21st Birthday!

This week has been so much fun! Such a  good birthday week!

Tuesday was my first day at Courage Reins. I loved it. And I cannot wait to go back next week! Preschoolers came in and they were the cutest kids ever! I'm so excited to keep going!

Marissa and I hiked the Y on Thursday. It was freezing. And really difficult haha  but so worth it!

[Also, I thought I would add that the hike gave me a chance to remember Tim. It has been eleven years but I always love to think about him.  I may have been young but he was hilarious and so much fun to play with during recess.  For some reason, it hit me harder than it has for a lot of years. I am usually home or purposely distracting myself. It has always been hard to have such a sad memory associated with my birthday. Katie Barnes wrote on my wall a perfect time of day and said exactly what I needed to hear. Be happy about what I have and enjoy every moment.  I may miss him but I know that he was needed somewhere else.]  

Marissa, Chris and Stacey decided to have me open presents at midnight. I was all for that! I got super cute clothes from them! Also, my parents got me a really cute raincoat. I love it!

Yesterday, we started off with seeing my grandparents. I haven't been able to see them very often so it was so good to be able to talk to them again! Marissa and I met up with Brock for breakfast at Kneaders. So ready to eat a ton of the endless french toast... Only ate 3ish. haha Still delicious! When we got back we found a package on the counter. These were the instructions on the box. We had NO idea what was inside. When we opened it we found chocolate covered strawberries and pretzels! Thank you mom and dad for all the wonderful birthday presents! I loved them all.

I went to class and we went shopping for a bit then headed to Spark to have some drinks (non-alcoholic, don't worry). It was a blast! And we all want to go again! I was able to see some people that I don't get to see very often and I am so happy they went so I had a chance to catch up a bit! Afterward, we came back to our apartment for red velvet cake balls and cupcakes.  I found these sprinkles that looked like pearls and I could not pass them up. They were so so so cute! At home there were more people that came that I got to catch up with (including Marci's boyfriend who is hilarious!)

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!

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! 

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!

AY AY AY!!!!

Well, our party was a success! It was complete with two sweet pinatas, chips, salsa, Jaritos and of course, the classic mexican music.  It reminded me of all the parties at home (where I will be in a week!!)

Last Week of Winter!

Today=HOURS of Interior Design. Wish me luck.

I only have 7 hours of class left of this semester!!!! And two of those hours are volleyball. Heck yes. 

Now, back to last weekend.

We went to the Saturday morning session with Lively (He served in our ward back home) and his roommate Ben.  While waiting for Nick to get our tickets, guess who we see! DeAndra's brother who is serving in Salt Lake.

We then headed home so we could catch the afternoon session, that I slept through.

Marissa and I made cinnamon rolls that night for Sunday morning.  My first time making them without an aunt, grandma or mom.  They turned out pretty well.

We headed up to Salt Lake for the afternoon session (tickets courtesy from KC).  Javier, Pepe and Junior got tickets but didn't have a ride so we were going to take them anyway.  It was nice to be able to go in.  We got to visit with Judy and Gary for a bit but there are so much more security stuff that we didn't get to meet anyone.  Here they are afterward, they were looking for someone for a couple minutes but they never found them.  Still don't know who they were looking for. ha

Monday I bought roller blades!!!!!! We are so good.

I just have to mention again that I met one of the sexiest men on Tuesday.  :) 

Friday I had a date with Ben (Lively's roommate).  We went to dinner, played mini croquet at the Provo Beach Resort (I was TERRIBLE) and watched  a movie after.  It was tons of fun.  I hadn't even heard of this beach resort place so it was a good first time going.

Kelly Orgill (my first roommate) had her birthday last night.  Her sister in law made Cafe Rio food. It was delicious.  She also made a completely homemade oreo ice cream cake (okay, so the ice cream wasn't homemade).  It was soooo good.  It was good to see Kelly again and Taylor Cicotte (also from freshman year).  

Now I should start my work, huh?  Wish me luck to not procrastinate and actually get everything done fast!

Is it really over?

This was probably the most eventful weekend I have had in a long time...
The beginning of last week I was super stressed trying to get all my work done so I didn't have to do any homework when my parents got into town. Lindsea and Travis got into town Wednesday but I only got to see them for a couple hours.  We went to grandma and grandpa's for some of grandma's amazing chicken noodle soup with homemade noodles. It was awesome

I had class alllll day Thursday, my birthday. Didn't get to see my family (which included my aunts kelli and jenni!) at Red Robin for my birthday dinner. I would like to know what that Red Robin has against singing happy birthday. That's like my favorite part... Oh well. After dinner we headed back to our apartment for some cupcakes and hanging out. My parents finally got to meet some of my friends and put names to faces.  Marissa made about 100 cupcakes. They were soo cute and tasted great. I got pearl earrings from my siblings, an iTunes gift card from Sherry, rice cooker!, a new camera (that I still need to order), headbands, a chocolate never faileth cookbook (my old roommate KyLeigh knows we too well), lots of candy, soaps/ lotions, piggy bank and a framed picture of Ryan Reynolds from my Shannon.  It was a great birthday.

On Friday we picked up Lindsea's cloak for her wedding. She looked gorgeous in it. We headed up to Sherry's to help finish the cupcakes for the reception and then all got either pedicures or/and our nails done.  Marissa and I already got our nails done Wednesday so we did pedicures and mom enjoyed getting her nails done. That night was the bachelorette party which was tons of fun. :)

Saturday was the big day. Janae did all of our hair and make up. She is awesome. Lindsea looked absolutely beautiful.

The reception and car decorating went great. It's weird to think that she is married now!!!

Everyone left Sunday... Sherry held a party for the Golden Globes. I swear I am horrible at guessing at those kinds of things! it was tons of fun though. Thanks again Sherry! After the party Marissa and I headed up to Midway to meet up with Aaron, Stacey and Chris at Chris' family's condo. We played games, watched movies and ate way too much food. We all came home last night wanting to barf from being so full.

Tonight is our first basketball game, our second dodgeball game and the first day in volleyball coaching we get to play! It is going to be a long night...

2010 to 2011

2010 ended with a fun party at our house that was filled with games and food. I hate leaving family when I have to come back to school (especially since I have my 4 hour 7am class tomorrow). We got back just in time to see family at my Grandpa's birthday party. Everyone seemed to have a great Christmas/NY/birthday.  As much as I miss home, for some reason it is always nice to get back here. I have a schedule, for the most part. Which I like. I may not like my schedule for this first block but I will have to live with that if I ever want to graduate.

Ending the break with my nephews was awesome. Rock has more energy that I can ever imagine and Ryker's facial expressions are the best. I cannot wait to have those two down here in a week and a half. :)

So, I know if I make resolutions I will forget them so fast, so I'm not going to bother. I just want to make it through this year successfully in (mostly) school. No specific resolutions for me.

2010 was definitely a good year for me. I got to crown Princess Bronte( :D  ), coached the sweetest girls ever in basketball, turned 19!!, finally got to play sports again (which included volleyball every chance I got and playing around VERY good looking men), Ryker was born,  camped out for a BYU basketball game and woke up at 5 to get tickets to another one, will always be remembered at WyView as the girl that got hit in the head with a softball, changed my major/ minor, said so long to my wisdom teeth and found out my body can't even function correctly on 1000 mg of Ibuprofen, got a second summer job at Slidewaters, got to see Carrie Underwood, BACKSTREET BOYS and Luke Bryan in concert, went to Florida (which meant Harry Potter world WOO!), finally got to ride a mechanical bull, moved into an apartment that had a toilet too tall for me (and eventually Marissa moved in), became obsessed with board games and movies, and got to spend as much time as I wanted (kinda) with my nephews!

the break

soo we got kicked out of the RB on tuesday due to an "intense" blizzard that never hit provo. they also closed it for wednesday which screwed up more plans that we had. oh well. we found other things to do. 

this break has probably been the laziest break I have ever had. we did go to the BYU basketball game, found bridesmaid dresses ( :D ), successfully made a thanksgiving dinner for 8 college students, listened to the BYU basketball game and today we are going to watch the BYU football game. That's plenty of "productive" things to make up for our daily 3 hour naps and the 6+ movies we may have watched, right? 

OH but I finally made it to the gym. even though it just pointed out how out of shape and weak I am now, it felt so good to go again. I haven't had time this semester because our schedules are so messed up and if I play volleyball we don't go (which is like 5 times a week) so I am trying to do better. If marissa ever wakes up we are planning on going again today. hopefully. :) 

here is the whole group (minus Nick because he was sleeping) that joined us for thanksgiving. :)

As much as i love the life of sleeping/eating/sleeping/watching movies all day, I can't wait to start  my finals so I can be done to go home!!! 

woo party!

Marissa stole some pictures of mine so HERE is her blog you can check out some pictures and here are some others that weren't good enough for her precious blog. :)

okay, i know there are some doubles but i liked them so I couldn't pass em up. It was such a sweet party.

seeing mom made my weekend. I have missed her so much!!!! she helped us buy stuff for our thanksgiving dinner. oh how i love her.

Marissa and I are getting everything ready for our college thanksgiving. Selene is bringing over some mexican good, YUM! we have two pumpkin pies in the oven and they smell excellent.
I made another attempt at homemade tortillas. ya... selene is going to have to teach me in person instead of over the phone tomorrow. I am horrible at it!! oh well. time for bed so I can wake up to set the rolls out. :)