I've Been Tagged!

8 Things I am Passionate About:

1. The Gospel
2. My family. I remember my mom would always tell us growing up that our siblings need to be our best friends b/c we are going to be with them forever. That wasn't what we wanted to hear at 10 years old but my siblings and I are like glue and I am so grateful I will be with them forever.
3. My education
4. Staying in shape or at least staying active in some way.
5. Medical research. It saved my life and I wish I was smart enough to be more apart of it. Oh and donate blood as often as you can.
6. Food! I look forward to dinner time. I plan in my head in the morning what I will eat for dinner.
7. Music/ The Piano
8. My friends for sure.



8 Books I have Read and Enjoyed:

1. The Hiding Place
2. Fire of the Covenant
3. The Book of Mormon
4. Pride and Prejudice
5. A Tale of Two Cities
6. October Sky
7. Children of the Promise (sorry its a series)
8. P.S. I love you...well I actually haven't read it yet but I know I will enjoy it when I do.

8 Words or Phrases I say often:

1. That's awesome
2. What the crap
3. You are such a nerd
4. You have got to be kidding me
5. Cool
6. Seriously
7. For sure
8. I need a nap...I really don't say that but I think it a lot


8 things I want to do before I die:

1. Get married and have a family
2. Go on a mission
3. Go on a cruise with the girls
4. Be apart of and/or raise money for a Lymphoma foundation
5. Run a marathon or even a half marathon would be cool or a triathlon b/c the swimming part would be fun. But not like one of those full out iron man/ woman whatever it is, but something along those lines:)
6. TRAVEL!
7. I think it would be cool to go to every temple in the world. But that would be really difficult travel wise and financially but imagine how cool that would be.
8. Learn how to surf and ski.

8 Things I have learned this past year:

1. Tim Filichia would always tell me that every time your heart breaks, it becomes stronger which is ironic b/c my heart did break when he died.
2. Life hardly ever happens the way you play it out in your mind so plan to be surprised!
3. When someone you love becomes a memory, the memory becomes a treasure. (That one was for you Amy)
4. I have realized even more the importance of good friends. I seriously have the best group of friends.
5. The significance of Dallin H. Oaks conference talk, "Good, Better, Best"
6. I love spray butter, famous amos cookies, bran muffins, lean cuisines and corn bran cereal (I think that's what its called). I could live off of those 5 things. Well not really. I love salads.
7. People's feelings are more important than saying what is on your mind.
8. I was never meant to work in an office, sitting at a desk, in front of a computer!

I now tag Rachel (its about time you update), Brooke, Amy, Salena, Katrina, Katy, Jessica, and Aileen

Last 2 Birthdays!

I know I have been posting a lot lately but June is a busy busy month and since I am not in class right now and just working, lets face it, I have a little extra time on my hands.

So last night we celebrated Melinda's birthday at Teppanyaki in Salt Lake. Randy arranged a surprise dinner for her and she was pretty surprised to see all of us there. The food was amazing and it's cool because they cook the food in front of you and the chefs are really fun except for when our chef almost threw the sauce all over me or when he lit the stove and pretended like he was going to throw the match at me. He was really enjoying giving me a hard time but I guess that is what I get for sitting right in the middle. But I did kind of feel like I was on Iron Chef. It is pricey but worth it for a birthday or 25th wedding anniversary:) But I am so grateful that Melinda has become such a good friend of mine. She is so thoughtful and fun to be around. And she always has great advice which is nice. Thanks Moo for being born!

Randy and Melinda

And now Stacie's 23rd…..

I know you read my blog every day of your dang life so this one is for you! HAPPY BIRTHDAY STACE! I seriously don’t even know where to start with you. Oh my gosh do you remember at dinner for senior prom when Beau told us to be quiet and stop laughing so loud? Or when we use to wake up at the crack of dawn winter semester to walk? Not even jog, just walk! Actually I think we did work up to a jog, right? Oh gosh I hope so. That’s embarrassing. Or last summer when as soon as I would get home from work, I would come over and we would lay out for an hour, then eat for an hour and then get bored and lay out some more? Or how about when we took a walk in New York up to that school and through central park and talked about how we could seriously write a book on how to solve everyone else’s problems. We can’t even solve our own, but everyone else’s for sure! I know you know what I am talking about. And I know you are laughing right now. Speaking of laughing, anytime I can get that deep laugh out of you when you throw your head back is quite an accomplishment for me. Just so you know:) Or how about when you told me that you knew I was going to marry Max and then you knew for sure that I was going to marry Spencer and I am with neither now. But I know you will know for sure when the right one comes along. Haha. Or how about when we had to move into Enclave with Ness and Kinze (stop laughing Kelli) and then Shelley. Wow what a trip! Ok that is where I am going to stop before this becomes a novel. But I love you Stace even as being the most athletic spoiled (not brat) that I know! Happy Birthday….sweet sauce!!!!!!!!!!!

Tribute to Haley

Ok so I was just thinking the other day about how Haley and I have lived together for 2 whole years now. I can still remember her walking into our apartment at Courtside the first time 2 summers ago and wondering how I was going to share a room with a 17 year old basketball player who had just GRADUATED FROM HIGH SCHOOL 2 WEEKS BEFORE! But we immediately clicked and I am not saying it has been pure bliss but I could not have asked for a better and more fun roommate. We have been through a lot together these past couple of years....2 torn acls, missionaries, a broken heart, roommates, 2 apartments, birthdays, road trips, lots of funny and uncomfortable situations. It goes on and on. And I can only think of 1 time where we really really got mad at each other and that only lasted about an hour. I mean don't get me wrong, we can get on each other's nerves but we know each other well enough to know when to back off and give one another space. But I have to say that Haley has been my conscience at times and just isn't afraid to tell me how it is. Which is what I need sometimes. Thanks Haley for being a pretty sweet friend and roommate.

My favorite things about Haley.....

1. Her girdie voice...I know that doesn't make any sense to any of you but you will just have to have her do it for you sometime. If she is trying to make me laugh...she does her girdie voice.

2. Her strong opinion. Haley has an opinion about EVERYTHING. She even has an opinion about her having an opinion.

3. Her competitiveness. Haley is competitive about everything and she can turn everything into a competition. Who can drive home from church the fastest, who can do the most push ups, who can eat the most, and you don't even want to see her during card games and monopoly. Watch out!

4. Our trips to Macey's on Saturday nights. I can not even begin to count how many times we had to go to Maceys for dinner on Sunday.

5. Our nightly runs together. Haley is in really good shape so its good for me to run with her but sometimes I just want to tell her to slow the crap down but it pushes me which is good.

6. Her appetite. Haley eats on the hour and even when we come home from eating out, she goes straight to the fridge. I love it! It's a good thing she is so dedicated to working out.

7. Her boldness with me. She is not afraid to tell me straight up how she feels and she has the tendency to get me fired up when something is bothering me and we just feed off of each other's emotion. So I am sorry if I have ever said anything to offend any of you. I am so use to living with someone who just says it how it is. And I have started doing that a lot more. And that is NOT always a good thing!

8. Her testimony and dedication to the Gospel. She loves the Gospel and she is so so good about reading her scriptures and saying her prayers. When we shared a room for a year, I can honestly not remember a night where she missed saying her prayers. I was always impressed with that.

9. Her dedication to basketball. I have never met anyone that loved something that much. I know I have only seen her play like 6 or 7 times since she has been injured the last couple of years, but she is so incredibly good and makes girls basketball look like a bunch of guys out there. It's pretty fun to watch.

10. Her humor. I can always count on Haley to make me laugh. She says the most random things and sometimes at the most inappropriate times which can make it really funny. And she is very witty. But she always knows how to make me laugh and anyone that knows me knows that laughing is pretty much my favorite thing. So she does a good job at that.

I know I could go on but I will just leave it at that. Love ya Huley Luley and I am excited for one more year of pure entertainment!

Mission Call

That's Alan holding up the phone with me on the line. Too bad I couldn't hear a dang thing!

My brother Spencer received his mission call to the Guam Micronesia Mission! And he reports August 27th. I am so excited for him and he is going to be such an awesome missionary. I look forward to hearing all of his stories and the wonderful experiences he will be having. He is already really mature and wise for his age but he will grow a lot in himself along with his testimony of the Gospel.

Happy Happy Birthday!

It's my birthday today and I am officially 23 even though a guy at the grocery store a couple of weeks ago asked me if I had just graduated from high school. I was so offended so I guess that makes me happy to be old...er. Anyways that's beside the point, it was a great day and I even got off of work early, did some swimming/catching rays and then headed up to Salt Lake where the girls took me to Cheesecake Factory for dinner and it was delicious! And it's Amy's birthday too and not very many people can say they celebrate their birthday with their best friend. And then we went over to Melinda's and had Code's famous bundt cake and played the game that Kelli got me for my birthday: Buzz Word. Just let me tell you...if you want to win, have Kelli on your team. Seriously! Trust me on that one. But it was a great day and hopefully this next year will be even better than this last one:)

I have the best friends! No one can argue with me on that one.

Amy on her phone...typical!

Kelli got me some coloring books and crayons and a game; a while ago Haley and I had this urge (I don't know what else to call it) to go and buy coloring books and crayons at the store and we all sat around the table for like 2 hours coloring and then we hung them all over the wall. We even had Dayna's husband Jase doing it with us.

HI kelli!

My Christmas/ bday present

Hi Lena!

I'm 60....or it's the only candles we had:)

Um ya...not kidding!

Buzz Word brought us pure joy!

But it did get intense at times

And Lindsee came with us! Yay!

Thanks girls! You are the greatest!

Happy Birthday Lena!

It was Lena's 23rd on Saturday so we all went and ate at Fuddruckers. Random I know, but that was the first restaurant Lena thought of. But it was soooo good and I forgot how much I love guacamole on hamburgers. Anyhow, we had a good time and then went back to the apartment and had cake and ice cream and played the game Imagine If. But I just love having Lena up here. She is such a delight (haha) and so entertaining. It's a breath of fresh air whenever Lena graces us with her presence:) She's the best. Happy Birthday Lena!

A Good Conversation

So last night I went out with a really nice guy. I had Lena's birthday dinner/party and he had a reception to go to and so we didn't get together until around 9:30pm. So when he called to see where I live, he told me we were going to go to Borders Bookstore and of course I thought that was a great idea because I love book stores. So he picks me up and we drive over there and when we get there, he tells me to pick out one CD and one book that describes me and gave me a 10 minute time limit. It may seem so random for a date but it was different and I enjoyed that. Anyhow, I went straight to the country section and they didn't have the Faith Hill CD I wanted and so I chose a Keith Urban CD instead and the book 5 People You Meet In Heaven by Mitch Albom. I absolutely love that book. Its about a man who dies while working at the Amusement Park as the maintenance man and 5 people come and visit him which represent some different phase in his life and he learns these amazing lessons. There was even a movie made about it. But I loved it! And anyhow, he chose "Mere Christianity" by C.S. Lewis and read an insert for me from one of the chapters called, "Is Christianity Hard or Easy?" I was so extremely impressed by the book he chose and what he had to say about it. I was blown away by his thoughts and ideas and impressions. We talked about how well C.S. Lewis ideas and thoughts parallel with gospel principles. The insert he read for me was so in line with having a broken heart and a contrite spirit. How the Lord doesn't just ask for our hearts but our minds and our wills and our lives. It was amazing! We had such a good conversation and I left feeling revived. I don't think anything will happen between me and him since he is moving to North Carolina in the Fall, but I had a good time and a good, fulfilling conversation. So if you are looking for two books to read, try the ones me and Adam chose. They are keepers!

Our Birthday Countdown!

There are 5 of us with birthdays in June. So the countdown begins. But we are not quite sure how we are going to celebrate all of them yet. Oh and Haley's is in August but we included her in our countdown.

Our Own American Idol

We were pretty bored Sunday night and so Lena, Amy and Jeffrey sang for us. Pure entertainment! All we needed was Lindsee!

And sorry to Jeffrey that I was kind of rude on the video. I don't hate the color orange. I was just trying to give him a hard time. We were suppose to be mean judges but that didn't last very long. What do Haley, Melinda and I know about singing. Honestly!