1 Year Anniversary!

I am pleased and beyond thrilled to announce that my brother, Steve, hit his one year mark on the 24th! I couldn't be more excited about it! A lot of people with experience of having brothers on missions say the second year goes by faster- all I can say is they better be right! This past year seemed to drag on for me. It's all downhill from here though- HOLLA!!! I love me some Steve! (Not in a creepy way:) )

Enough Cotton Already!

While going for a walk at Lagoon Trail this is what we discovered- a butt load of cotton! You may have thought this was in May with the "May Snow" we had, but unfortunately its the dreaded allergy fluff. Hence the rest of my walk I couldn't breathe, which also equals side-ache city! Oh how I loathe this stuff.

I couldn't resist putting this picture in. Kristin and I were walking up Farmington Pond and we always see this steep hill with logs kind of like steps. We decided to explore to see where it led. It was pretty anticlimactic when we got to the top. It was just a flat dirt area...boring! I guess I don't know what I should have expected in the first place. I made it down the mountain before she did and I turned around to see her on all fours. I was laughing pretty hard, she got up on her feet before I was able to get my phone out to take a picture of her full on down on the ground. But this still kind of captures the struggle she was having getting down the "slippery" hill.

Bong, anyone?...

Are you wondering what is in this polka-dotted bag like my mom did?

Well my mom was doing yardwork in our front yard and found this hidden in one of our bushes. So she asked me and my sisters to take a look. That's when we educated her a bit about Bongs. My mom called the cops and one came to check it out. He said the drugs that were stashed with it weren't anything too exciting, just a little Tobacco mixed with a little Black Mamba Spice. I asked the cop if he would either frisk me or my mom to give our nosy neighbor accross the street something to gossip about, but he didn't have much of a sense of humor. Anyway, who knew Farmington, UT could be that exciting?! :)

Serendipitous Concert

Last night I went to a local band concert where Bryson and Kylee were opening for a band. Their band's name is Serendipitous. When I first met Kylee she was still in Middle School, it's crazy she is graduated and all grown up (Kylee is Patrick and Cara's youngest sister). These two performed so well together and Bryson was fllippin amazing on the guitar, and he has an awesome voice. It was really entertaining to watch, too bad he leaves on his mission in a month because I would love to go to more!

(Click to make bigger)

(Me & Cara waiting for the show to start)

(basically my sisters Meg & Cara)

(Kevin, and Kylee in the background adjusting wardrobe:) )

Just when I thought I was too tired for more excitement, on my way home I ran into a HUGE traffic jam. It was stop and go traffic (mostly just stopped) basically from the beginning of when I got onto the freeway. I was so tired (I had almost fallen asleep on my way to the concert-but don't tell anyone), but I had my music to keep me awake as I sang along. Then all of the sudden my music started fuzzing out (and it was a CD) so I knew something wasn't right. Then the lights in my car that show the time, and my speedometer started dimming. It seemed to me my battery was going out, and fast. So I hurried and turned off my AC, rolled my windows down and started signaling to try and make it in the right lane. I also said a quick little prayer asking to just help me make it home before my car decided to die on me. I'm betting you are expecting me to say how miraculously my prayer was answered and I made it home. I hate to disappoint, but....NOPE!!! I guess the Lord was busy with something more important- or he was up for a bit of entertainment (I'm thinking it was the latter). Well, seeing how "Utah drivers" aren't the most polite it took me a while to get my way over, I was in the middle of getting to the very right lane when my car DIED! So my car was kind of angled in a way where I was in both lanes- awesome! Since my window was rolled down I was getting some choice names and words thrown in my direction. Then these two guys came running out to help me. I tried to get my car in "neutral" but it wouldn't go. Even the guys got in and tried, with no such luck. So they got some jumper cables and were able to get my car to start up long enough for me to get into the emergency lane.

Since I had just been with Kevin I tried getting a hold of him, but no answer (later to find out his phone died...great timing eh?). So I called my dad, which I didn't want to do (I was only by Cabella's at this point, which is a 45 min. drive from our house). He told me to sit tight and he would meet me with a new battery. I'm pretty sure I could obey that since I didn't have much option. I thought I could maybe get a nap in while I waited- that idea was QUICKLY shot down. Can I just tell you that it still gets a bit chilly at nights in June? My window was stuck down, but luckily I had a scrub shirt in my back seat (I had left it there because a few weeks before there was radioactivity on it that I was letting decay before I brought it in the house) so I put that over me. There are also a bunch of JERKS that would make comments to me as they drove by. It was also very loud with a ton of trucks that would drive by with their air breaks hissing at me constantly.

An hour went by and a cop pulled over a car behind me. Then he proceeded to frisk the guy! Wow, doesn't get much better than this folks. But a few minutes later my dad showed up to my rescue. While I held up the hood and shined the flashlight he scraped away at the "decroded piece of crap" and installed the new battery (I've had to go through new batteries so much I could be a pro). Then we were both lucky enough to get to sit through more traffic, to find out over an hour later it was because they had the freeway down to one lane- I HATE CONSTRUCTION!!! I was getting really tired and once I got through the construction I was struggling to keep my eyes open to get home. I honestly don't remember half of my drive home, but luckily I made it somehow. Just to recap, I left Cara's house at 9:45 and didn't get home until 2:30am (which usually only takes me 50 min. to get home from her place). It's a good thing I love Kylee and that their performance was so good, otherwise it wouldn't have been worth it!

(just to give you an idea of what I got to watch as I sat there waiting to be rescued)

79 and Counting

This sweet lady, my Grandma Allen, just celebrated her 79th birthday June 10th. I've blogged about her before because I look up to her and love her so much. How can you not with this contagious smile of hers?? The top picture I captured while my uncle Ken, me, Kristin, Stacy, Steve, and my dad came walking in with Spongebob Square Pants birthday hats on all our heads. She was a pleasantly surprised. I hope when I'm 79 I will have accomplished as much as she has in her life, man I love her. Happy Birthday Grandma!

Back to BYU days...

So I was cleaning out some of my old BYU college papers, books, etc and came across a sonnet I wrote for one of my Humanities classes. Here it is for your entertainment:

TONGUE-TIED

.

If love is sweet and easy, tell me why

that when the "right one" finally comes around

I try to speak, but can't utter a sound

My tongue is tied, and he just slips on by.

.

I see a girl whose confidence abounds;

She talks and flirts without a second thought

executing Love's ensnaring plot.

The man, he only hears the Siren's sounds.

.

Why do the men seem only tuned to hear

those fake and flirty, flighty empty words,

while here I am so full of words sincere

Because my tongue won't move, remain unheard

Whose job is it to change for love to bloom?

It must be both to have a bride and groom.

.

And there you have it. It had to be about love, and I know the last two lines are pretty cheesy- but I had to fulfill the correct format. Anyway, this actually applied to me back in the day when I wrote it. But as I was reading it again after several years I realize almost nothing has changed. I feel like I'm still that girl who truly cares for a guy genuinely, but they seem to overlook me for the fake girls. People always tell me not to care what people think and to be myself and let a guy know when you like him. However, I feel like more times than not it backfires on me. Plus, I am always terrified of their reaction or not even remotely feeling the same way. Wow, now that I shared way more than I had originally planned I will put this post to a close. Hope you enjoyed it! :)

Stacy's 23rd Birthday!

My sister, Stacy, turned the big 2-3. It was a pretty relaxed birthday celebration by going to Olive Garden, then coming back for some cake, followed by watching a movie of her choice, "Only You." It was crazy how young Robert Downey Jr. was in the movie! Time flies I guess.

Stacy and her main squeeze, Steve

Kristin and I decorated her bedroom door so she could wake up to a surprise. We got Spongebob party hads, then dangled Nutrolls and Reeses. We also put up a poster that came with the birthday card we got her. It is a Twighlight one (an inside joke). It was a two-sided poster, one side with Jacob, the other with Edward. We put up Jacob cause we tease her that she is on TEAM JACOB (she says he's way better looking than Edward- but who doesn't think that? Even though I don't think either of them are even cute). If you look closely you can tell that she has a Hannah Montana poster on her door as well. Steve (my brother) and I put that up on her door a long time ago as a joke and she still hasn't taken it down.

Kristin and I found this sweet shirt of Twighlight. On the front it says "I can't change how I feel, Please don't make me choose." We saw this and had to get it for her. Then on the back of the shirt we took it upon ourselves to do an iron on saying "Guilty Pleasure" You can't tell but they are sparkly letters :) The whole "guilty pleasure" thing is an inside joke as well. Stacy told us that she likes watching the movies and that it was her guilty pleasure...hence the shirt.

This is a collage of her opening up other gifts we got her. We got her 'The Hunger Game" book and another book series on tape (can you tell she likes to read?), her favorite chapsticks, and a PedEgg (those things that scrape off the nasty crustiness on your feet and heels- which she tried and says it actually works!)

Below are just some more pictures of us celebrating her big day. I can't believe she's 23, which means I can't believe my own age!

Say "No" to Gambling

This last weekend was a lot of fun. I didn't work Monday, so I went down to Provo that early afternoon. A bunch of friends were wanting to go camping, but seeing how the weather wasn't so promising they decided on going to Wendover. If you are ever thinking about going to Wendover- TAKE THE FUN BUS!!! (AKA "Le Bus") It is such a steal of a deal! It only costs $15 round trip. On your drive there they serve you drinks and play games like Bingo with prizes. Then as you get off the bus they give you a $5 voucher to use on slots or whatever you want. Plus they give you a free pass to a buffet there (usually $25 to eat there) which I totally took advantage of and ate my money's worth! So it feels like they are paying you to go! (ha ha , I'll keep telling myself that anyway) I gave myself $20 to play around with and our whole group got the same table to play Black Jack. Of course I was like the only one who didn't win any money that night (except Michelle, who lost $30). Dustin was lucky and won $200 or more! Anyway, it was more entertaining just watching them play on the table (oh, plus from the fun bus you get a free beverage in the casino--What's up Virgin Pina Colada?!). So it was really fun. I know I know, we aren't supposed to gamble, but I didn't go there expecting to win and just pretended I had spent money on dinner and a movie. Seriously though, it was WAY more fun than dinner and a movie! Everyone needs to experience the "Fun Bus" to Wendover once (at least!) in their lives. Here was our group:

(Patrick, me, Michelle, Roman, Heather, Brad, Alicia, Danny, Rachel, and front center showing off his winnings- Dustin)