President's Day Weekend!

(The whole gang ready to go on Saturday morning!)

I love long weekends!! This past weekend I went home for President's Day and it was so much fun! Angie and Keith came out from Denver, Nicole and Jeremy came down from Logan too (and even though I see them all the time, it's still always so much fun!), and Dustin and Kaley stayed at my parent's house too. I love getting together with the family, and we always have a ton of fun together!

Friday night I got in and not even 10 minutes later we were headed for the U of U gymnastics meet. Who were they going against? None other than the Utah State Aggies! That was a lot of fun. Utah obviously won, but I can accept that. I'd like to see a basketball game! :)

Saturday morning we all woke up and went out to breakfast at IHOP. That was a lot of fun. Josh came with Braxton, and it was way good to see them again too! I can't believe how old Braxton is getting, it is pretty insane! But that was a lot of fun. Then we headed to Ogden to go SNOWBOARDING!! It was my first time ever, and I was so nervous! People kept telling me their first time was miserable and not any fun and stuff like that, but I LOVED it. I had so much fun even though I wasn't really any good.

Luckily I had some pretty awesome teachers! Kelsey, Kaley, and I were all going for the first time, and everyone was so patient with us and took the time to help us learn the basics. They were awesome. Jeremy and Keith both went on the lift with me to make sure I got off ok. There were a couple of nightmare times when I decided to go by myself, but I survived! I missed getting on with Keith and Angie one time and that was hilarious, so I went by myself. Some other times I just went by myself, and I think I only stayed standing one time. Kind of depressing, but I'm over it! I hit my head on the lift one time, but it was just funny.

Nicole and Angie both took the time to help us stand up and helping us learn how to get a feel for the snowboard. This picture of Nicole and I was actually taken at a hilarious time. She was trying to teach me how to be on my front edge so I could start carving and we had a couple of special moments. My board got caught on top of hers and we were stuck for quite a while before I figured out how to get off of it. We had a lot of laughs and it was just a lot of fun and I would never describe it as miserable!

Thanks to some awesome and patient teachers, I finally started to learn how to carve! I was MUCH better at going from my front edge to my back edge (yes, I am aware that is the easiest way), but I was pretty proud of that accomplishment! That picture was actually taken when I was celebrating doing it. Usually when I celebrated I would catch my front edge and face plant which was always hilarious. I'm not sure if it happened that time...

So after a long day snowboarding, we headed home and had some dinner and spent the rest of the night with my parents and we all crashed early that night! Sunday was pretty simple and we just went to church, ate dinner, and then chilled at home the rest of the night. I went over and visited the Hansen's at one point too. That was so much fun and it was way good to see all of them again! We always end up just talking for hours! It was great.

Monday was time to wake up and head back to school and home for everyone else. I went to Village Inn and saw my friends for a little bit and that was a lot of fun! Megan made a slideshow of all of the pictures of the 5 of us from middle school until now. It was so fun to watch that and I loved it! We have all grown up together basically and I love those girls! It was just a great weekend and I love my family and friends!

Sidenote: The weekend before this one, Jaynee and Megan came up to Logan to see me and we all went to see DEAR JOHN! I was going to go down that weekend so we could all go see it together, but I don't have a car and no one was going home, so I had to stay. So they decided to make a trip up and it was SO great to see them again! I love those girls! I absolutely loved Dear John too and I cried pretty much the whole time! It was awesome. It was way different from the book in pretty much every way, but I accepted that and still ended up loving it. So... Life is good!! :)

(Me, Megs, and Jane before heading out to see Dear John! Love these girls...)

Life at USU!

(Amber and I one of our first nights here!)

So... I have been at my "new home" now for just about 4 weeks now, and I LOVE it here!! Logan is cold and the air is terrible, but if those are the worst of my complaints, I would say that things are pretty dang good. The people here are so friendly and I meet new people everyday. Some of my favorite things are as follows:

(I don't know why Trevor was sad, but this was one delicious dinner!)

1. My ward

I love my ward so much! The first week, I was really nervous about church and how I was going to like my ward because it seemed like everyone already had their friends, but I was so wrong! I started going to ward choir practice after church, Ward prayer every Sunday night, and FHE every monday, and things have been great ever since! Everyone talks to me and I have met so many great people who I will probably become great friends with over the next few months. My FHE family is so much fun and they are crazy which makes them the perfect family for me to be in! I also just got sustained today as a Sunday School Teacher for the Gospel Principles class! I have mixed feelings, but I think it'll be really good for me! Being a Freshman who is not a returned missionary, I am kind of intimidated by the calling, but I think it'll be a really good thing for me!

2. Basketball Games!

If you haven't ever been to a Basketball game at Utah State in the Spectrum... oh boy do you need to experience that once in your life! The students here are so involved in all of the extracurricular activites and supporting each other, and boys basketball games are probably by far the biggest ones! The student section is standing, chanting, and cheering literally the entire game. I would never want to be on the opposing team coming into the Spectrum to play because sometimes the student section is a bit ruthless. :) It is one of the funnest nights of the week though, and I am always really sad if there's not a basketball game in a week. My favorite thing is singing the fight song and the scotsman! Oh.. and the scoreboard cheer at the end of the game WHEN we win. :) And also when a player on the other team fouls out! Way too many things to love about these wonderful basketball games!

(USU vs. Idaho! USU wins... of course! :) )

3. Deathball!

One of my new favorite things is Deathball! The people living in Pineview are definitely night owls, and they are always out in the main lobby playing this wonderful game. It's a hacky sack game, but we play with a ball. Basically you juggle it 3 times as a group, catch it, and then throw it at somebody. That is a lame description, but it is SO much fun. We seriously play for hours on end and we laugh the entire time. This is where I have met a lot of people, and we are all starting to become pretty dang close! I love it!

So those are just 3 of my top favorite things about Utah State. If I felt like saying more, I definitely could! School is going great too, and right now I am just trying to find some kind of internship that will get me some experience in the Journalism/Public Relations field. I also have enjoyed living so close to Jeremy, Nicole, Makelle, and Parker. Seeing them is always so much fun, and laundry is free! :)

Ok, for journaling purposes, I will tell the story of my first day of school... The Sunday before school started, I was signed up for 12 credits, but I wanted to take 15 credits. So I was looking for another class and I found the perfect one! It fulfilled my depth humanities credit and it seemed pretty interesting! The description said it was on the culture and history of Spain. My oldest brother, Josh, served a mission in Spain, so I thought that would be way cool. I tried to sign up for it, but it told me I would need an instructor's signature. So I asked around, and everyone told me it was because I was trying to sign up so late, so I just had to go to the class and then the teacher would sign me in if he had room. So the next morning I woke up and this class was the first one of the day! I was SO nervous to be at the new school, but I was way excited too. So I went to the classroom and sat down right in the middle of the classroom. The instructor came in, took roll, called out the waiting list, and then asked for anyone else who was there and wanting to add the class. So I raised my hand and gave him my name and everything else. Then it was time for class to begin. Well... before I knew it I was transported to Spain and everyone around me was speaking spanish! The instructor, lecturing in spanish. The students around me, asking questions in spanish. The syllabus... you got it! Spanish. Well... I had NO idea what to do. It was my first class of the semester at a new school and I was still terrified! Well, needless to say, I stayed in the class the entire time. I laughed at all of the professors joke, repeated whatever he told us to repeat, and "listened intently" the entire time. I also read the syllabus to see exactly how much spanish I can understand, and I surprised myself! It was the greatest feeling ever. People also probably thought I was crazy because I would just chuckle to myself all throughout class while I was thinking of what everyone would say when I told them about this. I was also terrified he was going to ask me a question, so you can imagine the relief I felt when class ended and I was able to get out of there and speak english again! It was probably by far the funniest thing that has happened to me since I've been up here, and it makes a great story, that's for sure!

(Trevor, Amber, and I cooking dinner Friday night!)

Well... That about wraps it up! I basically love life up here, and I am totally fine with it being my home away from home for the next 4 years. I have really started to love cooking too, so that has been a fun new adventure! I think Logan is a great city and I feel like I have always been meant to be here! I guess we'll see what other exciting things happen in the months to come! :)

UpDaTe!! (It's been long enough!)

Ok, so I have sucked at blogging over the past little while, but I am here now and giving my update!! Blogger has been dumb and hasn't let me put any pictures on here, and I wanted to make it more interesting! The last time I blogged was Thanksgiving, so I will just give the key points to avoid this blog being too long! (College post is coming soon!)

1- Goodbye New Mexico!

What a great experience to get outside of Utah and live in New Mexico for a semester of college! It was so much fun and I made a ton of incredible friends who I will probably be friends with forever. I made many memories and had a bunch of experiences I will never forget. In one semester of college, I grew up so much and learned so many things about myself and I am so glad I went! It was sad to say goodbye (or "see ya later") to my closest friends, and I hope to see them all again soon!

(our "Family Picture" at out movie night in the hallway! Amber, Storie, and I and Derrick, Kennis, and Royce! I miss these boys! )

2- Christmas time!

(Jane and I in front of the Christmas tree! We look better sitting in pictures... haha)

Christmas is the best time of year! This Christmas was a great one! All of the married kids in my family were with the inlaws this year, but it was still a great Christmas! We had separate parties with the Waite's and the Nelson's and both of them were so much fun! I love being with my family! It was pretty laid back, but we had a lot of fun just spending time together laughing and playing with all of Berto's dang guns! (Marshmallow guns, dart guns, etc.) Christmas Eve was just mainly Kelsey and I with the parents, but Dustin and Kaley came over for a bit too. We went and saw a movie that day and thought about going to Temple Square that night, but it was freezing!! So we spent a night at home just enjoying being together as a family. That's really all it takes!

(Kelsey and I taking cheesy Christmas pajama pictures with Jasmine.)

(Kelsey, me, and Kaley at the Nelsom Christmas party. I love my family. :) )

Christmas day, the Hansen family invited me over to talk to Gavin!! YAY! It was SO much fun and he is doing so good! Probably about 90% of our conversation consisted of us either A) just laughing for no reason, or B) Me making fun of his accent. He is doing SO good and he is almost done! Monday the 25th, he hit his 19 MONTH MARK! He is guessing he will be coming home June 18th, so that means he has less than 5 months to go!! AH! It is crazy how fast the time has flown by and how much we have both grown from this experience. He has helped me beome a better person, and I'm way glad we met. (I don't really care that everyone makes fun of us because of the whole 2 week thing. When have I EVER done anything the normal way, right?? :) )

(Gotta throw a cheesy picture out there... It's my favorite!)
5 MONTHS TO GO!

Also, during Christmas Break, I had two really fun adventures with Amber and Storie. First time, we spent the night at Amber's grandparent's cabin in Park City and then the next day went to that tubing hill! It was so much fun! After we went home and showered and then got ready and went to Temple Square! It was so much fun.

(Storie, Amber, and I right before going sledding!)

(The best way of going down the hill! Just for the record! What a blast...)

(The three of us at Temple Square! We're all the same height when I'm not standing on the curb!)

So tubing was a lot of fun! We also went to Amber's cabin over New Year's and went snowmobiling! I had never been before, but that was so much fun! I don't have pictures yet, but once I do, I will be sure to post them because they're great! 2010 is going to be a great year and I'm enjoying it already!

So Christmas Break was a complete success. I have now moved up to Utah State, and I am loving every minute of it! I am so glad I made the choice to come here and I have already made a lot of friends and so many fun people! I will write another post to give the details of Life in Logan soon, but I want some more pictures first. :) Life is good!

Home for Thanksgiving!

So last week I got to go home for Thanksgiving, and that was a lot of fun! Instead of talking about my week, I wanted to talk about other things. This may be a long post, so prepare yourselves... :)

With it being Thanksgiving, I realized how many things I have to be grateful for. Seeing "The Blind Side" over Thanksgiving break was also very eye-opening for me. First off, I am SO grateful for my family. I have the most amazing parents in the world who I love and who tell me everyday that they love me too. I have a strong relationship with both my mom and my dad that I wouldn't trade for anything. I know that they only want what is best for me and they just want me to be happy in life. I love them! Also with my siblings, they are AMAZING!! I truly am the luckiest girl in the world to be the youngest of six. I have 5 brothers and sisters ahead of me who are all incredible and have set examples for me. I would be so lucky to turn out like any single one of them. I know this may be copying my sister Angie and her blog, but I'm going to talk about all of my family.

My dad is the hardest worker I know. He has a great sense of humor that everyone can see on a first impression. What most people don't know is how soft-hearted my dad is. He loves every single one of his kids, and although I like to pretend I'm the favorite, I know we are all equal and he treats us the same. I have never ended a phone conversation (or any conversation for that matter) with my dad without it ending with the words "I love you", and I am so grateful for that. He always gave me a hug and a kiss goodnight and watched over me. He always sacrificed for his kids and gave us an opportunity to accomplish anything we set our minds too. I can't think of many soccer games that I've played in that my dad hasn't been sitting on the sidelines cheering me on.

My mom is also hard working like my dad. She is such a sweetheart and she has a very magnetic personality. She has also taught me about sticking up for myself and sticking true to my ethics and values, even when it's hard. My mom is going back to school now, and even though I know that is hard, she is doing an incredible job! Being away at college, I have realized how much my mom loves me and cares about my well-being. She just wants me to be happy and wants me to do what's best for me. She is such an amazing lady and a terrific mom. She has raised 6 kids so well and has given us a great life with lots of opportunites. I look up to her in more ways than she will ever know, and I hope to be just like her when I'm a mom.

Josh is the oldest and is 12 years older than me. Just recently when I became older we developed a stronger relationship. He would work out with me a lot this summer when I was getting ready to come play soccer, and we had so much fun. He always gave me confidence in my abilities and made me strive to be better. He is willing to do a lot for me, and he is a great older brother to have. Even if he does tease me and sit on me and tickle me. That's life, right? :) He also married Ang who I love so much! She is the sweetest! I love her funny stories and her contagious smile and laugh! I know that she's perfect for Josh, and I've never had a problem considering her a part of our family. She's just like us!

Nicole comes next and she is about 10 years older than me. Lots of people say that her and I are exactly alike, and I hope that is true. She is a storyteller, just like me. Longwinded, just like me. She can strike up a conversation with anyone and she makes everyone feel welcome in conversations. I can't wait to go up to Logan to live so close to her and her cute family. She always makes me laugh and is always willing to give me advice and her opinion on anything! She has been a great help to me in my life and has been a great example to me as well. She is beautiful, confident, sweet, and funny. She is a great mother to her sweet kids as well. She has impacted me with the way she is always just happy and carefree and has taught me that life doesn't always have to be stressful and it can be fun too! Nicole married Jeremy several years ago, and he has been wonderful for her as well. He has a great sense of humor and always laughs and can make us all laugh. He has made my sister as happy as can be, and I am so grateful to have him as a part of our family as well.

Angie is next and equally as amazing. As I said earlier, this whole thing was an idea I got from her that I copied. Well... truth is, I copy her in a lot of things because I want to be just like her. She has taught me a lot of things in life. One thing she taught me was basically to be confident and goofy and not care what anyone else thinks. Confidence is a big thing that she taught me because I used to lack it. Angie is a special person and she is a hard worker and dedicated mom, wife, sister, and daughter. She makes sure that she always tells everyone that she loves them and how much she loves them. She is fun to be around and easy to talk to. She has a great perspective on life and has her priorities in order. Angie married Keith in October of 2006, and I have never seen her happier. Keith is a great guy and he has a great sense of humor. He teases me like a brother would, and he has fit in with our family from the beginning. I couldn't imagine Angie without him, and he is a great part of our family. I love them both!

Dustin is 4 years older than me and he is definitely one of a kind! He is so funny and fun to be around, but also knows when to be serious. There is never a dull moment when he is around, and he has taught me patience and how to love everyone, no matter who they are. He is always so happy and so nice to everyone, and is definitely a people person. He is dedicated, hard working, and will accomplish anything he sets his mind to. He is such a good older brother and always gives me his opinion on any guy that I date. He wants what's best for me, and it's always nice to have an opinion like his. He married Kaley this past May, and I love her just as much as any of my other in laws. She is so easy to talk to and the best part is.. She can deal with Dustin. :) She is so cute and fits in perfectly with us as well!

Last, but certainly not least is my sister Kelsey. She is 18 months older than me, and we are so close. She is the sweetest girl you will ever meet, and probably the most selfless as well. I always appreciated her so much, especially in middle school and high school when we went to school together and she didn't ignore me, although she very well could have. She is such a good older sister, and I love having a sister so close to me in age who is going through the same things as me who I can talk to. She is a strong girl, and she knows what she deserves and she won't settle for anything less. She is good at making friends with anyone and everyone around her and including everyone in what she is doing. I am so excited for her to finally transfer back from Hawaii and live close to home again because I have missed her so much. I dread the day that she gets married because it means I won't have a "date" at all of the family parties. :) She will make some boy VERY happy some day the way my other sisters have. She is such an amazing example to me, and I love spending time with her.

Then there are all of my nieces and nephew who I love so much. They definitely keep me young and make life a lot more interesting. The oldest 2 are Josh's kids, Braxton and Preston. Braxton will turn 7 this month, and Preston will turn 4 in January. They are such little boys full of energy! I love running around playing with them, and my favorite is when Braxton wants me to come out and play soccer with him.

Makelle and Jackson are the next oldest. Makelle is 2 1/2 and Jackson will be 2 this month. Makelle is Nicole's and Jackson is Angie's. For right now, whenever the whole family gets together, they are joined at the hip. (I say for now because eventually Jackson will grow up and start to think that he's too good for girls). They are so cute to watch though and they can put a smile on ANYONE'S face just by looking at them.

Then there is Parker who is the newest nephew and Makelle's little brother. He is about 5 months old, and he already has so much personality! It is always fun to have a little baby around to just have cuddle with you because once they get older, they have too much energy to cuddle. He is so cute and I know he is going to be the cutest little boy ever.

Needless to say, I have the best family in the world. They make me so happy and they truly are the only thing I need in my life to keep me happy. We've been together through the good times and the bad and never once have we fallen apart. I have other things to be grateful for like my health, my home, my incredible friends, and the opportunity I have had of being LDS my entire life, but I don't believe any of those have had quite the impact on my life as my family had. I truly would not be who I am today without them. I LOVE YOU GUYS!! :)

Weekend in Albuquerque!

So this weekend the girls and I decided to pick up and head out to Albuquerque for Friday and Saturday and just have some fun! The BYU football team was coming into town and they were having a fireside for all of the members in the area on Friday, and then they had a game against UNM on Saturday. I am not a BYU fan, but I do take every chance to get out of Las Vegas, even if it's just for a little while. Ashley's mom was nice enough to get us all a hotel room to stay in on Friday night, so we put eight girls into that one room.

Storie and I on our way to the fireside!

Friday after classes we headed to Albuquerque and both cars met up at the hotel and then we decided to go out and get some ice cream at Coldstone. I hadn't been to Coldstone in over three months, and it tasted SO good. Then we went back and got ready in the hotel for the fireside! The fireside that night was incredible. There were two speakers from the team and the coach and his wife both spoke. They also had two musical numbers- one was by the wide receivers on the team where they sang "Elders of Israel" (I think that's what it's called), and then the entire team stood and sang "We'll Bring the World His Truth". It was such a good fireside! Needless to say, after seeing those guys and how strong they were, it is definitely harder to be a Utah fan and cheer against BYU. :) They really did such a great job and as much as I don't want to admit it, they are all great people. I really enjoyed hearing from them!

After the fireside, we found the Albuquerque Temple and it was really pretty, so we spent the rest of the night taking pictures outside of there.

We all took turns taking pictures in front of the temple.

Then we took a group shot! (L to R- Hutch, Amber, Storie, Kramer, and I)

The next day was the BYU vs. UNM football game, and that was so much fun! The tickets we got were actually in a UNM section, so that was pretty funny. There were a lot of people yelling at us, but we just joked around with them and they turned out to be pretty nice! Well... BYU played really crappy, but after a missed PAT, 2 field goals that hit the post, and a blocked field goal all by UNM, BYU won 24-19. Then after the game, it was time to head back to Las Vegas. It was a fun weekend. I love all of the girls that I had the chance of meeting by coming to New Mexico. They are all a great group of girls and we have so much fun together (even in New Mexico!). I am lucky that I had the opportunity to become so close with all of them. :)

Storie, Amber, and I (aka the Tripods) ready to leave for the game!

All of the girls in the hotel room before we headed out!

My Life...

Well... I have given in and decided to try out the blogging world. Two of my sisters have blogs and I read theirs all the time, but I was never able to comment on their posts without having an account! So then I went to just get an account so I could comment on it and I ended up setting up a whole blog... So here it is!! I'm weird and random, I know. There will be pictures to come as I get the hang of this more and figure things out.

So this is actually a really good time for me to be writing on this blog! Last week, I had the chance of making a surprise visit home to see my family and my best friend Taylor before he left on his mission. When I left for New Mexico, Taylor still didn't have his mission call, so there was no way of knowing when he would leave. Well... The call came and I got news that he would report to the MTC on November 18. The week before my first break from school with Thanksgiving. I was really upset and didn't think I was going to get a chance to see him before he left. Then my good friend here got us a really cheap flight home, and we took full advantage of it! I asked my mom for permission and we decided to surprise my dad with it. Little did she know that I had told her I was coming a day later and I was going to surprise her as well! So pretty much no one knew, and all of the surprises were so much fun!

So I got to spend about 6 days visiting in Utah, and it was awesome. We got in Tuesday afternoon and flew out Sunday night. I never really stopped going and I tried to make the most of it! I saw old friends, families that I missed, got my hair done (I am finally myself again and back blonde!), went to Logan to see my sister and her family and also to visit Utah State's campus (which I LOVED), and then I just spent the rest of my time with my family! I was SO grateful to Suz and her mom for getting me the ticket home. I had so much fun and it was so good to see everyone again!

Visiting Utah really made me realize how much I love it there. Not to mention living in New Mexico has really made me appreciate Utah.. :) I was away from home for 3 months straight, and it was really good for me! I would actually say that everyone who lives in Utah needs to get away from "the bubble" at least once in their lives and test themselves. This experience has been one I will never forget and it has just been really good for me! I love all of my family and friends in Utah (and out of Utah, Angie...) and I have really learned how much they have done for me my entire life. So life is good!

I also thought I'd throw out there how good it was to see Taylor. He was completely surprised and we had a lot of fun together. He will be reporting to the MTC November 18th, and then he will be going to the Antofagasta, Chile mission. I am so excited for him and for the amazing opportunity he is going to have out there! Congrats Elder Jensen! You will be missed. :)

This is Weston, Taylor, and I before I left for NM! They have both been two of my best friends since Middle School. Taylor leaves next week and Weston should be getting his call any day now!