Some updates....

I know it has been a long time since I posted anything on here, but hey, I have been busy. :) These are some pictures from my trip over Spring Break to Georgia. It was so much fun. :) It was so hard to believe I had been away from Rob for so long. Besides 2 days in August it had been almost a whole year since I had seen him. Way too long if you ask me. :) The trip was a lot of fun. I got to eat a lot of good southern food, and got to just hang out and enjoy the week of vacation. On a sad note I got practically demolished by a large size woman while playing laser tag. There was a no running rule, and she came running around a corner and totally smashed me into one of the poles. It hurt so bad that I started crying right there in the laser tag arena. They didn't even put Rob and I on the same team, so here I was crying and not knowing how to play or where to go, and I was all alone. Looking back on it I realize how funny the whole situation was. As I replay the hit in my mind it is hilarious to me. Minus the pain. Seriously though, I think it might have bruised a rib or something, it was so hard to breathe for like a week after that. haha. Other than that minor incident the rest of the trip was fantastic. Except for the stupid guy behind me on the plane who refused to blow his nose and sat there sucking his snot the whole trip. Grrr... haha

As many of you know my brother got married last weekend. Their wedding was fantastic and Crystal was beautiful. :) I was so tired after standing practically all day, but it was so worth it. Plus they were probably just as tired.

As many of you also know Rob and I have been planning our wedding for a few weeks now. He "officially" proposed when he was out here in Utah last weekend for Bryce and Crystal's wedding. He is back in Georgia now for a week or two until he moves out here to Logan to live for the summer, and then continue going to school. Our official wedding date is July 17 for those of you who didn't know already.

I am graduating this semester and couldn't be more happy. I am so ready to be done with school. It can be such a pain sometimes. I don't think there is any part of it I will miss. Plus it will be fun to tease Rob about still having to go to classes and stuff. haha. Fortunately he only has two years left. Hopefully those two years will go by quickly so that he can start working at a job he will enjoy. :) I wouldn't enjoy it though. Engineering stuff is not for me. I am more of a creative person than a math and science person. haha

We both have jobs in Logan for the summer and so we finally get to spend a summer together. Our first in 2 and a half years of dating! Everything is starting to fall into place and it is wonderful, because then I am not stressed out about everything.

I have been so tired lately. I haven't been able to sleep very well and when I do I barely get 5 or 6 hours a night. Normally I do just fine with little to no sleep, (in fact everyone teases me about that being my "talent") but lately I have been so tired. I have cried every day this week so far, for no reason at all. And over the most stupid things too. I am so looking forward to this weekend, not only for sleep but because we have fun plans. This new BBQ joint in Logan called the Smokin' Blues is catering an event on campus that only costs $1. Totally going! I love BBQ! (especially when it is cheap) We are also going to watch that new movie The Back-Up Plan. I know what you all are thinking. You wanna watch a movie with Jennifer Lopez?? Are you crazy?? I assure you, I am (mostly) not crazy. But Alex O'Loughlin is also in it, and he just happens to be one of my favorite actors. Seriously, he is in the top 5. :) Plus I have to watch it now with the girls because there is no way I can drag Rob to it. haha On Saturday we are going to Bear Lake. I am so excited. The water will be cold so I probably won't go in, but there is a lot of hiking and stuff to do there. Plus the trip alone is worth it if you stop at LaBeau's. That place is so freaking delicious. :) So whether you have fun weekend adventures planned or not at least try to enjoy it. :) I hope everyone is doing well.
P.S. Grad announcements should be in the mail today or tomorrow. Look for them arriving soon. :)

pics of Rob

These are most of the photos I have received from Rob. I don't know who just about any of the people are, except one of his companions. But that doesn't really matter, the photos are still enjoyable.

Rob is in a new area with a new companion. He is now in the Murray something area. I don't remember the full name. All I know is that it is thankfully not close to my house. :) Hopefully he'll never get sent out that way, but you never know. He is really enjoying the new area, he was in the old one for 3 months and was ready to leave. He also gets along with his new companion really well. He is enjoying doing the work because he knows it is the right thing to do. He tells me every week how glad he is that he went on his mission. The hard work pays off and he says he has already seen great improvements in his life. Such a good thing to hear.

This month was his 6 month mark. I can't believe how fast, yet slow at the same time, those first 6 months went by. He was so excited to hit 6 months. He loves serving, but he also says he is anxious to get back to normal life and going to school. I think he is crazy though. No one in their right mind would want to do homework. haha :)

Speaking of school and homework, there is only 2 and half(ish) months until graduation. I am so excited, but I can't believe time has gone by so fast. The rest of this semester will go by really fast as well, with my brother getting married and job hunting. I think job hunting is my least favorite thing. I like working, but looking for jobs is the hard part, and interviews are not exactly a party. :) I am hoping to have something lined up before graduation, but you never know how things are going to work out.

In other news, happy birthday shout-outs to my dad and little brother Michael who both have a birthday today (Feb. 23) and to Rob whose birthday is tomorrow. (Feb. 24)

Hopefully everyone has enjoyed the Olympics so far (or at least enjoyed the parts you have seen.) It seems crazy to think that the Olympics were here in Salt Lake 8 years ago. I still remember them like they were last year, but I was in 8th grade. Crazy. I remember going to an ice hockey game with my dad, and a cross country ski event with my school. Went also watched the torch relay as it ran through the amphitheater by our house. I remember how parts of downtown were completely transformed into "OlympicLand", everything was Olympic related, everyone was wearing stuff from their country, there was merchandise and food being sold everywhere, and there were SO many people. Everytime we saw something cool we would beg my mom to buy it for us, and she usually did using the rationale that we might only go to the Olympics once. That is how we ended up with giant bins full of stuff. We saved the newspapers from during the Olympics. We even got to meet one of our favorite hockey players from the NHL who was the Team USA captain, and got his autograph. I remember teachers deciding not to teach us anything and instead turn on the tv's and watch Olympic coverage. We had no homework during the Olympics. It was wonderful. Thinking back I am so glad we were able to slow down for a few days and enjoy life around us for a while. I am glad my parents understood the need to expose us to this experience. I am glad they bought us cool stuff. :) And if there is a lesson that can come from this memory it is that sometimes, even though life is crazy, it is necessary to stop for a minute and enjoy everything about life at that moment, because that moment will be gone eventually and you can never relive it. But you will always have the memories. :)

A post that is long overdue. :)

My family. Minus my brother's fiance who will be in here soon, but wasn't technically his fiance at the time. haha :) Maybe we can crop her in. (Back row L-R: Bryce, Spencer, Ryan and Me. Front row: my dad, Michael and my mom.)

My roommates and I playing Rock Band all night long. We are awesome at that game! :)


My cute little brother Michael in his Halloween costume. He is awesome! :)

My roommate Lindsay and I at a hockey game. I love hockey!!!!!!!!!!! :)

Anyways, just thought I would share some pictures of my life recently. I am back in Logan after being in Sandy for the last 3 weeks relaxing during Christmas break. It was a nice break, I only wish we had one more week. I always wish there was another week before school starts. haha. I didn't do much besides go to the movies with Lindsay and my brothers, and hang out with my brothers and my roommates. It was still a lot of fun though. My brothers played their first church basketball games last weekend. They won, and all 3 of them played really well. I don't like watching church ball games though, because everyone gets really mean, but I went to support them. :) haha I got my student refund back today, which is nice, but I have to buy new tires, so probably half of it will go towards that. :( haha tires are so expensive. I hate going to auto shops too, I feel so dumb in there and the guys who work there usually don't help the situation much. I feel sometimes like they make you feel stupid just so they can trick you into paying more money. But that is just my conspiracy theory. haha

My schedule for the next semester should be pretty mellow. I technically only need 4 credit hours to graduate, but since I need to take a minimum of 12 to keep my scholarship I am taking 12 credit hours. This is the lightest semester I have ever had. Usually I take 15-18 credits per semester, but I decided after the last semester I needed an easy one. :) The classes I am taking are: British Imperialism, WWII in Asia, Ethics, and Social Inequality. I am hoping that they are all very easy, but I guess I won't truly know until Monday.

This is Rob and his current companion Elder Herrera, they built a snowman as you can see. I don't know if this guy will be his companion much longer. Rob told me that this Friday they could get a transfer. I think he is hoping for that. He likes going to new areas, and being with new companions. I just hope he doesn't get sent to Sandy or Draper since that is where I live. He is hoping to go to India soon, but he hasn't received any word on his visa yet, so as for now he is still stuck here. haha :) He said the weeks of Christmas and New Years were terribly slow and boring. They had no lessons to teach since everyone was doing stuff for the holidays and not having much to do is apparently not what missionaries want. They must be the only people on the earth who long to be busy constantly, it seems the rest of us would like a week or two where we literally had nothing to do. :) Rob has been gone for almost 5 months. Which seems so hard to believe. Sometimes it feels like he just barely left, and other times it feels like he should be coming home tomorrow.

Here is my little plug for the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver. WATCH THEM!! They should be really fun to watch. The opening ceremony is on Feb 12, in just a little over 30 days! If you don't know what events to watch let me suggest my favorites. Men's Ice Hockey is always good and is my favorite! Pretty much all the downhill skiing events are fun to watch, also snowboarding, speed skating, bobsled, luge and skeleton. There are many other events too but I don't like them as much. Cheer on our teams from the USA and watch them kick butt! Remember FEBRUARY ON NBC. (I should get paid for this nice little endorsement I just gave them!) haha

So close and yet so far...

Hi everyone, this is going to be a short post since I need to finish working on some things.

First off, Rob is doing fine. Still in the same area. He said he had a nice Thanksgiving, and they have a bunch of ward Christmas parties to attend in the next few weeks. Hopefully he isn't freezing too much walking outside. It has been bitterly cold the past few days. This morning when I went to go to work it was -6. yay! not. haha. I had my coat and 2 jackets on. Plus two pairs of gloves. On Sunday there was a pretty bad snow storm in Logan, and after the wind from the canyon was blowing really hard. They said with wind chill taken into account that it was between -10 and -15. Oh well, I don't mind the cold so long as the snow isn't dangerous.

I have been working all week on studying for finals, and writing my 22 page paper. I am happy to report that it almost done! I have almost 22 pages, and all I have left to write is a conclusion and another paragraph of intro. I have a few things to add to my citations, and I need to fix the grammar errors and stuff. And then I need to figure out which paragraphs should go where. It is all basic stuff that I should be able to complete pretty quickly. It isn't due until Sunday night, but I want to get it done tonight and turn it in tomorrow. I just want to be done with it! Right now I am so close to finishing, but I have so little energy left that it feels so far away. All of my other finals went well, or at least I feel like they did. Honestly though, I don't really care if I pass with A's or C's, just as long as I pass. haha. It has been one of those semesters. :)

I hope everyone is doing well. I will write a longer post next week, and include pictures from the past few months. Enjoy getting ready for Christmas! There is only 15 days left! :)

Due to popular request

Ok, not really popular request, but due to my mom's request here is a new blog. :) I haven't had time to update for a while, and probably won't have too much time until December when this semester is over. At that time I will update everyone on everything, and I will add all the new pictures I have. Until then...

Rob got transferred to the Taylorsville area, and says he likes it a lot there. He is right by the Hires Big H which makes me a little jealous. (They have fabulous cheese fries and cherry lime-ades) He is now in a companionship with only one other elder, instead of two others like his last area. They have a baptism coming up on Friday night, and he says he is really enjoying teaching people and getting to know them. I am so glad that he hasn't been transferred out to the Sandy/Draper area of the Salt Lake South mission, I never go to Taylorsville so I know I won't ever run into him. I want to tell him to go to the General Army Navy Supply store on Redwood Road. It is pretty close to his area (if not in it) and it is probably one of the coolest stores to roam around in. He probably won't tell anyone what he wants for Christmas, because that is just how Rob is, but he is a man so candy and baked goods will always be enjoyed. He also likes pictures and other stuff to remind him of his friends and family, so if you felt like sending him something but didn't know what to send, there are some ideas.

I have been doing pretty good, there is only about 3 1/2 weeks left in the semester, which is awesome but scary at the same time. Scary because I have a 22-24 page paper to write before that time. I will probably be a zombie all during finals week trying to finish it. Which means I will probably be super tired and also very grouchy. So I give this warning now (especially to my sweet roomies): sorry if I snap at you, I don't mean it, but stress makes me irritable. :) Other than that work is going great. I still do relatively little for a good amount of pay, and I will have the same schedule next semester. I am only taking 12 credits next semester because that is all I need. I really only need to take 9 credits, but I need 12 to keep my scholarship. In other news, I drank a whole jug of strawberry orange banana juice in less than a week. It was so good. :) And I am not normally a juice drinker, so everyone should be proud. We made green bean casserole on Sunday night for the potluck dinner in our building and I just wanted to eat the whole thing by myself. haha, that stuff is so delicious. My little brothers and I have worked out a deal where we are switching video games for a few weeks. They will keep my xbox 360 and the games with it, while I will take their PS2 and the rock band/guitar hero games. I am so excited. That will help to relieve my stress during finals week. :) It is finally cold in Logan. yay! I love it when it gets cold. I get to wear my big coat, sweaters, gloves and scarves. :)

I hope everyone has had a fantastic November so far. Have a great Thanksgiving, and I will try to update this again soon. :)

Some Changes...

Ok, so first change, I am not going to talk about Rob first. haha Mostly because I haven't yet received his letter this week, and because I feel like being selfish. :) I will try to update more about him as soon as I hear more.

This last week as I was stressing about my capstone class I made a crazy decision. I completely changed my topic. With only about 6 more weeks to do research and write the whole dang thing. Crazy I know. But my old topic was leading no where and I wasn't interested in it anymore, and so now I am researching old newspapers looking at articles about slave rebellions/uprisings etc... I am thinking about looking at how one event is covered by multiple newspapers and how the accounts and the way they are portrayed vary by region. And the amount of hysteria and reaction that is generated in response. I haven't figured out which specific event I will look at, but thanks to the Milledgeville Historic Papers Archive, part of the Digital Library of Georgia, I have access to several newspapers in their entirety. Yay Georgia! :)

This upcoming weekend is Halloween. My roommate Lindsay and I got our Halloween costumes last weekend at the D.I. and I have to admit, they are pretty sweet. She is going to be an 80's rocker. She has acid wash jeans, a red snake skin leather jacket and a Metallica t-shirt. She is also going to rat her hair and use tons of hairspray to make it crazy. I got a crazy vest. It is brightly colored with sequins and beads. It is fantastic. It looks like I belong in a Peruvian pan-flute band. :) I am going to also rat my hair and make it crazy. I don't know exactly what my costume is, but it is cool! :) Pictures will be coming soon. :) There is a Halloween party at the University, and it is usually pretty cool, so that is where we will be going.

As I mentioned earlier there is only about 6 weeks plus finals week left of the semester. Which is good and terrifying at the same time. It is good because that means relaxing over Christmas break, bad because it means that all my projects and papers are due before then. I still have at least one 5-10 page paper due in every class and the capstone one is also due. Plus my final exams. The frustrating part is, I don't even have the paper requirements for 3 of them. I guess that means just working on what I know now, and not procrastinating later when I find out more about them. Easier said than done though. haha. On the brightside, with Christmas less than 60 days away I have almost all of my shopping done. I got started early this year! :)

Alright, now a little bit about Rob. He is still doing well. Says they are teaching some people who are really interested and are learning, and he hopes they all keep up with everything and keep their commitments. He got a haircut from a lady in their area who owns a beauty parlor and gives haircuts to the missionaries for free. He said he didn't like it at first because she put in something that as he put it "made him look TOO missionaryish." Probably just some gel or pommade, but Rob doesn't like "putting product in his hair" so it probably really annoyed him. haha. He is finally starting to enjoy his area a lot, and has stopped longing for India and he says it has made the days go by faster now that he is more focused. Last I heard he could be there until at least Christmas time, so he will be almost a quarter done with his mission by the time he actually leaves Utah. Crazy.

Everyone have a spectacular week and if you are in Utah then enjoy the beautiful snow that is falling! :) Wishing everyone a fun and safe Halloween. Boo.

It has been a while since the last post, and for that I apologize. Here is an update on what Rob has been doing for the last few weeks. They have a few new investigators, one named Devin asked them for a Book of Mormon when he passed them one day on the street. He is from Minnesota and apparently recently moved out here for skiing/snowboarding. They are teaching a girl named Melisha who is 17 and was referred by her YW's leader. She wants to be baptized, but they don't have anything set up yet. They are also teaching a family, whose last name I don't know, but the parents are named Max and Juli. They also came up to them on the street because they are looking for help in their life right now to be able to feed their kids. He is very excited to see how they are able to help all these people. He got to go to Priesthood session of conference at the Conference Center, and said he enjoyed it very much. He is getting more and more excited about not being in India (even though he would rather be there) but he is beginning to realize that there is something he needs to help with here before he goes to India. He sent these pictures of himself and his companions. Enjoy!


As for me, I have been doing pretty ok. I was pretty stressed out for a while, but I am getting over that now. This upcoming Friday we have no school, because of Fall Break, which means I only work one day this week! Plus I get a 3 day weekend! I am pretty excited. One of my best friends (and Rob's as well) Orlando is coming to Logan for a short visit from NY. I can't wait! It has been almost a year since I have seen him, so I am sure we will have a blast.

Lindsay and I went to the movies on Friday night and watched "Couples Retreat". It was really funny. Much better than I expected it to be. We also went to the USU Hockey game on Saturday. I love hockey. I always have, and I probably always will. It is just so exciting. The game is so fast paced, full of action, and if you are lucky it gets violent! I kind of want to end up living in a town that has an NHL team, just so I can go to the games. But we'll just have to see what happens.

There are some annoying birds that live right outside our bedroom window. Every morning I get woken up to the awful sound of "cawww, cawww..." but it is way more obnoxious than I can give justice to in writing. This last week I didn't have to go to my early class, but I woke up when Lindsay woke up and when I tried to fall back asleep all I could hear was those birds. I would have just shut the window, but our room gets pretty warm with the window shut, and we don't even have the heat turned on in our apartment. We live right above the boiler room so living in our apartment is like living on the sun. haha :)

On a funnier note, I saw the FedEx guy fall out of his truck the other day at work. It was funny, he pulled up in front of the building and started to climb down out of his truck when suddenly he tripped. He did a total faceplant onto the street and then got up and tried to act like nothing happened. It was so funny. He came inside and while I was signing for the packages he asked how my day was. I said "fine, how is yours?" to which he replied "It is good, I totally almost fell out of my truck, but other than that it is fine." I wanted to tell him that I saw the whole thing, but then decided not to, because it would be awkward every day when he brings the packages into the office.

Today was Family Day in our ward and since I am on the linger longer committee I had to help get everything ready and serve the food. We had a potato bar. It was pretty good, but I didn't get a cookie. That is the one bad thing about being on the planning committee, all the good food is gone by the time you can eat.

Lindsay and I have been watching that new show on NBC called "Community". We think it is hilarious, everytime I watch it I sit there laughing the whole time. So if there is anyone out there wondering what show they should watch on Thursday nights, I have the answer. COMMUNITY!

I hope everyone reading this has a spectacular week. Enjoy life! And make sure you laugh at least once a day. It really does make life easier! :)