Nope. Not a dating anniversary. No pregnancy announcement, either ;) Obviously. The one month is because it's been one month since I moved up to Idaho full-time. What have I done in the past 30 days? Well, for starters, I planted my first row of potatoes.
(This means I can start my sentences with
phrases like, "As a potato farmer..." ^_^)
I built a chicken coop.
I rode a horse and counted cattle that were being moved to another pasture.
Oh, and I also learned how to frame a wall (yes, that means using a chop saw and a nail gun!). No big deal.
I'm doing my best to fit in with the natives ;) I'm slowly trying to pick up the culture--cars in a snowy parking lot spin "cookies" instead of "doughnuts", for example; the term "neighbor" applies to really anyone within a 10 mile radius of your house; and for the 50th time, it's LAH-VA Hot Springs, not LAW-VA Hot Springs!
I joke about things, but really, it's been great. I just got a job at an assisted living home. Finally applied for a library card. I visited the Idaho Falls temple!
Oh, and all that's not even mentioning how fun it's been to spend so much time with these cuties:
Looks like I may be turning into a spud after all.
This is the first picture I ever saw of Ellie-Bellybutton:
I didn't realize at the time what a huge part of my life I had just stumbled into. I had just finished my on-campus housing assignment and (being the thorough and inquisitive sort of person I am), I felt a pressing need to google and facebook my future roommate. "That's got to be her," my mom said when I showed her the list of people that facebook pulled up. "She's wearing a princess crown. Only LDS girls post pictures of themselves wearing princess crowns at age 18."
What Ellie-Bellybutton didn't know at that moment: I was creepin' on her facebook :) jk.
What I didn't know at that moment: she was in the hospital with appendicitis.
Obviously, she survived appendicitis and I quickly learned how to be less creepy thorough and inquisitive. Despite her hatred for country music and my dislike of dancing and board games, we quickly became best friends:
She was there to help me the time I got stuck while trying to wear two pairs of jeans on a very cold day. I was there to brush the snow off her coat and make her hot chocolate after snowy days at school:
You know how Anne of Green Gables talks about kindred spirits? Yep. Ellie-Bellybutton is one of those sorts of friends. We used to call each other up and watch entire episodes of "Chuck" together on the phone while she was living in Hawaii. And I got to be there the day she married a really cool boy I had introduced her to:
She, meanwhile, introduced me to Thai food, "The Mummy", and Casimir Pulaski day. It has been five years, two international trips, one husband, one baby, and now, two graduations since I first saw Ellie-Bellybutton's picture on facebook. She and I are both very different from who were then. But through it all, we have remained the best of friends. This past month, she graduated from BYU. People! She did this while getting married, changing majors twice, and having a baby!!! Does it get anymore hardcore than that?! I am so very proud of her and so very grateful to be her friend.
So this is a shout-out to my remarkable friend, Ellie-Bellybutton! You're awesome, girlie!
The freshmen roomies finally got together for a mini-reunion now that Kimby's back from her mission. And we were all excited to find out that Berin isn't barren and she and John will be welcoming a new, tiny person into their lives this year! Can you believe we grew up from this crew:
...into this cool gang:
Oh, and after years of saying we'd hang out in Moab someday, my family actually took the plunge and rented a condo in Moab for spring break! So much fun! We played games and watched movies and hiked out to Delicate Arch for the first time ever. My only question afterwards--why have we not done this before? :) A model of delicate arch:
...and the real thing (as a sidenote, I find it ironic
that I never made it out to Delicate Arch until after
I surrendered my Utah residency):
I ran in my stake 5K race:
I made some amazing white pizza for my friends (yes, those are fresh cherry tomatoes and artichoke hearts!):
We celebrated my friends' birthdays a little early since I won't be in Utah for them... I got them all inflatable "Avengers" hammers:
