Izzy and Daisy

When I was little I used to take care of my neighbors cats, dogs, and other animals while they were on vacation. Sometimes it was simple and sometimes the owners had very specific instructions. I always got frustrated with those that had complicated instructions such as feed this one this first and only at this time and make sure this is right and so forth... I couldn't believe that animals took that much care designed specifically for the animals personality. Guess what folks, I've learned my lesson; some of them do!

I mentioned in my last post that I got two rats, Izzy and Daisy. Now let me tell you about the pain that they have been...
I chose to get rats because they are the best pets all around to get if you want clean, friendly company. Rats are the cleanest of all the rodents. They don't bite and they can be pretty social. When you get them, people suggest getting two and also getting girls. Since they are social creatures, they do better with a friend :). So, I went to the store and bought two little female rats.

Izzy and Daisy

The first week I had them, they were a lot of fun and quite a funny pair. Daisy would run around like crazy and never sit still while Izzy, on the other hand, would never go anywhere. She would just hide in your hand or in a corner of the cage. The only time I would see her run was when she was on the wheel.

Well, after a week, they decided to make things difficult. They decided to do everything that rats are NOT supposed to do! I would often hear squeaking at night but thought nothing of it until one night I decided to check up on what they were squeaking about. Turns out, Izzy was the only one making noise and it was because Daisy had her pinned upside down on her back and was attacking her! I'm not talking about playfully chasing each other around. Daisy was full on pinning Izzy down and they were getting in fights.

This is Daisy caught in the act of torturing Izzy

So much for being social creatures and doing better with a friend. Well because of this Izzy became SUPER skittish. I happened to have a cold at this time and every time I coughed, Izzy would jump and run to the other side of the cage as fast as possible. This happened anytime there was any sudden movements or noises. One day I went to take her out and play with her and as I reached in she got scared and she bit me! Yep, the one pet that is known for never biting unless they are sick bit me. So, I thought I would let her cool off and reached in to get Daisy to play with. As I did, Daisy bit me too! I couldn't believe my luck. Well, when I get bit I'm not one to go back for more so I ended up just feeding them each day and that was it. I stopped holding them and playing with them.

Over time they got worse. Daisy was getting to be more aggressive and Izzy got to be more skittish. It was time to do something about it. So first I separated the two of them. Luckily I have a two-story cage so I just blocked the entrance to the second level and put one rat on each level. Now that I had them separated it was time to focus on stopping the biting problem. So, I borrowed some leather gloves from my dad and I started playing with them again. Whenever they started nipping I would flick them on the nose.

Well, it's still a work in progress but a few weeks of working with them and we have made progress!!! Daisy is definitely making more progress than Izzy, but that is too be expected because she wasn't the one being attacked! Daisy voluntarily walks onto my hand when I open the cage and Izzy will do the same if I coax her with a treat. I don't really need to wear a glove with Daisy anymore (except for when she is walking onto my hand from the cage, for some reason she still likes to nip the tips of my fingers) and I only have to wear gloves with Izzy when she doesn't have food in her mouth or if she is scared of her surroundings (Which is a lot of the time).

Making progress with Izzy!

Making more progress with Daisy
(pardon the face, I know it's not an attractive angle)

So the point of this loooong story is that I have become one of those individuals whose pets need special care based upon their personality. Each morning when I feed them I have to take Izzy out first (if I do her last I can't get her to come out) and put her on the part of the cage that Daisy is in and then I have to take Daisy out and put her in the part of the cage Izzy was just in. (The top part of the cage is wire with nowhere soft so I switch them every day so that they both get to have somethere soft to lay) and then I have to make sure to play with both of them each day and make sure that they are making progress. It's more complicated than that but I don't really feel like going into the details and I'm sure you are tired of reading all this nonsense.

I love these two but sometimes I wish I could have purchased two NORMAL rats instead of two MANIAC rats!

No Photos

I don't have any pictures to post but life has been pretty busy this summer and it's time to catch up:

I didn't think I would be very busy this summer because I am not taking classes and I am still working only part-time. That leaves me with lots of free time, right? Wrong. This summer has been flying by so fast and I have been so busy! The good news is that I have been busy with things that I enjoy.

The beginning of the summer started with Steph and the little boys coming to Utah for Jake's wedding. I was lucky enough to be able to go pick her up at the airport. It was so good to see them all again. Steph and Benjamin saw me before I did and so the first thing I saw was Benjamin running up to me with his arms wide open. I was so glad that he remembered me! We don't get to skype very often and when we do, Benjamin doesn't really like to sit in front of the computer. He would rather go off and play. The car ride home from the airport was exciting because Steph and I forgot how small my car is. We were only able to fit her suitcase in the trunk and so the stroller sat up front while Steph and the boys shared the backseat (as well as the two car seats). It was a site to behold! I'm so glad they were able to come and stay for two weeks! I spent a lot of time playing with the boys, shopping with Steph, and going out to lunch with all of them. Hence, I was really busy those two weeks, but it was doing stuff that I love!

Then came the wedding. I am learning that weddings, from the guy's side, are a lot less stressful. I think the most stressful event was trying to find shirts and skirts for all of us girls. That was it. Kylee planned an exceptionally cute wedding. Everything was perfect, the weather, the people, the pictures, the colors. I hope it was a dream come true for her. Jake was so funny to watch. I've never seen him happier, pretty much ever. It's good to see two people so happy together!

Before Steph went back to Alabama we wanted to take a family trip to the zoo. We happened to choose a day that was quite rainy and chilly but it meant there were less crowds. Not gonna lie, the zoo was a little bit of a let down. It has changed quite a bit from when we used to go when we were kids. To start off, they took down the lion house. Yeah, that means there is no lion. None whatsoever. They did have tigers and other sorts of felines but I loved looking at the lions! I missed them. I also miss the hippo. They don't have one anymore :( We also happened to go at a time when the bears had all been moved to some other zoo for a season. So this trip was missing the lions, hippos, and bears, oh my! Nevertheless, the zoo is always a great place to feel like a kid again and I loved it!

The next week included a weekend vacation to Holden to visit family and go dirt biking. Two things that I absolutely love to do and one place that I love to do it! Andrea and I decided to take some books with us on one of our rides into the mountains and we found a flat, peaceful place between all the sagebrush to lay down on. It was so great to just relax amongst the bushes, trees, and wandering cows and enjoy a sunny afternoon.

Last weekend, my sister, two of my cousins, and I took a road trip down to Cedar City for another cousin's baby shower. I can't believe Kasey is having a baby next month! We were lucky enough to have an uneventful road trip. Uneventful meaning there were no major catastrophies. The trip was still lots of fun and so worth it to be at Kasey's shower. It was so good to see the Cox family. I felt like it had been way too long since we had seen them. Okay, we saw them at the wedding, but only briefly cuz we were so busy that day.

This weekend, I am heading back down to Holden for more dirtbiking! I know, I go a lot, but I love it and I have the time so why not?

In between all these weekend extravaganzas I' have weekdays and these I fill with work, riding horses, and hanging out with friends. It has been a pretty exciting summer so far with lots of fun plans in the future. (Going to Alabama with my cousin, Amber, to visit Steph, Joseph, and the boys and much, much more!)

Oh, and did I mention I got two pet rats? Yeah, little Izzy and Daisiy have been keeping me busy as well. :)

Catching Up

There are so many things that I have wanted to blog about but didn't get the chance cuz school was more important :( So, although some of this is old news, I am going to catch up on my blogging. Bear with me and enjoy!



First, we have Steff as a missionary (shown above). She left March 17th. Originally supposed to leave May 12th but then got bumped up to March 10th and then bumped again three days before she was supposed to leave to March 17th. Yes, she wore her green cardigan so she was safe from being pinched. It was so hard to leave her house the night she got set apart. I hope the next year and a half speed by. I already miss her so much and have so many things I have wanted to tell her about. Yes, that's what letters are for but they just don't do the job well enough. She is doing well in the MTC. She is in a trio companionship and is loving it. She was made for this. She loves learning about the gospel so she is in her own little heaven right now and I'm happy for her.




I'm 21! My birthday was pretty fantastic. My mom and dad made the best dinner ever for me! My dad made his amazing omelets. They are sooo good and I always crave them when I look inside my lowly college fridge and see no good food to eat. My mom made creamed eggs (my favorite breakfast when I was a kid). To go along with the breakfast theme, my mother made chocolate crepes and stacked them on top of each other as the cake. It doesn't look very pretty, but they were so good! We covered them in fresh strawberries, whipped cream, and vanilla ice cream. The perfect touch to the perfect meal. My mom also surprised my with a new halter and two lead ropes. My collection of horse gear is getting bigger all the time! Thanks family for an amazing day!!! Oh, I forgot to mention my amazing party too! I planned one but wasn't expecting anyone to come and didn't really put any thought into what we would do. Then my roommate decided we should have a dance party and a lot more people than I expected ended up coming. It involved a pinata as well, and the night ended a success!




This pretty much sums up how my classes are going this semester. Lots of creative projects that are way fun but lots of work. Okay, this one wasn't really a lot of work. We just swirled food coloring into shaving cream, put paper on top, and then wiped the shaving cream off. Yes, my friends, it was a lot of messy, messy fun. This semester has been full of so many different projects that are simple but require creativity and time. I'm serious. I think it takes twice as long to come up with a lesson plan as it does to actually teach it! That doesn't even include the time it takes to come up with the creative idea. I wonder sometimes what I am doing in this major because I am the least creative person I know!
For anyone interested, I finally am content with my major. I had gone through a couple months where I wondered why I was doing Elementary Education instead of Dance because I loved dancing so much more. After much prayerful consideration I decided to stick with El Ed and I am so glad I did. I have realized this semester that even though I love dancing, I wouldn't be happy doing it forever because I am constantly telling myself that I need to do better. After a while it takes a toll on my attitude. I don't have to tell myself to do better in El Ed (except for maybe doing my homework) and I am much happier.


I reached a point last week where I couldn't handle school, life, and everything else. I felt like I was going to explode. The city was driving my crazy and I needed to go somewhere peaceful and quiet that didn't smell like pollution. So I called up my grandparents and told them I was coming down for the weekend. Turns out I wasn't the only one going down for conference weekend. The Camp's were coming too! Saturday night I went for a walk around the town with Heather and Amber, my cousin. Heather brought her camera and was in charge of capturing all the perfect moments. It was so nice to walk around the town. The air was filled with the smell of farms instead of bus exhaustion. I saw trees, brush, and dirt roads instead of buildings and black streets covered in black snow. Here are the results of said stroll around town:

Trail out of the cemetery

Cemetery trail leading to the church


Photos of life in a barn :)




And this one just had awesome juxtaposition
(not really sure how that word is spelled)


The end of the road


Yes, people, this is how far apart houses should be!


Not sure if this is supposed to be a truck or a semi


Cutest brother and sister in the whole entire world!!!


That's all for now folks. School should be done soon and the posts should become more frequent :)

Leap Year

So I went and saw Leap Year yesterday at the dollar theater. Here are my thoughts on it:

I LOVED IT!!!

Okay, now for the reasons why:

-It is rated PG so it is a good, clean chick flick!
-The guy that she ends up with is not that cute. I get frustrated when all the main guys in chick flicks are drop-dead gorgeous. The movie producers might as well come out and say that you are never going to fall in love unless you have the perfect body and face to go with it. Mathew Goode is perfect! He is cute enough to fall in love but not too good-looking so that love seems to hopeless for the rest of us. He did such a good job in this movie and I love his character!
-The acting was amazing! Good enough that I almost cried at the very end even though I knew there was no reason to be sad. (I think I have only cried in two movies my whole life and Charly was NOT one of them)
-I love movies from different cultures. Especially Ireland. It reminds me that there is life outside of America and our American ways. I especially love how beautiful Ireland is. Not only the people and their culture but the nature found within it and the old stone castles. It is just so gorgeous!



If you are looking for a great, clean movie to go see, go see this one!

Somehow I Find the Time

Over the past couple years I have realized that college is a time of no time. I try to plan every semester more and more efficiently timewise and it just can't be done. Yet somehow this semester seems better than the rest. I don't know why because I am working more than ever and I'm in class more than ever. Yet somehow my life seems to be balanced. I don't feel like my life is all about school, or all about work, or all about friends. I'm happy and my life is balanced through and through. It's so great, in fact, that sometimes I forget how busy I really am. But I do have small reminders every once in a while, such as the weekends. I had a Friday night a couple weeks ago with absolutely no plans. With my busy schedule my weekends get booked fast. They are my only time for a social life, and so they tend to get filled up at least a week in advance. So there I was on a Friday night with no plans! I haven't had that in so long. I'm not good at last minute planning so I rounded up some friends and a little sister and went ice skating. We went to the ice rink here in Provo but it was WAY crowded, so we went up to the Gallivan Center in Salt Lake. It was almost completely empty! So even though it was smaller than the Provo one, it was a lot more fun. Side note: Teenage boys are so frustrating!!! The only other ppl on the rink with us were high school hockey players. Yeah, they were annoying! Also, the rink was super rough and needed to be smoothed out with that zamboni machine thing. But the h.s. boys working that night were too busy playing with the overhead mike to really care about the ice condition. I'm hoping that the zamboni was broken and that they weren't really being such goof-offs. Anyways, it was still way fun and definitely worth the trip up to Salt Lake!
Second reminder of my busy schedule: Saturdays are my day to get all my homework done, get in time with my horse, try to catch the BYU ballet club class, and spend some time with friends. Last Saturday was no different. My schedule started out needing to drop my car off in Orem so my dad could change the brakes (thanks dad!) then getting to my ballet class before 9:30, go shoppin with my dad for new riding boots and then study for and take a test before 2:00, take my roommate, Steff, out to lunch for a farewell celebration before 4:00, take Mailani out riding before it got dark, and then shower and get ready for Steff's farewell party before 7:00. I had my whole day planned out with no stopping inbetween. Then right as I got to my parents house to pick up my car, I found out that my family forgot to tell me my grandma and some cousins were in town for lunch and visiting the Bean Museum. I love my family and hate missing things with them, so I did some scheduling rearranging and somehow managed to study for AND take my test in an hour and half and make it in time to see the museum with them. I'm so glad I did! It was so much fun to spend time with my favorite people! I was able to get everything done on Saturday except go shopping with my dad and go riding with Mailani, but those things can be done at later times. It amazes how much the Lord helps me accomplish and still remain sane. I don't really get stressed out about time anymore and I know it is because Heavenly Father is right there beside me, scheduling my life for me. Just another blessing that comes from this amazing gospel that I am so blessed to have a knowledge of!

Tyson, Me, Steff, and Heather ice skating at the Gallivan's Center.
This rink is such a romantic place. When I get married, my
husband and I are coming here for date nights.


Marinda, Elizabeth, Andrea, and Nathaniel all posing in front of the butterfly
display at the Bean Museum. I forgot how much fun museums can be.
I'm so glad we have kids to remind us of the little wonders of life!


Andrea wanted to be a butterfly. Talk about butterfly overload :)

Early Sunday Morning

Steff, my roommate, went with her family to Hawaii on Sunday and I had the opportunity to drop her off at the airport early in the mornin'. Ever since our ward's meeting time got moved back to 12:00 I don't get up early on Sundays. (Usually not before 10:00 am!) Sunday is a whole new day when you get up early. You can get so much more done whith those extra hours. I was also really glad that Steff asked me to drive her up there. We have both been so busy lately that we don't get a lot of time to spend together anymore, so it was nice to have an hour with her to just enjoy being together. I am sure gonna miss her when she leaves on her mission in a month!

When It Rains, It Pours

It has always frustrated me that life doesn't come at you in little trickles. It is either sunny and bright or it is a hurricane. Never in between. I have been enjoying sunshine for so long that I forgot what it was like to have a storm comin' through. But the storm came and there is more up ahead. What do I mean by this? In the past two weeks I have had a best friend get married, my best friend/sister move across the country, my best friend/roommate receive her mission call to leave in May, her departure date being moved up to March 10th, the stresses of trying to find a new roommate (I shouldn't be, but I'm picky), and I found out it will probably take an extra, unexpected semester in order to graduate. On top of that, my parents are getting upset with me for taking out student loans to pay for school. I know it doesn't sound like a big load to carry, and it probably isn't compared to everyone else's, but after life being so easy the last little while I'm not mentally/emotionally prepared for all this. Especially in such a short time period. Most of all, I think the last little while has just made me realize that it is time for me to be independent and face this world on my own. It is something that I have tried to avoid at all costs.
I'm going to look on the bright side though. So here goes: My best friend married her high school sweetheart who we are all good friends with so I will still get to do stuff with her a lot. I still get to communicate with my sister over the phone and through webcam so it isn't like she's been thrown off the face of the earth. Also, she is coming out in May for my brother's wedding! My roommate, Steff, has been planning on this mission since before I can remember so I am way excited for her. Also, her initial departure date was the same week as my brother's wedding and my other brother moving to Arizona. So now I only have to say goodbye to two people that week instead of three! As far as the extra semester of school, I'm still looking for the silver lining on that one, but hopefully it will come.

P.S. for those that didn't hear, Steff is serving in the Nauvoo, Illinois, sign language speaking mission!!!