So. I guess it's common knowledge by now, but I think the world of my sisters. Seriously. They are some of the smartest, coolest, most awesome people I know. Not that I'm biased or anything, but it's kinda' true. :) Of all the things I miss about Provo, my sisters are what I miss most. And guess what? July's their birthday month. So, here are a few pics from the last time I drove down to visit them, along with a couple of tidbits about them. :)
(Trying out the Strawberry-Cheesecake shake at Stan's Diner)
Katie-Cakes:
1. I love her dedication–she is queen of multi-tasking!
2. She gives great advice–I call her when I get stuck on decisions :)
3. Her style is so pretty and feminine–she likes floral and lace and other lovely things.
4. She "gets" my sense of humor (one of the few people...)
5. If I ever feel lonely, I know she'll be willing to sit in semi-silence on the
phone with me just so that I feel like I'm hanging out with her!
(Two-for-One Shakes at Sammy's!)
Mo-mo:
1. I admire her organization–she never procrastinates (and her grades prove it)!
2. I like her fearless attitude about everything in her life–
she's always willing to try out new classes and crafts and hairstyles (she is super trendy!)
3. I appreciate her directness–she's always up-front about what she thinks and feels.
4. She's incredibly loyal.
5. She's gonna' get into a nursing program this fall :)
(Winter photo shoot with a local photographer)
Bumblebee:
1. She is so passionate about everything she does.
2. I love her creativity!
3. She's quite patient with my older-sister hovering :)
4. Her laugh is infectious–I can't help but smile when I hear it!
5. I'm impressed by all her hard work on her online classes!
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:
So what exactly has been going on during my blog hiatus? Um, well for starters, I celebrated a birthday...
My little sisters planned an entire evening of fun for me based off Taylor Swift's song, "22". To be more exact--
"...It feels like a perfect night to dress up like hipsters (trip to DI to dress up like hipsters--we're still not 100% sure what hipsters wear)
And make fun of our exes (we considered finding the letter 'X' in books and making fun of them... cheesy humor, I know ^_^)
It feels like a perfect night for breakfast at midnight (breakfast at midnight, obviously)
To fall in love with strangers... (um, that's weird)"
Fun night, huh? My sisters sure are cuties! :) My friends also threw a little bash... red velvet cake (yum!), new jersey sheets for my new apartment in Idaho, new lipgloss... Basically I've got amazing friends. :)
Oh, speaking of friends, check out the fun things they do with me:
We went on a safari! To the petstore! We made binoculars out of paper towel tubes and explorer vests out of paper grocery bags. And yes, we walked around the store for probably a good 45 minutes looking like that! It was so much fun! And we saw so many cool animals--snakes, lizards, fish, birds, hamsters, a ginormous cat... Afterwards we just happened to stumble upon an African safari machine ride that seemed like an appropriate photo background, and to top off the night we went and ate burgers at In-N-Out... animal-style, of course!
In other news, I signed a housing contract in Pocatello for the fall, AND I just finished my federal aid application--yay for student loans! I AM grateful for the help and it's nice to know I will be able to pay for school, but at the same time, the idea of student loans kind of makes me feel like this:
But you gotta' do what you gotta' do, right? :) Anyways, in two more weeks I will be up in Idaho full-time, so that's exciting. I mean, beyond the fact that I get to live with my cousins this summer, I'm really excited to start school in the fall. Seriously... so excited! I just started receiving updates from the other students in the program, and everyone comes with such a different and interesting background--some of the students are former Marines, some are electrical engineers, some have volunteered in countries like Tanzinia and Peru--they've all done some seriously cool stuff. And they're coming from all over the country! I can't wait to meet them in person this fall!
