Tis the Season to Give

Ok so this is a little bit late, but I wanted to share the experience anyway cause it was amazing. So first off, I am dating an amazing guy right now. He is amazing, and that is about the only way I know how to describe him :) He brought up the idea that we should do a service project as part of our Christmas Season this year. So we brainstormed together and came up with this idea:

First we sent out a sheet the Sunday before Thanksgiving advertising homemade rolls for Thanksgiving. They were a little bit pricey, $5 for a dozen but we explained that all the proceeds would be going to a good cause: Sub for Santa

Once we saw how many people signed up I started to get really nervous. We were going to have to make over 300 rolls, and they would have to all be made the day before Thanksgiving. I'll be honest I started to get more than a little stressed as I tried to figure out how we (just the two of us) were going to do this. Jordan calmed my nerves by making a timing chart and I started to feel better.

And so it began. We started mixing dough Tuesday night at around eleven, until 3am. Here is a picture of part of the dough while it was rising.

Here is Jordan, doesn't he look happy?! He had so much fun rolling the dough into balls, and placing them in the muffin tins.

After all the dough had risen we got to sleep for 3 hours and began the baking process. All in all it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. It was a lot of fun, and I dare say that Jordan and I make a pretty good team!! Camilia graciously offered to cook some rolls at her house. She spent all morning on Wednesday cooking! Camilia you are the best! Thank you soo much!

By 3pm on Wednesday we had made, cooked, and delivered over 300 rolls! Here is picture of all the rolls. I honestly can't believe we made that many in 15 hours!!

We ended up making over $200 dollars. So the next step was to apply to the Sub for Santa program. We decided we could afford to help out three children. A couple weeks later we got our family and began shopping. It was a lot of fun to pick stuff out for them, and also really stressful because we didn't exactly know what they would like. But we still had a good time shopping.

Then we got to deliver them to the family. They were very gracious and thankful, and we were just excited that we got to help! It was truly an amazing experience. I have always wanted to help with Sub for Santa but have never done it until now. I just want to say thanks to Jordan (even though he can't read this) for being proactive with me and being willing to cook 300 rolls! He is Great!

First Pinewood Derby Ever!!

Here I am with the very first Pinewood Derby cars I have ever helped with. We did it for a ward activity and without any bias what so ever, I totally think we had the best cars ever!

This one won most creative design. You can't really tell from this angle but it is a 'Just Married' Pinewood Derby car, I would say the first one ever made! There are streamers in the back, and it says just married on the top, and their are kisses and hearts all over it!

This won is our super sleek, super cool car. I have to say, for never having done this before my roommates and I really did a fantastic job, don't you think?!

Finally, here are my 2 incredible cute roommates with our cars! Now while it was my idea to do the just married car, they are the ones who really made the plan happen. They are amazing!

Weekend Trip; Part 3

THRILL THE WORLD

This was definitely my most favorite part of the weekend. For those of you who don't know, let me explain about thrill the world. On Saturday Oct. 24, 2009 at exactly 6:30pm all over the world people would be dancing to thriller in honor of MJ. The plan was to return home from St. George on Saturday so we could drive to Salt Lake City and officially participate...but let's be honest we just couldn't part with the sun, so we unofficail did it in Zions National Park. We dressed up like zombies and at exactly 6:30 we danced to Thriller.

Here we are as Zombies. Aren't we scary!

This is the very beginning of the dance. You start out as a dead zombie on the ground.

Dancing it out...

Everybosy knows this move right?

More dancing...

This is our scary pose at the end!

Here are our close ups! I loved my make up and plan on dressing up like this for halloween. But my hair took me at least an hour and a half to detangle...I'll be doing something different with my hair on halloween.

Here is Lindsay. She is the one who planned and taught us Thriller. And let's be honest, she is creepy!

Here is Colette, even as a zombie she look so sweet! I love her!

Weekend Trip; Part 2

On Saturday we got a group together and went on a hike in Zions National Park. I have never been there in October, but it is beauiful! All the leaves are changing colors and the tempature is perfect! There are also a ton of people there but it was worth the crowds.

There were quite a few deer at the bottom of the trail, this one is just a baby! Oh so cute!

This was just part of the trail that we went on. Gorgeous!

Here I am, admiring the scenery!

The leaves were so pretty!

More Beautifulness!

Me and my roommates!
Lindsay and her good friend Russell, I only got to be in the picture cause I nuzzled right up next to Russell.
Haha, Lindsay had no clue that I almost licked her ear!
Colette, me, Lindsay and her bestest friend Hailey!
Roommate picture with a creeper who just randomly stepped into our picture!

Weekend Trip to St. George: Part 1

This weekend me and my roommates took a much deserved trip to St. George! It was out break in the middle of midterms! we got there on Friday and out first order of business was the THRILLER dance performance. If you don't know what that is, you need to go. It is an amazing dance performance but the theme is halloween, so even you guys can enjoy this one! I have been at least twice in my life, and maybe three times, but everytime is amazing....now you'll see why...

Me and my roommates goofing around.

As you first arrive they have a ton of zombies that just walk around and scare you. Their makeup is amazing and let's be honest they are a little creepy!

Here is one zombie just laying on the stairs...the more annoying they can be the better!

Here is Colette with a super scary one! Her hair is amazing!

Just the three of us enjoying ourselves.

So I chased this zombie down to get a cool picture with him...that was my first mistake.

After that he followed me up to my chair...you can't tell from this picture but he is just staring directly at my face, and he never once goes out of character. They are good.

At first glance this picture may seem dumb, but this was taken right after that same zombie, literally, crawled right on top and over me. You can see his leg in the top left corner. It was a little creepy, but really just a lot of fun!

Here are me and Colette! Aren't we so cute!!

Here is just another picture of yet another zombie. Each one of them looked so distinct! I loved it!

Here is another zombie, he was so funny! He would just go up to random people and sit on them!

Here are me and Lindsay with some of the dancers. This dance is my very favorite...at least I think so. They are all so good! You need to go if you haven't!

Lindsay and Colette tryign to get fresh with a zombie! You know he loved it!

The same zombie who crawled over me, also cornered me against the wall after the concert...he totally had a thing for me, I am sure of it.

Dinner and a Movie? Not even close!

When my phone starts buzzing, I'll look first to see who it is. Now when it comes up as an unidentified number a few things go threw my mind; the one I like the most is when I think 'Maybe it is some cute boy who got my number and is now calling to ask me out.' If I am actually lucky enough to have that part come true, they will usually ask me to go to dinner and a movie...pretty typical. Well this time he was anything but typical. How does a costume competition at the D. I. sound followed by haunted gingerbread house making? That is exactly what we did!

Here is the couple we doubled with in their costumes! They did ok....



Now get ready for this! He we are, dressed up as Prom King and Queen Nerd!! Please take notice of the fake bird on a fake tree sticking out of his jacket....ahh...aren't we cute? Maybe not, but isn't it obvious that we won the costume competition?

Later we are seen with our super scary haunted house!! If only you could see the house from all angles....it really is quite spooky. We did manage to get in a frosting fight in the middle, so you may notice that he has a tight grip on my wrist....at this moment he is wrenched with terror because of the frosting in my other hand...

All in all it was a rather fun night, a lot more creative than dinner and a movie, so I will at least give him props for that! Although I think he has some other good points working on his side :)

My Cohort!

Well, here they are! This is my cohort (or all the people that have entered the program with me). I will likely spend more time with these 13 people over the next two year, than with anyone else I know! They are all super awesome and I am loving the chance to get to know them! We have already had some good times; dinners, troping, the ropes course, and I can only begin to imagine all the memories we will make over the next two years. This picture was taken at the Ropes Course, which was actually what we did one day for class (I love my program!). It was a lot of fun, but about 3/4 of the way through it started raining so we had to go inside, but still it was fun!

Now, let me tell you a little bit about what it is like in the Marriage and Family Therapy Masters program at BYU. AMAZING! I think that pretty much sums it up! I am loving graduate school! No more busy work assignments (even though they tell you those end with high school it isn't true!). I enjoy every single class and if they didn't give so much to read I would actually enjoy reading it all. Unfortunately there just isn't enough time in my week to read everything and have a social life, so I organized my cohort and our readings and put the two together. Now I only have to read 1/13 of all the readings! we each take one reading and write a short summary and then share it! Best idea ever! The one important thing I did learn from my undergraduate was how to use my resources...and to never do more work than you have to! I am nervous about my thesis of course, but who isn't! But I have already started my preparation for picking out what I want to write and I am not procrastinating. Wahoo!! The first step was to take the Relationship Evaluation Questionnaire with my partner. haha Now I don't care who you are that is funny, cause I have no relationship to evaluate but I have to take it with someone! AWKWARD! I will just get a good friend to take it with me, and then I will know if we are compatible ot not!

I just want to make a note that I am so very grateful for all of the experiences I have had that have lead me to this point in my life. Especially for my mission. Even though you may not notice at first glance, it really did change who I am and how I operate. It prepared me for the challenges of the past year and a half (yes that is how long I have been home! Crazy!) and has definitely prepared me for graduate school, I would be so lost right now without those skills and lessons I learned there! well I guess that is about it for me! Life is so great! I am so happy! And ready for whatever comes next!!