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!

BYU football Insanity!

Stacy came to Provo this last weekend. YaY! It was so good to have her down here, we had a blast! Here is what we did:

Saturday- We played beach volleyball in the morning at my appt. complex, had lunch at Olive Garden with her friend Brent, and went to the mall (of course). The BYU-Oklahoma game was on that night and we had 2 parties to go to. It was hilarious watching everyone scream, there were a few times we jumped it scared us so bad! After the game we decided to go to a different appt. and play Rock Band for a while. On our way there we drove down University Ave. and found a MOB of BYU students on all 4 corners of an intersection. There had to be a couple hundred kids screaming, cars honking, and people were just hanging out of cars. It was madness! There were a couple police cars there but they were just trying to keep the people out of the street. We saw a truck with at least 30 people in the back, and the cops couldn't even do anything. It was insane! I've seen BYU fever, but never like this. Provo went wild after that game, it was hilarious! We just stood there laughing and watching everyone.

This video is kind of dark, but you can hear the craziness

Sunday- Went to church, break the fast (singles ward version of Sunday dinner), then went over to Jackie and Camille's new appt. (my old roommates, Jackie was also Stacy's companion on the mission) So good to see them as always!

Monday- Jackie, Stacy, and I went to an El Salvadorian restaurant for lunch. We had papusas. Kind of interesting, but they were good. We then went back to the mall for a while. Stacy had to go back that day and Jackie wanted to go to Ikea so we went there and Mae left from there :( I was so sad to see her go! It was great having her here. LOVE her!

Monday night we had ward family home evening. We went to a park up by the temple and went ice-blocking. It was a blast! We have a ton of new people in the ward so it was great getting to know everyone a little better!

In my last post I talked about overcoming fears. I got to conquer another one! After I went down sitting on the ice someone dared me to go head-first. It was actually a really steep hill, the pictures are a little deceiving. It was so fun, kinda crashed at the end, but no broken bones! :)

The fact is, that to do anything in the world worth doing, we must not stand back shivering and thinking of the cold and danger, but jump in and scramble through as well as we can.
-Robert Cushing

Two of my new roommates, Jamie and Beth. Love them already!

ALL-IN-ALL: LIFE IS GOOD!

On pummelling fear... or at least kicking it in the shin!

Growing up I was always a little on the nervous side. I remember waking up from a bad dream and was certain there was a "bad guy" hiding under my bed. Really wanting to go downstairs but afraid this man would grab my feet, I would stand at the head of the bed, take a running start, and jump as far as I could. It sounds so silly now! :)

I have also always been afraid of flying. Thank goodness for Xanax (just a mild tranquilizer) :) I just take it and sleep the whole flight. A couple years ago I interviewed for grad school at NYU. It was like 5 in the morning so my parents and I grabbed a muffin and a bottle of water while we waited for the plane to go back home. I had taken a pill about 15 minutes before so I was starting to get a little loopy. I had my muffin in one hand and my napkin in the other when I spilled my water. While I was cleaning it up I hear my dad say, "What the heck are you doing?" I look down and have smeared my BLUEBERRY muffin all over me and the chair next to me. Still don't know how it happened. This one I had to work on and I still am a little nervous. But flying over the ocean several times helped. Isn't it so great when you get where you're going though. Totally worth it!

Me and Stacy in Paris


My Family in Maui

I also used to be afraid of driving. Living here cured me of that! I am officially a crazy Utah driver!

I am terrified of spiders. I know these disgusting little creatures are only like 1/10,000 my size, but they freak me out! If there is a spider in the shower and I can wait until a roommate gets home to kill it, I do. If I cant I usually just dump comet on them, smash them, and rinse them down the drain (sorry that's kind of gross)! One day I got up to get ready for church and there was a huge one in our kitchen and all my roommates were already at church for meetings. So I decided it was time to face my fear and just kill it already. So I grabbed a shoe and went to stomp, but I couldn't move. It's like these things put paralyzing gas into the atmosphere or something! So I did what anyone would do, I put a glass over it and waited for a guy to come over after church. I mean what's a helpless girl supposed to do? ;) I guess I'm still working on that fear, maybe someday I'll be over it.

While there are many fears I feel I've conquered, part of growing up and living are facing the fears head-on, knowing it will be a life-long battle. I don't think I will ever not be afraid when someone I love has cancer, or one of my friends is in pain. I think deep down I was afraid to date or open myself up to the possibilities because I was afraid of the "bad guy" grabbing my ankles and pulling me down. While it's scary to put yourself out there, I honestly believe that sometimes the scariest journeys lead to the most beautiful DESTINATIONS! So I have FAITH to replace fear, and HOPE to replace regret. It doesn't get any better than that! If at the end I can say I didn't sweat the small stuff, I braved the big stuff, and I enjoyed the rest I know it will have been a FANTASTIC life!

Have a great week!!!

A great week in IDAHO!

Last week I took 10 days off and went home for a much needed vacation. We had a BLAST! Words can't express what I feel for these people, MY people. Everything we've gone through this past year has brought us that much closer to the people we were meant to be, to the family we were meant to be. These were my very best friends before I came to this earth, still are, always will be. Love you guys!

I love my sis!

I'm pretty sure we were arguing here, some things never change!

Girls Day! Lunch and a movie, so fun

Fun in the Sun!

Mom pulled me on the jetski- I really was afraid for my life!

Got a little more wake boarding practice in- next summer: back flips! :)