first day of school

woke up.

took first day of school pictures of myself because everyone else was asleep.

ate toast with almond butter. yum!

went to my intro to science education class, which is going to be the best class ever!

came home and ran. too hot!

so then I swam some laps.

got ready and went to physics.

did some homework.

went to the awesomest FHE ever. ate pizza and talked to people.

went to bed. got woken up at 1 by my roommates laughing in the hallway and awkwardly walked past them to go to the bathroom. (I really think they are the greatest though! sometime I will do a blog post featuring the awesome and so cool apartment 212!)

overall, it was a great day! I was not too excited to leave Aspen Grove, but I love it a lot down here. great things are going to happen this semester, I just know it!

things I've learned this summer

*you don't have to like all the same things your friends do.
*you can pray about anything you are struggling with.
*just feeling peace can be one of the best answers to your prayers
*find joy in the things you are doing as they happen, don't just see the good after
*change helps you to grow and can be a blessing in disguise
*swimming is my new exercise of choice (though I am excited to run again in the fall!)
*blogging/blog stalking is way more fun than facebook
*take the time to laugh and don't be afraid to laugh at yourself.

This summer has helped me to grow in so many ways. I never really felt like I was specifically supposed to be up here this summer. but I am glad I came. last summer at Aspen Grove changed my life. this summer affected my life deeply and taught me a lot. last summer I was so ready to leave, and this summer I am dreading it. and here I am on the last night, thinking about how much I am going to miss one of my many homes. I hope I can take some of the things I learned up here and apply them to my life. and continue to learn new things and become a better person.

I'll miss looking up and seeing these every night.

I'll miss doing this every day.

I'll miss goofing around everyday with 3 of the greatest girls I have ever met. (shoutout to JuJu, who took these awesome pictures!)

I will miss seeing these beautiful trees shimmer in the wind.

well, I guess I should get back to packing :( and bidding summer goodbye.

move-in day and other thoughts!

Yesterday, I moved most of my stuff into my apartment. I organized everything, hung up some clothes, and made a ton of piles. There is still a lot of work to do...decorations to hang up, clothes to hang up, dishes to unpack and wash, and so on and so forth! I also bought my textbooks yesterday. Is it bad that I got excited that they were only $330?

It was so fun to be back at BYU campus. As much as I am dreading going back to school, I am still excited. I love BYU so much and it's going to be so fun to be back. I love having roommates and hanging out and laughing with them. Though I will miss my roommates up here a ton. My next post will probably be a back to school post... life is going to be super crazy up until I start school (less than a week!) and I am pretty sure it will be a lot harder to blog consistently once I get up to school, but I am going to try super hard!

If you aren't doing anything, go watch this show. I am kinda addicted to it, mostly thanks to my mom.
My goal this semester is to get straight A's. except for Physics. I am going to work super hard and I think it's an achievable goal!

Zion's!!!

I just got back yesterday from the best college roadtrip of my life. actually it was pretty much my first one.

The weekend started out with pre-traveling pictures. notice how excited we are. In the car, we practiced our pick up lines and enjoyed Brandon's 'your face' comebacks. best pick up line" you are so steamy, you must be boiling!" best comeback line: "your FACE is beautiful." we also enjoyed the prank war with the other cars. calling each other and saying the most ridiculous things to trick each other. It was super funny. me and SJ were crammed in the back of a tiny truck and by the time we got there, it was more like "get me out of this truck before I die of leg cramps."

we stocked up on camp snacks in Laverkin and then we headed out to try and find the free campsite that Brandon camped at last year. Finally, we found it, but they had blocked off the area to protect the environment. our next best option was Zion's so we drove into Zion's and luckily, there were vacancies at the Watchman campground. so we got three campsites for the rest of the hikers that would be camping with us. However, most of them did not want the campsites, so we ended up having to sell one back, and we gave one to some other Aspen Grovites that needed a place to stay.

Of course, more things had to go wrong. there were no campfires allowed at Zion's. not even charcoal fires. so we had to drive into town again to go get food. we ended up at the McDonald's, ordering off the dollar menu. after that, we drove back to Zion's and laid out the tarp and our sleeping bags, watched some shooting stars, and then fell asleep.

the next morning, it was up at 6 am for hiking. we hiked Angels Landing (I did not go all the way up...too scary!) and the Narrows. It was super fun. we were singing songs all the way (like any camp counselor would) and partying it up. here are pictures.

riding the shuttle out to Angels Landing

Ben and Brian trying to convince me to hike the scary part of Angel's Landing.

pre hike picture!

gorgeous Narrows.

we went planking.

group Narrows picture!

creepy.

best picture ever.

After hiking, we were exhausted. We searched high and low for a place to shower before our night out on the town. We found a campsite in St. George with showers for only $30/night. win win? I think yes. we all took nice showers and got all the dirt off and then went out for some Cafe Rio. it was so delicious after hiking all day cuz I was SUPER hungry. then we went to go see the Green Lantern at the dollar theatre in St. George. we drove back to our shady campsite in the middle of an RV park and crashed. I was super tired.

Sunday we woke up early for church and got ready. We tried to go to Kelli's friends ward but ended up in the wrong room. However, the talks were pretty good so I enjoyed it. We drove back to Aspen Grove. Kelli read us a couple conference talks in the car and the rest of the time I slept. We got back to AG and got back into real life mode, then went to Julia's grandma's for dinner. It was super delicious. While there, I got bit by 6 mosquitoes and signed up for a religion class with Kelli, Nico, and Stacey in the fall. I am super excited for it! Then, we went to Jordan's apartment to watch old family videos of the Ashcroft's. they were super funny because Jordan was attacking his cousin and Brandon said "I eat carrots" when his dad asked him what a bunny said. We then drove back up to the Grove. It was fun because Kelli and I were in the back seat of the cramped truck and we were super hyper laughing and making lame jokes. Overall, I had a great three day weekend.

Tomorrow = moving in and getting ready for school! I can't wait :)

thoughts and funny quotes from kids :)

This next school semester is going to be such a good one. In a challenging way. so bring it on! though the thought of leaving Aspen Grove makes me want to cry. I am going to miss it so much. I will miss the mountains, and going swimming three times a week, and playing with kids all day, and my lovely roommates, and not having to wash my own dishes, and all the wonderful staff members. and lots of other things too.

now, here's some great quotes from my lovely kittens!

"If we were bad guys, we would put our moms and dads and babies in the fire" -Eliza

"Except boys... they have handsome hair!"

"Once a baby dragon landed on my hand. It licked me and it liked me."

"Maybe the treasure is bacon!" -Cody

me: "What was your favorite part of the day?"
Kate: "seeing them roast that lamb"

(holding a dandelion) "Guess what? you can eat the stems of these!" -Kate (she actually ate some!)

"Then you would take me and toss me home like a fairy" -AbbyEvery week I start to miss them more and more. and never want them to leave. I love these kids so much!

reasons to be excited to go back to school

*new books
*a bed that is not a bunk bed
*meeting new people
*partying during the first week before classes get crazy
*access to a gym
*sporcle competitions
*playing gamecube
*access to a kitchen which means I can make smoothies and cook :)
*being able to come back and work at AG
*AG reunions and new friends to hang out with
*ward activities
*Sunday night games
*my new bedspread
*living right above your cousin so you can hang out all the time

more to come :)

job for the fall

My boss just asked me if I would be willing to drive up and work fall/winter. "HECK YES!" I said. well, that's not really what I said, but I was super excited when he asked me. yeah I will drive up 3 times a week to my favorite place in the world and make some extra money!

I know having a job will be hard, but it will force me to manage my time and allow me to get away from BYU and spend some time in the mountains :) I am stoked! Hopefully it works out.

GO. GROW. ACHIEVE.

Yesterday was such a great day for testimony building. Yesterday during Sacrament meeting, most of the testimonies were shared by little kids. We laughed at some of the funny things they said, but one of the little boys included in his testimony "I know that every time we say a prayer it will be answered." I thought about that for a minute and what a wonderful blessing it is to believe in the power of prayer and to know that I will never be alone. and that I can find answers to the difficult questions in life.

We also had a fireside last night by John Livingstone. Points I got from it:

*you are the kind of person you want to be. If you REALLY WANT to be different, you will be.

*you may think discouraging thoughts, but how long they stay there is up to you.

*we can choose what we love

*we may not choose how we feel at the beginning, but we can choose to think and act a particular way, and use that to change the way we feel.

*spiritual rebirth is when you want to be good. you want to covenant and make promises with your Heavenly Father.

*we have a spiritual radar and if we use it, we can get help with the big stuff AND the little stuff.

*draw your line before temptation, not before transgression.

wow, so much to think about and improve on. but it was a great Sunday :)

3 weeks til school starts, two weeks til Zion, one day until Anne gets here :) life is going by so fast!

things I need to be happy in the kitchen :)

not having to chop things yourself makes cooking way easier.

How have I even lived without a pastry brush for two years?

I would die to have one of these. but a hand mixer will suffice.
springform pan. who knows if I will actually ever make a cheesecake... but I at least need the option.
ramekins. I am buying some ASAP to make pumpkin bread pudding!

If you would like to buy me any of the above mentioned things, I will love you forever. If not, a trip to IKEA is definitely in order.

things unrelated to the kitchen that I would like... Tangled, Mulan, Ratatouille, and Sherlock Holmes on DVD. every nail polish color ever invented. new cute shirts. a new swimsuit. too bad I am trying to save money :)

moving on.

I have three A’s that are my BYU buds. My best friends. Some of the awesomest girls in the world.

‘A’ number one decided she was going to BYU Hawaii in the fall. Still doesn’t seem real. I don’t know how I will cope at BYU without her. We talk about everything… all of our struggles and all of the crazy things we love. Let’s just say a lot of minutes will be spent on the phone with her.

‘A’ number two just decided that she needs to move out of Park Plaza and on to bigger and better things. I 100% support her in her decision, but I am sad. Sometimes I feel like things don’t affect me as much as they should, but I am really sad right now. Of course I will see her again, but it is so hard to accept. That she is moving out in less than a week. It’s weird that she won’t be there to give me advice or joke with me. We have been friends since freshman year of high school and roommates since freshman year of college and I can’t imagine not seeing her every day.

I’m still stuck with ‘A’ number three...joke. (I really do think she’s awesome and I am glad we are still living together in the fall!)

I cried last night. but I am perfectly okay with that. It felt good to just come to terms with it. but let’s just say we are going to have some epic reunions. Like the one happening in three days! I’m stoked.

Yet, I am still looking forward to fall semester. Time to grow. Time to meet new people and achieve new goals. It might be hard, but I am going to make the best of it and have fun at the same time!

life.

I am pretty distraught about a few things right now. with the new school year, a lot of changes are about to happen. but more blogging about that later.

Other than that, this weekend was pretty kickin'. went to Costco. ate some delicious food. bought muffins for a trailer breakfast. saw Jim and Kim there. went to a free concert. saw Curtis and Natalie there. you can never escape Aspen Grove completely. seriously. watched the Source Code with SJ, Nico, and NJ. drove back to AG.

here's to the last round of Glen projects tomorrow :)

roommate love.

I'm so grateful that I have roommates up here that are just as crazy as I am. that we can do the most random things together and laugh about it. that we bond over scary movies. that we tease each other endlessly and never actually fight. that for fun we can go to the library and then spend all night reading. that they laugh at my jokes and listen to me vent.

we are all alike but so different at the same time. I am so lucky that I ended up in a trailer with some of the coolest girls ever.

yeah, I do get paid to paint faces.

I love five-year-olds. I love that they just tell you how they feel and you always know. especially when they get excited and yell out "that's my teacher!" or hug you randomly. makes my day.