My awesome trip to Washington!!!

Alright, so I thought I'd keep my promise to you all, and post about my trip to Washington this month. First of all, I just have to say how amazingly beautiful it is there. Here is a picture to convince you.



K, now that you are aware of how gorgeous it is there, I can move on. :) This trip also was my first time on an airplane. Crazy... I know, but it was. I quite enjoyed myself, but that was to be expected since we all know how much I love speed and roller coaster rides. Anyway, the flight was good, and when we got to Seattle we grabbed our rental car and headed to my brother's place. (Just so you all know, the first day it was just me and my other brother Brian, the rest of my family got there the next day.) This was my first time meeting Meg's kids, and let me just tell you how much I love them! They are so much fun, and I really enjoyed being with them. The first night we were thinking about getting a hotel room, but my nieces and nephew wanted us to stay there. SO, we had an awesome sleepover. I know it's basically bragging, but my nieces love me so much, that they made me sleep in the same room with them. They had Bill move everyone around so I could. I love being loved!!!

The next day my brother Bill took us on a drive to show us how pretty the area is. It is so gorgeous, and I really was considering staying there... hehehe. Later that night we had a birthday party for Jocelyn, who turned 5. This is where we had the party, and it is only a mile away from my Brother's place:




Yes, I wanted to stay there.. Now, you can see why, lol!

Anyway, we went to my brother's wedding the next morning. Well, I didn't actually get to go in since I am not yet endowed, but I did get to hang with the kids, which was a blast. We walked the temple grounds, which were gorgeous, and then we were right outside when they came out. That night we had the reception at Meg's Dad's house. Meg married my brother, and is now my sister-in-law. Anyways, this is seriously the view from her Dad's house. This is at Gig Harbor. It is so gorgeous, and I am so Jealous.







Then we had a flight back in Sunday. I loved it. I would've posted more, but I thought I'd keep it as short as possible. Here are some more pics! Hope you love it half as much as I did!

Might as well enjoy the ride...

Today has just been one of those days. You know... those days where nothing seems to go right, but they're so bad it's funny?? Yeah, that's exactly what my day has been like. This morning I was quite late, mostly my own fault of course, but I had to run back in the house twice. Well, that wasn't a huge deal, but then I got to work and realized that my grapes had gone bad, then it was time to go to school, so I walked out of the office, and it was raining and freezing (OK, now that's a little bit of an exaggeration, but it was pretty cold) and I was wearing short sleeves. Parking at school today actually wasn't too horrible, so I guess not everything went wrong. ;) I got done with school, went back to work, and sat back down at my desk. Of course, all the merchants I spoke with were the horrible kind. The kind that are so dumb you really do wonder how they make it through everyday life. Then I decided to get gas on my way home, because I was pretty low. While I was getting gas I decided to wash my windshield. That's when I discovered a chip in it. I seem to have the worst luck with windshields because I have never been a whole year without having to get it replaced. Anyway, I went to get that fixed, so that this hopefully I won't have to get a whole new windshield before registration in March.

After that whole ordeal, I decided to come home and do laundry. This is the first time I haven't had a washer and dryer in my place, so I went to check out the facilities in my complex. Well, all of the washers and dryers were taken, and it was obvious that others were waiting for their turn, so I decided I might as well go to an actual laundromat and get the whole thing over with. Well, I packed all my laundry into my car, (believe me, it was a lot), and then I drove to a laundromat about 4 miles away. Well, I got there and realized I had forgotten to bring my detergent and softener. So, I drove all the way back, retrieved the necessary items, and headed back to do my laundry. Any normal person probably would have been frustrated, and deep down, I think I was, but I just couldn't believe the way my day had been going, so I was actually laughing all the way back to the laundromat. Let's just say that I realized that some things in life I can't control, and I need to make the best of them. So, here I am at the laundromat, waiting for my washes to finish so that I can throw them in the dryer. Life's great huh??? :)

....I'm Retarded

SO, I'm still figuring out this whole blog thing. Today, Tammy had to show me how to add "stuff" to the side of my blog, and I'm still trying to figure out how to post pics in my blog (Tammy helped me the first time, lol). You would think that since I work for an internet security company that I would know how to work all of the blog tools, but oddly enough I seem to be blog retarded. SO, please have a little patience with me, and I will try and get some awesome pics and posts going on. I have a lot to post about my trip to Washington last week, so stay tuned!!!

Real life realizations...

So, today I happened upon a facebook page of someone I know very well, or maybe I should say knew. I was so excited because this person and I haven't really talked in a while. But when I got on this person's page I realized that she has changed a lot from the person I used to know. We used to have carefree sleepovers, and stay up late talking. We laughed together, and, of course, even cried together. We hit our high school years (well I did first. I'm older by about 2 years.) and we didn't have much time to talk or hang out any more. I could even venture to say that she was one of my best childhood friends. Anyway, today as I got on her page I realized that we have gone in completely different directions. Things that are most important to me, don't even seem to be on her list anymore. To be completely honest, I was completely shocked. I was literally speechless and thoughtless. It's funny to think about where your life takes you, or where you take your life, and to remember how you got here. Today, I realized that even though I'm not exactly where I thought I'd be by now, I am so grateful for the choices I have made, and the life I have today because of that. I realized that no matter how bad you want to, you can't make someone else's decisions for them. I highly doubt this person is even going to read this, but I wanted to acknowledge how grateful I am for those long nights and giggling sessions. For the endless games of "banister sliding" and the amazing "soap racing." You have made a mark on my life that I will never forget, and I hope that I can always be there for you no matter what.

So much to write, so little time...

So much to write about, so little time... Ahhh, life is crazy, isn't it? Well, I'm going to try and do a quick overview of the last 2 months. Starting on the activities of July 18th. Well, first of all, I'm still working at Sec Met full-time. I like it for the most part, and it pays me well, so I really have no complaints about that. I'm also still doing Landscaping with my bro., and I love that. I just like feeling that I'm physically accomplishing something, even if it is just mowing lawns. Now, for the fun stuff. The 18th of July was a blast. Suzy and I got a group of people together and we had a party at her house. We played Twister, Curses, the M&M Game, drank "Mock-aritas", threw M&M's at each other, and then crashed in the living room to watch National Treasure 2: Book of Secrets. I had a blast. I love playing games and just having fun, so it was a great night.

Saturday, we got a group of us together and had dinner at Cafe Rio then we went and watched Batman. At dinner, it was just me and five guys, so you can imagine what kind of conversation happened there. Luckily, other girls came to watch the movie with us. We had a group of about 15 for the movie. I have to admit that I liked the movie, but it was a little too dark for me. I guess I just don;t like seeing the dark and disturbed part of humans. I just have a hard time with it. I must say though, that Heath Ledger did an amazing job as the Joker. I was quite impressed with his acting skills. All in all though, it was a very fun night.

So, on the 23rd I got my hair cut. Now it really wasn't that much, just about 4 inches, but I pretty much freaked out. I liked it at first, then my sister reacted to it, and then I started thinking that it was too short, and I felt like I had made a mistake. I have to say that I was being a ridiculous girl. I'm one of those girls that hates the girls that give us a bad name, but I acted like one for a night. Anyway, to make a long story short, I love my hair now. I love the layers, and the cut, and it's actually kind of nice to have it a little shorter.

On the 25th I went to a Bee's game with Blaine and Greg. I forgot how much fun it was to go to a real baseball game. The atmosphere is so cool, and I would so much rather be at a live baseball game, then watch it on TV. This was also the day that I realized that I will probably never understand men. They say girls are hard to read, but I say that they are just as confusing. At least most of them. Oh well, you live and learn right?

On the 26th Mona had their celebration, and I participated in the Talent show. I, of course, sang, and I ended up taking first place. It was a good experience, and I love performing in front of people. That night we had fireworks, and I have to admit that for such a small town, we sure put on a good fireworks show. Although, I bet that a large majority of our town budget pays for that. I don't care though. At least not right now. I love fireworks, and I love Mona so it was a good night.

The very next morning I went to register for American Idol (YAY!) It was a lot easier than I thought it was going to be. I was expecting a huge line for registration, but I just walked in, and then got my papers and left. On Tuesday, I woke Up at 3 am (ugh) in order to get to SLC on time, by 5am. I really wish I had slept in longer because I didn't even need to be there that early, even though they told me I had to be in line at 5, liars... Anyway, I waited until 3:45pm to audition, and let me just say that it was a great experience, but I will most likely never do it again. I actually have a little less respect for Idol now because of the way they treated the whole situation. It was a lot of fun though. I got to do some really cool stuff, and now I can say that I did it. No regrets!!!

We had a party at Blaine's in Mona on August 2nd, which was a blast. Obe fo the things I love doing is watching movies outside, which is one of the things we did at Blaine's. It's just fun, and in Mona you can see all of the stars above you ahhh... Just thinking about it makes me happy.

Now, I'm not certain if this is my favorite activity this summer, but it has to be at the very top. Suz, Crow, Clay and I went to Lagoon on the 8th. It was a blast. All of us went on the Skycoaster, which is the ride that pulls you up to the very top, then you pull the rip cord and fall straight down. SO COOL!!! I then talked Suzy into going on the catapult with me. That ride is so much fun. They strap you into this big red ball then shoot you into the sky with 3 g's of force. It is so much fun. I have some pics, but they don't really give you the whole experience. I ended up buying the video of us, but its on old school VHS so once I get it moved to DVD, I'll put it on here so everyone can see how funny it is!

On the 16th I got a group together and we went to Applebee's for dinner and then we went to Trafalga. We raced on the GoKart track, and of course I lost. Suzy tried to cut me off, but she came in too soon and I totally t-boned her. We were stuck until one of the guys came and helped us out, but we both lost pretty bad. We also went to the batting cages and hit 50 pitches each. Well, lets be honest. I probably only hit about 20 of my 50, if that. The light above me wasn't working, and honestly, Softball isn't my favorite sport. I used to be good at it, but then I stopped playing when I was 13 and started playing tennis.

Anyway, back on track, I sang in my ward on the 17th since I moved into a new place. It was kind of a "goodbye to you" kinda thing. Lol! I am really going to miss my bishopric though, and the stake presidency. They are both great!

I started moving out of apartment on the 27th, and let me just tell you all that I have way more crap than I realized. Moving took forever, and I had to put a ton of stuff in storage. I love my new apartment though, and my roommates seem pretty cool. Two of them are volleyball players just like me, which is so exciting!!!

Well, that's my synopsis of the last two months. I promise that from now on I will post more often. The reason I didn't before is because I didn't have internet at my apartment, but now I do, s I promise to post at least once a week!!!