A few resolutions...

 

Papertissue 

A lot of changes happened in 2010. I lost friends, but gained a few, and strengthened some old friendships, I moved out, I realized just how important my family is to me, cried a lot, but laughed a lot too, went on so many adventures, but sat at home bored sometimes too. I am actually pretty excited to see what happens this year. A little nervous too, but mostly excited. I actually made resolutions this time (I normally don't) and I am really looking forward to working on them.

So here are just a few of the ones I came up with:
-Run a 10 k.
-Eat healthier and more natural foods.
-Three A's winter semester. (ahhh scary).
-Choose a major. (Scarier).
-Move forward with my musical skills. (Learn guitar, keep practicing piano, perform, etc.)
-Spend much less time on the computer and more time reading, writing, etc.
-Focus more on serving other people and helping others be happy instead of being so focused on my own happiness.
-Actually use a planner for at least a couple of months. (I rarely even stick to it for 2 weeks but I need to be more organized).
-Go on more adventures, even if they're local. (Holi, concerts, hikes, etc.)

So yeah, those are just a few. And I know a lot of them aren't really measurable goals that I can just achieve and be done with, but I like it that way. I tend to get more excited about starting goals than finishing them so most of these are just ways I want to improve my life this year. That way I can keep working on them and hopefully just get better and better at living the way I want to.

So... that's the end.

2010 in a nutshell.

This is Stephanie's version of the year. I like it better than mine because she went into more detail. A lot of the things she mentions are things she did with Camille and I and I had forgotten them so I didn't mention them on my blog. 2010 was pretty awesome I must say.

Here's the link to her post.

Goodbye 2010.

The year is almost over and all in all I'd say it was a pretty good one. I am excited for 2011 though.
Here are some of my memories of 2010:
Holi Festival in March.

In April I went to my first Il Palio and Stephanie got her appendix out.

In May my cousin Sunnie came to visit for the first time in forever and Camille and Stephanie went on their first prom.

In June I turned 19, Stephanie adopted two cats, and my family and I went to Monterey and San Francisco.

In July my family participated in a 10 k run (walk for some of us), watched lots of fireworks, I went to Twilight Concert Series to see Beirut, and we discovered our favorite cupcake cafe.

Also in July my Aunt Karon and cousin Chris came to visit so we were able to see the extended family a lot which was fun.

And Tate, Stephanie, and I hiked to Escalante cross and watched the sunrise.

In August I went to a pretty fantastic birthday party, went on a girl's trip with my sisters and friends, and moved out.

In September Jamie and I went to Tyler's birthday party where he broke his head open.

In October I became a sub for a bowling league team, fell in love with Cafe Rio, went to church with dorky glasses on my face, and took pictures with some college friends.

In November I had a lovely Thanksgiving with my family and went to the midnight showing of Harry Potter 7 with my sister and friends.

In December Jamie and I had a dress up party at Claire's (in the mall) and I celebrated Christmas with my family, and I found out I actually passed my biology class. Yay!

The end.

Once upon a time...

I made a poster of Andrew Bird for a birthday present awhile ago. It's not amazing or anything but I stumbled on it today while I was bored at work and decided I wanted to post it on my blog. It's based on one of his songs that I really like so.. yep.

Christmas.

I love Christmas. And breaks from school. And being home. So, as you can probably imagine, I'm pretty happy with life at the moment even though I do still have to work. It has been a really good week though.

Every year for Christmas Eve all the Utah family members from my mom's side get together at my grandparents' house. We play ridiculous games, eat delicious food, open presents, and talk.

Then we celebrated Christmas day just as our own little family thing and it was really nice and relaxing. 

Also, I received this wonderful thing from my parents: http://www.apple.com/ipodnano/design.html and they even personalized it so on the back in tiny letters it says: "Allergic to washing machines." (referring to what happened to my last ipod). I love it! And the other gifts I got were fantastic too.

But really my favorite thing about Christmas is being able to hang out with my family so much. It sounds cheesy but it's true. So there.

Mall Adventures

 This is what happens when Jamie and I are bored...

College.

It's finals week. The semester is almost over and I am so excited. I just have to make it through the next two days first. My friend sent me this picture and I thought it sums up college pretty well. I think, in most cases anyway, adequate sleep is the first thing to go.

Anyway, time to get back to studying. Have a good week! 

Thanksgiving Break/Birthday Post

Thanksgiving Break:
We were lucky and had blizzard warnings so the university closed a day and a half early. I was so glad! I didn't have to go to work Wednesday or to my three hour class on Tuesday. Instead, I packed my bags and went to my Spanish Fork home on Tuesday.
Here are some highlights from the break:
-Saw Tangled with my sisters and mom. It was pretty good actually!
-Had a delicious Thanksgiving dinner and triple chocolate pecan pie.
-Went Black Friday shopping.
-Saw Inception for the second time with some friends.

And that's pretty much it. I don't want it to end though. But thankfully it's only like three weeks until Christmas break. Thank goodness.

And I know thankful lists are cheesy and perhaps you might be bored by mine but I am going to write one anyway.
I am thankful for:
-My mom--Her ability to make the best lasagna ever, how she listens to me when I really need a friend, and that she's just basically the best mom ever. Really.
-My dad--He's just so happy most of the time, or at least seems to be, it makes me happy too. He's the best dad ever.
-My sisters-- They're hilarious and I love them.
-Stephanie--Best friend anyone could ask for. (See birthday post below)
-Jamie--Best roommate ever and amazing friend. She goes through so much but is really strong.
-My church
-As much as it doesn't feel like it sometimes, I am grateful for school. I just can't wait for it to be over.
-Music
-Delicious food
-My house
-Summer
-Snow when it's falling and pretty.
-Rain
-Books
-Chocolate
-Sleep


Those are just a few but there you go.

Birthday Post:

Thursday was Thanksgiving day but also Stephanie's birthday. So here is my little tribute to her for her birthday. She is basically like a sister to me. She, Camille, and I had so much fun over the summer while she was living in Spanish Fork. One thing I really like about being friends with her is that she always inspires me to be better. Not in a condescending way or anything, just the way she tries so hard to be a good person and to be healthy and smart, etc. etc. Stephanie is one person I can have philosophical discussions with and she's really respectful of other people's opinions so it's easy to talk to her about anything even if she doesn't agree. Don't be fooled by her apparent shyness though, she can actually be very crazy and fun. A lot of the time even. She has excellent taste in music, is very talented at drawing, very pretty, smarter and wiser than you'd expect from someone her age (I'm lucky to know two exceptionally smart 17-year-olds). She is a really good friend because she's always there if someone needs her and she's really caring when it comes to other people. Even though Camille, Stephanie, and I are all living in different places now and don't see each other as much we manage to stay close friends and I am very grateful for that. A lot of friends don't stick with you for that long. SO HAPPY BIRTHDAY STEPHANIE!!!! I love you!! 

I am bored.This is a terribly long post. Just warning you.

Photo Credit

Thursday night was the night that I went to my first midnight movie at a theater. It was pretty eventful... I guess, well, at least once the waiting-in-line thing was over. After work, Camille came over and she, Jamie, and I got pizza and then Parker picked us up. While Camille and I were waiting in line (it took forever to find the end) we made a new friend. And then we three proceeded to have one of the most nerdy conversations (all about Harry Potter) that I've been involved in for awhile. I've certainly sat in on many recently though just none I was interested in... haha. And although I almost hate to admit it--I thoroughly enjoyed our Harry Potter discussion. Parker and Jamie found us and then we also ran into Jamie's sister, Sam, and a boy named Stewart. (He went to Walden with us for awhile). So they joined our group and we started playing card games which was pretty fun and it helped us sort of ignore how cold we were... But after two hours of that, we were allowed to go inside (thankfully) and we got pretty good seats! And the Scera is huge... it surprises me every time. So, we still had two hours to go but at least we were warm and a little more comfortable. But card games weren't really an option anymore because of the seats so Camille and I started listening to her iPod. Yeah... I listen to one earphone and she listens to the other. This wouldn't be the case if it weren't for the washing machine incident of '09, but my iPod is long gone. Sad, sad. Anyway, but we also were watching random videos on her phone, and found it was actually quite entertaining (this shows just how bored we were) to watch a video and then pick a song to go along. It was really really funny. Especially if the video had Stephanie in it and the music was dramatic... they just go together well? We laughed a lot, but it was probably one of those you-had-to-be-there-moments. So after about two hours of doing that, people started counting down for the show to start. It was very exciting...
The movie was good... I actually liked it a lot more than I thought I would. There were some parts that seemed kind of irrelevant? Like Harry and Hermione's little dance in the tent. I'm pretty sure Daniel Radcliffe doesn't know how ridiculous he looks when he dances.. or all the time. Camille and I were laughing through that whole part. And I was terribly sad when Dobby died. And now I want to watch all of the movies over again. I had forgotten how much I enjoyed them. 

I've almost made it to Thanksgiving Break! I am so excited. It feels like it's taken forever to come. And school has been too crazy. A break sounds kind of amazing.
Oh, yesterday Kristy brought home a bunch of Christmas decorations from her house so we put them up around the apartment. It was actually really fun! Even though Thanksgiving hasn't happened yet... Now we are all in a Christmas-y mood and we made paper snowflakes to hang on the ceiling and I love them. Haha, I love my roommates. I can't wait until we decorate at my real home though. I miss my family which is one reason I am so excited for Thanksgiving. Also, delicious food. Family and food, need I say more?

Okay I'm really done now.

You've had a birthday shout hooray...

 My mom and Aunt Karon this past summer.

Saturday was my mom's birthday! We celebrated it by going to the Carl Bloch exhibit at the BYU art museum. It was pretty much amazing... and then we went to the cheesecake factory which was delicious, of course. I'd never been there before but I definitely enjoyed it. I thought it was a pretty great day so I hope she liked it too.

My mom is one of the very most amazing people I know. I only wish I could be half as dedicated and motivated as she is. She's always trying to do better in her life in all areas no matter how great she is already doing. I really admire that and try to follow her example (it's really hard haha). She's witty, fun, intelligent, beautiful, and basically our family would be nothing without her. She does the best accents and we all still love when she reads books out loud to us even though we're all old enough to read on our own. She's always been good at story-telling and reading out loud. I'm really grateful for her efforts in helping our family to be as close as we are. She has taught me more than anyone else has and she definitely inspires me to be a better person... all of the time. I love my mom so much and I hope she knows that we all really really appreciate what she does for us even though it may not always seem that way.

Happy Birthday!!