FINALS...

I actually have not had a final (mine begin tomorrow) BUT I have been studying the past few days. I am looking forward to taking my tests and going home! I received this Finals Survival Kit the other morning. It was such a fun surprise, (sent by my wonderful mother)! It had scantrons, pencils, and of course a ton of so good (so bad) for you food! Thank you mom for thinking of me- you are awesome (and all of my roommates think you are too!) Alright... back to studying!

Secret Roommate!

I just finished making my gift for my "Secret Roommate". I painted a picture frame and then added some rub-ons! The pictures are not the best- but you get the idea! We all drew names a week or two ago and gave each other a $10 budged. We are exchanging gifts on Thursday, before we all go home for break! It should be a fun night, The Office and a gift exchange! For roommate fhe tomorrow we are making a Gingerbread Dorm- it should be fun!

It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas!

We attempted to take a Christmas Card picture tonight. Unfortunately this is the best one on my camera- it is actually sort of cute! Notice the lights in the background. I now understand why my parents refuse to put them all around the outside of the house! It is a lot of work, and only put them around three windows! It is weird not to be at home and getting out all of the advent calendars and fun decorations! I guess this is when I start to begin my own traditions... how weird! I am getting so old!

Pictures from the best weekend ever!

I absolutely love this picture of Cara, my mom and I!

The happy couple to be- Eliot and Tracey

This is team TOG, aka "The Old(er) Guys"

These are just a few of the tangelos we ate over the past five days! My mom absolutely loved them too! (NOT)

This is a picture of me and my very best friend at CiCi's Pizza

Thanksgiving!

I think this picture pretty much sums up what a wonderful week it has been! So many fun things happened that it would take me forever to write about each of them, but here are some of my memories from the week.

Surprising everyone with my new hair color, seeing friends at Cici's Pizza, seeing Elaine and causing a scene because we were so excited to see each other, finding all of the changes in the house, McNeil Family, reminsising old times, sharing a room with Emily for a few nights, NERTZ, Tog dancing, Cara turning 16, cake, pies, orange rolls, 7 boxes of tangerines and Diet Coke, TOP TIER ONLY, El and Tracey getting engaged, laughing, singing, and of course more NERTZ!

Happy Birthday Cara!

B

Today is not only Thanksgiving but also my sister Cara's Birthday! Happy Birthday Cara! I am so glad that I am able to celebrate her SWEET 16 with her!

A few memories...

Wanting to name her dough dough head and telling my moms OBGYN (sorry mom), sharing a room with bunk beds, borrowing clothes, homecoming dress shopping in NYC, shopping in general, Driving to school together- I was a Senior when she was a Freshman, she helped me with homework once (only once) online conversations, watching her dance- she is amazing!, fishing for boys, and the list goes on!

Cara you have become such a beautiful young woman, I am so proud of you and all of your accomplishments! I hope you have a wonderful 16th Birthday!

There's No Place LIke Home!

I am so excited to be going home for Thanksgiving! Do not get me wrong- I absolutely love it out here in Utah but I am ready to see my parents, sisters and friends for a few days! I have one more day of school and then Tuesday morning I am out of here! There are a bunch of things I still need to do between now and then but... Maryland here I come!

It's the most wonderful time of the year!

I really love Autumn- I think it is my favorite season. It isn't hot and it isn't too cold (knock on wood)! The leaves are falling and it is just so pretty outisde. It has been a slow week, everyone is sick or getting sick in my apartment and I am learning that it only takes one person to make everyone be in a not so happy mood! I think it goes the other way too, one happy person can change everyone too! I gave myself 5 minutes to be negative (thanks for listening mom) and after my class I decided to start listing the things I am thankful for... and it really helped to put me in a better mood! Here are just a few from my list...


1. My family-mom, dad, cara, emily, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins
2. The Gospel
3. My friends- near and far
4. Morals and Values
5. Technology
6. My cell phone
7. My education
8. Books
9. Hugs
10. Cute little kids- they are so innocent and adorable
11. Inside jokes
12. Ribbon
13. Pictures
14. Journals
There are many many more... these are just a few! One of my favorite things about Thanksgiving is going around and telling what we are thankful for- I am going to try and be more vocal about what I am thankful for, all year round!

Happy Birthday Aunt Cristin!

My Aunt Cristin is one of the most amazing people I know! She is my mom's sister and they have such a neat relationship, I hope that my sisters and I can have that same kind of relationship! She is so talented and is such a wondeful example to me. She can do just about anything, has a great sense of humor, is an amazing mother, and the list goes on! I have had fun getting to know my Aunt Cristin especially when we both lived in California. I have many fun memories of my Aunt! Here are a few....

Being a flower girl at her wedding- I got to pass out favors to the guests, playing school in her apartment with little plastic chairs, staying with her in California for a weekend, introducing me to scrapbooking- she helped me scrapbook my very first pages (she was so patient and encouraging when I was not so sure what I was doing!), she took me to get my first set of acrylic nails... and really the list could go on and on!

I am so glad that I have had the opportunity to get to know my aunt, not only as my moms sister, but as MY aunt and friend! Happy Birthday Aunt Cristin! I hope you have a fabulous day!

Happy Halloween!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN! I have decided that Halloween changes greatly once you are in college! We all celebrated last Friday at The Howl... it was basically a big dance and some carnival games. It was a lot of fun to get all dressed up! My entire costume came straight from my closet, and most of (or at least pieces) of my roommates costume's are from my closet too! I hope that does not mean that my clothes look like they should only be worn on Halloween! Tonight will be a little different, my Trick-or-Treating has been replaced by my Nutrition study group, turning in a paper and finishing up a presentation for tomorrow morning!


Here are a few of my Halloween Memories!..

Halloween Parties-with Sister Dayes coming to help, School Halloween Parties and Parades, planning my costume for next year the day after Halloween, My mom making a rule that we could not talk about costumes until October, Being Tinker Bell and Eliot being Peter Pan, Trick-or-Treating, Grandma doing my hair one year when I was a hairdresser (she did a wonderful up-do!)

I hope everyone has a Fun and Safe Halloween- I am looking forward to seeing all of the cousins costumes!

Weekend Fun!

I had a wonderful three day weekend, thanks to many people! (Darin and Elisa, Gpa and Gma and my other Grandparents) Thank you for picking me up/dropping me off/ feeding me/ and everything else in between! It was so much fun to talk and catch up with everyone! This is a picture of my cousins (on the Janes side) and I at lunch on Saturday. I think you can tell we are all related in this picture!


I also had fun eating and visiting with my G'ma and G'pa on Sunday! It was so nice to be in a calm and quiet house! I especially had fun with my cousin Miriam- she is so cute! I am glad that I live a little closer and can see her more than once a year! She was nice enough to take me to Gardeners Village and show me the witches!

It was such a great weekend it is hard to be back in school again! My next break is Thanksgiving- and that means I will be home in 29 days! (Not that I am counting or anything!)

Snow!

It is only October and we already have SNOW! It was quite a surprise this morning when I looked out my window to see everything white! I went from wearing flip-flops yesterday to having to wear boots! Of course my roommate and I went outside and took pictures. Not everyone was excited about the snow... I am not sure how I feel about it but I have made a list of some of the positive things:

1. I get to wear all of my fun gloves, hats and scarves

2. I get to break out all of my sweaters

3. I get to drink hot chocolate

4. It reminds me of Christmas (I listened to Christmas music today- it is never to early for Christmas music, right dad?!)

Those are all I have... and it does not look like I have to worry since tomorrow it is supposed to be in the 50's. It was kind of a fun preview of what is to come later on this semester...

Chef Alicia

My roommate Tessa and I decided to be big and brave and use a recipe to cook our dinner tonight. We both were sort of hesitant at the beginning- but now that we successfully cooked a meal we can't wait to cook again next week! We made chicken alfredo- and it was delicious! It is a good thing we both liked it so much because we have left overs for the rest of the week! I figure if we choose a recipe each week to try out, by the end of the school year I will be quite the cook!

I look up to all moms who have to cook and make so many different people happy. I took living at home and my dinners for granted- I still have so much to learn!

Are you engaged?

My dad gave me some silver rings in 6th grade that he bought for me on a business trip. I have worn them ever since, and for some reason they are really great conversation starters. When I moved to Maryland in 8th grade one of my friends asked me where I got them. In a desperate attempt to make friends I told her that my boyfriend had given them to me. I came clean with my story at the end of the year, and every once in awhile they bring up that story!
A few years ago I found another two rings and started to wear them on my left hand ring finger. Randomly people at work or school would ask me about them, but since they knew me they knew that they were just decorative rings- not an engagement ring! Not everyone here knows that they are just decorative rings! The other night this guy came up to me and asked me if I was engaged. I looked at him like he was crazy, and told him that I was not engaged, and why on earth did he think I was? He looked at my rings and I started to laugh! I took the rings off the other day but it feels so weird that I am thinking about putting them back on!

Halloween Goodies!

My mom sent my roommates and I the cutest Halloween care package! All six of us got a candycorn pillowcase and a 13 days till Halloween candy countdown! It made everyones day- and it has been a blah day! Thank you soo much mom! (That is from all of us!)

Everyone agreed that I have the coolest mom- and they haven't even met her yet! I have to agree, I do have one of the best moms ever! Whenever people ask me what I miss the most since moving to Utah I tell them that I miss my family- especially my mom! Thanks for everything!

My brush with fame (almost!)

My roommates and I went to see The Trademark perform on Friday night. It was so much fun, and the best part of the night was that we actually were able to talk with them after they played! I have to thank my mom for this because their mom and my mom were best friends in throughout highschool and college! It was so cool to hang out with them- my roommates are still talking about it!

LOST

I am a HUGE fan of the show LOST! If you have not watched LOST you are missing out! It is kind of a combination of Gilligans Island mixed with the movie The Truman Show. (Okay that may have been a bad description-so you will just have to see it for yourself!) I have made many of my friends become fans, I have watched Season 1 almost three times, and my family knows that I do not like to be interrupted while watching! I have been counting down the days unti the season premiere, and it finally arrived! Knowing that LOST was going to be on today is what got me through this extremely crazy week! I watched it with my roommates (not all are as avid fans as myself), and it was extremely difficult to try and explain two seasons worth of information during commerical breaks! (Trust me, some of us tried!) I am looking forward to this season, and chatting about it with my fellow LOST fans! It was weird because all of my friends on the East coast had already seen it before I watched it out here, luckily they all realized that before they texted me and ruined the surprises for me! For those of you who are not yet LOST fans, there is still hope for you... you can watch them (for free) on abc.com.

Happy Birthday Grandpa!

Happy Birthday Grandpa! I have one of the most awesome grandpa's in the world! Here are a few of the memories I have of my Grandpa...

Digging for dinosaur bones, making jewelry, baking cookies, "words" of the day, helping me make decisions, playing the guitar, looking at stars through the telescope, talking about family history, eating ice-cream with a fork, always learning something new, and being adventurous!

Happy Birthday Grandpa, I hope you have a fabulous day!!

You've Got Mail!

I love getting mail- it does not matter if it is an e-mail, letter in my mail box or a package. I love it all! The past few days have been really great for mail- a sweet care package from my Aunt Cristin, four exciting letters from all around the country and a package from my mom with my winter coats and magazines! Thank you Cristin for the package- it really made my day!

Happy Birthday Schpoopy!

Happy Birthday dad! I was able to spend this past weekend with my dad and I realized how blessed I am to have such a great dad! Since it is his birthday today I decided to write some of my greatest memories of my dad!

Nicknames, Dancing hands, Digger song, Pillow fights, Going to the playground, Being tickled, Math homework (not such a great memory... but we can laugh about it now!), learning to drive, 40 hours of in-car driving, "If we don't leave, we're not going...", Sunday night treats, Saturday morning doughnuts, Saturday night grocery shopping, Take your daughter to work day, Get smart radio, Wonderful example of hard work and integrity...

Happy Birthday dad! I hope you have a great day! I wish I was there to celebrate with you!

My home away from home!

I have to admit, I have one of the cutest dorm rooms I have ever seen! Some of you have wanted to see some pictures... so here they are!

These two pictures are of the quotes I put up on my wall with this vinyl lettering stuff (everyone loves them!) I know it is far away, but it says, "Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away." Those are three of my very favorite photos I took during High School.
This is my desk, where I get a lot of studying done, I also have most of my pictures set up here!
This is my extremely tiny closet, I only have five hangers left over, and they will have a hard time squeezing in! This is my storage unit, you probably can't tell but it is under my bed. It stores all of my craft supplies, books, belts, scarves, movies, c.d's, basically everything!
This is my door that also holds my purses and bags. As you can probably tell I love Vera Bradley bags, but nobody in Utah knows what they are!
This is a picture of my quilt, that I got as a graudation gift from my mom and dad! It is made out of t-shirts that I had throughout my 18 years of life! It is so cute and I absolutely love it!

Big Hair!

I have been noticing a trend around campus, there is a lot of "big hair". At first I was a little disturbed but I am also intrigued! I asked my roommate Jessica if she would tease my hair, and as you can see it got a little out of hand! She actually did a really awesome job and my hair looked great for the dance. Yep, I went to my very first Institute dance... and had a good time!
Living with five girls is kind of like playing dress up 24/7... and I love it!

There is beauty all around!

Everytime I walk outside I am so impressed with the mountains that surround me! I am a city girl, but these mountains are growing on me! I also love the fact that I can see the stars here, I can't wait to just lay out and try to see a falling star! This is the one great thing about living in so many different places, I have been able to see and enjoy all sorts of different and beautiful surroundings!

Second times a charm?!

This is my second shot at college, and I REALLY think this is going to work out! My first two days of classes have gone great and I really love living here! Everyone is so nice, helpful, modest and not afraid to live what they believe- I just love it! I promised my mom that when I come home for Thanksgiving I will be all of those things! I love my dorm room (thanks mom and kristee!) and my roommates are great! I am looking forward to everything this year has to bring!

Thanks to all of you who sent such sweet e-mails wishing me luck! I love you all!