Comfort Zone: Abandoned!

Hey! Time to be good at blogging again. Maybe. I need to remember that I can blog about little things and not just big events. So here I go.
Last week was really fun. My roommate, Jenessa, is in the BYU Women's Chorus, which is awesome!! Seriously, it is. I love Men's and Women's Chorus, they are beautiful. They are like the MoTab in training. So they had a concert last week and another roommate, Maggie, and I went to it to watch her sing. It was everything I expected and more. So beautiful!! The women sang some really pretty songs, and then it was the men's turn and they... blew me away. They sang some pretty songs but also some just plain awesome numbers. They are so talented and so funny. I was almost crying from laughter. Anyway, a good time was had by all and at the end I had a lot more love for my university.
So after the concert, Maggie and I had an idea to get everyone's "autographs". Of course we couldn't get everyone's, but we wanted to try and get as many as we could on our programs. So we walked out into the big open space where everyone was finding their families, and we got started. I thought it would be easy, but it was actually really hard! It pushed me way out of my comfort zone. All I had to do was go up to really nice people and ask them to sign my program, but I had a hard time for some reason. Maggie was really really good at it because she has basically no inhibitions.
Even though it was hard, it was something that turned out making me feel actually really good! Because each time I would go up to someone, the same thing would happen. They always looked really shocked/surprised at first, and then they looked really happy, and very graciously gave me their autograph. They were so flattered that someone would want their autograph after a routine concert such as this, and almost all of them said they'd never given someone their autograph before. One boy said "You guys are the best! You're just so awesome! Man, you're just seriously so great!" And all we did was ask for his autograph!
It was such a fun and fulfilling thing to do. I feel like we made people feel really good and it was so simple! (Even though the execution was a little difficult for me). It opened my eyes to the fact that you can make someone's day without even having to go to great lengths. You lose nothing and they gain so much. Why not do it? I want to try to go out of my comfort zone more to help people feel good about themselves. Every time I receive a random compliment or "hello" from a complete stranger, I am amazed at how good it makes me feel!
Here's a picture of the aftermath. Maggie totally beat me number-wise!

So. Yeah. Good times. I'm gonna try to be better at being awesome and you guys should too!! But you all are already really good at that. So what am I even saying.
I love you all! That's my post! Yep!

There's A First For Everything

What started as a normal shift at the bowling alley on Friday ended with an emergency trip to the medical clinic. Now I'm chillin in my apartment having a slow time typing with my broken finger!
Friday was super busy with tons of EFY chil'ns taking their chance to bowl. We got through the rush incident-free and all was going well. At one point, towards the end of my shift, I went to the back behind the pinsetters to fix the usual ball jam. As I was pushing the balls through the track, one of them somehow escaped and flew off. I didn't move out of the way in time and the ball landed on my finger! It smashed it onto another metal part of the machine and it hurt pretty bad but at first I figured it was just a bad smash, so I finished fixing the problem. Then I looked at my finger and kinda got a little worried because the pain wasn't going away at all and my finger was like white and flat. So I walked back down the lane, smiled to the little family that thanked me, and went straight to my boss Glenna's office to get her opinion. She immediately called the BYU EMS, who came really fast but pretty much just told me they couldn't do much to tell if it was broken so I could go to the doctor if I wanted but I didn't have to. Oh, and they did a great job of calming me down by telling me I probably had nerve damage and my finger would be numb for the rest of my life, haha.
Turns out, it's a good thing I went to the doctor because my finger is definitely broken, or "crushed" as they referred to it. Here's a picture of the x-ray. My hand looks totally normal except for the last bone of my ring finger.

Yum. Here's what it looked like in the car on the way to the doctor:

Anyway now it's in a lovely splint thing and I'm supposed to go to a hand surgeon (what?) sometime this week so he can look at it more closely and put a better splint on it or whatever needs to be done. The doctor said it would take 12 weeks to heal but I'm thinking/hoping he was giving me a really liberal estimate, because that seems forever long! Just in time for school to start.
I'm just super glad it wasn't worse. What if the ball was heavier than 13 pounds? What if it landed on my whole hand and broke it? That would suck, especially since it's my right hand. Also, Glenna is an absolute angel and stayed with me the whole time at the doctor and kept me laughing when I was having a freakout moment in her office with the EMS guys. She helped me take care of everything with the worker's comp. stuff and keeps checking up with me. She even brought me ice cream today along with another one of my co-workers! Also, shout-out to Devrey and Chandler who brought me pumpkin chocolate chip bread -- my absolute favorite! And to Dustin and Amy who fed me dinner and watched Saved By The Bell with me on Friday night. I've felt very loved and taken care of this weekend! It's not the most fun thing ever but at least it makes life interesting! I was getting a little bored... ;)

Memorial Day and He Is We Concert

My Memorial Day weekend was awesome! Devrey and Chandler invited me to come with them down to Lake Powell for the weekend. So we packed up our swimmin' suits and sunscreen and headed out Friday after work. I was so excited for three whole days of relaxation! We got to Blanding, Utah late Friday night and stayed with a family that Chandler stayed with on his mission and worked for after his mission. They are an awesome family and live on a huge farm. Saturday we woke up and sadly, the weather was terrible! It was so dang windy outside, and red dust was blowing everywhere. Windy Blanding reminded me of windy Shelley, just with different colored dirt ;) So we weren't able to go to the lake at all. So instead we all went to breakfast and chatted with the Lyman family. Then we drove around the hills a little bit. After that the three of us visited an awesome sister that Chandler also stayed with on his mission. Then we went home, took naps, made dinner, built a fire, and roasted s'mores! It was a fun day, even if we didn't even lay eyes on Lake Powell :)
Sunday we went to church, and then the rest of the day we spent exploring some beautiful areas in southern Utah. It was a blast Here are some pictures!

Oh just some Indian ruins

Hyoooge canyon!

This crazy diving board rock! Probably the scariest thing I did all day...

"Yep, they're twins..." -Chandler

Natural Bridges

Another natural bridge

Trying my hand at nature photography. Haha...

A rock formation in Valley of the Gods called "Lady in a Bathtub" or something like that. It seriously looks like a lady in a bathtub! The funny thing is, we didn't even know what it was called when we saw it. So we all took guesses as to what we thought it looked like. And we all decided it looked like a lady in a bathtub. And then later we found out the name!

I just poked my head out the window and took this picture, but I love the way it turned out!

So the trip on Sunday was beautiful. It's hard to take pictures that represent how cool it is, but believe me, it was so cool!

Monday we all got up early to help Bro. Lyman round up his cows. Sadly I was feeling super sick so I had to stay home :( But they all got home and said I missed out! Here are a few pictures.

Devrey lookin' supa-fly on the four-wheeler

They had to carry some of the calves because they wouldn't move their little bums along.

After that we packed up, visited one more person, and then hit the road! It was such a fun and relaxing trip. I'm glad they invited me! It always sucks to go back to real life after these things.

Then last night, Devrey and I went to Salt Lake to go to the He Is We concert that we've been planning on for like two months! We met up with Shanley and three of her friends. It was really fun, but kindof sad because the main girl wasn't even there, because she is sick. It was this fill-in girl instead. She did a super good job, but I was still sad! Here's Devrey and I waiting for them to come on.

Good times! Well that's it for now. Next week I'm going to a Daughtry concert. Wooooo summer!!

Newness: Some Ups and Downs

Hey! Look! I'm posting again! Ready... GO!


Ok so I'm just going to jump right in before I get distracted again. This summer has been great so far!! I moved out of my apartment in Sparks, but I'll be moving back in the fall. So for the summer I'm living here in Cinnamon Tree (yeah, I'm not sure what a cinnamon tree is either) and I'm living with Jayde, Miriam, and Katelyn. It's been so great to live with three of my very best friends! Here's a picture of us on one of the first Sundays, sadly before Jayde had moved in. We all think it's kind of an awkward picture, but oh well ;)

We also have two other roommates, but they both got engaged within the last month, so we never see them. Haha. But yeah it's been great. We laugh way too much.


I'm still working at the bowling alley, and it's been a blast as usual. I also got a second job for the summer, at a call center. I'm not taking classes so I wanted something to fill up the rest of the hours and to save some monay! Well, the extra paychecks have been great, but it is definitely not something I want to spend the rest of my summer doing. Every day this is what I do. Go to the bowling alley at 8:30. Flirt with provide excellent customer service to the morning bowling classes. Go upstairs with Glenna to buy our daily brownie. Peace out at 1:30.
Go home, sit in my apartment by myself until 4:00, then I head to work at the call center. Hate my life and get sworn at until 8:00. Then I go home and partay with my homies. Then I go to sleep and wake up and do the exact same thing the next day.
But it's a good life. And it'll be an even better life since yesterday I put in my 2-weeks notice at the call center :) Like I said, it's been good, but not worth it.


That's about it so far. I'm having a really good summer. I love my ward, I love my friends, I love summer in Provo. Stay tuned for Memorial Day pictures and concert happiness :)

You Gotta Put Your Behind in the Past

Good old Lion King! Haha anyway, just time for another random post :)

So let's just say, I'm super happy that it's finally the month of March. February has always been my least favorite month of the whole year, and this year was no exception! I hate to sound depressing, but it's always just so blah. It's still cold, you aren't allowed to think about Spring yet because it's too far away, you're burnt out with school by then, and nothing exciting happens! And then this Feb. I had to go and get sick for four weeks, along with other things that made the month not so great.

BUT, now that's all in the past and it's March! It's sunny! The weather is amazing and people are smiling and the end of the semester is in sight! There are lots of exciting things coming up, such as the Festival of Colors (which became my new favorite Spring thing a year ago), as well as Luke's blessing (not baptism), which means seeing all you awesome familial peeps. Also Devrey, Amy, and Matt's graduations! Which means more family time and a road trip to the blessed land of Arizona.

I'm really excited for this summer to live with three of my best friends here in P-Town, soak up the sun, and work hard to save some dinero! And then in the Fall my best friends start getting back from missions! I. Can't. Wait.

Anyway, I'm getting way ahead of myself and this post contains way too many exclamation marks, but I'm just really excited for the months ahead and to put the not so great months behind me :)

Nephews and Birthdays and Snow!

Whew, I can't believe I'm 20! No longer a teenager... this is going to take some getting used to. But I haven't really felt like a teenager since starting college so I guess not a whole lot is going to change haha. Anyway my birthday/weekend turned out to be pretty great!
Friday:
Woke up at the crack of dawn for class, and got all the schooly stuff out of the way. Then, before I had to go to work, John and I worked on our bowling skills for a couple of hours. I hate to brag but we're getting pretty good! Relatively... Then I went to work where my coworkers put on the Happy Birthday CD and embarrassed me in all sorts of ways. I had a few good friends come to visit me at work too, which was so fun! Then right after work, John and I headed over to the hospital to say hello to Dustin and Amy and little LUKE! What a cute baby he is :) Congrats, you two!!! After the hospital I ran home to complete my cleaning check, which has fallen on my birthday two years in a row now! I only had about 20 minutes to do it all, so of course I failed, hahaha. Then we headed to Texas Roadhouse for a birthday dinner of sorts. We doubled with John's sister Emily, and her date, Brandon. The place was crooowwdddeeddd, but the food was definitely worth it! After that we packed up and headed to Bountiful where the Steagall family had a little birthday cake and whatnot for me. It turned out to be a pretty great day!
Saturday:
I went with three of John's sisters and one of their friends who is engaged, to the bridal show in Salt Lake. They are obsessed with this thing and they told me I HAD to go. The trip was mostly for their engaged friend, but it was fun to look at all the crazy fancy stuff and to eat all the yummy food! It was interesting for sure but very cool. After that we went back to the house. John, Emily, and I had planned to head back to Provo later that evening. However, the weather had different plans. It started snowing hard and fast, and in no time there were inches of snow on the ground and terrible roads. After driving around in it a little, we decided it would be best if we just stayed in Bountiful for the night. Since we had the rest of the day to do anything we wanted, we decided to make the most of it and play in the snow! Four of us rounded up some snow clothes and spent the rest of the evening sledding and building forts. I so wish we would've taken pictures, but one of our forts was pretty dang awesome. It took us forever and by the time we were finished, we could've slept overnight in the thing. The rest of the night we just sat around and recuperated from our "long" day.
Sunday:
Woke up, ate breakfast, went to church! After church and dinner and everything, we definitely didn't want to drive back to Provo and face real life for another week. But alas we finally left. On the way back, we stopped at Devrey and Chandler's place to say hi to them and Mom and Dad! It was so good to see them and to visit for a little while! Then we finally got back to Provo and hung out with my favorite roommates for the rest of the night. Good times!
All in all it was a pretty great weekend. I loved seeing my new nephew and Mom and Pops. And thank you to everyone else for the birthday wishes!! :)

Fun Weekend!

So this weekend turned out to be pretty packed with awesomeness. It was one of those weekends where I never once found myself sitting there thinking "I'm so bored, why is it the weekend and I have nothing to do??"
Since I don't have class on Fridays, my weekends usually start on Thursday. So Thursday night me and my roommates and a couple friends went to Denny's to celebrate my roommate Jane's birthday. Denny's at 1 a.m. never fails to be a good time.
Friday night Jayde and I went to Salt Lake to visit a friend of ours from Shelley. We met up with some of her friends and we all hung out and had a really good time. First we went to a pizza place in Salt Lake called The Pie. It was SO good. It was literally underground and extremely tasty.

Jayde, Jessica, and Me at The Pie

Huge pizza!!

After that we went bowling. I didn't win, but I didn't lose, so that to me is a success. :)

The group minus Jayde. I just met those people but they were decently cool.

After bowling the plan was to go look at the lights at Temple Square. But... were too late and it was closed. I was super bummed but that just means I have reason to go still! So instead we went up to Ensign Peak for a few minutes.

Jayde and I at Ensign Peak
(She's not that tall. She's cheating!)

After Ensign Peak we just drove around a little. We walked around the capitol building which was pretty beautiful. Eventually we headed home, it was a pretty fun night.
Saturday afternoon Tim Keesler picked me up and we met Kevin & Tiffany and Dustin & Amy for lunch at this amazing Spanish restaurant in Springville. Kevin recommended it - props to him because it was AMAZING. After that I went with Tiffany and Amy to help them get started on the cake they made for Amy's school project. Unfortunately I couldn't stay with them to help with the rest of it because I had to get home.
I had to get home because I had a date with one of my good friends to my favorite thing of all time: Divine Comedy!! It's a sketch comedy group at BYU that has shows every month or so. The shows always get sold out SUPER fast... like within a couple hours. So I was really excited to be able to go. Of course the show was hilarious and it was a really good date with roommates and friends. After that we hung out for a little while longer and then I made-like-a-baby-and-headed-out to West Jordan to spend the night at Devrey's.
Since Chandler was out of town, Devrey asked me to help her in the nursery on Sunday. It was really fun... the kids were insanely cute. Nothing like the 2nd Ward nursery though; there were only about 6 kids! But it was really fun and good to hang out with Devrey!
Sunday night my roommates and I had roommate pictures taken with the help of a photographer friend. I thought they turned out pretty good, even if the only place we could think to take them was inside the apartment because it was so dang cold outside!

The 6 of us

Jayde and I and The Christmas Blanket

Mustache'd!