Ode to my 22nd year

With the passing of Christmas, my age increased and another year of my life started. So I figured it close enough to 2012 to look back on 2011 and call it an ode.

So dear 22nd year of my life...

You were good to me.

My biggest travel year to date as you took me on a cruise,

 To Mexico,

Coasta Rica,

and Panama

 then to Ireland and England,

 

 

 

 and across the USA - NY to UT.

Mississippi River!

 

Yay for family visits! :D

 You gave me a degree and lots of useful knowledge

 You strengthened the meaning of friendship.

 Took me to General Conference.

 Allowed me to attend beautiful weddings.

 

 You had a photoshoot on the beach.

Let me hold a butterfly,
while spending a week being "bearly" even human.

 Experience a giant hail storm.

Saw the Beach Boys in concert... sort of.

 Embarked on my 2nd annual Parade of Homes,

You were filled with smiles,

tears,

happiness,

sorrow,

a giant Van Gogh painting,

stress,

fear,
joys,

worry,

a burning sunburn (and experimental solutions),
laughter,

papers,

projects,

sister time,

delicious treats,

memories, new and old

movies,

firework fun,

trips to the zoo,

enjoying the temple beauty 

(logan, salt lake, idaho falls, preston, palmyra, nauvoo),

picnics,

rainy days,

and lots of job hunting. 

I am definitely not the same person I was when I turned 22,
and I am excited for what year 23 will bring!.!.!
(and hoping it opens with a nice little job offer and a big decision being able to be made) 

Happy New Year!

Made it and Outta Here

Whew.

I have survived the roughest finals week of my life!

(literally, it was tough . . . especially with all the papers, moving, and cleaning)

I also learned (remembered) a lot about myself like how incredibly cranky I get when I am stressed (oops, sorry callers of USU),

and that when I have to stop in the middle of the test to calculate whether or not I could pass the class if I literally bomb it, I probably should have studied more,

and how much I love and really appreciate friends who reach out when I "don't have time,"

and who provide things for me even I don't know I need,

and the beauty of spring really can make everything right for a bit,

and how incredibly, stinkin' blessed I am,

And now, I am (as far as I know) a college graduate!

YES!

(if anyone wants to hire me let me know . . . ;) just sayin')

Right now I am headed out to have an amazing adventure!

Pictures will follow soon!

:D

p.s. I am LOVING life right now!

MIA

Well you see I can explain that.

It's spring break.

And before that . . . well I had tests and stuff.

Plus nothing much to write about.

Oh spring break. How it brings back memories of this:

Oh I love adventure. *the SaraLee bagel bag is not a part of the story . . .

I miss that Black Rock Country - but mostly the fun getting there and back.

Also lately I really want to:

My family and I. We love frogs. . . and I don't think any of us kissed any in all the years we've been . . .

Go camping.

Or maybe just 

Make pizza with my friends with no worries or cares allowed.

*sigh*

Although I've relaxed and recuperated,

I think I need a break of some other sorts 

but I am not sure what I need to satisfy that . . .


wasn't much of a post but it's what you get for now. 

p.p.s. kend when are you coming for some guac? 
If all else fails I guess we could schedule a night and a movie 
and just pretend we are enjoying deliciousness together.

Lesson Learned

Yesterday I was on campus until 9:30 

and that is when I saw the postcard winter wonderland.

Here' s the lesson:

Do not be leaping through the newly fallen, wet, snow 

and suddenly decide to stop 

(even if you suddenly realize you can now make a small snowman) 

because apparently wet snow makes things slick 

and you end up on your back cold, wet, and well . . .

laughing.

Ok so maybe you do want to do this once in your life 

as it makes for a great memory.

Advice for your when you do:

Have a close friend witness it so you can keep laughing. . . all night.

Hooray for mistakes and unexpected surprises that don't hurt . . . to bad.

Delicious Moments Part II

Strawberry Rhubarb Pie . . . and making heart-shaped homemade butter.

Asparagus

Pepperjack Cheese

Rainbow Pancakes - I am waiting for Shayna's editing skills so for now you are stuck with this picture. In real life these were fun to eat and cut into. Yum.

Real Maple Syrup

Old Disney Movie Favorites

Pumelos

Finishing Rumpelstiltskin
(Any suggestions of fun short stories to read with friends)

A fun beautiful fairytale-filled picture

Dorito's Commercial
(watch the one with the two guys in white shirts and the fish bowl- the others aren't nearly as great.)

One makeshift, big, comfy bed.

Finished Projects

Little (yet HUGE) tender mercies

If you can't tell . . .

. . .from the lemonade header
and the blue sky and grass background . . .

I am missing summer today.

Don't worry though!
I am not already wishing away the new year as I am quite enjoying it so far.
I am excited for it all to occur
and while the blog transformation is in progress - it'll probably change,
so you might not also miss summer.
For today though . . . it's doing it's job.

Curses.

On of my favorite board games EVER

(at least with people I know).

I played it not too long ago with the friends mentioned previously :)

Perfection.

Just imagine being the person who when touched:

Was given a big shock (act electrocuted) AND had to guard their cards while exclaiming "Yer always after me lucky charms" AND because you said something you had to say it with a French accent into an imaginary CB radio while scratching your underarms like a gorilla AND playing the air guitar AND you had to say Bok Bok because you spoke AND due to that chicken noise you must yell out a lunch meat and get incredibly itchy . . . 

Yeah people laugh at you A LOT.

And that my friends . . . is what I love about that game.

Storytime.

DAY 1:

Of a Zombie Apocalypse at USU started out as any other day:

Well except it didn't and I'll tell you three reasons why:

1. I had to start the day off finding my bandanna for the game telling people I was human as I picked it up from my friend Cyri the night before and then it was gone . . . 

2. I lost my phone.

3. There were zombies (no big deal).

So I was perfectly content being a human,

 (actually more than content)

and I had to go and sign a waiver 

(meaning go ACROSS campus which meant

I was making myself more vulnerable to a zombie attack).

On my way back to work I saw two zombies come out of their apartment

Unsure of whether they had seen me or not I walked faster and plotted crossing the street.

Then lo and behold there were two zombies crossing the street.

THEY saw me.

So I ran. And grabbed the nearest building's door handle just in time to be safe

(because it makes me safe to do so)

and THEN the door was locked.

They gave me a 5 second head start to try and get away 

and I almost did but I made a fatal mistake

and veered towards work rather than the other door at Edith Bowen.

This is about where I became:

A ZOMBIE.

p.s. I am not listed as a zombie here yet . . . 

does that mean that I am not one?

p.p.s. I FOUND my phone.

Dear Cheeks,

I am sorry you decided to puff up quite big after surgery,

I tried to ice you quickly and continue to.

And only put comfortable food into my buccal cavity so as not to harm your delicate selves.

I didn't go to school or work today so you could just rest,

and it looks like tomorrow will also be out too.

But please get better because I need to go to work,

and I miss smiling, and laughing, and singing.

So I'd really appreciate quick healing.

Thanks.

Yours truly,

The girl you are a part of. 

p.s. I feel that since this picture was taken yesterday it's missing aspects of me from today - like the large red mark under my eye and what feel like even more huge cheeks . . . oh well - it's an adventure right?

Those Little Things Once Again

So this past weekend was a blast for me.

I stayed up later than I should have but I think it was worth it.
I also enjoyed the following.
Yup. Pillows. But not just them sitting there.
Within the past few days I have had several pillow fights.
LOVE.
Pillow talk, normal conversations,
late night conversations,
laughter-filled conversations are all my favorite.

Remember when you were little?
And the big toy on the playground was a pirate ship?
I did that Monday . . . WITH people.
And before that look what we did.
Yup we received underdogs (underdoggies)
*Thanks Cyri
These are terrifying nowadays bytheway.
And had a jumping out of the swing competition.
(Some of ours really landed like he looks like he is going to).

I am telling you I have the BEST friends.

---------------------------------------------------------------------

In my search for those pictures I found these
and I love them too much not to include them.
This one inspired me a little details to come hopefully.

Oh! And I was also told this:
"A butterfly can never be appreciated
if it never comes out of it's cocoon."















I am working on that now.







Life = Large amounts of BLISS

OH! Sorry one last thing.
Sunday this man:
Yup! Quentin L. Cook of the Quorum of the Twelve
shook my hand and I got to hold the door
for him and his beautiful wife as they left church.