the flu or something and I had to work yesterday so it was really difficult to stay positive and I figured the 21 day plan was going to fail miserably. I also just started having all these negative thoughts. Last night I realized that its when we are trying to be happy that Satan works the hardest to make us miserable. All I had to think about was Christ and the sacrifice He made for me. I realized then how immeasurably loved I truly was, and how important I am to my Heavenly Father and my Savior. How could it be a bad day after that!? I know that I am truly blessed. I know with this knowledge I will have 21 great days, 365 great days, and uncountable others, an eternity's worth. I know I chose the Savior's way before I came here. I still choose His way. I choose HAPPINESS.

I hope that all of your holidays are bright and joyful! Love you all!

The end of Fall and Thanksgiving in a box

Well I think Fall is officially over. It has been sooooo cold the last few days and we're starting to get snow here and there. Fall is my favorite season, I'm not ready to say goodbye yet! It was so gorgeous this year. A few weeks ago I went behind my complex and took some pictures. Here are a few of them.

Last week our apartment complex had a big combined FHE at the ice skating rink. I am horrible but we had a blast! I learned that if you are really terrible guys will offer to hold your hand ;) INVALUABLE information!!!!! I held like 9 guys hands! It was so much fun.

A week ago Sunday our apartment decided we wanted to do a little service project before Thanksgiving. So we decided to do "Thanksgiving in a Box" for a local family. It was so much fun. We went shopping on Saturday night after I got off work. This was our shopping list:

1 20 lb. turkey

turkey pan

bag potatoes

bag yams

marshmallows

brown sugar

butter

jam

2 boxes of stove top

gravy

canned veggies

olives

rolls

pumpkin pie

apple pie

celery

cheese whiz (for the celery, a family tradition)

pickles (Anne's family tradition)

rolls

veggie tray

The best part: I found coupons (I cant believe I just said that) and with my employee discount we bought the whole lot for $60.

So yesterday we wrapped and stuffed the box and hauled it over. We put it on the doorstep, rang the doorbell, and ran like crazy. It was a little dicey, we didn't count on the Beware of Dog sign, but we all made it out. It was so much fun!!! I think I want to do it every year.

I love Thanksgiving!!!!! Not only do we get to eat a lot of yams, We have an official holiday to count our many blessings. I am so grateful for my wonderful family, who I get to see in 3 DAYS!!!!!!! I cant wait! I am also so grateful for my friends, my job, the gospel, and this country we live in. I know my life is truly blessed. Have a great Thanksgiving!!!!

Halloween '09

Wow!! I can't believe how long its been since I last posted. Where has this month gone? It will be Christmas before we know it. Sometimes it seems like there is either too much going on or not enough to blog about. The last couple days have been a BLAST!! Friday night we had a little party/blind group date. Jamie (my roommate) and her date Reed were the only ones who knew each other. So he brought friends and her sister and husband came too. Reed hadn't met us and Jamie hadn't met his friends, so we joked it was a double-blind date. It was really fun though. We made lots of food, carved pumpkins, and watched Halloween movies.

This is all of our pumpkins together. I just cant believe how talented we are! :) j/k

This was our pumpkin (me and my date). He was tall and skinny and picked out this pumpkin that looked exactly like him. So we made a deal that if he gutted it, I would carve it. I told him that the pumpkin was going to be him, glasses and all. We were going to take a big group picture at the end, but I forgot so I don't even have a picture of him. But this is exactly what he looks like. It was so funny!

We had these pumpkin cupcakes with cream cheese frosting. They were delicious and soooooo easy to make. For the cupcakes you use:

-1 yellow cake mix (just the mix)

-1 lrg. can of pumpkin pie filling

-2 eggs

The recipe for the frosting is:

-1/2 c. butter;

-1 pkg cream cheese (8 oz);

-4 c. powdered sugar (more or less);

-2 tsp vanilla

A couple weeks ago we were trying to decide what we could be for Halloween. Jamie had these cute winter boots but couldn't think of what to be. So just joking I said we should be the 4 seasons. She liked it and we decided to do it! None of us wanted to buy costumes, so we could use stuff we already had. Beth was summer, I was spring, Jamie was winter, and Anne was fall. It was really fun. After we got ready we cranked some music and had a fashion show.

Beth was a lifeguard

I had some rain boots and an umbrella. So I bought some rhinestone stickers and stuck them all over me to look like raindrops. I put flowers in my hair, and bought silvery ribbon to hang from my umbrella to look like it was raining= $8 costume

Jamie

The 4 Seasons: Spring, Summer, fall, and winter

Skylar is our best friend and might as well be our 5th roommate !

Ours and another ward in our stake had a big Halloween party at this big mansion in the foothills. It was huge, it had a full size gym in it.

We played volleyball and toilet paper dodge ball

They gave out a few costume awards at the end of the night and we won "most unique costume"! Not bad for basically free.



On the way home we had to stop at the grocery store, so I couldn't resist the photo op with our little banana. I guess I'm my mother's child after all! :) love ya mom

...........and possibly the scariest thing of the entire day, after we washed our faces my roommates wanted to see what my hair looks like if I brush through the curls. BEWARE, this is frightening!!!!!!!!!!

If only it was still the 80's. I'd rule the world!