There's no place like home

Well I'm back in Utah after a lovely week and a half at home in Arizona with my family and friends. There truly is no place like home; warm weather, blue skies, a clean house, and all of the people I love. What more can a girl ask for?To start off, the trees in my parent's front yard are beautiful! They are NOT frozen and dead like trees in Provo.




I got to hang out with Tara quite a few times. This night we went to see Bradley and his band play in a show, which was really good!





Christmas Eve with the grandparents was wonderful as usual, and our family is very attractive. It was fun to see grandma and grandpa since I missed them over Thanksgiving.



On the way home from grandma's house, mother dear made us pull over to climb this tree... apparently climbing shouldn't be done in heels so I stayed on the lowest branch.




Sushi. Sushi sushi. I love it. Ben and I got some really good sushi when I came home :)





Bradley and I had fun hanging out in the park and enjoying the sunlight. There were tons of little kids playing in the park and it was a beautiful day.




BeccaBeccaBecca. Thats something that you can only get in Arizona. I had fun spending time with her and I miss her already! We went to dinner one night, ran errands together, hung out at each others houses, she took me out to lunch (cause i'm the poor one) and other such things.




One night Ben and I were bored so I thought it would be fun to paint pictures :) This is my picture of the ideal Arizona sunset. You just don't see these kinds of colors in Utah.



This is sir Benjamin and I the night before I left!!! He worked a lot while I was home but we still hung out a ton. We saw Seven Pounds which I LOVED, and the Curious Case of Benjamin Button which I hated. We went shopping, he brought me Einsteins in bed etc. I'll see him in a couple weeks for his mission farewell!!!!!!!!

Finally it's over

Holy cow this week has been forever long. Finals are over, and I'm so exhausted and relieved. They went fairly well... you win some you lose some haha. To forget about the stress this week, me and Amber threw a Christmas sweater/White elephant party. A ton of people came and sipped hot chocolate, and there were some pretty great white elephant gifts :) Some of the favorites: an avocado, a gold dice, an ugly blanket, a fish, and my gift: a possessed doll.
It was also Nicole's Birthday on Tuesday. Some of us went out to dinner to celebrate, and later that night I woke her up out of my bed to sing happy birthday to her and give her the cake Callie got. It was SO great. Note the tiara :)Nicole is just one of the coolest people I know. It seems like we would have absolutely NOTHING in common, but we have become such good friends. I have really enjoyed living with her this semester and I will miss her SO much next semester, even though I'll still see her a lot!! She and Emily Woods are moving into a place together.

This Sunday we went to the State Hospital for church, and for the first time all six of us roommates got ready together. We had to take a picture :)

And now I must bid you farewell, because I need to catch my flight home :)

Happy Birthday to BEN

(I was trying to wait till midnight but i'm too tired haha. His birthday is in 15 minutes, on the 15th.)

SoOoOoOo, since I wont be around for my dear friend Ben Richard's birthday, I thought I'd give him a shout out on here :)

Ben's first time eating sushi :)

Ben Becca and I in California during summer of 2008

Ben and Becca's First picture together :)

Ben is one of the most genuine people you will ever meet. He loves doing things to better people's lives. He is probably the BEST gift giver. He always manages to top everyone else. Becca Ben and I are the three amigos. He and Becca call me from Arizona often to let me know that they are having fun without me haha.

I met Ben when I was 15 :) Just a child. We remained friends throughout high school, and have become the BEST of friends since we both started college in the fall of 2007. Ben Is leaving on a mission to Canada in late January and I, as well as everyone else, am so proud of the person he has become. When Ben returns from his mission he has plans to earn a degree in Music Composition. He will do great things in his life, I'm sure of it. HAPPY BIRTHDAY BEN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Feeling a little discouraged

Today is just one of those days... when it seems like nothing can or will work out. SO, I'm going to make a list of all the things that are going RIGHT in my life right now :)

I get along with my roommates and I even kinda like them :)
It didnt really snow until December this year
I have a really awesome bishopric
I have few, but amazing friends who are very genuine.
I am attending one of the most respected universities in the country, on a scholarship.
I have brothers and sisters who I love and have fun with
I get to listen to music whenever I want via ipod/computer/car stereo
I can walk 30 feet across the street and play a grand piano any time I want
I have made good friends in Utah
I almost always have food :)
It's not very hard for me to do well in school
I have a phone so I can talk to anyone I want wherever in the world they are at any time
My parents support me
I have a Father who looks down on me from heaven and wants me to succeed and find true everlasting happiness

I really do have so many things to be grateful for. Everything works out the way it is meant to.

You cant fit a round peg in a square hole

This is a perfect cliche for my life right now. I had some really good conversations with friends this week. And my conclusion is: let go of the things that bring you down, life can always start anew, and you always have a choice in life to be happy. Spoken like a pro.

If you aren't happy with your life, decide what needs to be changed and do it. What makes one person happy may not be right for another person. You can't fit a round peg in a square hole; you shouldn't force yourself into roles for which you are not suited.

The End. Time for Finals week.

Beautiful December

Each morning I peak out my blinds, afraid to find snow, and almost every day this semester I have been able to thank God for keeping me warm, and out of the snow.

Does anyone remember how miserable last year was? Becca?? I know you do.

Lets all enjoy this lovely Christmas season, and to my pleasure, a lack of fluffy white stuff.

Done and Done

Many of you have already heard the end to this story but I'll give my account. My senior year of high school, I became interested in Dental Hygiene school. The summer after high school and the following summer, I worked as a dental assistant to get some experience and make sure that is what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. I came up to BYU in the fall of 2007 and have been working on my prerequisites since then. I applied to the Utah College of Dental Hygiene in July of 2008. I was called back for an interview, which took place last Friday. I went into the interview with low expectations; this field is very competitive and many girls apply several times to be accepted. I also knew that once the interview was over, it would be a month to three months before I knew if I had been accepted or not. The interview went well, I met with the two deans of the school and they asked me a ton of questions. I felt like the interview was going really well. After two hours of interviewing, it was time to go home. As I gathered my stuff together, the head of admissions stopped me, told me they were impressed and didn't want to make me wait any longer, and then she handed me an acceptance letter!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am so happy, SO relieved, grateful, nervous, and about a billion other things. I've been waiting for that letter for 2 years, and I finally got it. THE END

How is it December already?????

I cannot believe it is December 2nd, and the semester is almost over!!! November was just so busy it flew right by. A couple weeks ago Ben and I went to the Carrie Underwood concert and it was SOOO good!! I LOVE her :)

All of the roommates and I took dates and we got dressed up and went to Happy Sumo, which in my opinion is the best sushi around here. Maybe the best sushi i've ever had.

Amber and ben did some great bonding as they sang some indian tribal songs and played the guitar together :)

That friday ben and I drove home to Arizona (and by that I mean Ben drove while I slept) where I spent the BEST week and a half for Thanksgiving break. When I arived in Arizona around 10, all of the lights in my house were off and my family (including Becca) were pretending to throw me a surprise party haha. I knew I was home when i walked in and saw that Becca was wearing a tall T and baggy socks :)

The whole week was filled with family and friends. I tried to see everyone, but I still missed a few people.

Thanksgiving was wonderful, I made stuffed mushrooms which were a hit :) Everyone in our immediate family was able to come to dinner, and a few friends as an extra plus!

The day after Thanksgiving the family and a few friends went to Tombstone Arizona and Cartchner Caverns, a long but enjoyable day.

On Sunday, Teddy's boyfriend Matt, who is from Provo, and a couple of my girlfriends from high school drove back up into the bitter cold of Utah.

I really miss my friends and family in Arizona, but I definitely needed to come home because finals are approaching and I have ten thousand things to do! And hey, only 17 days till Christmas break right?