The Life of Two Sorensens

Wedding Bliss

2009-11-03T17:03:00.000-08:00

Time Flies

2009-11-03T16:35:00.001-08:00

I used to laugh at one of my sisters because she would post on her blog like twice a year. Well...I can't laugh anymore. It has been months since I have posted and it hasn't been for lack of excitement in my life. I have had so many things happen that I could write about. Life has just been busy. One of my good friends told me that now that I am married, life shoudn't be so busy...I don't know that I agree with that. I feel as if my life has just taken on a little more craziness and busyness. I love being busy though, and I wouldn't have it any other way.

To start things off, after 2 1/2 years of dating, Chris and I got married on June 27. It was a beautiful affair. We had an outdoor bbq the night before the wedding and an outdoor reception the night of. Being in June, I thought the weather would be perfect...until the wierd thunderstorms started coming through. We had thunderstorms and pouring rain every day for about 4 weeks prior to my wedding. I must have been doing something right though because the night of the bbq it just sprinkled a little bit and then the day of the wedding was absolutely beautiful! The weather was perfect. My mom and her sister (who decorates weddings) did a phenomenal job of decorating and everything couldn't have looked more beautiful. We were married in the Mount Timpanogos Temple and then we had the reception in my parents' backyard. Up until the wedding everyone kept telling me that something always goes wrong on your wedding day. My story of what went wrong turned out to be pretty funny actually. Anyone who knows me knows that I love to make lists. If I have anything important or I need to remember a lot of things, the list notebook comes out and I get everything all ready to be checked off. The night before our wedding, I made sure that I wouldn't forget to take anything to the temple where we were getting married and so I made a list and got it all ready. I left to go to the wedding feeling pretty confident in myself that I had everything and then right as I was pulling into the parking lot, I realized I had forgotten Chris' ring. We didn't have time to go back and get it and so my dad said he would take care of everything. He went around the wedding party asking for everyone's rings, we found one that fit, and decided to use it. (Thanks Tyler) It was no big deal, we would just switch the rings after we got home. During the wedding ceremony, the sealer marrying us asked if we had rings to exchange. I smirked a little and said yes. Seeing my smirk he turned to Chris and said, "Oh no, you didn't forget her ring did you?" Knowing what had really happened, everyone else there just busted up laughing and we had to explain that it wasn't him that had forgotten my ring, it was me that forgot his. I don't know if you had to be there to think it was funny, but we still joke about it. Really though, I think one of the best parts of the day for me was being able to share such a wonderful, happy day with all the people that I love. Chris and I both had a lot of family fly in and I also had a couple of friends come a long way to be here with us. It just made the day that much better. I loved it!

Everything since then has been a whirlwind! If I told you about everything that has happened since, it would take way too long. I will, however, make a top ten list of things we have done since then and include a lengthy picture show...for those that just can't get enough of my life.

1. We went on a really fun Honeymoon to Las Vegas. We spent way too much money on spa treatments and gelato but had a blast. On our way home we even got to stop and have dinner with my cousin Julia and her husband Ken, which was an added bonus.

2. After we got back from our honeymoon, we still had all of our family in town. We spend the next couple of weeks catching up with them and having a fun time. We went up to pioneer park where all of the kids had fun riding the train, making crafts, and dancing. We also go to go on a couple of hikes and just have fun being together.

3. We went to Huntington Beach, California, with some of the my family. It was a lot of fun to lay around on the beach, boogie board, and relax before school started again.

4. I took the time to introduce Chris to the wonderful world of city days here in Utah County. All of the cities around here have a couple of days where they have carnivals and parades and big celebrations during the summer. It is always one of my favorite things to hit as many as we can. I think we made it to 3 this summer where we ate a lot of corndogs and strawberries of cream, watched fireworks, played carnival games, and just had some small town fun.

5. We celebrated Chris' 24 birthday in August! I decided that I wanted to make him a really good cake. It was probably the most delicious cake I have ever made... We also went to Flemings for a really yummy dinner! I love you Chris!

6. School started again. I am in my 5th year of teaching 2nd grade and Chris started his last year at BYU doing his undergrad. It has only been 2 1/2 months and I have already managed to get 2 of my students to move making my huge class this year not quite so huge.

7. Chris and I had some fun camping this year. I think the favorite trip we took was to Strawberry Reservoir. Chris and his buddies went crawdad hunting and ate something around 50 crawdads. I ate 0.

8. We also spent some time climbing. Chris met a new friend in one of his classes last year who is an avid climber and puts up some of the routes in the canyons around here. They climbed like crazy this summer. I went as often as I could. We discovered a lot of new places to climb and had a lot of fun.

9. I have now decided to start up a new hobby. I just finished taking a cake decorating class with my good friend Kara. I don't love eating cake though. Many people benefitted.

10. I am teaching a rock unit at school right now and decided that it would be really fun to go geode hunting on my days off of school a couple weeks ago. What was I thinking? We found a place online that everyone said they were finding more geodes than they even wanted and it was only 2 hours away. We packed up and headed out. It took 3 1/2 hours of driving my not-so-off-roading-vehicle on off-roading-roads to get there and we didn't find any geodes. I will not be geode hunting again anytime soon.

11. Two of Chris' brother's wives (my sisters-in-law) have had babies in the last few weeks. We have spent a lot of time lately holding them. I love how small they are right now.

12.Because of those new babies, Chris and I have been spending a lot of time with their families. We had a fun time carving pumpkins with our 3 neices for Halloween. We even got to take them trick-or-treating last night. Neither Chris or I had been since we were little and it was so much fun. The girls were getting cold and tired and at one point wanted to go home but Chris and I were having so much fun that we convinced them that they didn't want to stop yet.

Maybe that wasn't a top ten, but who's counting? I am just so grateful to have such wonderful friends and family around to keep me busy! We'll have to wait to see what the future brings to the Sorensen family, hopefully I'll write about it sooner than later.

So much time and so little to do with it...

2009-05-17T13:38:00.000-07:00

Between the wedding and finishing another school year (I teach 2nd grade) I have found it difficult to find the time to update my blog or keep up with the blogs of friends and family. I recently moved home and thought that would free me up some time, but no luck, I seem to have gotten busier. Chris went to Berlin for a couple of weeks to visit his parents and I thought to myself, now I am going to have some time to update my blog. Well, he comes back in a few days and I am sitting at my parents house on a Sunday afternoon with nothing to do but update my blog or put addresses into the computer for invitations and I guess you all know what won the battle today. Invitation addresses can wait another day. The thing is, for as busy as I have been, there is not a whole lot to say. Wedding plans are going smoothly thanks to a mother who has done this so many times that she has got it down to an art. (I'm her 7th daughter to get married.) My adorable roommates threw me a very fun bridal shower yesterday and I got to see a lot of old friends that I haven't seen in way too long. School only has 2 weeks left and we had a very successful hike/day up the canyon on Friday. Chris comes home in exactly a week and I can't wait to see him. My really good friend just gave me a nice couch because she redecorated her house and got a new one. If you haven't heard about the disgusting couch that Chris and I have sitting in our apartment right now because we don't have money to buy a new one, I'll just leave it by saying, I am definitely extremely thankful for the new couch. For being such a busy time in my life, I am lucky to have some really great friends and family who are there to help me out and keep me going.

Beware...

2009-02-01T13:07:00.000-08:00

Beware...I added a lot of posts. Hope you enjoy reading them :)

BIG NEWS!!!

2009-02-01T13:06:00.001-08:00

I didn't want to post about this until I had called everyone that I wanted to call and now that I feel I have, I thought I would just let everyone else know the good news. CHRIS AND I ARE FINALLY GETTING MARRIED! After dating for 2 years, you can imagine that we probably got asked a lot about why we aren't married yet and when we planned on getting married. I can officially say now that the day is getting closer. I scheduled the Mt. Timpanogos Temple yesterday and we will be saying 'I Do' on June 27, 2009.

Chris has wanted to get married for a while now and being the indecisive one that I am, I needed more time to figure things out. We started really talking about getting married over Christmas break and went looking at rings. I wanted Chris to pick out the ring but I gave him suggestions of what I liked and then began waiting. Those who know me well, know that I can't keep a secret to save my life and something as big as this was eating away at me so I continued to pressure Chris. We were thinking maybe June and I wanted to let others know because my siblings were starting to plan a trip to Utah and I wanted them to be here for the wedding, so we decided that we better get a move on things. Last Saturday, January 24, Chris and I went up to a close friend's house for dinner with all of my girlfriends and their husbands. One of my other good girlfriends had gotten engaged so we were talking all about her wedding and everything and I will admit that I was feeling a little jealous. Then we left late and decided that we would head over to my sister Amy's house to watch a movie. On our way to Amy's, we passed a park where Chris and I have spent a lot of time walking around and talking and he decided that he wanted to take a walk. Normally, I wouldn't have thought anything strange about this, but on this particular night, it was pouring...a lot. Having a feeling that there was something going on, I put aside my usual whining and decided to go along with it. We began walking around the beautiful park, me in my giant puffy brown coat with the hood that goes down past my eyes and he without a coat or anything. Despite the rain it was a beautiful night. The duck pond was frozen over and the ducks and geese were walking across it and the sound of the rain was very calming. We walked for a little while and then Chris told me that in the park was the first place he ever knew that he loved me. He told me other cute things and then asked me to marry him. It was very romantic and perfect!

It took me a long time to decide where our relationship was going to go but I am now so grateful for Chris. I am always so encouraged by him to try and learn new things and be a better person. He helps me through hard times. He keeps me grounded (which is no easy task). He makes me laugh. He has the brain of nerd (which I have always been very attracted to). He loves to take care of me. He is an amazing chef. He is very handy at fixing things. He rock climbs with me. He has been there for the last 2 years and I can't imagine not having him there in the future.

LOST!!!

2009-02-01T12:42:00.000-08:00

I have an addiction to the TV show Lost. It all started this past summer when my sister Amy and I decided to watch Lost from the first episode to the last. We both teach school and so we didn't have anything else to do. We were joined by her husband Robbie, Chris, and our friends Art and Rob C. When the new season started we got the group back together for a Lost party! I love addictions!

Good Company and Some Bubble Gum

2009-02-01T12:32:00.000-08:00

A couple of weeks ago, I spent the night up at my Grandma and Grandpa Larsen's house. My cousin, Sherrie, moved to Washington D.C. and so we got together with our other cousin, Paul, to have a fun night before she left. We went to dinner to start off the night and then ended up at my grandparents' house. I love bubble gum and quite often will have a pack of Hubba Bubba in my purse. We all started chewing to see who could blow the biggest bubble. After watching and laughing for a little while, my cute spunky grandma decided that she needed to join in on the fun and what resulted is a really great memory that I will probably keep with me always.

CRISIS!!!

2009-01-20T23:31:00.000-08:00

So...my hair stylist moved to New York. It took me 5 bad hair cuts to find her and she is the most perfect hair stylist I have ever had. Some of you might not understand the severity of this crisis but those of you who know the value of a good hair stylist know how I am feeling right now. I think it should be some sort of rule that hair stylists have to pick a place to live and then they just aren't allowed to move ever. I guess I am going to have to start my search all over again...sad...

Holidaze...

2009-01-19T16:46:00.000-08:00

Many people have told me that it has been forever since I have updated my blog.... it's true. The holiday season came and went and left me wishing it hadn't ended. Most of the festivities were pretty low key with lots of food and games. They started in Denver, for Thanksgiving at my sister Katherine's house. Chris came along and spent the week with the family. Katherine, Amy (another sister), and I helped my mom cook a real Thanksgiving dinner complete with a honey baked ham because I don't like turkey. For the first time ever I ventured out early on Black Friday to see if I could get any killer deals on things I didn't need. We almost didn't make the drive back because of the bad weather but due to Robbie's skillful driving and a lot of patience, we got back in time to make it to work the next day.

I also spent a lot of break letting my mom teach me how to become domesticated. My younger sisters got sewing machines for Christmas this year and I wanted to make Flirty Aprons for my roommates' Christmas presents so we had a day of sewing that quickly turned into a night of sewing. I have never seen my dad so proud as when he walked into the kitchen to see his 4 youngest daughters with their sewing machines lined up on the counter and their mother ready to help them in any way possible. We laughed all night, learned a lot, and our aprons turned out pretty flirty so I would call it a success.

PARTY ANIMALS!!!!

2008-11-02T13:46:00.000-08:00

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Isn't Halloween great? We put on the some of the dorkiest things that we would never ever wear let alone go out in public in and we go out and parade around like idiots and nobody cares because either they are dressed up too or they feel stupid because they are the only normal looking people around. I love it!

Halloween started early for me this year. I usually have some huge elaborate costume in mind that I have thought up the year before and then I go all out. This year was different for me.

My story for this post starts clear back in July. I was in Columbus, Ohio, visiting my brother and his family. My cute sister-in-law Sarah, her daughter's Allie and Kate, and I were at a store when we happened upon this truly awful white, tight, jumpsuit. We picked it up immediately and started to laugh. We thought it was so funny that we couldn't leave the store without it.

Jump a few months forward to Halloween. I needed a costume and I couldn't think of a thing...until I remembered the white jumpsuit hanging in my closet. I got the cheapest afro you could find, which I couldn't pick out and fro because the hair was falling out, and some gold shoes and went out to party. Of course, I made Chris wear a cheap afro too so that we matched. On Friday, I hung out with my roommates for a little while (they are the dead birthday girl and the mobster). Chris had a soccer game at 9:15, so I went to that and surprisingly was the only person there dressed up. Needless to say, everyone else felt pretty dumb when I got there and they realized that they hadn't dressed up for Halloween. Then we had traditional pizza at my mom and dad's place and watched a movie. On Saturday, we danced the night away at Bastian's Annual Halloween Ball. It was a lot of fun, and I got to use all of my best dance moves clear down to the Napoleon Dynamite dance.

It's probably a good thing that Halloween only comes once a year.

I LOVE LOVE LOVE THE MOUNTAINS!

2008-10-26T12:05:00.000-07:00

I love the mountains! I go up in the mountains at least once a week. Most of the time I go up there to climb or I take a drive to just see how beautiful they are and be thankful for the world that we live in. Last weekend, I went to a new part of the canyon to find a new cool climbing spot and I was again blown away by how pretty the mountains were. The spot was up a canyon I go in quite frequently but farther up than I have ever gone before. It was far enough in the canyon that a lot of the trees were protected from the wind and were still clinging onto their leaves. It was really quiet and peaceful and I was just so taken away with how beautiful the canyon was that I went back up yesterday when I had some free time. I am not a photographer by any means, but I took the best pictures I could and I am posting a few of my favorites.

Projects

2008-10-26T11:56:00.001-07:00

I love projects. I love learning how to do new things. My life, however, gets very busy and I find myself not finishing the things that I start. In fact, there are 3 garbage sacks of jeans in my old bedroom at my parents' house waiting to be made into a quilt that I started 7 years ago. That is how bad I am at not finishing projects that I start.

I decided a few months ago that I wanted some pretty curtains in my bedroom and I looked and looked and couldn't find just what I wanted. But I did find some material that I loved, it was just really expensive and so I just dropped the whole idea for a little while. Last week, my material went on sale. I bought what I needed and I went to my mom's house so that she could help me sew my curtains. It was a very long process and we ended up lining them, which made it even longer, but after many hours, I finished them, all by myself. I was so excited! I rushed home to hang them up. When I have a place of my own, I want to get tie-backs and things so they aren't completely finished, but they are as finished as they can be for now. I took a picture so that everyone can see that I did finally finish something that I started. I was really proud of myself.

My Life: Crazy But Good

2008-09-21T13:51:00.000-07:00

As a good friend was so kind to point out, My blog has become very boring. Apparently, I am not updating it enough. I couldn't agree more. Life has been so crazy for the last couple of months and no matter how much you pray for it to stop...it doesn't. I have a just a few minutes in which I am going to sum up the last few months.

Chris came back from his internship in July and we took a camping trip up to Silver Lake with his family. It was absolutely gorgeous! The hike was one of the prettiest hikes I have been on. I love being outdoors and I love how peaceful the world is. We hiked up to the lake and spent the night. Then we hiked back down and kayaked around the reservoir. It was my first time kayaking and I can safely say that my kayaking skills need a little improvement but I had a lot of fun.

If you were watching the video of me eating sushi, that didn't upload, you would probably think, no way! Janell does not eat sushi? You would be wrong... I did eat it and I have the video to prove it...it just wouldn't work. For anyone wondering what the big deal is, it's only a California Roll? It is a big deal. We never ate sea food anything in my house growing up and nobody in my family eats it. So, when I was in California, with Chris' family, spending the week playing at the beach and seeing all of the sights, Chris decided that I had to try sushi...Bad idea. Me eating that stupid piece of sushi took 45 minutes of me staring at it on my plate, 3 minutes of holding it, numerous attempts to sticking it in my mouth, a big bucketful of sweat (I was extremely nervous), and gag reflexes of steel. It was the most disgusting thing I have ever eaten in my life, I almost lost it a few times, and I don't plan on ever repeating anything like it.

Katherine and Paul

Dylan and me

Amy and Robbie

A couple of Fridays ago, my sister Amy called me up and said, "Hey, Robbie (her husband) and I are driving to Katherine (my other sister) and Paul's (her husband) for the weekend. Do you want to come? We are leaving in about an hour." I, being the spontaneous one that I am, hopped in and went along. We left Amy and Robbie's house around 7, drove 15 minutes south, stopped for some dinner, and continued on our 8 hour long journey to Denver around 8. On Saturday, the boys went to an electronics convention while my sisters, my cute nephew Dylan, and I went to enrichment and made crafts all day. We then topped the night off by eating at the Chee Burger Chee Burger. After attending church the next morning, we drove home for another 8 hours, just in time to go to bed and start another week. It was probably the shortest road trip I've ever been on but it was well worth it. I love spending time with my family! I have the cutest sisters and the most adorable nephew! Thanks for taking me Amy and Robbie and thanks for letting me come stay Katherine and Paul!

The rest of the last couple of months have been filled with mostly school stuff. School is back in session and I am teaching 2nd grade for my 4th year. I have a really cute class, and although it has been extremely hard for me to be back on a working schedule, I am really loving being with them every day. When I am not busy with school things, I have been finding other things to keep me busy. I have been rock climbing a ton, trying to get it all in before it gets too cold. I got a new shelf for my bedroom and did a little organizing (which, it's pretty lame, but organizing things is one of my favorite things to do), and hanging out with my new roommates (who I absolutely love living with).

Life is good, and fall is coming, what else could I want?

My New Baby

2008-08-11T10:49:00.000-07:00

Additions

2008-08-11T10:29:00.001-07:00

It seems everyone I know is either just having a baby or announcing they are pregnant. Now...as you can probably guess, I have an announcement too. I am not pregnant!!!

Never to be outdone by others and not wanting to be left out, I would like to introduce you to the newest member of my small family.

Her name is Myka Elite. She weighs in at not very many pounds. She is a dark copper color that glistens in the sun and has turquoise swooshes down the side that match my eyes. She is equipped with an alloy frame designed for a women's body, RockShox Dart 3 La Femme shock system, and mechanical disc brakes. All ready we have had more fun on the mountain trails than I could ever imagine and I just couldn't ask for more.

But really, congratulations all of my friends having babies!!! I am really excited for all of the new additions happening for your families and I'm excited to get to be a part of it. I think I have some pretty amazing friends that are going to be pretty amazing moms!

2008-08-03T12:09:00.001-07:00

I LOVE Being An Aunt

2008-07-27T10:11:00.000-07:00

I made a goal this year to see all of my nieces and nephews. During the summer, I have spent a few weeks making my rounds to everyone's houses or else playing with family when they came here. My 4 oldest siblings all live out of state and I don't get to see their kids very often so it has been a lot of fun hanging out with and getting to know them better. During all of my traveling, I came up with some different conclusions regarding my family. First, I have the cutest, smartest, most fun, hilarious, creative, and seriously amazing nieces and nephews around. Don't even try to argue with me on this...you'll lose. Second, I love being an aunt! And Third, I think that my family should pick one place and everyone needs to move there because this whole spread out thing really stinks. I hate that we all live so far apart and don't see each other very often because I miss having everyone around and seeing all the kids grow up. So to my older siblings I am making a request to pick a spot (it can be anywhere, I'm not picky) and start moving there so that us younger siblings can follow in your footsteps and then I won't have to make a goal to see all of my family within the year.

You Looked Perfectly Beautiful Before...

2008-07-27T09:57:00.001-07:00

Those of you who know me well know 2 things.

1. I love teaching 2nd grade

2. I love changing my hair color.

In fact, during the last 3 years I have had different variations on blonde, brown, red, and almost black, and purple hair. (The purple was an accident...oops) It all started 3 years ago when after doing a lot of color weave mixtures I decided on a whim to get one all over color that was totally different than I had ever had before. Being a toe head my younger years, and a fake blonde ever since, I decided to go dark...really dark. It was my first year teaching 2nd grade and I had this really cute girl in my class that was very straight forward and told you exactly what she thought. Well, when I got to school that day with really dark hair, she was not so excited. She walked up to me, put her hands on her hips, and in a very stern voice said, "Miss Lunt, why did you change your hair color? You were perfectly beautiful before!" And then she walked off a little agitated.

I have been changing my hair color quite often since then and people, including my students, have come to expect it from me. In fact, during our persuasive writing unit, my kids had to write a persuasive essay to me, persuading me to do something, and I even got a couple of kids who tried to convince me to change my hair to something crazy like pink or polka dotted.

With that being said, I am now blonde again.

Me and My Popular Friends

2008-07-06T12:19:00.001-07:00

Wickedly Popular!

2008-07-06T11:02:00.000-07:00

It has been a while since I have gotten on here to blog. I have had so much fun over the past couple of weeks! I spent the last week on a girl's trip to California to see the musical Wicked and I have come to a final conclusion...I am just too popular...everyone wants to hang out with me! (If you turn on the sound on your computer, I am playing you my favorite song from Wicked, called Popular) Here's a little bit of what I have been able to fit in my busy schedule lately...

It all started with a fun Orem Summerfest. I went with my friend Robbie Collett and we met up with some of my other friends, Jessica and Micah Martin. We watched the parade, gave each other pumps on our bikes down the middle of Center Street (do you remember pumps? I love it!), and searched high and low for funnel cake (which they didn't have) until meeting up with a few other people for the best fireworks show around. I think Orem Summerfest is one of my favorite things about summer.

Rod threw Diana a birthday party and of course, they wanted me there because don't forget, I am popular. Diana and I lived together for a long time and we just clicked from day one. She has been such a great friend over the last few years and so it was fun to go celebrate her big day with her! Casee, another good friend and old roommate, and her husband Matt were there and we spent the night just laughing. Diana's cute mom was there being the hostess. She was so funny because she was worried that there weren't enough places for everyone to sit and it was getting really warm in Diana's apartment (which it really was and that is why I have the shiny face in the picture. I was cursed with a sweaty forehead) and the cake didn't look just right. We had to continually reassure her that she was entertaining poor college students and we didn't have the highest of expectations. I am glad Diana had a fun birthday and I have loved every minute of our friendship. It is good to have your girlfriends close by.

Then last weekend I went out to Usana Ampitheater to see one of my all time favorite singers ever...Tim McGraw! It was probably the best concert ever! I went with Sherrie and some of her friends. He sang all of his hits and Sherrie and I went crazy dancing around. In fact, we were next to some gay/lesbian couples and at one point during the concert, one of the guys came over and put his arm around me and said in a slightly lispy/gay voice, "I just love that you are dancing around in your own world because that is what I am doing too and I just love it!" and then he walked away. I am not sure of what that means and I pretty sure that I am not gay, but, I did have fun "dancing in my own world".

The next night, I was totally going to go to bed early because I was super tired. Yeah right. My room mate Maggie started yelling, "We have to go to Omelet Night at the Hospital!" For those of you who have never heard of omelet night at the hospital, you are not alone, I had no clue what she was talking about...and neither did she. So there we were, all ready for bed, I was so tired I wanted to scratch my eyeballs out and she gets this email about eating omelets at the hospital? Of course we had to go! We walked into the hospital cafeteria at 10:30 and it was packed! There were these 2 old men making omelets at a skillet and a long line of people going through the cafeteria and practically out the door. It was so weird! We got in line and waited, and waited, and waited, and waited; Wondering if an omelet was really worth this long wait. We almost turned around and went home a couple of times but it was almost like we just had to know what was so great about these omelets that would get this many people here late at night! Finally, after over an hour, it was our turn. These 2 old men started chatting with us and they were kind of rude (that is what they are known for). They joked around with us while making us the biggest omelets you have ever seen in your life. I had a ham, bacon, chicken, onion, green pepper, tomato, hash brown, 3 cheese, and avocado omelet! We took them home at midnight, ate about 5 bites, and went to bed. I ended up throwing the omelet away, but I can now say, I have had the midnight omelet at the hospital experience and it was good!

Lastly, I got back from Las Angeles, California, last night where I went to see Wicked on a girl's trip! I had soooo much fun! I went with my Aunt Elizabeth for her 50th birthday party and her daughters. First of all, that musical is probably the most fun and entertaining musical I have ever seen, and I have seen a lot of them! I loved the characters, I loved the music, and I loved all the sets and costumes. I absolutely loved the show! We also spent some time in Catalina and riding bikes down Venice Beach. It was my first experience on a tandom bike. I rode on the back because when I tried being the front person I couldn't control it and almost ran into quite a lot of people in a 30 second interval of time. Then we went to a really nice restaurant for birthday dinner and walked to the marina to watch the 4th of July fireworks! It was a really fun trip! I had a blast with the girls and loved every minute! Thanks for inviting me along and letting me be a part of your family for the week!

Well, I guess you now see that I am really so popular...j/k. I am having so much fun this summer! I leave again in a couple of days to visit some family and they just can't wait :)

Good Old Manti...

2008-06-17T21:27:00.000-07:00

So...I have successfully been to the Manti Pageant 4 times. I have also successfully slept through it 4 times. Now, I don't pretend to be a whiz at math or anything, but I'm pretty sure that if you subtract the amount of times I have slept through the pageant from how many times I have gone, you would come out thinking that I sleep through it every time I go. This is true. I love going and experiencing the small town and being outside all night with friends. In fact, we had a lot of fun playing truth or dare and goofing around. Maybe I just went because my ward was going down there on a big bus and it sounded fun. Maybe I went because they were not only feeding us a really yummy dinner but also a midnight snack lunch on the way back (which had a million goodies in it including my favorite, uncrustable peanut butter and jelly sandwiches). Maybe I went because everyone else was doing it. Whatever the reason, I had a really fun time and a really good nap!

Sherrie!!!

2008-06-17T21:16:00.000-07:00

This is my cousin and bestest friend Sherrie. We have been friends ever since I can remember. It doesn't matter what I am going through, she always knows how I feel. I have been so grateful for her friendship over the last 25 years of my life. From way back when we would play Barbies for hours on end, to taking spontaneous trips, to shopping and chatting on the phone!

Last weekend, I called her up just needing to get out of Provo. I went up to play with her and we spent the day up in Park City shopping. I had so much fun and we seriously didn't stop laughing. It was so sad when I had to leave and we both realized that our day of fun was done and real life was waiting for us.

Sherrie, I think you are such a beautiful and fun girl and I just love your stinking guts!!!

Don't Mess with the Grasshoppers

2008-06-10T22:10:00.000-07:00

It is late and I really should be in bed because I have to be at a conference early in the morning but I wanted to write really quick before I forget. Something really funny happened to me today and since there was nobody else around to witness it, I thought I would share it with anyone who wants to continue reading. And I promise, I like to exaggerate stories, but I swear, I did not exaggerate any of this. It is all true.

I live in Provo, Utah, right next to Brigham Young University (BYU). There is a Y painted on the mountain right next to BYU Campus. This story takes place early this afternoon when I decided to hike up to the Y on the side of the mountain. It started out just your normal everyday hike. This hike happens to be very steep the whole way and as I was trekking along I was watching the ground and I kept noticing that there happened to be a lot of grasshoppers along the trail. I was by myself and so to keep entertained, I would see how close to the grasshoppers I could step before they jumped away. Well, I was pretty far along the trail and it was really hot and I was really sweaty. I don't know if that is what caused the phenomena that occurred next but I stepped really close to a grasshopper and instead of jumping away from me like the other grasshoppers, this one jumped onto my leg. As I reached down to swat him off, a couple of other grasshoppers jumped onto me. As I went to shake them off, a couple of more jumped onto me...until...I kid you not, I had probably about 15 grasshoppers on me at once. I even had one on my head. I started to shake and after about 20 seconds, they all left me. Not knowing what to do next, I stood there and laughed and then continued on my hike. Whenever I saw a grasshopper the rest of the day, it made me giggle a little because I just imagined all those grasshoppers attacking me all at once. So if you know someone who was hiking the Y today, and saw the crazy girl laughing at the grasshoppers, and wondered, "Who let her go hiking all by herself?" then you know the whole story behind it. Don't mess with the grasshoppers!

STRESSED OUT!!!

2008-06-01T11:49:00.000-07:00

I slept peacefully for the first time in months last night. I woke up feeling refreshed and awake and I thought to myself, huh, that's something I haven't felt in a long time. It was so wonderful! I think I just let myself get so wound up in this last school year and my body has been so stressed out that it couldn't even rest properly. I am happy to report that the year has ended. My muscles don't feel so tight, I don't have a headache anymore, my throat doesn't hurt and I slept without having crazy dreams. Life is good again...

Well, I now have a lot of time on my hands, I decided that I want this to be my summer where I try new things and just have fun doing them. The only problem is that I am not sure what to try. Anyone have any suggestions?

Pictures of Paradise

2008-05-18T10:18:00.001-07:00

I Wish I Were In Hawaii...

2008-05-17T22:22:00.000-07:00

As I have been thinking about my trip to Hawaii and what I wanted to write about it, there were just so many things that I didn't know where to start. So... as my sister-in-law Sarah would do, I made a top ten list of things we did in Hawaii. Here they are, in no particular order:

1. Snow cones! We ate snow cones just about everyday. There was a little place called Matsumoto's Grocery Store (where they sell snow cones and tourist crap but no groceries, oddly enough) up the road from the beautiful beach house that we stayed at in Haleiwa. We would stop by on our way in/out of town and have snow cones with ice cream in the bottom. My favorite was the raspberry-lime mix. Robbie even had sugar soaked beans in his. After many reassurances that the beans were delicious, I finally tried one. I almost threw up that day.

2. The Polynesian Cultural Center: The P.C.C. is a place where you can go and learn about the culture of the islands of Hawaii. While there, we saw a guy climb a coconut tree, took a boat ride, and watched a lot of cultural shows. Sherrie (my cousin) and I had a lot of fun taking pictures with all of the different Tiki statues and tried to imitate them. We also attended a luau where they buried a pig and had a dancing/singing show. I think the highlight for all of us though, was the night show that the Polynesian students put on at the end of the night. They did traditional dances from all of the islands and it was, to say the least, spectacular!

3. Hanauma Bay: We spend a day snorkeling at Hanauma Bay. I couldn't believe how beautiful the water was there. It was so clear and blue! We went snorkeling for a while and Sherrie and I couldn't stop until we saw a sea turtle. We finally found not only 1, but 2, and we watched them swim around for quite some time. It was probably one of my favorite things we did the whole week. That is not the most amazing thing about this day though. For anyone who doesn't know my family, my mom doesn't like to swim all that much and she refuses to put on a swimming suit. In fact, I can't remember ever seeing my mom in a swimming suit... until this day. I was there and I will be a witness for those who may not believe it, my mom had on a swimming suit. My dad took a picture too. He said he needed proof that it had happened. She agreed to be in it...but...she got to wear her shirt over the swimming suit, a hat so nobody could recognize it was her, and she got to place her beach bag in front of her legs. I love my mom!

4. Pearl Harbor: On our day to Pearl Harbor, we were able to ride a boat out to where the memorial for the U.S.S. Arizona is buried in the ocean. I was not aware, until we were there, that the ship still sticks out of the water in a couple of places and you are able to see oil leaking out of it still. It was a very spiritual experience for me to stand there and think about those men and women who lost there lives that there and to see their names listed on a wall along with a few men who survived the attack on Pearl Harbor and chose to be buried there with the ship when they died. I am grateful for those that have fought and continue to fight for the freedoms that I hold very dear. I shed a couple of tears as a stood there and watched the American flag flying in the breeze, just so overcome with gratitude for all that I have been blessed with.

On a lighter note, we also walked through a submarine. I absolutely hate confined spaces. I get extremely claustrophobic and walking through the submarine wasn't my greatest thrill of the trip. It was fun, however, to watch my dad go through the sub. He pushed every button, cranked every crank, and laughed the entire way through. He almost looked like a little boy, just loving every minute of gadgets and doohickies.

5. Waimea Falls: So, there is this beautiful waterfall on the North Shore called Waimea Falls. It is a short little hike to it through tropical plants and wildlife and then it ends at this beautiful natural spring waterfall with a pool at the bottom where you can swim in natural spring water. We decided that it would be fun to hike up and go swimming so we got in our swimming suits and set off. The hike was very pretty. A lot of the plants and trees had lost their leaves and flowers in a wind storm a couple of days before and the only wildlife we saw were chickens and pigeons, but it was still a fun hike. Then we got to the falls. Oh, did I say falls, what I meant was we got to the trickle in the rock. Our hike was pretty anti-climatic at that point. There were 2 lifeguards at the trickle in the rock that let us know that it was the dry season and so the waterfall was basically non-existent. They told us we could swim but had to warn us of all the strange diseases that could be in the stagnant pool since there was no waterfall. Needless to say, we didn't go swimming there but we did laugh a lot the rest of the trip when many other people we met during our trip suggested that we hike up to see the beautiful Waimea Falls.

6. Waimea Bay: Unlike Waimea Falls, this place had a lot of water and it was clean. It was actually my favorite beach we went to on our trip. The sand was perfect; it was soft and deep when you walked through it. The water was also a lot of fun to sit in because it was deep and the waves would come into the bay strong enough that you could float there and relax like in a wave pool but not so strong that you were being pelted by them. It was just a little difficult to get out of the waves. In fact, mom and I sat there cracking up as we watched my dad trying to get out. He would get knocked over by a wave and then right as he would go to get up, he would get knocked over again. He finally washed up on shore on his back all covered in sand. It was a fun day!

7. Parasailing: Sherrie and I went parasailing. It was a blast! Once you were up, everything was so peaceful. All you could hear was the wind. And the view was gorgeous! Mom and Dad came along and rode in the boat and took pictures.

8. The Dole Plantation: We tried for days to make it to the Dole Plantation but every time we would go, it had all ready closed or was just about to close. Amy and Robbie were leaving before the rest of us and wanted to go also and so we finally made it on their last day and had about 1 hour before they closed. We were about to go in when we got stopped by the Pearl ladies. There are stands set up just about everywhere around the island where you get to break open an oyster and find the pearl inside. All of us girls wanted to break open oysters while we were there and had heard that the Dole Plantation was the most fun place to do it and so we stopped and had our luck with the pearls. I had all ready decided that I wanted a pretty pink pearl set in a ring. Mom went first. She picked out her oyster and opened it up and she got a big, beautiful pink pearl just like I wanted. Then Sherrie went. She opened her oyster and got another beautiful pink pearl. Not as pretty as mom's, but still very pretty. Then it was my turn. I was seriously so excited and nervous because I really wanted a pearl like theirs. So I picked the ugliest oyster because Robbie told me they had the prettiest pearls. I tapped it 3 times and yelled ALOHA as they rang the bell. The lady opened it up and started squishing the oyster around to find the pearl. Then just when I couldn't take it any longer, she popped out an ugly white pearl that was so puny and small looking. Amy started cracking up because she said my face went immediately from being so happy and excited to a face of disappointment and sadness. I somehow managed to pick the retarded oyster. I watched as Amy too picked hers and got a beautiful black pearl. Everyone was looking at what they wanted to get their pearls set in and I really wanted a ring, but seeing as how expensive they were, I didn't get one. It didn't really matter though because my pearl was smaller than all of the ring settings anyway and just looked stupid. Then mom got her pearl put into a necklace pendant and when you buy a setting, you get to open another oyster for free. She got 2 pink pearls which she gave to me to get set in earring studs (which happened to be one of the cheapest things there). I love them and I am very grateful for mom in letting me have her extra pearls. She said that one day I will inherit her necklace to go with them. Anyway, by the time we finished with our pearls, the plantation was closing. We hurried inside and got pineapple ice cream and then walked around outside and looked at the pineapple plants. I never imagined that they looked the way they did. It was very cool! On our way home, we were talking about our pearls and how my pearl was so crappy and how mom had gotten the prettiest pearl. Sherrie and I were sitting in the back of the van and we said, "Yeah, Mom got the prettiest pearl, Amy got the most pearls (she got a matching set of earrings, necklace, and ring), and we got the cheapest."

9. The Laie Hawaii Temple: We got to go do a session at the LDS Laie Hawaii Temple. It was fun to be able to take some time and do a session with my parents and Amy and Robbie in the temple. Poor Sherrie was going to do baptisms for the dead but we didn't know she was going to need an appointment and so she was not able to. She spent the whole time walking around outside. She got very bored but I must say, she took some very pretty pictures.

10. The Bastian's Beach House: We had a lot of fun playing at the beach house. It was right outside Haleiwa and the beach was literally right out the back door and it was one of the most beautiful spots on the North Shore. We went on a lot of walks along the shore there and spent a day sitting outside with the sea turtles. It was fun too because the surfers would come there to surf. I think the best part of it was watching the sun set on the water and just always hearing the waves coming in and going out. Many thanks to Robbie and his family for letting us stay there!

Well, this has probably been the longest post I have ever made and will ever make. We just really had a lot of fun and I wish you all could have been there with us! There were a lot of pictures... a lot more than I put up. I haven't gotten Sherrie's pictures yet and she has a lot of them and so I will put a few more up later. Love you all!

1st Climb of the Season but Definitely Not the Last!

2008-05-12T16:59:00.001-07:00

Being White

2008-05-12T16:37:00.000-07:00

A lot of people have been asking me to post my Hawaii pictures on my blog but I haven't had enough time to get through them yet so...they aren't here but I will definitely get them up this week with some highlights from our trip. I thought I would at least tell you a funny story from when I got back. As you all probably know, I am extremely white and I don't think I have ever been tan in my life. I went to Hawaii hoping that I would get a little color. (Who wants to come back from Hawaii as white as you left?) I burn very easily and so I was careful the whole time about sunscreen and such but it came down to the last day there and I was still the whitest person on the island. We spent our last day at this really beautiful beach and being the smart person that I am, I decided not to wear any sunscreen. Probably not the smartest decision I have ever made in my life...I was radiating heat for a few days afterward. Well, the funny part is after I came back, I went to school. I teach 2nd grade. One of the girls in my class had made me a card telling me how much she had missed me while I was gone and it had a picture of us on the cover. She handed me the card and said, "This is a picture of me and you. I colored you red because I have never seen anyone so sunburned in my life!" Anyway, I don't know if that is funny to you, but it was really cute.

Oh, I also posted some pictures that I have been meaning to put up for a long time. This was the first climbing day of the season for me! I even got Kaylynn to come. We had some problems getting started because the rope was tangled from last year and we couldn't find the right climbing spot and things like that but...climbing season has started and I am excited!!!

Festival of Holi!

2008-03-30T11:30:00.001-07:00

2008-03-30T10:54:00.000-07:00

A group of friends and I went to the Festival of Holi at the Hara Krishna Temple in Salem. It is to celebrate the good over the bad by bringing in Spring and sending away Winter. They burn a witch effigy and you throw colored chalk into the air on each other. It was pretty crowded this year, people were parking over 2 miles away to come. We spent the night dancing to Indian music and throwing chalk on each other. I always love spring because we are able to sluff off the winter and start fresh. It has been really fun for me this year to watch the world become new after such a long period of coldness. It was fun to be able to bring in the spring with close friends and just a little bit of chalk in the wind.