The Best Is Yet To Come

Hot Springs

2011-10-15T20:46:00.000-07:00

Amanda and I were able to meet Katie, Danika, and Jenny, along with some others at the Hot Springs about two or so hours away from us. It is about half way between us so we thought it would be a good place to meet up.

After we were there for a while, we decided we were hungry and drove to get something to eat. It was a lot of fun being able to hang out with them. I miss those guys a lot!

It's Here!

2011-09-03T12:24:00.000-07:00

College football season is here and I am super excited! I have been waiting for this since last season. And I am especially excited because I get to watch it this year and I don't have to get the play by play from my mom over the phone. I bet she is excited about that too! :-) Living in Rexburg I did not have the channels available to me to watch so that was the saddest thing ever for me. I definitely went through withdrawals and now I don't have too.

The Best Kind of Post - An Update!

2011-08-25T19:00:00.000-07:00

So it appears I have a lot to catch up on. I apologize in advance because this will most likely be an incredibly long post... so here it goes.

In July, my friend and former roommate Kate got married in the Colombia, South Carolina temple. I was able to travel, along with another friend, Whitney, to North Carolina to be there for the wedding and participate in wedding stuff and the reception. I was so glad to be a bridesmaid and be able to fly across the country and spend this time with her and her family.

Apparently Whitney and I had a little too much fun on the plane! :-)

We had a last girls night by going to Taco Bell.

Wedding Day...!

I went to Rexburg for Amanda's graduation and it was so much fun hanging out with the girls one last time before we were not all in the same spot again.

It was so much fun watching her graduate. We are so proud of her and her accomplishments!

I have been hanging around Provo just waiting for school to start on August 29th. I am nervous and excited. I started out nervous, but now I think I am getting excited. I think it is partly because I am tired of not having structure.

On August 19th, my cousin Jordan got married to a great girl named Amy. My parents came to town and stayed for a week. It was great to have them here. I miss them a lot. We got some things ready for my classes and did some shopping. We were also able to visit some people that my mom wanted to see. It was great to meet some of her friends and our family that I haven't had a chance to meet yet. It was also awesome to hang out with friends and family while getting ready for the wedding and at the wedding and reception. It was a beautiful day!

It was a fun day. I also got to go out to dinner with two of my old roommates who are doing their student teaching here in Utah. It was so great to see them! Unfortunately I didn't get any pictures of that, but trust me it happened.

I am hoping to do better at this blogging thing but we will see how that goes. :-)

P.S. A lot of these pictures don't belong to me, I just borrowed them.

It's Your Birthday...

2011-08-02T16:37:00.000-07:00

"A birthday is just the first day of another 365-day journey around the sun. Enjoy the trip." Author Unknown

So tomorrow (August 3rd) is my birthday and I am going to be 21. I can hardly believe that I am that old already. It seems like time is flying by.

Me and My Gang

2011-06-30T08:00:00.000-07:00

This is our theme song...

This is a picture of three of my roommates and I. We got our nickname of "The Gang" from my mom because we were always together, hanging out, and doing things. We thought it was cool so we kept it.

We love to do things together and now that I am living in Provo and they are still living in Rexburg it is hard, but we still make time to see each other.

When I was up in Rexburg, we went shooting and to Levi's baseball game.

So we only took two pictures at Levi's game... whoops...

Lucky for all of us, they came to Utah twice! :-)

The first time they came, we went to The Cheesecake Factory and to Pirates 4 at IMAX. We also walked around Gateway Mall in Salt Lake. It was so much fun to see them, since we hadn't seen each other in a long while.

The second time they came to visit, we went to the Salt Lake Bees game, which was a lot of fun!

(P.S. The pictures might be a little out of order.)

Why do some things in life have to be...

2011-05-26T11:25:00.000-07:00

difficult?

confusing?

hard?

frustrating?

emotional?

exciting?

I have been asking myself these questions for a while and have decided that I am going on a search for myself. I don't really know what I am going to do yet and how I am going to carry it through, but I have decided I want something to be done. So here is to hoping that this adventure will bring happiness to my life...

Fresh Start

2011-05-06T16:20:00.000-07:00

So I have decided to create a fresh start in my life. I have transferred from BYU-Idaho in Rexburg, Idaho to UVU in Orem, Utah. I now live in Provo with family. My major has changed from Child Development with a minor in Marriage and Family Studies to Graphic Design. These might seem like drastic changes to some people, but to me they aren't. I am ready for the adventure and I am also ready to see what it will bring.

Along with this adventure, I had to get some new things that I hadn't expected to get if I was continuing on my old path. I needed a Mac for my major because of the programs that it uses. I also needed furniture because I was going to be creating a room out of an unfinished basement.

Even though I miss my friends in Rexburg like CRAZY, I know that this was the right decision for me and I am ready and willing to see what this adventure brings me. :-)

Hopefully pictures to come soon...

Sister Pictures 2011

2011-04-27T10:54:00.000-07:00

I was able to go to Mesa for a short visit while I was in between semesters and transfers. I loved being home because I missed my family, but I also missed my sisters like crazy. I know they missed me to because I got plenty of text messages and messages on Facebook telling me so. I love my sisters so much and I am so glad that they are in my life.

BLOOPERS! Because we love to have fun... :-)

This one is most definitely my favorite!

We decided that Jocelyn probably thinks we are nuts! At least that is what her face says...

Well that was a lot of pictures, but we definitely had a BLAST that day!

Daddy

2011-01-20T15:15:00.000-08:00

Every time I listen to this song I think of my dad. It reminds me of us. I introduced him to it at Christmas time and once he heard and every time after, he would cry. I am so grateful that I have such a special relationship with my dad.

Dad, I love you!

My Little Girl by Tim McGraw

Gotta hold on easy as I let you go.
Gonna tell you how much I love you, though you think you
already know.
I remember I thought you looked like an angel wrapped in pink
so soft and warm.
You've had me wrapped around your finger since the day you
were born.

Chorus:
Beautiful baby from the outside in.
Chase your dreams but always know the road that'll lead you
home again.
Go on, take on this whole world.
But to me you know you'll always be, my little girl.

When you were in trouble that crooked little smile could melt my
heart of stone.
Now look at you, I've turned around and you've almost grown.
Sometimes you're asleep I whisper "I Love You!" in the moonlight
at your door.
As I walk away, I hear you say, "Daddy Love You More!".

Chorus:
Beautiful baby from the outside in.
Chase your dreams but always know the road that'll lead you
home again.
Go on, take on this whole world.
But to me you know you'll always be, my little girl.

Someday, some boy will come and ask me for your hand.
But I won't say "yes" to him unless I know, he's the half
that makes you whole, he has a poet's soul, and the heart of a
man's man.
I know he'll say that he's in love.
But between you and me. He won't be good enough!

Chorus:
Beautiful baby from the outside in.
Chase your dreams but always know the road that'll lead you
home again.
Go on, take on this whole world.
But to me you know you'll always be, my little girl.

New semester

2011-01-06T13:55:00.000-08:00

Well here I am at the beginning of a new semester at BYU-Idaho. I wish I could say it was great to have a break, but there were some days that it was not and I was pretty much bored to death with nothing to do because I didn't want to interrupt my roommates and their homework and study time.

But anyway, the new semester has begun and I am actually looking forward to it even though I am not quite 100% sure on what to expect yet. So I guess we will see how it goes.

I am hoping my Christmas break post will be coming soon...

Fall 2010

2010-12-12T17:47:00.000-08:00

Okay so since I haven't really posted on my blog for the entire semester, I decided this post will be dedicated to what has been going on.
(Events may be out of order...)

We like to go on road trip adventures:

We went to Mesa Falls and Cave Falls one Saturday!

And had a blast!

Now that it is snowing we can go sledding! And it is so fun!

I was able to go to Washington with a couple of my roommates and spend Thanksgiving with my roommate's family. We had a great time on the road trip, except for the fact that we drove through a blizzard, that was not fun let me tell you. Now in Washington it is supposed to rain a lot, well while we were there it snowed for a while. We were stuck in the house for a couple of days straight. We were told we brought the snow with us. But it was still a lot of fun.

Katie and I had fun jumping down the stairs at the glass museum:

We also went to Zoo Lights, but it was raining so we got soaked. But it was still cool.

We were in a car accident this semester. We were on our way to Yellowstone for the day. Danika, Jessica, and I were in my car and Kate, Katie, and Amanda were behind us about 20 minutes or so in Kate's car. Well, we were going around a corner and Danika saw that there was some black ice. I heard her and tried to get around it, but didn't quite make it in time and pretty soon we were spinning. The car hit the guardrail head on and the airbags went off. It was definitely not a fun day. Kate, Katie, and Amanda drove up on the accident because we were not able to get a hold of them because we were in the mountains and none of us had signal at the time. I was pretty surprised that I had not cried yet. The six of us gathered together and waited until the police, the ambulance, and the tow truck. A lot of us were in tears, but we were able to make it through. We had to think of someone to call because we weren't sure we would all be able to make it home. Well I wouldn't think of anyone else to call except Levi. So Kate called Levi and he said he would get there as soon as he could. We were only twenty minutes from Yellowstone so they would have to drive over an hour to meet us. Levi and Katie met us at the towing place and that is when I lost it, but anyway everything worked out.
Okay so here are some pictures (they aren't pretty):

We were able to take fun pictures on campus with a green screen:
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So I know this is a long post, but I was able to catch up with what was going on in my life. Hopefully I will be able to keep up with my posts next time.

Happy Halloween!

2010-10-31T17:51:00.000-07:00

A couple of my roommates (past and present) decided to go to a Halloween dance party on Friday night and told me that they were taking me and I didn't have a choice. Well I didn't have a costume planned, so my roommate Kate went into our room and quickly came up with something... so I was a Hawaiian girl. It was kind of cold so I wore a jacket too (I live in Idaho after all).

It's probably time for an update

2010-10-05T15:54:00.000-07:00

So I thought it might be time for an update since it has been a while and I have also been told by people to update. So this might be a long post, but hopefully it will be worth it...

Since I have moved to Idaho I have been having a lot of fun. My roommates are awesome!

Spring '10

Fall '10

Camping...

Football...

We like to have fun...

I was even able to visit Arizona a couple times this year...

Okay I don't know why the picture is sideways...

We got a dog... his name is Xander

My cousin Paul got married and I was able to go back for the wedding...

(stolen from Mallory's blog)

I am off track right now so I am just looking for a job, I have a one that looks promising so we will see. :-) I am hoping that I will be able to keep up this blog and not get behind any more... it is a good goal to have. We will see if it sticks.

And just because he is adorable...

Sister Pictures

2010-02-16T23:49:00.000-08:00

I think a tradition has started of my "sisters" and I taking pictures. We started taking pictures together when Jolie was a baby and we have just been updating them ever since.

Before I left for Idaho, we took the most recent pictures and I thought I would share them. The first two sets of pictures we took were taken by the lovely people at Target, but this time to save money and to be able to have different backgrounds and do what we wanted, my dad took them. I think they turned out pretty good.

Take a look...

Something I Found...

2010-01-31T12:46:00.000-08:00

I was looking through pictures on my camera, after taking a couple pictures of the snow and I found the pictures that we took when the Ayala girls came over to spend the night before I left for Idaho.

We ate pizza

with apples and we played around, watched movies, and had fun.
It was sad when I had to take them home the next morning.

I also found pictures from Christmas.

I love this one of Jolie and I:
The time came for me to leave and the Ayala's came over for one last goodbye (well until I see them again). It was very hard to say goodbye, they would not let go of me, which made it even harder.I miss them a lot, but I am glad I was able to come up to Idaho and go to school and experience life and create my own adventures!

Update

2010-01-20T22:59:00.000-08:00

So that is a pretty lame title, but it is late at night and it is all I've got right now. Well it has been almost three weeks since my new adventure has started and I just thought I would give a little update. I am loving it here! It is doing a lot for my confidence and stuff (I don't really know how to say it). People around me are noticing the change (at least that is what they are telling me). Well, I have been getting out of my shell a little bit, at least with my roommates. It has been a lot of fun getting to know them and hanging out with them.

My classes are going well and my teachers are pretty cool. I don't mind going to class. There are some times days that seem like they go on forever, but I think that is pretty normal. There are some times that I worry if I forgot to do something or I won't get a project done, or I won't do it well, but I know that as long as I work hard and try my best, I will be blessed for it.

I haven't taken any pictures so I don't have anything exciting to share with pictures, but maybe next time I will. We will see.

The Time Has Come...

2010-01-02T20:27:00.000-08:00

The time has come for me to move away from home. It was Move-In Day today. I was able to move into my apartment and meet a couple of my roommates.

It feels weird to be on my own in an apartment, but the first day hasn't been too bad. I am still afraid of what will come, but excited at the same time.

I was able to survive the Get Connected assignments that I was thrown (for example: the get to know you games). I hate those games and some people who know me know that. It was very hard for me to go and participate, but as you can see I survived. Everything is going to be alright.

I am getting used to my new environment and it will definitely take some getting used too. As I am writing this it is 29 degrees outside. Yep I am pretty crazy for wanting to move from nice winter weather to crazy winter weather, but I know this is where I am supposed to be (at least for now).

Hopefully I will continue to update and be able to share my new found life and experiences!

Homework! Oh Homework!

2009-11-14T13:31:00.000-08:00

This is a poem I received as a group activity in my Children's Literature class. I thought it was really cute and thought I would share it...

Homework! Oh Homework!
by Jack Prelutsky

Homework! Oh Homework!
I hate you! You stink!
I wish I could wash you
Away in the sink,
If only a bomb
Would explode you to bits,
Homework! Oh homework!
You're giving me fits.

I'd rather take baths
With a man-eating shark,
Or wrestle a lion
Alone in the dark,
Eat spinach and liver,
Pet ten porcupines,
Than tackle the homework
My teacher assigns.

Homework! Oh Homework!
You're last on my list
I simply can't see
Why you even exist,
If you just disappeared
It would tickle me pink.
Homework! Oh homework!
I hate you! You stink!

Movin' Out!!

2009-09-15T17:41:00.000-07:00

This is probably not an announcement to many people, but I thought I would write about it and share the excitement (as well as the nerves)!

In September last year, I decided to change my major. I then had to decide what schooling path I would take now that my plans changed. I no longer needed to be in the Mesa Grow Your Own Teacher Program, even though it was a great program and such an honor!

I could now leave Mesa and go somewhere else if I so desired. Well I did desire and I was planning to apply to the University of Arizona and move to Tucson. My parents and I went down there to go through the initial orientation and take a tour of the campus and the college I was going to major in. We spent the weekend down there and were able to get more acquainted with it.

Move forward to April of this year. My mom was searching on the internet and found that my major was an option at BYU. I have been wanting to go to BYU my whole life, ever since I was little. My mom's entire family's blood and mine runs Cougar Blue. Both my Grandma and Grandpa Johnson went there, my mom, her two brothers, and her sister. Also two of my cousins are attending there (well Jordan is on his mission, but he will still be attending there). And also two of my cousins on my dad's side are attending there.

It has been a goal my entire life to go there and when I wasn't able to, I felt awful. I felt that I was breaking a family tradition. Now, I know nobody else felt this way, but I did and it was so important to me.

Well anyway, back to the story... In April my mom found that my current major (Child Development) was available at BYU. Well, I jumped at this opportunity and I was so excited for the next week! Well, I have been excited since then, but it was especially exciting that whole week. We looked up what I needed to do to apply and found out that I missed the deadline for Fall Semester. Bummer! So I began applying for Winter Semester. It took me a little while to find the time to complete my application. So in June/July before I left for Pocatello for vacation I finished it. Well, I had several transcripts I needed to get transferred, so that took a little while and then I had a hold up on the transcript I needed from Augustana College (long story... ok not really). I waited for what seems like forever and my official acceptance finally came a couple of weeks ago!

So... I am moving to Rexburg the end of December/beginning of January! The people that I have told (which is quite a few) have asked me if I was crazy. Yes, apparantly I am! In the beginning of this decision, I was scared, not terrified like I was when I was planning on moving to Tucson, but still a little nervous. That is old news! Now I can hardly wait for Fall Semester to end so that I can get up there. I know this decision has been hard on some, like Janet who made it seem like the world was coming to an end. But that's ok because we have a great way to communicate and keep in touch and I would never just leave and abandon her.

I am so excited to be trying something new. Yes, me the girl who thrives in her comfort zone, is excited about trying something new! Miracles do happen. :-)

Vacationing in Idaho

2009-08-29T17:54:00.000-07:00

I was able to go to Pocatello to visit my cousins for two and a half weeks. Well, on the 11th (of July) I flew to Salt Lake. I was picked up at the airport by my cousins and we walked around Temple Square for a few hours. We were able to take a tour of the Conference Center and go up to the roof, which was Tanner's favorite part.

My parents were going to be driving up on the 18th, but I thought it would be fun if I could go up earlier and spend a longer time there and it worked out that I could.

We had a lot of fun visiting and even though we were in and out of the house, when my parents got there we were still able to spend time with each other and have a good time.

We didn't get a ton of pictures while we were hanging around the house, but here are some that
we got.

My laptop was a popular toy, so it was used often.Here is Eliza being cute!!
Eliza loves playing with the faucet in the kitchen.

Tanner decided he wanted to match my dad every day. Here they are in their outfits for the day. It was so cute!

Here is an adorable picture of my dad and Eliza. The night before we left for Rexburg, my dad was looking through books about Yellowstone. Eliza was sitting in a chair next to him. She was looking through one of the books and kept saying "Cow cow cow," which is what she calls a bison. It was funny to watch and it was great to see how her and my dad were having a conversation.

We bought Lindsey a full length mirror and the kids loved to look at themselves in it.
We had a great time and we definitely miss it and of course we miss them (Jared, Lindsey, Tanner, Emma, and Eliza)!

Ok so...

2009-08-12T20:36:00.000-07:00

Alright so I haven't been able to blog even though I have wanted to. Too much to do and not enough time. I recently got back from Idaho and I have plenty of pictures and fun facts to share, so that will be coming soon.

I just wanted to write and let everyone know that... yes, I am still alive. Don't worry. I hope everyone had a good, safe summer and that the first week or day of school went well! :-)

Happy Birthday!

2009-07-25T19:11:00.000-07:00

Ok so this post is very late one, but that is ok. I didn't forget.

This year I decided to take my "sisters" individually someplace for their birthday. I put careful planning into each one, with a little (ok... a lot) of help from my mom, we have been able to pick out perfect places for each of them.

I took Jocelyn to Broadway Palm to see "High School Musical: On Stage." It was so much fun! We were able to eat dinner and then watch the show. We were even able to meet the cheerleaders before the show started!
Jocelyn was also able to receive autographs from the actors and actresses after the show! That was great!

Let's Learn Some More...

2009-07-17T21:27:00.000-07:00

So, on Facebook, I created one of those "How well do you know me?" quizzes. Apparantly, I don't talk about myself enough to others because many people didn't do too well. So I am creating this post to inform my friends and family about my life.

Here we go...

Here are the questions from my Facebook quiz. See if you can guess the correct answers.

1) My favorite flavor of ice cream is...
a. strawberry
b. chocolate
c. rocky road
d. vanilla

2) How many times have I travelled out of the country?
a. 4
b. 0
c. 2
d. 1

3) My favorite sport to watch is...
a. basketball
b. baseball
c. lacrosse
d. football

4) What is my favorite store to shop at?
a. Barnes and Noble
b. Dress Barn
c. Target
d. JC Penney's

5) My favorite show on TV is...
a. Burn Notice
b. Home Improvement
c. Flashpoint
d. Law and Order

6) What city was I born?
a. Phoenix
b. Mesa
c. Salt Lake City
d. Sacramento

7) What country would I like to live in?
a. France
b. Australia
c. Switzerland
d. Poland

Ok, so here are the answers (with pictures):

Yes there are a lot of different pictures for each question, but I had so much fun finding them.

1) My favorite ice cream flavor is chocolate. I will eat any type of chocolate. However, my ultimate favorite chocolate ice cream is Ben and Jerry's Chocolate Fudge Brownie.

I have recently discovered that I love Cookie Dough ice cream, but chocolate is still my #1.
2) I have travelled out of the country twice. The first time was with the Toro Marching Band when we went to Ireland to march in the Saint Patrick's Day Parade in Dublin. The second time I was participating with the Arizona Ambassadors of Music. We went on a 16-day, 7-country tour in Europe. We went to England, France, Switzerland, Liechtenstein (we stopped for lunch there), Austria, Italy (for about 4 hours), and Germany. 3) My favorite sport to watch is baseball. I have been watching baseball since I was little and have loved it ever since. I love the Arizona Diamondbacks and even though I am upset with their organization right now, I will not be a fair-weather fan, ever!

I miss this man!!! In my opinion he was fired for stupid reasons, but that's why I am not in charge. Anyways back to the point...4) My favorite store to shop at is Dress Barn. I could spend a ton of time and money in this store. If I ever have a ton of money, I will be in trouble!
5) I have an addiction... to Flashpoint, the TV show. I cannot get enough of this show. Some times, I may be a little to crazy about it. This show is great and if you haven't seen it, you should. You know you want to!!!
6) I was born in Mesa, Arizona on August 3rd, 1990 at Mesa Lutheran Hospital (the hospital that is no longer).
7) I would love to live in Switzerland! When I travelled there over the summer of 2007 (well for a couple of days), I totally fell in love with the atmosphere and the country.

Why English Is So Difficult?

2009-06-30T12:08:00.000-07:00

My English 102 teacher gave each of us this poem type thing in class today and I thought it was fun so I thought I would share.

WHY ENGLISH IS SO DIFFICULT

We'll begin with a box, and the plural is boxes;
but the plural of ox became oxen not oxes.
One fowl is a goose, but two are called geese,
yet the plural of moose should never be meese.

You may find a lone mouse or nest full of mice;
yet the plural of house is houses, not hice.
If the plural of man is always called men,
why shouldn't the plural of pan be called pen?

If I spoke of my foot and show you my feet,
and I give you a boot, would a pair be called beet?
If one is a tooth and a whole set are teeth,
why shouldn't the plural of booth be called beeth?

Then one may be that, and three would be those,
yet hat in the plural would never be hose,
and the plural of cat is cats, not cose.

We speak of a brother and also of brethren,
but though we say mother we never say methren.
Then the masculine pronous are he, his and him,
but imagine the feminine, she, shis and shim.

Some reasons to be grateful if you grew up speaking English;
1) The bandage was wound around the wound.
2) The farm was used to produce produce.
3) The dump was so full that it had to refuse more refuse.
4) We must polish the Polish furniture.
5) He could lead if he would get the lead out.
6) The soldier decided to desert his dessert in the desert.
7) Since there is no time like the present, he thought it was time to present the present.
8) At the Army base, a bass was painted on the head of a bass drum.
9) When shot at, the dove dove into the bushes.
10) I did not object to the object.
11) The insurance was invalid for the invalid.
12) There was a row among the oarsmen about how to row.
13) They were too close to the door to close it.
14) The buck does funny things when the does are present.
15) A seamstress and a sewer fell down into a sewer line.
16) To help with planting, the farmer taught his sow to sow.
17) The wind was too strong to wind the sail.
18) After a number of Novocain injections, my jaw got number.
19) Upon seeing the tear in the painting I shed a tear.
20) I had to subject the subject to a series of tests.
21) How can I intimate this to my most intimate friend?
22) I spent last evening evening out a pile of dirt.

Screwy pronunciations can mess up your mind!
For example...
If you have a rough cough, climbing can be tough when going through the bough on a tree!

Let's face it - English is a crazy language.
There is no egg in eggplant nor ham in hamburger; neither apple nor pine in pineapple.
English muffins weren't invented in England.

We take English for granted. But if we explore its paradoxes, we find that wuicksand can work slowly, boxing rings are square and a guinea pig is neither from Guinea nor is it a pig. And why is it that writers write but fingers don't fing, grocers don't groce and hammers don't ham?
Doesn't it seem crazy that you can make amends but not one amend?
If you have a bunch of odds and ends and get rid of all but one of them, what do you call it?
If teachers taught, why didn't preachers praught?
If a vegetarian eats vegetables, what does a humanitarian eat?
Sometimes I think all the folks who grew up speaking English should be committed to an asylum for the verbally insane.
In what language do people recite at a play and play at a recital?
Ship by truck and send cargo by ship?
Have noses that run and feet that smell?
How can a slim chance and a fat chance be the same, while a wise man and a wise guy are opposites?

You have to marvel at the unique lunacy of a language in which your house can burn up as it burns down, in which you fill in a form by filling it out an din which an alarm goes off by going on.

Well, there it is. It may take you reading it once or twice before it makes sense. I thought it was great. I hope you enjoyed it!

Field Island Fest

2009-06-18T19:51:00.000-07:00

In April, Field Elementary (where I used to work) had a carnival. They called it Island Fest and it had an island theme.

There were many different activities. The kindergarteners created science experience, which were pretty cool for five year olds! Each grade level had a booth, there was lots of food, jumpers, and of course tumbula jars.

It was a pretty popular event.

The pictures should say it all:

Crazy Tea Party!!!

2009-06-04T18:36:00.000-07:00

On Saturday, four of my friends and I got together and had a party! We got dressed up in prom dresses, got makeovers, and went to the neighborhood elementary school and took pictures. We also ate a ton of food and danced the night away!

We can be pretty crazy. Here are some pictures of our night: (These are a little out of order, but I think you will get the idea.)

I Made It!!!

2009-05-14T22:56:00.000-07:00

I have officially made it through my freshman year of college. It is hard to believe that I am done already, but boy am I glad. It has been a stressful one, but it has also been fun. I enjoyed some classes more than others, but that is to be expected with any schedule. I have met some great people, had some great teachers, and learned some new things a long the way. I would say that is a pretty productive year!

Elephants, Wolves, and Otters... Oh my!!!

2009-05-02T21:57:00.000-07:00

I had the opportunity to take the Ayala girls to the zoo. We spent a lot of time there... almost 7 hours. It was tiring, but so much fun!

We started out looking at turtles and fish. No sooner than we entered the zoo were we on our way to Sting Ray Bay... Janet and Jennifer were the two braver ones of the group and actually touched the sting rays. Jennifer was scared at first, but once she touched one the first time, she couldn't get enough.

Then we saw the reptiles... which used to be Scare Your Pants Off, but it is no longer. We also saw a roadrunner with one leg and some cute owls, and also a raven eating his lunch. Saturday was bunny day. Jennifer and Jolie petted some kind of African lizard (I don't remember the name). It was cool looking though.We walked around for a while and then stopped for lunch.
Once we were refreshed after our lunch break we played in the water. It was so much fun that Jolie didn't want to leave. We saw elephants and we had a fun time trying to figure out which elephant was outside playing. In the end, we couldn't figure it out.At the end of day, Janet and I relaxed on a bench watching Jocelyn, Jennifer, and Jolie have a blast on the carousel!
Here are some more pictures from the day... (Beware: picture overload)
And Janet wanted a picture of the earth.

My favorite...

2009-05-02T18:02:00.000-07:00

I decided to make a whole post about my very favorite cookies. Ranger Cookies! I have been eating these cookies since I was little and I love them! I could sit and eat a whole bowl of dough. I don't because it isn't really healthy, but I could.

This is what they look like when they are done...

Here's the recipe if you want to try them... (I think you should)

Ranger Cookies:

1 cup brown sugar

1 cup white sugar

1 cup shortening (or margarine)

2 eggs

1 tsp. vanilla

2 cups flour

1/2 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

1 cup coconut

2 cups oatmeal

2 cups cornflakes

Stir just enough to mix. Make into quite small balls and press down a little. Bake 10 minutes or until slightly (very slightly) brown.

Enjoy!

Let's Go Cubbies!

2009-04-20T23:55:00.000-07:00

I had the opportunity to go with my Mom to a Cubs Spring Training game. My mom works at SRP and also works with all of the Chambers that SRP is a part of.

SRP had two extra tickets to the game and Caryn, a woman my mom works with, told her to take someone and go. Well, she invited me. Oh my goodness... was I excited when she told me.

From that moment, I counted down the days.

This game was also special because we were guests of the City of Mesa. Which meant that we got to sit in the Mayor's Box. That was so much fun! We were at the game with Bill Jabjiniak, his wife, and other guests. It was a lot of fun.

We also got a tour of the media box and also got to see the organist up close. It was pretty cool.

Here are some pictures from the game:

We won!

Desert Botanical Gardens

2009-04-20T23:21:00.000-07:00

Several weeks ago, I went with Janet and Jocelyn to the Desert Botanical Gardens. I needed to go for my Environmental Biology class and decided I didn't want to go alone. We spent a few hours there and we had a lot of fun!

I kept asking them if they were having a good time because I didn't want them to be bored. I bet they got tired of hearing me ask.

The Chihuly exhibit is there right now. It is amazing stuff. We loved walking around looking at all of the different sculptures.

We had fun spending time together. Well, I at least had a ton of fun spending some time with them.Here is some of what we saw and did:

Enjoy!

Ok so I went a little picture crazy, but we did have a ton of fun!

Movie Night

2009-03-18T20:47:00.000-07:00

My mom took off work this afternoon and we went to the movies. My dad is at Mountain Men, so it was just the two of us.

We went to see "Race to Witch Mountain." Oh my goodness... I LOVED it. When the first Witch Mountain movies came out several years ago, I loved them. When I found out another one was coming out, I could not wait!

I suggest this movie for anyone. Well, it has a couple of "tense" moments, but they are not too bad. I could watch this movie a million times and still love it like I was watching it for the first time.

Hey Mister! Throw Me Something!

2009-03-17T22:17:00.000-07:00

On Tuesday, February 24th, my family and I went over to the Ayala's house to celebrate Mardi Gras. This is something we do every year (almost), so I didn't want to miss it! So... I skipped math that night.

This year I got to throw and ride in the back of a truck. It was a lot of fun! I didn't do a very good job of judging how much to throw each time, so I had some left over. Oh well.

For the kids, catching the beads, candy, and other stuff, is the best part and for the adults, the food is the best part, as well as watching the kids have a great time!

Here they are waiting patiently for the parade to start:
Caution: Picture overload, I am so sorry. At least they are cute pictures! :-)

Here's the fun part:

And of course... eating together. Unfortunately I didn't get any pictures of the food, but if you can imagine, jambalaya, beans and rice, and other foods I can't remember. Sorry!

House of Refuge

2009-02-17T19:42:00.000-08:00

On Saturday February 14th, my mom and I went to the House of Refuge, which is located right next to ASU Poly. My mom is a part of Mesa Leadership in which they go to classes and do different activities. On Saturday, her class participated in their class projects. This took place at the House of Refuge, which is essentially a half way house those who are in need of housing. They can stay here up to two years.
HRE consists of 88 two-bedroom homes and a Chapel/annex all located in a community setting. On any given day approximately 100 adults and 150 children call House of Refuge "home". Because greater than 50% of our residents come from shelters, this will often be the first safe home some children will have experienced. (from the website)

The morning started out with unloading a Bashas truck full of stuff that was donated to them. They have a ton of new school supplies, shampoo, all kinds of food, and many other things. Afterwards, all of the families were invited to come and participate in different activities.

They had a bouncing house, arts and crafts, and cookie decorating. They also had a football, basketball, and a volleyball for the kids to play with. The boys started a game and pretty soon, many were involved.

Some ASU cheerleaders came to join the party and had fun making cards, decorating cookies, and hanging out with the kids. They cheered for the football game and even had some of the little girls take turns with their pom poms and cheer too.

The kids were so cute and it was so much fun to watch them enjoy the activites and people around them.

I was supposed to be there to take family pictures if any families chose to do so, but no families came so I just walked around taking pictues of the kids doing the different activities.

This was so much fun because this is the type of thing I love to do. It was also fun because I got to spend the day with my mom and her crazy classmates.

Ta Da!

2009-02-17T19:13:00.000-08:00

While I was on break from school and didn't have to work, I went to work with my mom. I rode the Metro to her office building to help her out.

She recently took over Chambers at SRP. By doing so, she inherited all of the paperwork that goes with it. I had to go through a MILLION folders. I am talking papers since 1994. Who keeps papers that long?!?!?! It took me three days to go through the folders, throw out anything that was not current, sort by years, and then alphabatize.

It took me three days, but I got it done and it looks great!

Before:

During:

and AFTER:

B17

2009-02-15T18:23:00.000-08:00

A couple of weeks ago, my mom and dad had the opportunity to ride a B17 plane at Falcon Field. A friend of my mom's and now of all of us, called and said that they had two extra seats left on the plane and asked if they wanted to take them. They took it and it looked like so much fun! I was on the ground taking pictures while my parents were having fun riding on the B17 plane.
Here is my shadow while I was waiting on the tarmac... I got to watch my parents take off and land and then I got to see the pictures that they took while flying on the plane.

These are the people they flew with.

They got to sit in the nose and then walk through the plane and stand with the guns and stuff. (Sorry I don't really remember what it is called.)

Breakfast with the Mayor

2009-02-08T15:28:00.001-08:00

On Friday, along with my parents, I had the opportunity to attend the Mayor's Breakfast. It was so much fun. The food was alright, but the "entertainment" and information was the best! As we ate breakfast we got to talk to others at our table, some were from SRP and others were friends my mom invited. It was fun to meet new people. As we finished eating, Bill Jabjiniak got up to speak first and was then followed by Mayor Scott Smith. It was so much fun to hear what they have to say about our city and the new things that can come to Mesa!

Caution!!!:Political type talk

I have decided that I can listen to Mayor Smith talk all day long! If there are any government type events in the future, please let me know, I would LOVE to go. Government stuff is one of my most favorite things in the world. I love it!!!

P.S. Vote YES on 300! :-)

One Year Anniversary

2009-02-08T15:27:00.001-08:00

One year ago today, my Grandpa Johnson died suddenly. This past year has been an interesting one. Every once in a while, I go to the cemetery to visit him. The cemetery is a nice, quiet place where I can go to think. Well, anyways, it has taken some getting used to, but it has still been hard not having Grandpa here. It is hard not seeing him at band concerts, visiting his house, and having him over for dinner for his birthday or just for fun. Yes it has been hard, but as a family we have been helping each other through it all.

Even though it has already been a hard year, today was pretty hard. First year anniversaries are always the hardest, hopefully next year won't be as tough.

Today at church, during sacrament meeting, the closing song was "Families Can Be Together Forever." As we started singing, I didn't even make it through the first verse before I started to cry. This song made me think about eternal families. I am so grateful that I am a part of family that has the ability to be together forever. I am also grateful that I will get to see my Grandpa again, as well as my Grandma, whom I have never met. We will be together again.

Families are Forever!

It's official...

2009-01-25T22:33:00.001-08:00

I have become a part of the Facebook world! A few years ago I never thought I would and now look at me. I am so excited!

Let the Season Begin!

2009-01-25T17:51:00.000-08:00

The time has come for Hale Theatre Season Tickets to be used! We started off the season last night with Lend Me a Tenor: A famous Italian opera star comes to town and all Maggie wants is his autograph but, why are there two of him and who's in the closet? This 'in an dout of doors' romp will make you sing with laughter. I have to be honest. I was kind of unsure about the whole comedy thing. When we go to Hale Theater we go to see the musical. This year we decided to try season tickets because we wanted to see most of what was playing. I have to say it was so worth it. I loved it and laughed the whole time! I would definitely recommend it.

Next up... The King and I!

Um...

2009-01-08T08:52:00.000-08:00

Well, I haven't been very good at keeping my blog as updated as I have wanted to. It is a lot harder than it looks, especially with a very busy schedule. This year I am going to catch up on the posts I didn't get to last year and keep up on everything that happens in my life. This is a random posting, but there ya go.

Happy New Year!

2009-01-01T13:14:00.000-08:00

Many things happened in 2008. I decided (like many others) to look back on the year and reflect on some of the more important events that occurred this year. I came up with 12 different things. Well, here it goes...

1. I made Regionals for the 3rd year in a row. (For those who don't know how hard this is, it is a great accomplishment.)

2. My Grandpa Johnson died. It was a relief to us though because my Grandma and Grandpa are reunited after 20 years.3. My parents and I went to watch the Duttons and Higley High School. (They have a theater in Branson, Missouri and they chose Mesa to be their winter home. They now have a theater here. To be opened soon!)
4. I was in the orchestra pit for the Spring Musical at Mountain View: Beauty and the Beast. The hours were rigorous, but it was definitely worth it.

5. I graduated from high school! It was a wet and cold one, but it was so much fun! Our class started together and we ended together. It was great!
6. I worked at the Mesa Chamber of Commerce for the summer. I met a ton of great people and had a great experience!
7. I had the opportunity to be one the Stake Youth Committee and was able to help plan Youth Conference. Our theme was Rock Solid! We went up to Embry Riddle Aeronautical University and had a ton of fun participating in different activities. We called it a Mini-EFY. By being on the committee, I was able to meet and work with different youth and leaders from our stake. I had a blast!

8. My family and I were able to go to Washington D.C. to attend my cousin's wedding.

9. I was 1 of 12 girls on Junior Staff for Girls' Camp. It was so much fun! We had a great time planning and "messing around." It was a great group of girls and we had a ton of fun together.

10. I turned 18! That has the explanation in itself.

11. I taught the 11 year olds in Primary. That was a lot of fun and experience I will not forget.

12. Janet and I went to Time Out for Women and Girls at the Phoenix Convention Center (all by ourselves I might add). It was a great day and we had a great time hanging out with each other.
Well, 2008 has been a great one, but 2009 will be even better!

Welcome to Flagstaff!

2008-12-25T08:44:00.000-08:00

This year for the week of Christmas, my family and I went to Flagstaff. As we traveled from Mesa to Flagstaff, we went from sun to snow. It was a different experience. Because we do not live in snow, we were not used to the driving conditions.

It was very cold!

When we got here, we went to Sizzler for lunch. Since we don't have a Sizzler in Mesa, we eat it as much as we can.

After we checked into our hotel, went to the Lowell Observatory to see the holiday show. Unfortunately it was snowing enough that they sent the employees home and closed it up for the night. So we went to Walmart instead.I did not really think about the weather when I packed for this trip so I packed a couple pairs of Converse and my marching shoes. Well, I can tell you from this experience that when you walk through snow in Converse, your feet freeze. So we spent a couple of days and looked in a couple of different stores trying to find shoes that will work for the snowy weather. We got lucky and went to Big 5 and found some really cute boots.

Well, now I know that when we are going on a trip check all weather conditions and make sure what I packed is good for the situation. I definitely learned from this situation.

Merry Christmas!

2008-12-25T08:41:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas from our family to yours! Hope it is a great one!

I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas...

2008-12-25T08:36:00.000-08:00

Ok so I am not really dreaming of a white Christmas, I am living a white Christmas.

This year, we are spending Christmas in Flagstaff. So far we have had a great time. We have had a few setbacks but other than that it has been great. I hope everyone is having a great holiday!

Happy Birthday Mom!

2008-12-25T08:28:00.000-08:00

I am a couple of days late, but Saturday, December 20th, was my Mom's birthday.

I am so grateful for my mom. She is always willing to help others even when it is hard. She has a smile on her face most of the time. Work can be difficult sometimes, but she doesn't let that bother her. She helps me with anything I need, even if that means staying up until 3 in the morning working on homework. I am so glad that she is my mom! I love you Mom! Happy Birthday! Hope it was a great day! :-)

This is a picture of my mom with her parents

This is a picture of my mom with her siblings:
Kurt, Kimberly, David, and my mom

This is the most recent picture of my mom. (We took it today December 25th.)

Thanks for being a great Mom!!!

Happy Birthday!

2008-12-19T12:56:00.000-08:00

Today is my Uncle David's birthday. He was born the day before my mom, except a few years later. How awesome is that?! Well, I hope you have a great day!

(Sorry it's so short and has no picture. I will work on that.)

Finals Week...

2008-12-17T15:57:00.000-08:00

...can be a stressful one. Luckily for me I only had one real final. I am so glad it's over! So... it's official. I have successfully completed my first semester of college. It was a great experience. I went for two weeks and decided that I wanted to change my major. I went from Elementary Education to Family Studies and Human Development. I didn't even make it a whole month until I decided that I was done with that major. That might be a record!

Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Open House

2008-11-29T19:40:00.001-08:00

My parents and I had the opportunity to attend the Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport Open House. There were many different types of war planes. It was so cool! Helicopters and airplanes have always been cool and interesting to me.

It was a ton of fun being able to go and spend the day with my parents. I have always enjoyed spending my time with them. Not many teenagers say that about their parents. I am a different teenager that is for sure.

We were able to walk around on the "tarmack" to look at the different types of planes and helicopters, while listening to music. They had a rock wall and a bouncy house along with Radio Disney. On the inside of the building there were different tables to look at.

It was a lot of fun!

Here are a few pictures (We forgot a camera, so I got them from the website.):

Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport is run by this guy:

John Barry. He is awesome. My mom and I were able to get to know him through the Mesa Chamber. Yeah for connections!

But seriously, he is a nice person and runs his operations smoothly.

Thanksgiving

2008-11-27T17:06:00.000-08:00

Happy Thanksgiving! I hope everyone had a great day!

Happy Halloween!

2008-11-21T16:11:00.000-08:00

Ok, so I don't know what happened to my pictures in the last post, but here they are.

Happy Halloween!

2008-11-21T16:08:00.001-08:00

Ok, so I know I am a little behind, but here is my experience with Halloween.

I was able to spend Halloween with the Ayalas, the Dillards, and Nancie. We went on the usual two mile route and hit the houses with the best candy. That's right… we went by the houses that give out king sized candy bars!

It was a ton of fun and I am so glad that I was able to spend time with these great, awesome people!

Here are some cool pics…

Our First Concert

2008-11-15T21:50:00.001-08:00

On November 4th, the Chandler-Gilbert Community Band had our first band concert. We played several different selections from the composer Giovannini and John Philip Sousa. We also played selections fron the Sound of Music and a short piece from Thoroughly Modern Millie. It was a great concert and the audience was awesome.

My parents are able to be in the band with so it is a family affair. It is so much fun. I get to sit next to my Mom and we get to be there together. That is probably the most time we see each other in day, well kind of.

It was great that my Grandma and Grandpa got to come and enjoy this concert with us.

Thanks so much for coming!

In this picture are my parents, and I, and the Chandler-Gilbert band director Randy Wright. The cool thing about Randy Wright, well one thing, is that he was the band director at my elementary school, Hawthorne. Unfortunately, he left the year that I was able to start band, 5th grade. So I get to have him as a director now. Pretty cool huh?!?!

I've Made It This Far

2008-10-22T18:30:00.000-07:00

I have made it half way through my first semester of college! It hasn't been too difficult, but it has been stressful. That is too be expected though. It has been a great adventure!

I'm a New Blogger!

2008-10-18T21:10:00.000-07:00

I am officially a new blogger, so here it is...!