My First Attempt... Needs Work

Since I had lots of free time this summer and my first niece is on the way, I decided to make a quilt. When I was in 3rd grade my mom and I made a quilt for kids in Kosovo. We tied that quilt when we were done sewing it together. That is all the quilting experience I have so this was going to be a new adventure. The putting together of the quilt didn't take very long (about 2 days) but the actually quilting is a totally different story. It takes FOREVER!!! No wonder grandma's do it more than others. They are the only ones with enough patience!

I didn't want to tie the quilt with yarn cuz I was never really a fan of quilts with yarn all over them. The front of the quilt is a floral design with lots of flowers and vines so my plan was to quilt by following the vines. I pictured it to be a masterpiece when I was done. Oh boy was I wrong! First, I tried using a million different types of stitches. I wasn't too satisfied with the 'up-down' stitch so I tried making up a few of my own.

Needless to say, that didn't work very well. It took me 1 week of non-stop quilting to get 1/5 of the quilt done. My back ached, my fingers hurt, and I was frustrated. So I decided to take a new plan of attack. I decided to just quilt the square pattern that I had created with the different fabrics. This wasn't as fancy but it only took me about 4 days to finish the entire thing. Definitely a worthwhile trade. This doesn't mean that the quilt was lookin' good, though. I was in such a hurry to get the quilt done in time for Stephanie's birthday that I had tons of buckling and uneven stitching. I didn't have time to fix it but I thought, "Oh well, someday I'll borrow it back from her and fix it. In the mean time, she can appreciate my effort, right?" Okay, so I should have fixed it cuz I know I will never find the time to go back and fix it but oh well. It is finally done!!!

My first attempt to quilt the vine design
that took WAY too long


Decided that was a bad idea and quilted squares instead


The finished product!

Scrub Down

Two of my roommates went on vacation this week, two of them moved out at the beginning of the week and the other one has been spending the week at her grandparents in Orem. So, I have had the house to myself and I decided now was the best time to take advantage of the emptiness and clean out my house. When I say clean I mean take everything out of each room and scrub the walls, doors, & furniture and get all the gunk out that has sat there for the past few years. Also, giving me the chance to go through what junk accumulated as girls moved in and out and toss stuff that had no owner. It feels so good!!! Before this adventure, I hated being home. It made me feel claustrophobic and dirty and I never really felt like I could settle in and relax. Now I love to be home. Everything is so clean and organized. There is no clutter, counters are cleared off and corners are cleaned out. I think my biggest pet peeve (especially in kitchens) is having appliances and things on the counter or shoved in a corner. It gives the room such a cramped feeling.

So how did I manage to do such a big task? Well, I'll let you in on a little secret... Little sisters can be bribed with anything. I told my sisters that they could have a sleepover at my house and eat all my junk food if they would help me clean. It's summertime, they were bored, and so they agreed. The first night we were only able to get the kitchen, bathroom, and living room done, but we cleaned them so well that I feel we were efficient with what time we had. Andrea was excellent at scrubbing base boards and Rebecca is great at decorating and organizing. Each girl put forth their talent and the end result was worth it.

The second day, I left the girls at home to play with Izzy and Daisy and finish a couple more chores while I went to work. When I got back, we started on the impossible task: cleaning the basement. Our basement is no ordinary basement. It is literally a hole dug out of the ground under the house with room enough for a furnace, water heater, and some old, dusty shelves. Oh yeah, and lots of spiders. Over the years, ppl have stored stuff down there while living here and things just accumulated. So we took everything out (ewww!!!) and threw away all the garbage. When we had it all cleaned we used a shovel to even out the dirt on the floor and made it look somewhat not as creepy. Once we finished this we moved on to our back room and cleaned out more junk that had accumulated and cleaned off the washer/dryer and the vanity area. It's disgusting how much make-up and hair products can get stuck on a counter that never gets cleaned.

And thus completes the cleansing of my house. To finish off such a fantastic adventure we made homemade hot-pockets (biscuit dough, ham, and cheese), played Phase 10, and made a maze of DVDs for Izzy and Daisy to run through. This adventure was a 100% success!

I forgot to take 'before' pictures but here are some 'after' pictures from our adventures as well as a few things we did to spruce up each room:

Living Room:
We moved some furniture around and
it really made the room feel more open

Bathroom:
There isn't a hair or dust bunny
to be found anywhere. Yay!

Kitchen:
All the dishes got washed and cupboards cleaned out.

Kitchen 2:
Got rid of an unsightly table cloth and
cleared off the window sill


Evidence that Rebecca helped:
Rebecca put a flower arrangement in both the kitchen and living room.
Andrea and I couldn't help but laugh.


Washer/Dryer:
Okay, this doesn't look all that clean but you should have
seen it before. The shelf above was chaotic and covered
in dead ants and the washer lid was super linty and grimy.


Vanity Area:
The counter used to be brown and covered in hair,
curlers, combs, and other such things. Now it's clean :)

(Don't pay too much attention to the mirror,
the junk behind it is stuff from our basement)

And thus concludes my cleaning adventure. Too bad I'll be moving out of here in a few weeks :(

A New Home

Aunt Karen, this post is for you...

So I have lived in my current house for 2 years now. It is an adorable little peach house just south of campus and I love it here! Okay, that's a lie. I loved it here! This past year I have run into roommate problems. I never thought I wouldn't be able to get along with someone but this past year has changed my mind. Let's just say some people just don't care about cleaning and taking care of things the way that others do. So I decided I couldn't take it anymore and the only way to solve the problem was to move. So I searched high and low for a new place in the same price range as my current house. The only place I could find was at the Branbury Apartments. Unfortunately, the Branbury has a no pet policy so I have to find a new home for my little girls :( Also, I have no friends looking for a new place so the only person I found to room with was my sister, Heather. I love you Heather, but we both know that we never got along while we shared a room when we were younger. So last Thursday, I finally sold my contract for the place I am at now and guess what happened... My roommate anounced that she was moving out!!! Yep, that's right. The same day that I finally get everything taken care of to move, I find out that the reason I was moving didn't matter anymore. Talk about bad timing. So now I am moving to a new home and I am also looking for a new home for Izzy and Daisy. If anyone is interested in taking care of them, please let me know. They deserve a good, loving home and I am having a hard time finding one right now. :(

Vacation Time!!!

Holy cow, there is so much to tell you all about. The last two weeks for me were just one ginormous vacation. I guess I better start at the beginning (a very good place to start). On the 3rd of July I went boating with Lindsay, Kaylie, Spencer, and the Petty family. It was so much fun! I have not been on a boat since my family sold ours many years ago. It felt so good to be back in the water again.

Here is Spencer showing us how to wakeboard the right way

Later that night my family all got together for our 4th of July tradition of KFC and watching fireworks on the Marriot hill in Provo. I think this is my favorite holiday tradition because it stays the same as you get older. It is still just as fun at 21 as it was when I was 5.

The beautiful firework finale

Monday was the parade and the 5K. My mom wanted to run in the Freedom Run this year and so I volunteered to join her. Oh my... I have never ran that far before and it took a lot of training but I did it!!! And I did it in 29 min. and 30 sec. My goal was to get a 10 minute mile and I succeeded! My mom did amazing too! Jake also decided to run with us at the last minute and he kept us going the whole time.
The parade was wonderful as well! Usually I go home disappointed at the end of the parade because there was too much advertising and not enough parade but this year was different. There was a perfect combination of everything!!!

I sent this picture to Benjamin and he knew exactly what they were right away :)


Every year I always look forward to the KSL float. I just love to see all the newscasters on it.


And of course, BYU! Go Cougars!!!

After the parade I went tubing down Provo River with Lindsay, Kaylie, Spencer, the Petty's, and the Parker's. It was sooooo cold but so much fun! I was so glad to be able to spend time with Lindsay. We have so much fun together!

And thus concludes my fourth of July weekend. Now onto my next vacation:

Alabama!!!

Tuesday morning I flew to Alabama with Amber, my cousin. We were going to visit Steph, Joseph, and the boys. The week flew by so fast and we had so much fun. I was so glad that we were able to be there for Benjamin's birthday!!!

We took a trip to a beach in Florida.
It was my first time at the ocean and it was salty, big, and beautiful


We also went shopping (of course) and both of the little boys insisted on wearing these glasses and taking a picture. How cute!



These little trouble makers are up to no good :)


Joseph had a river tube that he inflated one night and Garrett LOVED it! He couldn't get out so it was the perfect play area for him.



Benjamin really enjoyed licking the chocolate batter off the mixer for his cake. I have a cute video of it but I can't get it to load.



Benjamin's friend, Jacob, came over for lunch. They enjoyed their chocolate cupcakes!
(There is a '1' on the cupcake cuz we ran out of candles)


We also went bowling for Benjamin's birthday and Amber bowled her first strike!!! This is her strike face :)


Benjamin LOVED bowling!


Last of all, here is Benjamin with some of his presents:
A Lightning McQueen shirt from Rachel and Jason


A garbage truck from Aunt Teresa :)
(He picked it out himself)


and a puppy and books from Grandma Wood


Amber and I almost missed our flight back home and so our goodbye to the boys was said as we jumped out of the car. Love you guys!!!!!!

And thus concludes our trip to Alabama... next stop, Cousin Camp!!!

Our flight got in at ten on Tuesday night and we got picked up at eleven so we didn't get home til midnight. The next morning we headed down to Holden at 7:30 AM to go spend the week with cousins at my grandparents. It was a week full games, crafts, good food, and good times.

I was put in charge of Wednesday's craft and so I pulled out my Elementary Education skills and did sock puppets. I loved the way they turned out and I hope everyone else enjoyed them too. Here are some of the crafts we did:

My masterpiece puppet


Flower picture made from real flowers


and hook rug

I finally arrived back at home sweet home Saturday night and crammed in a hike up to the Y with roommates and friends before officially declaring my vacation over. Now it's back to real life and work...

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 :)