Dads and Guns

For some reason this reminded me of my own dad.  But  multiply "a gun" by about 30.

Ms. Graceful

I am really clumsy.  Always have been and probably always will.  I have fallen down many stairs, tripped over flat surfaces, slipped into puddles, and now... fallen off a horse.

Yup. A horse.  

One minute I was on it and the next I was on the ground.

Seriously, I don't remember how it happened. I just remember getting up from the ground and being super embarrassed.  

Tyler (the guy who taught us how to lasso) took me up to his horse to teach me how to get a horse ready to ride because I have to know in order to volunteer at Courage Reins.  So we went up and he taught me how to do the halter, the bridle and the saddle.  He then took Gunner out to warm him up and stuff and then let me take him around a few times.  I couldn't lope or anything cause I was too short for the stirrups.  First embarrassing thing, but I'm used to that. But since Gunner has a hard time with other riders he didn't want to leave Tyler so Tyler got on and we went around a few more times.  Then Tyler asked if I wanted to lope.  So we switched places so he could steer better.  So I was on the back and we start going.  I was having SUCH a hard time not bouncing back and forth and could tell it wouldn't last long.

It lasted a lot shorter than I thought.  Like 10 seconds. 

Dirt was everywhere.  Down my pants, down my shirt, in my mouth, in my pockets, in my hair... and I found dirt in my ear 2 hours later.  

I am probably the most elegant and graceful woman out there.  Watch out guys!

But seriously... you may want to cause you just might be pulled off a horse with me.

My Nighttime Antics Part Two

Last winter semester I was stressing out a lot about waking up early for my class.  I had to wake up early to meet a girl in my class to go to a high school to observe.  Since I have a history of not waking up on time, I guess my nighttime self tried to take this issue its own hands.  

There was one morning I was having a VERY hard time putting in my contacts and couldn't figure out why it was so difficult for me.  I then saw on my phone it was 3 am.  What the heck? Then I realized I was showered, my legs were shaved and one contact was in.  

I had done all that in my sleep.  I don't remember a thing and didn't wake up until I was trying to put my left contact in. 

Now I just want to know what else I have done in my sleep that I didn't wake up for.... Crap.

March Can't Come Fast Enough

Okay, so here are two videos that I love right now.  Well, one of them is a trailer for Hunger Games. I want to keep watching it over and over because I am just so excited.  This first one just cracks me up and some of the kids remind me of some people.  The last two boys are my absolute favorites. haha

Me Indecisive? Never...

So... A month or so ago I decided to change my minor.  I have changed it to Nonprofit Management.  I feel like I have already said this... Oh well.

Back at the beginning of the semester hen we were introducing ourselves in relief society, a girl (my visiting teacher) said her major was Therapeutic Recreation.  That sounded exactly like what I have always wanted to do.  I looked it up that night and saw that I had done a few of the classes already and will take some because I am doing pre nursing.  I talked myself out of it and decided that I would just stick with health education.  I realized that I wasn't enjoying my teaching classes and that I really didn't want to teach and thought I wasn't cut out to be at teacher.  But I still told myself to suck it up and just do it.

Last Monday I got a parking ticket.  After I appealed it I was talking to the receptionist.  She asked me what my major was... blah blah blah.  I asked her what her major was and she said therapeutic recreation. Seriously?  She talked to me for about twenty minutes about it and I fell in love with it.  She was also doing pre nursing and she said it worked perfectly.  But if I wanted to change over I should probably do it ASAP.

So, I went home and made a pretty spreadsheet with all the classes I need to take for generals, pre-nursing, my minor and this new major.  And colored coated it. [I just learned how to use Excel and I am pretty much a pro now. ]  I saw that I wouldn't graduate until a semester later but that doesn't bother me now.

I met with my minor adviser yesterday.  He LOVED my spreadsheets :) He asked me what my major is and I told him how I want to switch over and all.  He asked me why.  I told him that ever since I have learned about Hippotherapy (Therapeutic Horseback Riding) I have always wanted to learn more about.  He said that for one of my first classes for my minor I could spend up at Courage Reins [they do hippotherapy there.)  I was so excited.

I meet with my adviser to add Therapeutic Recreation as my major tomorrow morning. Whenever I think about it I get so excited.  I can start seeing small things fall into place and a couple reasons why I didn't make up my mind earlier.

One of My Dreams

 I was on Pinterest this morning and came across this picture: 

Ever since watching this video:

a few years ago, I have always wanted to pet a lion.  That picture reminded me how bad I really want that to happen.  This dream hasn't come true. Yet... I'm persistent that it will! Maybe when I run my own nonprofit organization in Africa I can find someone that can help me out with that... Someday.

Dove Knows Best

When my parents were here Sherry sent Riss and I home with a bag of candy. It had Dove candies, Snickers and some other goodies in it.  For church on Sunday I took a handful so I could snack on them because I have a terrible time going 3 hours without food.  Before Sunday School I took out a Dove chocolate and started eating it.  Riss looks at me with her puppy dog begging face and asks if I have more since she ate all her's already.  I was very reluctant to dig through my purse then I read my little message on the wrapper, "Happiness is sharing chocolate with others." WHATTT!?! Seriously Dove?! Needless to say I dug around in my purse so I could be happy.

On another note... I have always had people spell my name wrong.  Most end it with -ey and some may put -ie.  I have also had some that spell it Witney, Whintney, Whiteny, and Whinty.  As I was walking to class I got a text from my friend saying that I need to get to class because they have a funny story for me.  9 am is my Athletic Training lecture and 10 is my lab for it ( I slept in and got some extra sleep because I have the most disgusting plugged nose.)  When I got to class he told me this story....

"So, we were in class and Justin (our teacher) put up the groups for our final presentation.  I was going through our group and saw my name, Aimee's name, Necole's.... but then I saw the next name and I thought, 'Who is that?' Then I saw the last name was England.  Justin spelled your name with an S instead of a W.  I would say it, but it isn't appropriate."

haha That's a new one!

Late, but still great!

My mom and dad were here again! Best of the weekend!

To go back earlier last week... We finished tournament for volleyball (girls.) We had lost the first or second round of the tournament so we played in the losers bracket.  We beat... 5 or 6 teams? Including the team we had lost to.  Booyah! Thursday night we had about twenty friends come cheer us on for the championship game. And they did awesome! Super loud :)  Since it is double elimination we had to beat the team twice in order to be the champs.  That is probably the rule I hate the most! We won the first game! Then lost the second... So we weren't champs.  It was super fun though.  Just incredibly frustrating since we were SO close to getting a t-shirt. Next year maybe... We start coed Tuesday and it should be pretty good! I hope..

Friday night was Stacey's 21st birthday party! It was a mocktail party and we asked everyone to wear their best red, black and white attire. We had non-alcoholic mixed drinks, TONS of food and some good looking people! It was tons of fun to meet some new people and catch up with some friends.  We hit up Rancherito's Beto's at 1:30 with some friends. You always see the most interesting people late at night...

We woke up early Saturday morning to go to Katelin's bridal shower (Sherry's son (Nate)'s fiance).  Riss and I of  course got her some cute stuff and the food was delicious! Mom took Riss, Heather (KC's girl) and I shopping and we helped mom get some cute stuff at Dress Barn.  I think I enjoy picking her out clothes more than picking stuff out for me.  Mom and dad took us all out to Tucano's.  Dad LOVED the pineapple and mom LOVED the teriyaki beef.  Glad they like it :)  Riss and I walked around Gateway with Heather and KC and picked out some cute stuff to wear.

We joined KC at his sacrament and were reminded how hard it is to stay awake during church when it starts at 9.. We made it through with only a few snores and head nods.

I had a final presentation in my adolescent development class where we had to relate our develop to a object of some sort.  I related mine to an apple/apple tree and made mini apple muffins to go along with it! It scared me because I have never made them but they were delicious! All 64 of them!

My Nighttime Antics Part One

So... Chris has heard many of my weird/random/creepy sleeping habits and he wanted me to share them with all of you. So get ready!

First, I thought I would start with my WONDERFUL bed(?) manners :)

I have punched two people while sleeping.
     - Marci: We were at volleyball state junior year and Marci and I were sharing a bed (like always.)  I was having a dream we were playing volleyball and Marci got in front of me when I was getting ready to pass it.  In my dream I punched the ball.  In real life I punched Marci's head.  All she did was yell at me. I was lucky, believe me.
     - Marissa: We were house sitting for he Koenigs with some friends.  Riss and I were sharing a bed and in my sleep I was playing basketball and I reached for the ball.  In real life I punched Marissa in the face.  She yelled at me. And was about to hit me back but didn't want to in front my friends.  Thanks girls, you really saved me from getting a bloody nose because she was piss really upset.

When Marci and I would share a bed when we were younger we would wake up with bruises and scratches. One time my shirt was off.  Ya, that was weird.  Maybe that is why we were so feisty in sports, we trained in our sleep.

Also, I breath really loud.  Marissa has told me multiple times that she will yell at me because it will scare me and I will stop breathing loud just long enough for her to fall back asleep.  I have fallen asleep in class, on couches, church, cars (pretty much everything ending with c's plus some) and every time I SWEAR, someone tells me a very surprised, kinda freaked out, tone of voice that I was breathing really  loud.  All I can do is apologize because I don't know what to do differently.

JIMMER TIME!

So, as most of you probably saw on Facebook, yesterday was a pretty good day!

But first! You get to read about my homemaking skills! I have been craving chicken pot pie so I decided to make one :)  It was really good! And sooo easy. Perfect for a college student.  Here is the recipe if ya wanna try it sometime!

·         1 recipe pastry for a 9 inch double crust pie

·         1 carrot, chopped

·         2 sticks celery, chopped
 1/2 can corn (you can probably put the whole can)
1/2 big potato

      1/4 onion

·         2 boneless chicken breast halves, cooked and chopped

·         1 can condensed cream of chicken soup

·         2/3 cup milk

·         1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

·         1/2 teaspoon salt

      [I meant to put some peas in but I grabbed green beans on accident.  You can add whatever veggies you want and I think it would turn out great.]

Directions

1.    Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C).

2.    Steam carrots and broccoli in a covered pot until slightly tender but still firm. [I kept them in for like 7 minutes]

3.    In a large bowl, mix together carrots, broccoli, chicken, soup, milk, cheese, and salt. Spoon mixture into pastry-lined 9 inch pie pan and cover with top crust. Seal edges and cut steam vents in top.

4.    Bake in preheated oven for 30 minutes, until golden brown.

In the morning Chris and Aaron had a volleyball game for intramurals. Riss and I were saying how they should be so happy because we usually like to sleep in on Saturdays. haha We had to park in a further away parking  lot because the closer one was blocked off for the homecoming parade (I totally forgot this week was homecoming.. until Saturday).  So we were walking down the hall to go to the gym.  Riss stops to take a drink of water and I look walk a little further then look back.  There is a guy walking with his hoodie on and a basketball. I thought, "Holy crap it's Jimmer!"  Then he put his head straight down when he made eye contact with me.  At that point I was like, "Holy crap I just made eye contact with Jimmer... but he doesn't look very awake or in the mood to take pictures. I'll let him do his thing and not be annoying"  Then Marissa is done with her water she sees someone and since we are so short we can see his face under his hoodie and she says, "Hey! Can I have my picture with you?!" Leave it to Marissa to not think twice when seeing someone like Jimmer.  I felt bad for bothering him but at the same time, we got our picture with Jimmer!!! Thanks Riss for being annoying. :)

Then we went to the women's soccer game.  It was the game where they were raising awareness for breast cancer and we got free pink beanies! And they did a game at half time where athletes from different sports went and played soccer.  After the soccer game was finished a lot of the basketball players were just standing there so Riss and I had our picture taken! 

Conference Weekend

Friday was an interesting game. But we won! So that's all I care about :) We also got to go on the field and met Cody Hoffman. Gorgeous man.

He is really good at football, too.

Marissa and I watched the Saturday sessions at home while painting our nails and looking on Pinterest.  My new addiction.  But I learn so many cool things! And find lots of cute quotes.  That night we went up to Preston's (we are now in the same ward) cabin up in Kamas.  So much fun! We kinda fell asleep during the Sunday morning session but we did listen to the afternoon one! Outside on the deck.  It was awesome.  They made us breakfast and dinner and for lunch we had sandwiches, which is where my new love of pepper jack cheese began.  

It was a great relaxing weekend!

In my athletic training class we have watched two videos. I thought the first one was cool and I loved the second.  Elder Holland is one of my favorites to listen to!

Golden Weekend

Well, Marissa has finally hit 24. We did a lot this weekend to celebrate!

First, dad came down to surprise her. Everyone was so good at keeping the surprise! I almost slipped quite a few times because I was just so excited to see him! He got here around 4ish on Friday, we talked a bit then headed to the football game where dad got to sit with us in our 3rd row 40 yard line seats.  They won, so it was an awesome game.

Nick has the picture of us with dad.

We headed up to Sherry's for the night but didn't get there until like midnight because we got stuck behind the cop doing the slow roller thing on the highway. Thanks again for letting us spend the night Sherry!

Saturday morning Marissa and I headed up to Timpanogos caves to meet up with Chris, Aaron and Stacey.  None of us have been up there before and Aaron wanted to surprise Riss with it.  It was National Lands Day so we got free parking and free admission! Woo! They were super cool and the trip was tons of fun.  We even got to sing to Marissa in the first little cave. Enjoy my awesome singing :)

We then headed back to shower and dad treated us with a trip to good ol' Costco and dinner at Pizza Pie Cafe! We had to get back to our apartment to set up for Marissa's party that night.  We made tons of cupcakes. Here are the kinds we made!  Red velvet, Better Than Sex, Chocolate Coconut and yellow.  All those were made from scratch besides the chocolate part of the BTS ones.  Chris made Banana and Kelly brought over some Strawberry Lemon and Chocolate Mint. They were awesome, so people said.  It was great to catch up and see tons of friends again! I was able to pack on all the candles. :) Guess what, you get to listen to me sing again!

This morning we went to Jason Coleman's farewell talk.  He told the story about how he and Jared were pretty much stuck at the Wenatchee airport and how they had to walk along the street like lost puppies and be taken by a taxi driver to Seattle. He failed to mention how his GIRL cousin had to come back from Entiat to pick them up and wait for them until the driver got there.  He said it was a better story without me in it. Thanks Jason! It was awesome to see family again.  We got sent home with plenty of food :)

Thank you dad for EVERYTHING! It was awesome to spend some time with you this weekend! And Jason, good luck!

Videos!

Here are a couple videos that Stacey took last night.  Tyler, the guy who taught us how to lasso, is the one on the bike.  Matt is the one announcing.  Tyler is lassoing a chair while riding a bike that doesn't really have wheels.

They were hilarious!

Two Weeks Down

[Sorry, this is mostly a school and work post] As I enter my junior year in college I have seen myself being less stressed.  My freshman year I was freaking out about, well, pretty much everything.  I was trying to do too much that didn't matter and I stressed more than I studied. Now, I study because I don't want to get stressed. I don't freak out that I have a wrong edition for a book or no book at all.  I am right on time for classes and not super late (granted it is the first 2 weeks, this one might change) or super early (I was 20 minutes early for a 10am class because I was scared I would be late when I lived 5 minutes away from the building).  I skip the small talk in classes, mostly due to the fact that I know a ton more people now and can find a friend in my classes.  I have started my second job. Pretty easy and relaxing.  Still doing the snow cone shack. I think I have about 4 working days left! Yesterday I pretty much got paid to watch the game by myself.  Not too bad if you ask me (even though we lost...)

We have started intramurals! Well, kind of.  The other team didn't show up for our first volleyball game and we haven't had one since.  We are also doing flag football... so excited for that! Should be fun, but girls can be feisty! We will have to see.

We (Marissa, Stacey and I) are living about 4 steps from Chris and Aaron.  So we get to see their wonderful faces every single day :) Well, except for this weekend because they went to Denver. Last night the three of us girls were coming home and there were two guys from our ward in the parking garage.  They were lassoing things! So, they taught us! Marissa picked up right away, I needed extra lessons because I couldn't even get it around myself, and Stacey was pretty dang good too.  Don't worry, dad, I got it eventually.  Your daughter isn't a complete idiot.

Our project for the next 2 weeks is planning Marissa's 24th birthday! I think I am more excited than she is haha any ideas on fun cupcakes let us know!

Anyway, hopefully this video will make this post not so boring.

Summer Is Officially Over...

[This was typed a while ago] We are back on the West Coast. Just a little sad considering we did so much during this trip but there was still more to do and see! The trip was so fun and I cannot thank my parents enough for letting us tag along.  During this trip I entered 8 new states (if you call D.C. a state)(New Jersey, New York, Virginia, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Washington D.C.), tried Lobster (lobster roll) and crab (crab cakes) for the first time.  I liked both of them! But after Marissa gagged when she tried the lobster I lost my appetite and couldn't enjoy the clam chowder I had. Thanks Riss. I also finished the Hunger Game series (see below).  We were in airports and planes for way too long, obviously.  And spent way too many hours in the car together... Marissa and I drove our parents crazy, I'm sure of it.  But they miss and love us so it's okay, right?  We are happy they tolerated us. :)

We tried to occupy ourselves in the car at least...

Here are some pictures of us at Plymouth! 

 The Fudge Lady.  She gave us tons of fudge so I thought she deserved a picture on this oh so popular blog. 

 On pretty much every vacation we went on Marissa and I would get these rocks. Please don't ask why, because I wouldn't know an answer.

 Through the fence I saw a tail flip.  I freaked out thinking it was a horse...

On our last day we went to Boston. I loved it! And we ate at America's Oldest Running Restaurant! Super cool. Mom and I got a sweet tour about the Boston Massacre. Super interesting!

When we got back to Washington we went to Les Miz. I loved it! I didn't read the book or see the movie and there wasn't a synopsis in the book but I still knew what was going on! Second row tickets are amazing! Thank you SO much mom for dragging us along :)  When we made it home we spent as much time as possible at the lake and we even made it up to Stehekin for a few hours.  Dad let us drive the boat (even though a stupid tiny piece of wood made its way and we were delayed a few hours).  It was awesome to get some bakery goodies and drink out of Rainbow Falls.  I even got to see Ben Barnes up there! Going with Rock made the trip even more enjoyable.

I miss those boys!

I am now back in Utah... So much fun. I finished American Heritage, forever! But I do have to say I enjoyed reading about the events that happened at the places we visited. But that stress is gone and I am starting a new one, Chemistry 105. Yippee!! I am finishing up at the shack (we close at the end of Sept) and I have a new job as an aide.  I am also taking ZUMBA! We will see how that goes, first day wasn't the best.. haha I am definitely not a dancer. It will be an interesting class for Stacey and I.