I have a family tree

About a month ago, my Grandma Allen's brother, Lon, passed away. There were 11 children in my grandma's family, now there are only 3 still alive. The pictures below are the three remaining. Lucille (left), Molly (middle), and Lauraine (Right- my grandma! I'll talk about her more after all the pictures). These three are SO entertaining to be around. You get them together and they act like they are 12 year old school girls. These pictures weren't from the funeral. Our family had a devotional-type deal during the conference weekend. They had Larry Corbridge from the Quorum of the Seventy come speak to us unbetween sessions (Larry spoke in conference a few conferences ago if you thought his name sounded familiar. He is my mom's cousin). They also had his wife speak about all of the stuff going on in Chile (because that is where they live and experienced the earth quake).
Anyway, after the devotional was over they wanted the three sisters to get up and say a few words. They are a crack up! The first picture with Molly's expression says it all.

People always tell my sisters and me that we are going to be like them when we are older. I could only hope!

We decided to get a picture of "Oldest to youngest" from left to right (I've always wanted to be like my grandma...yeah for being the middle sister!)

When we were told to wear dress pants and a nice top, Kristin and I walked out wearing almost the exact same outfit. We had no shame so we went "twinner" style.

These pictures of the Salt Lake temple were taken by Stacy while they went to conference. I thought they were pretty cool so I thought I would share them.

So I said I was going to talk more about my grandma after the pictures. This is for my own journaling purposes. When people tell me to think of a hero in my life, my grandma comes to mind quite often. I look up to her in so many ways. She has had many trials and experiences in her life that could have hardened her, but it only made her more faithful and strong. She told me once that she prays daily specifically for help to not lose herself and to be able to stay positive. She is a testimony that prayer works, because she is the most upbeat, positive person I know, and it is so contagious to be around her (including her contagious laugh...one of my favorite sounds!). She is the type of woman who becomes your best friend right after meeting her. Recently my grandpa (her husband) had to stay in Avalon (a therapy/rehab center for older or sickly people) for six weeks after a bad fall. My grandma faithfully stayed by his side and helped nurture him back to health. She left for a week of that time to go play with her sisters, and all of the workers asked about her while she was gone and remembered her by name. You can't help but feel better in her presence. She is an example of service. She doesn't use her age as an excuse not to help others. She still goes to the elementary school to help all the little children read. My grandma is aware of the "no touching/hugging" rules, but it is the little children who run to her and initiate hugs with her before she can ever turn them down. She has the best sense of humor and is hilarious (she struggles telling jokes because she is always laughing halfway through before she can get to the punch line). She is spunky too! She may only be 5 feet tall, but she can hold her own! (She even chased and tackled down two men in her younger years after they scared her with a mouse- something she HATES) I honestly can't think of a single flaw that she has. I feel sorry for every other child out there that doesn't have her for a grandma. I look up to her so much and hope that some day I can be at least remotely close to the kind of woman she is. I love my grandma Allen!

Roomy Reunion

This past week I was able to go out to dinner in Salt Lake (like the classy "tagged" background we found? Pretty artistic:) ) with my good old room mates, Brandice (in the middle) and Carly (right). I hadn't seen Brandice since before she left on her mission- now she is married! Carly's fiance, Tanner, came as well but he isn't in the picture cause he was too busy taking one for us :). It was really nice to catch up and see what everyone was up to. All that was missing was DaNae! (DaNae, if you read this I've got a bone to pick with you!) It is crazy to think that just a few years ago we were all freshmen together trying to figure out what we wanted to do with our lives, now they are all growing up on me and getting married and becoming "ultimate" adults. I am now offiically the only one left who is single, including all of my old high school and college friends...makes for some awesome reunions/get-togethers with the friends and all their spouses (i'll stick to playing with their children while the real adults talk, ha ha). Their husbands are great, but it doesn't mean the awkwardness isn't there when everyone is cuddling up with their "babe, honey, sweety, etc." while we all sit around and talk. I guess there are worse things in life than being single though, plus it also has its advantages so I'll try and enjoy this phase of life while I have it.

Arizona Trip

It was SO wonderful to go from this...

To this.....

Within 24 hours! Yep, that's right...I went to Arizona this last week and loved every minute of it! It was so nice to relax and enjoy some sunshine and friends (most of which I just call family). I left for the airport right after work on Wednesday and got in around 5:30 Arizona time.

I didn't have the camera with me the whole time I was down there like I wish I had, but I got a few pictures to give you an idea of some of the things that I was able to do while I was there.

When I flew in Patrick picked me up from the airport. Since traffic was bad he drove me to a HUGE house that he has been working on for work. He took me exploring inside the house as well. It is going to be beautiful when it is done. I wish I would have snapped some pictures. But alas, I didn't. I also wish I would have snapped a picture of Patrick when he picked me up for all you ladies out there, because he was lookin' mighty cute in his pin-striped hat (then again, I'm a sucker for pin stripes). Then we went to Target to get a few items I hadn't brought with me because I didn't want to deal with going through security at the airport. Afterwards, we went to Chilis for dinner- apparently we were both starving because we downed the chips and salsa like it was running out of style. We then headed to Mandy's where the rest of the gang was. We all sat in the living room chatting until we were all tired and went to bed.

The next morning we all got up and got ready to hike CAMELBACK. There are apparently 2 different hikes to go about getting to the top. Mandy had already tried one path and said there were some intense moments of cliff where you had to go on all fours to make sure you didn't fall to your doom, and she wanted to try the other one. So that's what we did. We were all expecting a fun, light hike where we could just enjoy the scenery and "frolic" our way to the top...NOT!!! It was about 1.25 miles of straight up boulder-climbing. So yeah, by the time we got to the top my thighs were feelin' the burn. Looks like I should move to AZ and hike that everyday, my saddle bags would disappear in no time :) jk.

Here are a few pics to show you what I'm talking about, none of which do it justice- it was way steeper in person!

Here are some pictures of us before the hike...obviously not knowing what we were getting ourselves in to:

Below Kevin and I being dorks, we call it the "Engagement" pose :)

Below: with Lauren and Cara. We stuck together all the way till the top.

(ABOVE: Top left corner- Me & Meg, bottom left- Me & Cara, Middle- Anissa & Robyn, Right- Jon and Robyn)

(LEFT- Me & Drew, MIDDLE- Cara, TOP RIGHT- Me & Kylee, BOTTOM RIGHT- Me & Robyn...she was my running buddy down the hike)

(TOP LEFT- Kylee, Josh, & Anissa, TOP RIGHT- Kevin, BOTTOM LEFT- Meg & Kevin, BOTTOM MIDDLE- Cara & Drew, BOTTOM RIGHT- Cara, Lauren, me, & Kevin...yes that foot did end up hitting my head)

(TOP: The whole hiking crew)

After the hike we were all so hot and sweaty, all we wanted to do was jump in the pool. We got to relax and cool down. This pool got plenty of attention this trip!

After we were all refreshed from swimming, we all got ready to go to Anissa's for her "Mexican Fiesta" she was putting on for us. She made some flippin' tasty Mexican food! It was fun to sit and relax and eat our faces off after a tiring day. Below are some pictures of me and Hannah waiting for everyone else to get ready so we could go. She has such a fun personality, we are best buds.

Friday Spike and Patrick took some of us out on their boat so we could enjoy some boat riding and wake boarding- one of my FAVORITE things to do! The water was BUTT-NIBBLIN' COLD! When I first jumped in I inhaled a huge breath, but couldn't let it out and kept breathing more in. I swear I was about to hyperventilate. Of course it was so worth it though. It took me a while to find my camera hidden under all the towels so I wasn't able to get everyone boarding, but got Jake, Josh, me, and Sterling (Spike).

(ABOVE: Calvin's first lesson on wake boarding from Uncle Pete...aka Patrick for those who don't know the family lingo yet. He did really well for his first try! He was almost all the way up on the very first, but struggled a bit after that, but we will blame it on the cold water:) )

(ABOVE: Spike and his friend, Nate, have been trying to do a back flip. Spike attempted the back flip and landed it! Congrats to him on being the first one. I caught 2 pics of him mid-air and then the last one he was so excited he landed he let go of the rope to pump his fists in victory)

(ABOVE: Sage, Cara, & me chillin' in the AC getting ready to head to the movie 'Diary of a Wimpy Kid'. The kids enjoyed it. Me? Cute, but a one-time view)

(ABOVE: BFF's/Sisters) :)

After the movie we came back to Mandy's and kind of relaxed for a bit watching a cake competition on TV where they were doing a Spongebob Square Pants theme.

Then later that evening, Spike was being set up with Mandy's friend, Mindy. So to make it less awkward for them, Patrick and I went with them. We started by going to the Cheesecake Factory. Then we came back to Mandy's and talked out on the trampoline (sounds kind of boring/weird, but it was actually really fun to sit and talk). We talked about personal things and it was quite refreshing to be able to be comfortable about being open. Mindy was quite bold in some of her questions, but it gave Patrick and me a chance to express some of our perspectives and actually shed some light on questions I've had myself. Sterling was also open, which I haven't really seen before. So all around it was fun to have a "bonding" moment with the three of them.

After being out on the trampoline for a while, the rest of the crowd had come back from going to a movie. So we went in and we made home made doughnuts. Talk about yummy! They used biscuit dough and then glazed them after they were fried. I'm craving them now just explaining them. Afterwards, we got in the hot tub along with 10 others from the bunch and enjoyed the nice warm water in the cool night air (ha ha, I kind of sound like a poet there, eh?).

The trip went by SO fast and I wasn't able to do all the things I had wanted to...looks like another trip is needed:). Below is a collage of our car group. You can see Kevin doesn't fool around when he wants to take a nap without sunlight in his eyes, ha ha. In the top right corner you can see Hannah. She called my name to look back at her a few times and every time I did, she would proceed to smack herself while saying, "Stop hittin' yourself, stop hittin' yourself...." I don't know where she comes up with this stuff. The garbage can is shameful and came from ME! That was only halfway through the trip, I easily doubled the amount of candy bar wrappers in there. Cara had a good laugh at me and my sweet tooth.

BELOW, Hannah is doing a good job at expressing how everyone felt after the eventful trip and drive home. I feel like I need a vacation from my vacation to detox and in order to get back into my routine again. Her face is so dang cute though! All in all this was a successful, and much needed vacation for me. Thanks to all of those who invited me and made it as fun as it was!

Stacy Passed!

Like the title says- my sister, Stacy, passed her certification test to be a Sign Language Interpreter. I decided to make her a cake congratulating her (if you can't read that yellow font, it says 'AKA Smarty Pants').

This is her boyfriend, Steve, lounging on the couch after our big feast. (Funny side note about Steve. Our brother, Steve, left for his misson on June 24. Stacy's Steve came back on the 30th!! Then they started dating shortly after....I guess we were always supposed to have a Steve in the family, ha ha)


My sister, Kristin, and I decided to get in on the picture taking/celebrating action (my dad as well if you look closely on the first pic)

Looks like my dad needed a nap after we all overendulged on food, I couldn't pass up the chance to get a picture

Okay, so these last 2 pictures are giving you an idea of my sisters and my new favorite past time. We call it "suround sound." We all choose the same song on iTunes and play it at the same time (usually we are sitting farther apart in the room but were closer to give you an idea). If you can see in the smaller picture, Kristin is the one directing us and counting down to push "start"....One of our favorites at the moment is 'Carry Out' with Justin Timberlake/Timberland. Everyone should try it! It sounds like you are at a concert or club! ha ha...Yes, we realize we are acting like 10-yr-olds. Don't knock it till you try it!

FIRST KISS

If you read the title and think that I'm telling you that I just barely got my first kiss ever, do NOT get excited! (Plus I would be offended if you thought it would have taken me that long, ha ha). Anyway, I had a class and it was all about "journaling." Afterwards I was given a list of different topics or questions to write about. I have decided that if I don't have much to blog about at the moment, I will choose one of the topics/questions to write about instead. Some of the questions are pretty hard, so naturally I'm going to start out with an easier one to discuss and share.

Topic: My First Kiss Story (let's be honest, these are usually the most interesting and fun stories to hear about anyway)

I was going to leave out names since it may be embarrassing for the individual, but for history's sake I'm going to go ahead and use them (plus who reads this anyway and the guy I kissed is engaged so I'm pretty sure he won't mind anymore:) ) Here it goes....

I was a Junior in High School and had been hanging out a lot with a new group of friends than I had the previous year. I had totally been crushing on Chad Hobbs. Word got back around to me that he had a major crush on me (hello....that never happens). Anyway, we were set up through mutual friends and had already gotten to the "holding hands" phase of our relationship. Then Chad asked me to go on a date with him...during the week! It was for a mutual activity his Young Men's group was doing.

So we went to his Young Mens leader's home and played games and had dessert. Chad was REALLY shy, to say the least (even more so than I was- which is saying A LOT). I had heard from our friends that he had wanted to kiss me for a while, but kept chickening out. So on the car ride home the thought quickly came to mind, "I wonder if he is going to kiss me." But that thought quickly left my mind when I thought he would for sure NOT kiss me when it was a random "mutual activity date" during the middle of the week.

Boy was I wrong. So yeah, it was the typical "doorstep scene." I thanked him for the fun evening and gave him a hug. He was kind of shaking (but it was in January so that was normal, right? or so I was telling myself as to not freak out myself). Then when we were backing up from the hug he moved on in with a very quick peck on the lips...IT DOESN'T END HERE. He was SO nervous that before he pulled away from the kiss he started heading for his car MID-KISS! Needless to say there was a lot of "slippage" in that kiss. So to clarify, picture two sets of lips pressed together, then one set of lips moving sideways (during a head-turn) while still connected to the other pair of lips...make sense? Chad then kept on walking to his car not looking back or saying anything. I was still kind of in shock but managed to say, "bye!" In return I got a body side turn (head still facing his car) with a quick hand gesturing a "goodbye."

And that is my first kiss story. It still makes me smile and laugh thinking about how awkward it kind of was, yet he was so shy and sweet it was endearing. Like I said, he is engaged now so it looks like he has overcome that fear :) Oh good old High School dating huh??...

What's a good story without pictures? Enjoy! (p.s.- I had the picture on the left in a heart frame, compliments to my mom...she made it for me. ha ha...I can't believe this was almost 8 years ago!)

Twins?

My whole life I've always been told that I look like an "Allen" (my mom's side of the family). More specifically they say I look like my mom. Well, I was looking and sorting through some OLD pictures that I had and came accross a photo of my dad kinda pulling a face, then a few minutes later ran into a picture of me pulling a very similar face. So I looked for the picture of my dad again to compare....now how about you tell me who you think I look like now!

25 Random Facts, Habits, or Goals

On facebook there was a thing going around where people were writing 25 random facts, habits, or goals about themselves and I thought it would be kind of fun to see if I can even think of that many. That way if I make a book out of this blog, someday my posterity will know a tiny bit more about me. Ok, brace yourself- here we go:

1- I love love love the smell of different chemicals including rubber cement, gasoline, white-out, and new born babies (I know that's not a chemical)
2- One of my pet peeves is when people make fun of kids with disabilites that can't control it. It used to really tick me off in school.
3- I have abnormal spikes in my brain waves. I found this out when I was about 2 years old and had some seizures. Guess the spikes explain why I'm so smart! ha ha ha, totally kidding on that last part.
4- I've let a real cop taze me, and I've been skydiving. I really like trying new things. Call me curious...even if I know it may cause me physical pain.
5- For some reason animals tend to flock to me. Ever since I was young they would always follow me around. I don't get it, since I never initiate any kind of contact or give them attention. Do I smell like an animal or something??
6- I love art: drawing, painting, water colors. I hope to be able to do more of it eventually.
7- With comment #6 I love drawing and doodling tattoos on people. Ask my friends! I've done entire legs and backs before. Gel pens and milky pens are the best!
8- I am obsessed with popcorn and candy, to say the least. I love food in general. I have been known among family and friends to be the "human disposal." In fact I just asked my family to tell me something about me. My sister: "You're always eating." My dad: "You're like a whale, you always have to be eating..but you are not fat." Wow, looks like I need to lay off on the food dept. Of course you can leave it to the mother to come up with something...Mom: "You have a gentle spirit and little kids can sense it and are always comfortable around you." (who knows though, maybe it's because I always have candy, ha ha)
9- I graduated from hair school without ever coloring my hair- that's a record! However, I was a hair model for a show in Cali and ended up looking like Shania Twain in the 80's (mullet style). I ended up cutting 10 inches off when I got back. Since then I allowed some co-workers to color a panel of my bangs "fire rocket red" which was actually really fun.
10- I LOVE water sports, especially wake boarding. I could do it all day (and all night if it was legal)
11- I hate reading and have never been a fan. Why read when you can wait for it to come out as a movie?! (then I get my popcorn while watching!:) )
12- I like watching gory things like the surgery channel, I find it fascinating (anything about the human body really). My dream job would be a surgical nurse. Good thing I figured that out way too late in life.
13- People I meet initially think I'm stuck up or hate them (they fail to realize I'm initially shy), but then those who do know me tend to always use the word "sassy" to describe me. Neither impression is very positive...so I apologize to you whichever side you are on :)
14- I love racing games. I have always loved speed and have thought it would be fun to drive in a race car around the tracks
15- For the typical "what major are you in?" small talk...I got my bachelors in School Health Education (secondary Ed) and Drivers Ed minor. I don't recommend that minor, I taught during a summer and had many close encounters of DEADLY accidents! I can still see that semi truck....Then I furthered my schooling in Nuclear Medicine Technology
16- I really like observing people and watching them. Some of my friends say I am freakishly observant at times where it is almost creepy. I guess I like looking at details too much
17- Because I can be observant I tent to assume everyone else is just as observant, so at times I can be self-conscious (this was worse in High School, I'm getting better in my old age. Probably because I'm to the point where I don't care!)
18- I'm kind of a perfectionist and drive myself crazy. I've become more relaxed though. However, I still HATE it when you vacuum and you can see the lines! If you see them they have to be parallel, then once one set of footprints imprints it just looks ridiculous.
19- I'm seriously not trying to brag, but I get along well with almost every type of personality. I have had a WIDE range of roommates and friends and have gotten along with all of them, some of my opposites are my closest friends!
20- I love quoting movies. People who don't know me very well may think that things coming out of my mouth are random...unless they know which movie I am quoting. So if I'm not making sense, I'm probably quoting something.
21- I like sports- watching and playing. I like playing basketball and played on a CO-ED intramural team at BYU. I also love watching basketball and soccer (and can get quite into it)- but I do get sucked into watching other sports as well.
22- I like being active in the summer. Besides wake boarding at Lake Powell I like biking "the shire" (Farmington Flats), rappelling in Moab with my favorite cousins, and any other outdoor activities that put some color on my pale skin. I have even gradually found myself enjoying running outside for longer distances, which is a shock because I used to loath running the timed mile in school.
23- I had a staff infection in my face. My face blew up so big I couldn't even see. I looked like an Asian sumo wrestler. After 2 days of antibiotic IV treatments I was back to just my regular baby-face chubby cheekers...I've had them since I was born, thank you "Allen" round face genes!
24- As for some goals of mine...If you were to have asked me that question 5 years ago I would have said to be a stay at home mother with about 4 children. Although I still would like to be a mother, my biological clock hasn't stopped tickin' and I'm running out of time to have 4 kids by the age of 30 (I always wanted to be done having kids by then). So my more updated goal list goes as follows: I would love to travel and see parts of the world, develop more talents/skills that I can use towards service opportunities (I know that sounds really cheesy, but I LOVE the feeling you get when you know you are really making a difference and helping someone), learn how to snowboard (I'm not too old to learn, right?), do more artwork, finish a quilt I started 2 years ago, buy myself a gun and get a concealed weapons permit, maybe take out my endowment (even if I'm not doing it to get married), save enough money to buy my dream car (ha, yeah I'm dreaming), and maybe still be able to get married and have at least 2 kids. Wow, this is kind of depressing. Those aren't even half of my goals. I've got a lot of work to do!
25- Last but not least. I don't have many fears. I don't like snakes, spiders, or scorpions. They are all so evil looking. I have a fear of being a disappointment, failure, or people not liking me. I really struggle getting into a relationship because I fear so much that once I put myself out there I'm gonna get burned or they won't feel the same way or they will find someone better (cuter, smarter, funnier, bigger boobs ha ha) mid-relationship and leave for the other girl (what?...I'm not talking from experience, what are you talking about?!) :)

Wow, well that just officially became the most boring post of all time. I congratulate myself in this new record! :)

Story TIme

It's been a while since I've posted anything on my blog. I've kind of been busy and haven't had much exciting news to talk about. Don't worry, I still don't! :) However, I heard a story a few weeks ago and I have been wanting to write about it before I forget about it. Hearing this story definitely came at a perfect time for me, maybe it will help someone else!

Anyway, a girl shared a story of a woman that spoke in a devotional a while ago. This woman was speaking about quiting the cycle of abuse in the home. She said that she had been abused by both her mother (physically/emotionally) and father (sexually) since she was 3 years old until the time she moved out. She shared this with the audience with a smile on her face. When they asked her how she could share this information with a smile, she told her amazing story.

She said when she was 3 years old she had the most vivid dream, which she still remembers to this day. In her dream she was sitting on Christ's lap, and Christ told her that some bad things were going to happen to her, but to always remember that He loved her no matter what and would always be with her. He told her to always remember that. Even at her young age, she was struck by this dream and told her older sister, who was 6 years old at the time (they were a family of 10 kids, these two young girls being the only females). Her 6-year-old sister, knowing what was in store for her (since her experince had already begun), to try and remember that dream always. Her sister then told her that when she had bad things happen to herself, she would think of a scripture in Joshua (sorry I can't remember the exact scripture, I waited too long to post this!) that says something along the lines of God is always with you and loves you. Her sister then encouraged her to always think of her dream and that scripture in Joshua every time something bad happened to her.

Now fast forward to when this woman moved out. She got married and had kids of her own. One day she walked into Deseret Book to hurry and grab something, but as she stepped in the room she looked to the wall and saw a painting by Greg Olsen. The picture was of Christ with a little girl sitting on His lap (around the age of 3). To make this painting even better- wait for it....wait for it....the scripture underneath the painting was the exact one from JOSHUA her sister shared with her years ago!!! She immediately burst into tears to the point where it alarmed the employee working there at the time. When they asked if she was ok she said, "That's me!" She said every detail about that picture, including her face, was exactly how her dream had been.

She was so touched by the picture that she contacted Greg Olsen about his painting. He then shared with her his experience while painting this picture. He said, "When I paint, I take pictures of people posing for me and then paint them that way, in this painting I had used a picture of my daughter. I worked from the feet up and then worked on the face last. I painted her face but felt that something was wrong with it, so I scratched it off and tried again. The second time still didn't seem right so I prayed, asking for my hand to be guided in painting the face. I then painted the face the third time with guidance and it finally felt right, but it was not my daughter's face."

Since exchanging their experiences, they have done devotionals together sharing their story. Isn't that amazing though? I heard this story at a good time and really needed that reminder. Even though I may feel like I have slipped through the cracks and that my prayers go unheard, it is comforting to know that God is mindful of His children and finds ways to answer prayers in His own way. Maybe I'm really impatient and He is still trying to get me to learn the whole "patience" concept.... I can't say that I'm a fan of this whole "learning and growing" process :)

Sorry to get so serious on ya, but it's gotta happen sometimes!

(I'm not even sure if this is the picture, but it's the one that came to my mind while hearing this story, either way it's a good picture!)