Life As I Know It...

New blog!

2010-02-17T16:11:00.003-06:00

Alright, it was about time I got a new blog...a blog of my own! Click here for the new link. Please come see it!

It's October Already...!

2009-10-09T15:38:00.005-05:00

Alright, so I have to apologize for being one of the WORST bloggers ever. I can't believe it's been over 5 months since I last blogged. A lot has happened since my last entry. Europe, another summer of efy, and now I'm back at school tackling my Junior year. I guess the best thing I can do is give a little synopsis on each event and maybe throw in a picture or two. So, here we go:

Europe was amazing! Oh my goodness. I loved every second of that trip. I saw Rome, Florence, Pisa, Berlin, Wittenberg, Paris, London, some of the beautiful countryside of England, Copenhagen, and Sweden! All those places were packed into only 3 1/2 weeks...amazing! I think my favorite places that we went were Rome, Wittenberg, and London. Of course I loved them all, but those 3 places really impressed me.

The food was so good! The pizza in Rome was to die for and I will never have another slice of pizza that's as good. The gelato (ice cream) in Italy was amazing too...OH MY WORD! I can't even put into words how good it is. Just think of the best ice cream you've had and times it by 10. Yep, that's how good it was.

Efy this past summer was an unforgettable experience. I made some great new friends and grew a lot. I worked a total of 9 weeks and each week was full of different youth, different co-counselors, and a different experience. What an amazing program that not only the youth get to attend, but the counselors. We don't tell the youth this but efy is really efc (especially for counselors). If you think about it, a lot of what is taught during the week applies more to us (the counselors) than the youth. Of course it's things that the youth will deal with, but it's what we are going through right now as young adults. Very powerful stuff!

This summer another one of my Florida girls, Laura, got married to one of the sweetest guys ever, Michael! They had such a beautiful day. They were married in the Manti temple and then had a very cute reception in Laura's backyard. Now the rest of us need to get married...easier said than done!

School is going really well this semester. I am taking about 15 credits and I love each of my classes. My teachers are great and so easy to work with. I am planning on applying for the BFA (Bachelor of Fine Arts) in Graphic Design this November, so wish me luck! Hopefully I will be able to get it. One unfortunate thing is that it had already started snowing up here...it's the beginning of October!!! Yeah, I'm not sure I like Idaho anymore...haha

Well, that is the latest update from me! Until next time...

From Utah to Idaho...then Rome!

2009-04-23T22:17:00.005-05:00

Ok, life has been a tad bit crazy this last week. I flew home for a surprise visit (which went really well and my sisters were all shocked and had now idea. It was a must needed trip!), nannied Thursday morning, worked like a mad woman to finish my homework for my Europe trip, pack somewhat for my Europe trip, watch Heroes season 2, and pack my whole room up while trying to pack for my week and two-day stay in Rexburg. Man was I a stress case. It then didn't help that I woke up Sunday (the day I was leaving for Rexburg) feeling sick...so I was delayed leaving by like 3 hours.

I finally made it to Rexburg though Sunday night. My dear friend Ashley (roommate from Freshman year) and her roommates are being so kind to let me sleep on their couch and stay with them while I'm here. I am very grateful to them because I don't know where else I would've gone!

OFFICIAL COUNTDOWN: ONE WEEK FROM TODAY! I WILL BE ON A PLANE ABOUT TO LAND IN ROME BY THIS TIME NEXT WEEK!!!

Things have been going great here at BYU-Idaho where I have to attend my on-campus class in preparation for Europe. We started this past Monday and we go from 8-5 everyday. Now before you moan and say "oh I'm so sorry..." relax, it's not bad at all! We get a stretch break every hour and then a 20 min. break every 2 hours. Then we get an hour for lunch. It's actually not that bad and the teachers are all amazing and funny, which helps a lot!

I've already learned so much and I get more and more excited everyday to go! During the last hour and a half of class each day one of my teachers, Brother Sturm, goes over some of the places that we are going to and the art that we are going to see. The one I'm most excited for right now...The Sistine Chapel. What a breathtakingly beautiful place, and I've only seen pictures! The only bummer is we can't take pictures in the actual chapel :( but my teacher recommended buying a postcard instead. So that's what I'm going to do!

I can't believe I leave in a week!! I am getting so excited and I've met and gotten to know a couple of people pretty well. I think we have a great bunch of students and teachers going, which will make this experience that much sweeter.

I'm hoping I'll be able to blog before I leave, but seeing that my access to the blog site is limited that might be a bit of a challenge! So if I don't I will make sure to take LOTS of pictures and post them when I get back. Until then...Arrivederci!

p.s. For those that are wondering where all I'm going (if I didn't mention already in previous posts) here's the list: Italy - Rome, Florence, Cinque Terre; Germany - Berlin, Wittenberg; France - Paris; England - Liverpool, Preston (visit Preston Temple, River Ribble Valley, Castle Frome, Cheltenham, Gadfield Elm, Oxford University, London; Denmark - Copenhagen (visit Copenhagen Temple).

Florida Girls Sleepover and Some Conference

2009-04-07T12:26:00.007-05:00

I had by far one of the BEST weekends I've had in a long time. All the Florida girls got together and had a big sleepover at Kate and Peter's house. Thank you Pete for putting up with us all night long! It was so fun to be together. It's been forever since we have ALL been able to get together and just catch up. The next morning we got up a few hours before general conference and made a wonderful breakfast and all those that had boyfriends or boys that were friends invited them over and we all ate breakfast. Then we settled down for the first session of general conference.

Our delicious breakfast :)

What an amazing General Conference we had. I was touched my many of the talks given. Some of my favorites were Elder Robert D. Hales (Living Within Your Means), President Henry B. Eyring (Dealing with Adversity), Elder Richard G. Scott (Temples), Elder Jeffrey R. Holland (Not Being Alone), Elder Dallin H. Oaks (Selfless Service), Elder Gary E. Stevensen (Making Our Homes Like the Temples), and of course President Thomas S. Monson (Being More Determined).

What amazing words of reassurance these men told to help us through these troubling times. I was very blessed to attend the Sunday Afternoon session with my roommate Aly. We were able to sit only 15 rows away from the front. I could feel the warmth of the men on the stand clear out where I was sitting. President Dieter F. Uchtdorf was sitting straight in front of me and I'd like to think we made eye contact a few times. What a powerful feeling filled that conference center as President Thomas S. Monson spoke to us. I love General Conference and how every time I listen to the words spoken it makes me want to be a better person. It's time I put that into action and do my best to become better each and every day!

More Photoshop Fun

2009-04-07T12:15:00.003-05:00

I was helping my friend Chelsie this past weekend with a photography project she had to do. She needed to take portrait shots but needed someone to take them. So I decided to bring my own camera and take some pictures too! Here are the best ones that I got touched up in Photoshop. Enjoy!

Photoshop fun

2009-03-09T20:45:00.004-05:00

I was bored tonight and thought I would play around with some pictures I took while in Arizona. These are just a few of my favorites of little Sophie, which is Aly's little niece who is ADORABLE!

12 hour drive, a wedding and a basketball game

2009-02-26T13:33:00.001-06:00

Well this last week was a fun one! My roommates Aly, Amber and I all drove to Arizona for an old roommates (of Amber and Aly) wedding and we decided to make a vacation out of it! We left last wednesday and drove the whole 11 hours down to Maricopa. The drive was good/eventful. We stopped in Page, AZ (I just had to stop in my town!) and grabbed some dinner. Well, apparently my town likes to give people food poisoning. Poor Aly got sick for the rest of the drive that night. Too bad her car was a stick, which I don't know how to drive, so I couldn't take over for her.

Thursday was fun. We got to sit and relax most of the day and got to play with the new little baby Aly's sister just had! She's SO tiny and cute. Friday morning was the wedding. We had to get up at 5 am to go and do the bride's hair. Man were we tired...we did get to catch a few Z's right outside of the Mesa Temple while we waited for Jennie to come out. That helped out a lot. That night we got to go the Phoenix Suns basketball game thanks to Aly's brother-in-law. He gave us tickets that he got through work, 19th row!! It was one of the best games I've been to in a LONG time. This was the first time I have seen both Shaq and Nash play in real life. What a night! After the game we got to stand next to replicas of the players. This is me compared to Shaq:

Aly and I at the game in our Suns t-shirts!

On Saturday we left and decided to drive the Vegas route home which took us through the Hoover Dam. What a cool site to see! I've never seen the Hoover Dam so I made Aly pull off so that I could take pictures. Totally worth it!

Sunday we were able to make it to our good friend Katie Barber's mission farewell. She did she a good job - Aly and I were crying by the closing song! She is going to serve her mission in the Dallas, Texas area. She'll most likely meet my good friend Bart who's in the Houston, Texas mission. We will miss her, but she's going to be one amazing missionary and I am very proud of her!

Me, Katie, and Aly

That night I made it home in time for my aunt Lori's Oscar party! What a blast this was. I have never been able to make it to one of these fabulous affairs. Lori had the house all decked out, ballots printed up, and treats spread out. We had quiet the night! Here are some pictures:

After the Oscar's ended we were to tally up all the guess that we got right. Lisa of course won with a whopping 14 guess right. We think she's got some inner Oscar connection. Lori awarded her with her very own Oscar.

What a great week full of warm weather, weddings, and tiny gold men!

Update...

2009-02-13T13:40:00.003-06:00

Well...things have been quiet interesting since I last wrote. My roommate was to be evicted, but then plans changed on the day she was supposed to be out. I guess the apartment office has to give her a verbal warning before she can be kicked out (crap...). So part of me is really hoping that she can get her act together and be good, but the other half is just waiting for her to screw up again. I feel horrible saying that but when she states that she "hates rules, hates obeying rules, and will do what she wants", my confidence in her becomes very low. Let's just hope things change. So far they have. I've only seen the guy once, but they were hanging out talking to my roommate Aly, and then he left. Hopefully this is a good sign.

On another note - Chelsie and I went to our friend Kate's house to get a facial by Nu Skin's newest product - The Galvanic Spa.

I LOVED this little baby. My face felt amazing after doing it. I was thinking about becoming a rep for Nu Skin and telling everyone about this new little invention, but timing isn't right for me, even though they are saying it's perfect timing to become a rep. Someday maybe, but not today. I do however plan on purchasing one of these because I am still amazed at what it can do! If you want more info click here.

Everyday is getting more and more boring here in Utah. I am running out of things to do to pass the time. I have been reading a lot. I am also taking an English class online through BYU-Idaho, which is going pretty well. I'm ready for it to be over though! I am not a very big fan of English even though I love reading. I also have to read a bunch for my Europe study abroad trip. So I guess I have that to do, but still...I can only stand reading for so long!

As far as this Valentine's weekend goes, I am going to be spending it with my friend Mike. We were supposed to have a big group all get together, but everyone decided to ditch us and all go away for the weekend. Thanks guys! Haha. No, I wish I could've gone away this weekend. I came very close to. There's some of my Florida girls that left for California today for one of their roommate's weddings. I was going to go, but there was no room left in their car and I didn't want to drive my own car down. Oh well, I do get to go to Arizona next week for about 5 days, so I am looking forward to that!

Happy Valentine's to everyone

Venting For Just a Moment...

2009-02-04T13:28:00.003-06:00

Ok, so I feel that I can vent on here because no one that I don't want to see it can. So as many of you know, I am living in Orem for the winter while I am on my semester break from BYU-I. I am rooming with a really good friend of mine from EFY, Aly, and we've been having a BLAST since I moved in. Well, we have this roommate, I'll call her Katie*. Katie likes to bring home guys to hang out with often. Now I have no problem with her hanging out with guys because we all do. My problem comes when I want to go to sleep and I am bothered by well, let's just say I've been through some interesting experiences that I never thought I would have to experience, but that requires me to wear my headphones to bed. Yep, lucky me. Now, I am not one to tell Katie what she should and shouldn't do with her life, but when it effects me to the point of not being able to do my normal routines in the mornings because I'm afraid of being walked in on, or bumping into a guy, then it's an issue.

I have no idea what to do. My other roommates and I have talked about because all of us are uncomfortable with guys spending the night in her room all the time. One of my roommates said that she would talk to Katie, but has't yet seeing that there was a guy that spent the night last night and he's still here. I know it's past noon, but it still makes me uncomfortable. I shouldn't be uncomfortable in my own apartment. That's just not how it's supposed to work. I hate that I have 2 1/2 months still to go and the feeling that this is going to go on the whole rest of the time that I am here.

WHAT DO I DO!?!?!

Yes some would just tell me to "talk to her, I'm sure she'd understand..." No I can't talk to her. We don't really get along. I don't mean that we fight and stuff, we have just never talked like roommates talk. We both have every different lifestyles and standards and so it sets us on two different levels of life, if that makes sense? Overall, I just worry that if we were to confront Katie about this issue, it would cause more issues, and nobody wants or needs that in their apartment.

Katie is also a very delicate person. She suffers from depression - not sure how severe - and it causes her to sit in her room either sleeping through the day, or watching A LOT of TV. She should be at hair school and I think she's gone like 4 times in the last month. I worry about her I do. I wish I could help her, but all I know how to do is show her kindness and that she is cared for.

So, basically I am in a very interesting situation that I can't handle anymore...then again it's just life as I know it!

A New Look, A New Town, A New Year...

2009-01-26T17:21:00.007-06:00

Alright, I thought that it was high time that I update this thing. It has been over a month since I have written (almost 2 I hate to admit), and everyone has been bugging me to give an update on life.

So, for starters a new look - I decided that since both my younger sisters have their own blogs and neither of my parents get on here to post anything, that I would take over and make this my own blog. Even though the URL is staying the same, I have changed the title and will post things pertaining to my life - not that I wasn't doing that already! So here is to the new start to what I hope will be a fun adventure.

A New Town- Well, for those that don't already know, I am living in Orem, Utah for the winter months. I drove down here right after I finished my finals up at BYU-Idaho and moved in with my good friend Aly from efy. There's six of us girls total. For the first little while Aly and I had our own bathroom because the other girl that shares with us was living at home and wouldn't be back until early January. Aly and I went to town decorating our room and bathroom. I had the privilege of introducing Aly to Ikea. She had never been there before (I KNOW) and so I told her that we just had to go. We had lots of luck finding pictures and rugs and some other goodies. My other roommates and I are getting along great. Everyone has crazy busy schedules though so it's a bit though to all be together at the same time. It's been a lot of fun being down here in Orem where most of my friends are. It sure beats driving 4 hours to see them all the time! Here are a few pictures of my new apartment decorated during Christmas:

A New Year - Well, you would think that with a new year comes a fresh new start to everything and in most cases good luck, but as for me that has not happened yet. I failed to mention earlier that the reason I came to Utah for the winter was for a job with a design company that was hired by Novell to work on presentations for a big conference they hold in March. I started working there the Monday right after getting here, and then by Wednesday my friend Sarah and I were let go. Why you may ask? Well, thanks to the economy this conference that we were hired for got canceled and so that put me, Sarah, and 3 other people out of a job. It still makes me sick to think about because this job was perfect! So easy and I got paid GREAT money. So I started searching for a job before I left to fly back to Minnesota for Christmas. I searched and applied to a bunch of places all through my break, but unfortunately had no luck. I came back to Utah went through a bunch of interviews, got a job but then quit due to some things that I would have to design that I wasn't comfortable with, and still had no luck. Now it's almost a month later and I am still unemployed , and running out of money. I have rent and bills to pay and don't even get me started on food. It's been a really hard trial that I've faced and at this point I still don't see the light at the end of the tunnel. I know that I am supposed to learn something from this, but I just don't know what that thing is yet. I have decided though that during this non-employed time of my life I am going to take the time to read all the books I want to read and do some personal growth. I figure that's better than sitting around and doing nothing, right?

Although it seems that my year has started out in a bit of a slump, I do have to say that some good things have happened. I got accepted to go study abroad in Europe through school! I can't even put into words the excitement that I'm filled with. It will take up the first half of the summer semester which is April-May. I get to study the religious history in Paris, London, Rome, Florence, Copenhagen, Pisa, Berlin, Wittenburg, Preston, and Liverpool. Now I'm just hoping and praying that my student loan will come through so that I will be able to go for real. Since I don't have a job I don't really have the funds to go. Cross fingers for me that I will be able to!
I also had my interview for efy counselor. I am hoping to be able to do it again this summer. I really loved my experience and have actually been missing it a lot lately. You don't realize how much those kids touch you until months after. I'll keep you posted as soon as I hear anything back. It will be a while though so don't get too excited yet.
Last night the Florida Girls all got together FINALLY. It took a month of planning until we were able to all work something out. We all drove out to Chelsie's parents house in Riverton and did a taco salad type dinner, which was so good. Elyse and Laura both have their birthdays this month and so Kate, being Miss. Homemaker, baked a wonderful cake for us to celebrate those two turning 21. It was so fun to all be together again. This is the first time all of us girls have been living in the same place in 2 years! It's been a blessing to have those girls so close. They are some of the ones that I would make the 4 hour drive to see though! After the food festivities we watched the year in review movie that I have made the past 2 years. This one was especially fun to watch since we were able to do it in the theater room. So fun! Here is a picture of us all:

Well, that's my life so far. It's still busy as can be even without a job. That's life as I know it!

Utah and Turkey

2008-12-01T00:35:00.006-06:00

Well I am back from a WONDERFUL week in Utah. I drove down on Friday the 21st to Provo. I got to see one of my Florida girls perform her little heart out in this show at BYU called Houseboat Honeymoon. She did such a good job!! I am proud of you Kelly! After the show I went out with Kelly, her boyfriend Cam and our other friend Jeff. We went and ate at Friday's and just had fun talking and laughing. Oh how I missed that!

Me Kelly and Chels after Kelly's show

Saturday I hung out with Calvin, who I love!! He is a guy that I know from efy this past summer and we have been close ever since. We went out to lunch and then later on watched the BYU vs. Utah football game, which I don't want to talk about...

The rest of the weekend I spent with friends in Provo. On Tuesday I drove to Salt Lake to my grandparents where I was with them and other family on Thanksgiving. Wednesday we got to go to the Good Things Utah show and that was so fun! I've never been to a live taping of a show before and so it was a really fun experience. I also got to see my cousins baby for the first time!! He is so cute and tiny :)

Oh Black Friday I decided to sleep in. All the girls went and saw Twilight thanks to Natalie for getting the tickets. Boy did I love it!! It was so good. It made me really excited for the movies to come out of that series. We did go to Target afterwards and I was able to get a few movies that were on sale so that was my Black Friday shopping right there.

The rest of the week consisted of watching tv with my grandmother and getting my hair colored. That brings me to my next curiosity. I would love to learn how to do hair. I think it would be such a good thing to know how to do. I have NO idea we=hen I would have time to take classes, but I really would love to learn how to do it.

I am now back in Idaho and I have only 2 weeks left of the semester. I am so ready for classes to be over, but at the same time there's always a part of me that is going to miss it. I am still waiting to hear back from a job that I applied for in Provo for the winter. I am really excited to live in Provo where all my friends are! I hate being so far away from all of them. So hopefully everything works out. Keep your fingers crossed for me!

CHRISTMAS COUNTDOWN - 24 days!

A trip to the Falls

2008-11-15T23:33:00.005-06:00

I took a drive today up to Mesa Falls. I have been wanting to go up there and take pictures all semester and I finally buckled down and went today. It was such a beautiful day!! Sightly warm and sunny. It took me about 40 minutes to get up there but it was totally worth it. I am kicking myself for not going sooner because all the beautiful fall foliage is gone now. Here are some of my favorite shots from today.

Prop 8 Has Passed!

2008-11-05T16:42:00.004-06:00

I wont write much, but I am grateful that the one thing that mattered to me the most during this whole election process was Proposition 8 being passed. Today the news was spread that it was passed! The family is once again safe. Thank you to all who voted yes to protect that which is so sacred.

Time for Change

2008-11-04T22:42:00.002-06:00

Well it's done. The elections are over. Barack Obama is the new President of the United States. I am very curious to see what is going to happen now in these next 4 years to come. I had a hard time really getting into politics this year and I know some of you are probably wondering why on earth not since this was one of the BIGGEST political battles ever, but I just never did. I have been so wishy washy in trying to decide who to vote for. I know that Obama has promised to make some changes that I hope he will follow through with and wasn't just saying so that he would get elected. Now that he's in I'm counting on him to make this nation a better one.

I believe that our nation needs a change and that we need someone who can step in and know what it is that needs to be done. I think with the way that things have been going these past few months, even years, we need some new fresh eyes to see what our nation needs and get us there.

The only thing that I care about really in this election is that California passes on Proposition 8 and that the family is kept how it should be. Family is something that is very important to me and it is very important to our church. I just hope and pray that the hearts of the people of California will be opened and that they will realize how important the family is as it should be, and it will be a great test for our nation to see where we stand on this issue.

Halloween and a party

2008-11-03T12:14:00.006-06:00

Well it was that time again for the annual Halloween party at Lisa's. This years theme was Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and boy was it fun! Everyone was dressed up as a character from the new Charlie movie. I was kind of a mix between both new and old.

Lisa was Willy Wonka of course, Lindy was Augustus Gloop, Stryder was an Oompa Loompa, Mamo was a Wonka Chocolate Bar, Oo-hoo was Grandpa Joe, Matthew was Charlie, Ashley was Mrs. Beauregarde, Lori was Mrs. Gloop, Kelsey was Violet Beauregarde, Marcus was Mike TV, McKayden was an Oopma Loompa, and I was Veruca Salt. So we had the whole cast there!

We had yummy Taco Soup and other scary treats! What a great night to all be together. Here are some pictures from the night:

The group minus me since I'm taking the picture

Augustas Gloop and his Mother

Willy and one of his Oompa Loompas

Willy Wonka and all the chlidren

On another note that has nothing to do with Halloween, I FINALLY finished Breaking Dawn! It took me almost 5 months thanks to school to finish it but I thought it was a pretty good book. I wont go into detail of what happened since some may not have read it and I don't want to ruin anything, but I thought it was a good ending. There's more I'd like to see expanded and find out how it happens, but I'm pleased with how it all ended. Now I need to go and read the first 12 chapters that's online of the Midnight Sun or whatever that book is called that's all in Edward's perspective.

There's only a month and like two weeks left of school and I am so ready to be done! I have loved this semester though and the new friends I have made and the classes I've taken. Is it Thanksgiving yet because I'm ready for that break!

Halloween Costume

2008-10-29T17:52:00.001-05:00

For all those that are wondering what I am in the pictures below I am Verua Salt from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. I was helping my friend Kate with the food and I had to take off my fur jacket. Sorry I forgot to mention that in the post below!

Halloween at the Lowe's

2008-10-26T16:16:00.008-05:00

My friend Kate from Disney and her husband Peter hosted a Halloween party at their house this past weekend. It was the first time in like a year I think that ALL of us Florida girls were together. What a fun night! Kate made an amazing tortilla soup, apples and carmel, pumpkin chocolate chip cookies, and other goodies that we could not stop eating the whole night! It was so fun to see everyone, even some people I haven't seen in years! I love it when I am able to get together with these girls because I feel that everything that's going wrong in life or in the world disappears. That's what I truly believe best friends are. These girls are my best friends and love them! Here are some pictures from the night:

Some of the Florida girls

Yummy food

Kelly in by far the most amazing costume of all time!

Cooper, Kate and Peter's adorable dog

Sarah making a funny face!

Ling (Kelly) and Ping (Me) reunited once again...all is good in the world.

All the Florida girls plus two extras!

A Craigslist Find

2008-10-23T15:49:00.004-05:00

So my friend Kelly an I are looking for and apartment for this upcoming winter semester (Dec-April) and we decided to look on the wonderful world of Craigslist. Kelly stumbled upon this posting by a UVU student:

SEEKING FEMALE ROOMATE 20-28 (FREE ROOM) (PROVO)

Reply to: briggs000@gmail.com [?]
Date: 2008-10-21, 8:45AM MDT

I realize this may be an odd posting, however, it is legit. I am a 25 yr. old male UVSC Stident seeking a female roomate. My sister is moving out of our 3 month old townhoome that my dad owns, so there will be an open room until the end of next summer. I don't want to sound like a jerk, but I am a good-looking and super-clean guy, so I would expect the same in return. I will let you live here for free. Send a picture and let me know a little about yourself please.

My name is Briggs and I would prefer that you be open to the idea of an occasional cuddle or make-out (kidding, well kind of, my attempt to be funny) but not a necessity.

We thought it was kinda funny and we got a kick out of it!

Guitars Unplugged

2008-10-22T01:18:00.001-05:00

I've been working on this show here at BYU-Idaho for the last month called Guitars Unplugged. It's one of the biggest shows during the semester. It was a lot of fun, but very stressful to pull together. I was over all publicity. This past weekend we had the three shows - Thursday and Friday were all the acts that the audience then voted on to be in Saturday's Best Of show. Saturday was the big huge production! Boy was that an amazing show! Here are some shots I took on Thursday and Friday night of the performers.

BYU-Idaho Fall 2008

2008-10-03T00:14:00.011-05:00

Ok, I am so sorry that it has taken me forever to do a new post about school. It's already been a month and I have nothing up yet. So things have been going really, really well. I really lucked out with roommates. They are all adorable and we all get a long really well. There's Emily, Kelly, Jessica, Holly and Sabrina. I got two of them hooked on Grey's Anatomy. Sabrina watched seasons 1-3 in the first 2 weeks of school! She's now a die hard fan like I am :)

I also lucked out with a good ward and an FHE group. My ward consists of a lot of young boys...the pre-missionaries, but there are also so return missionaries. We got a group full of RM's that are awesome and a lot of fun! I am really looking forward to getting to know them better over the semester. Classes are going really well. I am actually doing exceptionally well in all my classes which is interesting since this is the semester I decided to get the most involved in. Here are some pictures of my room:

My graphic design and photography classes are keeping me busy but I am loving them! My favorite class by far though outside of my major is Teachings of the Living Prophets. I am taking it by an amazing teacher that really makes learning about the living prophets interesting. He also has a very good sense of humor so that makes going to class a lot of fun! Another way to prove how much I love this class...I got my first A grade in the testing center on his test. Haha. Yes I am a second semester sophomore and have yet to have received an A on any tests in the testing center.

Like I said earlier I got myself really involved this semester in things on campus. I am doing Talent Board and I am an Assistant Manager over publicity for the biggest show on campus, Guitars Unplugged. I've made signs, flyers and the t-shirts for this event. It was challenging at first but it really came through and a lot of people really liked what I was able to come up with. Here is the poster I designed. (p.s. the background is supposed to be a royal blue. No idea why it's orange?)

I also joined what's called Photographics Society. It's a group that studies photography and teaches cool tricks that you can do with your photos in Photoshop. I've only been to two meetings but I have already learned a lot and I am excited to start taking pictures. Another cool thing about this group is you enter in photos that you have taken and you have a chance to win money and other cool prizes. So they hold about 3-4 contests over the summer. It's really fun!

I have also been having a lot of fun down in Utah with my fellow efy friends. I am going down again this weekend for General Conference which I am very excited for! Overall this semester has been really good. I can't wait to see what the rest of the semester will bring!
The efy girls
The efy gang

Temple Picture

2008-09-22T00:33:00.004-05:00

A couple of days ago I found this website that has pictures of the temples all across the world and I submitted one to be added and I went and looked and my picture was there! Click here to see it

Thought this was exciting!

Beach Fun

2008-09-12T20:19:00.003-05:00

Ok, I know that I am WAY behind on this post but I wanted to post some pictures from the fabulous beach trip this year!! I was finally able to go to the beach this year. It's been 2 years since I've been able to do and honestly that made me really sad. Everyone is growing up and getting married and having babies and here I am missing out on it all because I have to get my education...haha I know I'm being a baby but I love the beach! This year I was able to finally have my camera that I've been dreaming to have there and I was able to get some really amazing shots. Here are some of my favorites that I think capture every moment that was shared at the beach this year. (It was so hard to just round it down to these few!!)

We encountered quiet the surprise when we got to the beach house our first day. Some one left the fridge and freezer stocked for us...haha

I wanted a night shot and this was the best one of all the ones I took. The youngens were getting restless posing for me.

i LOVE this one! It's overexposed but it turned out so cool. And it's adorable!

I wanted to make it a goal of mine to get good pictures of my sisters on their own. I really like what I was able to get :)

Maren

Dayna

Shelby

Sufer Dude! I took some pictures of Ryan catchin some waves.

This was so cute! Ben was testing the ocean for the first time. This was my favorite picture out of the ones that I got.

Bucket Head- Andrew gave us all a run for our money when he took this bucket, placed it on his head, and ran around the beach all day!

Andrew really wanted me to take a picture of him and this one turned out pretty funny!

Another adorable one

We were making McKayden laugh and I got some really cute ones!! This one just makes me laugh every time I look at it!

Blake thought it would be fun to drink the shower water...heavy on the sand.

This ends the beach pictures...thought this was appropriate.

The Great Get Together aka The Minnesota State Fair

2008-08-30T12:47:00.004-05:00

It's that time once agian here in Minnesota for one of the biggest get togethers, The State Fair! What a day full of stuffing your faces with deep fried goodness. The fair has just about anything and everything you could want...on a stick. For example there's pork chops on a stick, cheese on a stick, deep fried candy bars - on a stick, and so much more!

The hot thing this year to try was chocolate covered bacon. Maren and I were brave enough to try this new food invention. It was very interesting. Looking back at it makes me want to puke! It was chocolatey yet the bacon taste was over powering and not that good afterwards.

The best things there in my opinion are the gyro's! I love them!! Here are a few pictures from our day.

Dayna enjoying a snow cone

Maren proving she'stronger than any Army guy...ok maybe just her family!

Enjoying the best part of the fair - the corn!

We found some piggy love! I thought it was cute.

Something New

2008-08-28T18:25:00.004-05:00

Ok, I know I already had a blog title with the words "something new" but I realized I didn't go into depth about what this "something new" was exactly. First, before I get into that I'll fill ya in on what the rest of the summer was like for the Aase family.

Maren started drivers ed! SCARY!! Watch out everyone. If you're driving on ther road and see either a blue Chrysler van or a green Jeep going out of control, it's Maren learning to drive. It's crazy to think that I have a sister old enough to be doing this. It's about time though. With all the driving my mom has been doing for her with gymnastics and school and appointments, she deserves a break!

Shelby has been busy as usual although none of us know with what exactly...she's kept to herself in her room here and there listening to her music and spending time on the computer.

Dayna has been getting ready to get baptized! She was so excited that this year was her 8th birthday not only because she was turning 8 and the things that take place when you hit that age, but she finally got an American Girl Doll of her very own! She's got Mia and has been loving every minute with her. Dayna is getting baptized this weekend and so we have both sets of grandparents here to celebrate with us for this special occasion.

As for me...well quiet a bit has happened with the close of this summer. I came back from Utah and EFY and was able to enjoy a week home with the family, relaxing by the pool and watching the Olympics before I left to head to Disneyland with a group of about 80 EFY counselors. It was quiet the group! I left last week Monday and met up with friends and drove to Vegas that night. What an experience that was...it was the yearly Pool convention in Vegas and almost every hotel was either booked or cost way more than any of us wanted to pay. So we finally lucked out and we were able to stay at Circus Circus. Kind of scary but at that time it didn't matter! Finally Tuesday we got to the beautiful California (this made it the 3rd time this summer!) and since we'd left before any of the other EFY people we spent the whole day at Hunington Beach. It was SO beautiful. Of course the water was FREEZING and the boys were mean and threw us in. In the end though it was a great day. Very relaxing after a long car trip.
I spent the week with about 9 other counselors. So the 10 of us jumped from park to park each day (Disneyland to California Adventures). We had such a blast going on Space Mountain and California Screamin and the new Toy Story ride (awesome!!), but our favorite thing to do was go on Splash Mountain at the very end of the day and see how wet all of us could get. The boys in one log and the girls in a nother. Of course the boys would always win but it was still worth it.
The best day though that we all had was our last day in the parks, which was Friday. We decided to dress up like pirates and princesses and just go crazy the whole day. Note: going crazy at Disney while being dressed up wins you great rewards!

Let me explain...it was early afternoon and we wanted to go on the Storybook ride. The 10 of us were able to fill up a whole entire boat and just decided to have as much fun as possible. When we got off the ride we were approached by a Disney worker that asked if we would like to be her honorary guests for the parade. Of course we all did!! This meant that we got prime seating for the parade and that the characters would stop when they got to us and greet us and give us hugs. It was one of the most amazing experiences I have ever been through at Disney! There was one point in the parade where it had stopped for about 10 mintues or so. There was music playing and being the counselors that we were we decided to break out into one of our many EFY line dances. Everyone was watching us and cheering us on it was so cool! Here is Cinderella-my favorite-showing us some love from her float!!

We were so crazy that throughout the rest of the day workers as well as park goers recognized us and reffered to us as the Pirates and Princesses! After the parade we were given the ultimate Fast Passes where we could choose whatever ride we wanted and go whatever time that day. By the end of the night we had received a total of 8 Fast Passes, each one valid for 6 people. It was awesome! I was so glad that I was able to go on this trip becuase it will be one of the best memories I will have.

Yesterday I celebrated my 20th birthday. Yay! No longer a teenager even though I haven't felt like one in forever. But the family all went out to Don Pablo's for dinner and being a mexican place I was given quiet the birthday treat!

A close to an amazing summer and the start of something new...

2008-08-12T22:14:00.005-05:00

What an amazing summer I was so blessed to have had! Efy was amazing and the last three weeks were so fun-besides dealing with some punk kids, eating disorders, and being hit on by 16 year olds. I feel like I was able to change in multiple ways from all of these experiences and I am sad to see it end. I am wanting to do it next year for sure though!
The past 3 weeks I had the older groups (16-18 yr olds) and I love having this group because they are more willing to do things and also more energetic, which can be bad in many ways...but these kids were all really fun! 2 of the 3 weeks I was able to have kids from London which was really fun! Their accents were so cool. It was fun talking to the London boys that I had. They reminded me of Harry Potter and it made me happy haha. I don't have any of those pictures with me yet because I put them on my computer in Utah to clear them off my camera. I do have some pictures from efy that are of me and some of the counselors I got really close with. Here are some of those:

This is the group that I got really close with (minus the guy with brown hair in the back with the striped tie) doing our secret coship sign. We were known as the Angel Kitties...long story haha.

These are two of the girls that I got really close with, Michelle and Hayley.

Myles and I having fun at checkin duty!

My two Minnesota boys Sean Robison and Stewart Perry!! It was fun running into them all week and feeling like I had a little bit of home there with me.

So I am now home for about a week and then I am going to be leaving to go with about 100 efy counselors to Disneyland. I am very excited but not so excited about making the drive for the 4th time in 2 months...it tends to get VERY long. But I have a good car load of people so it should be fun! But I am just excited to enjoy my time home swimming with my sisters and reading Breaking Dawn!

California and another round of EFY!

2008-07-08T20:50:00.004-05:00

Well I have yet another week of efy under my belt. Before I get to that I do want to fill you all in on my trip to California just a few weeks ago.
So I went with some of my Florida girlfriends- Sarah, Laura, Chelise and Chelise's family. We were caravaning down with them and partyin it up at Disneyland with them as well. Saturday I met up with Chelise's family since the other girls were already in St. George for a wedding. So we got to St. George and we ran into some car troubles. Poor Laura and her car. She just took it in that day to get the muffler changed and now she was needing to get the alternator changed. Chelise's dad said we wouldn't have even been able to drive 30 min before the car would die on us. So frustrated that our trip was already being runined we decided that we had to get it fixed and that this was only a minor bump in the road. So Laura and Sarah stayed behind while I continued on to Vegas with Chelise's family. We were sad that we had to leave the other 2 behind but knew that they would catch up with us soon.
So to make a long story short the girls got the car fixed and met us in Anaheim. Monday we went to Disneyland and oh my heck it was SOOO hot! We were just dying and the lines were long and it was just a long day, but oh so much fun! It was so good to be back in Disney with some of the very girls I started there with (even though that was DisneyWolrd where we started...). Tuesday we toured Hollywood which was so fun and went to Malibu beach. Wednesday we went back to Disney and it was a much better day. That night we drove down to my aunt Lani's in San Deigo to spend the rest of our trip. Thursday we practically fried at the beach but definitely got color-mission accomplished! Friday morning we left to head back to Utah. What a LONG day that was...but it was good to spend some time with those girls. We all have so much fun! Here are some pictures from that trip:

Alright now onto my week of efy...what a week it was! It was by probably the most challenging week I have had so far. It was the biggest session of efy. 1,301 participants and 130 counselors! Lots, and lots of people I'm tellin ya! I had 10 girls so not my biggest group. There were only 3 of us counselors, so we were one of the smaller companies that week. My co's were Laura and Grant. Very fun people. I loved working with them! They were definitely my support system this past week. What was my challenge you ask? Well I was given 2 girls who I will leave unnamed. These 2 were cousins and let's just say they did not like to listen to me at all. They would not follow my directions, they would ask inappropriate questions to everyone, and they wouldn't be quiet during our nightly devotionals. My faith was tried many times during the week. It was very hard to have the desire to be there when these 2 made me feel so inadequet and like I shouldn't be there, but I kept pressing on and just concentrated on my other girls while my 2 co's talked to those 2 girls.
As the week went on things did not improve with these girls and as counselors we were concerned for not only them but our other youth as well. I did on the other hand have a very good time with 4 of my other participants. I was able to connect really well with 2 girls and 2 guys. Having the older group (16-18) I found it very easy to connect with them since I am not that much older than them. So I was grateful that I could at least have that.
Friday as we all know was the 4th of July, one of my favorite holidays! I got all decked out with blue star earrings and our blue counselor shirts and my red, white, and blue mickey bracelet! It was a very fun day! On friday nights we have our big banquet and dance. What the youth didn't know was we were suprizing them with the fireworks right after! It was the perfect way to end the week if I do say so myself!
One of my favorite things we did that day though was my engagement! Haha. My co Grant has always wanted to fake propose to one of his girl co's. So we made this big plan for that night when we were taking our group pictures. After we took our picture Grant had all the youth sit down for a big announcement. So they sat and grant began to tell them about our counselor training and how he'd met a girl and then he said my name. All of the youth were in shock and saying "No way!" and "What!!" It was so funny (and hard) to watch them and not start busting out in laughter. So Grant goes on to tell them that we've been dating for 3 months and that we didn't want to tell them because we're not here at efy for that. So then he turns to me and says he has a surprise for me. All of our youth start gasping and going "oh my gosh!" and I'm seeing cameras getting taken out. Grant then says how much he loves me, pulls out a ring, and gets down on one knee. I was so shocked at how well both him and I were pulling this off. Our hands were shaking and I was doing the whole hand to my mouth action. It was great. So he asks me to marry him, I say yes and everyone is cheering. He then stands up and we're holding each others hands and looking into each others eyes and then we both turn to our youth and yell "HAAA!!! Just kidding!!!" 2 of the girls just book it after Grant and start chasing him down this field. It was great! We were laughing so hard I loved it!! Here are some pictures from this past week as well as a little video clip of the proposal!

Ok I'm having trouble with the video...so hopefully I can get that posted soon because it is FUNNY!! Take luck everyone :)

Yay for EFY!!

2008-06-29T16:02:00.005-05:00

Ok I'm sorry family (Kristi and Laura) that I have not updated anyone in forever but life has been so crazy!! Efy is going GREAT! I am loving every minute of it. Everyday is jam packed with activites for the youth and I had no idea how much work and time counselors put into these weeks! I'm so tired everyday but it is so worth every second.
My first week was a bit of a challenge. There were 44 youth total, so 4 counselors and a group of 10-12 youth in each. I had 12 girls and all of them were so cute! Our guys in the other hand were a bit hard to deal with. At efy we like the guys to escort the girls wherever we go and for some reason our guys wanted nothing to do with our girls which really broke my heart because that's something everyone looks forward too. So there was that then there were 2 boys that liked to sneak off and not tell anyone where they were going. That made things really scary at times since we are responsible for these youth.
Thursdays are the counselors favorite days at efy. It's where we get to hear them bear their testimonies of the gospel and see the light in their eyes. It's a very rewarding day for the long hours we as counselors put in.
Here are some pictures from that week. The first one is my whole company. Companies are what we call when both the boys and girls are together. This week we were called "Away to Escape."

This is a picture of my group of girls.

Here I am with my other counselors Mellissa, Jake and Brett.

My second week was so much fun! I loved all my youth and my co-counselor Dan was so fun to work with. It was a very small session. There were only 18 youth in our group total. It was exciting because I had Jon Schmidt's son Spencer in my group! He was such a sweetheart. I also was able to meet Jon Schmidt. How cool that was! But our boys were so sweet and just listened and escorted the girls. It was a very fun, easy week. I loved it! Here are some pictures from this past week.
Here's our group. We were called "Raised in Incorruption" this week.

This is my co Dan and Spencer Schmidt!

So now I'm about to start my 3rd week and I am sad that it is going by so fast but I am excited to meet my next group of girls. I can't wait for this week. I have met so many counselors and have made great friends so far and most of them are working this week so it's going to be twice as fun :)

New Camera!!

2008-05-28T13:35:00.002-05:00

Well I'm a little late at posting this but that's life for you. I finally caved and bought the camera of my dreams! The Canon Rebel XTi. There was a great deal through Best Buy for the camera, a case with an extra battery, and then a zoom lens that is not cheap. I went back and forth for like a day and finally decided that it's been years that I've been wanting this camera and I am in a place, money wise, that I can afford to get it. Thanks to Best Buy I now get to pay month to month, which I did for my other camera and loved it! Plus, it's intrest free! WHHOOOPPIIEEE!! So I have LOVED the camera so far. I haven't had too many opportunities to use it yet. I was able to get some pictures from Dayna's dance rehearsal, Maren's band concert and then just random other pictures. I can't wait to get to school and have actual assignments of things to take again. I loved having that.

Life has been good but hectic here! I have been busy planning all my EFY nightly devotionals and it's been going really well. I've been given the topics along with other resources for each night and so far there's been so much that I want to share that I have to cram into a 20 min devotional! I have about a week left until I leave and I was finally able to get my room out together. I've only been home for 5 months and it took me that long to get everything done! I have also been reading the Twilight series again. I started Twilight last summer while I was in Utah and then wasn't able to keep reading them since I started school and I never have time to read anything on the side. So I am almost done with New Moon and it has been quite a ride! I have stayed up reading until almost 2 am the past few nights reading. Last night I finally had to put my book mark in and close my book and make myself go to sleep! But they are very good books and I highly recommend everyone reads them!
I've been spending a lot of time with one of my best friends Bart. Yes it's the same Bart that I dated back in high school for those of you that know my dating life. Bart is leaving on his mission to Houston, Texas in 2 weeks from today and so we've been cramming in as many Twins games/movies/NBS playoff games/puzzles as much as we can! It's been fun spending time with him this past month. I've been able to see him grow so much and I can tell that he's going to be a great missionary! The people of Texas don't know what they're getting!

Well here are just a few of the pictures I have taken with my fantastic camera. Hope you all enjoy!

Utah, Texas and a Proposal...

2008-05-07T19:27:00.001-05:00

Well I am back and finally able to write about my fabulous trip! I was so good
to get away for a bit and spend some time with my Florida girls and then the
Texas girls. I don't even know where to begin with Utah but I will give you a
short version of everything that happened. Well arrived in Thursday morning and
there was already plenty for us all to do! I met up with some of the other
girls and the oh so scrumptious Cafe Rio and had lunch. I got to see Kate and
Peter before they left for Kansas City for the summer, we all went to a really
nice breakfast place in our pajams and no makeup during UVSC's graduation rush
might I add...I got to go to a UVSC graduation for my friend Laura's sister. I
went country dancing and hiked the Y. We went to Chili's (our favorite and it's
a Florida girls tradition that whenever we're all together we go...even though
not everyone was there this time :( ), I watched Juno 3 times haha, had a picnic
with Sarah, I was able to see lots of mom's side of the family where we were surprised by both Lindy and Kelsey when they told us they were BOTH pregnant!!! So exciting. I also got to see my Dad's parents. But one of the best things that I got to help in was with Laura's sisters proposal! We went up into the mountains and rode horses that belonged to a friend of there's and while the proposal was happening we rushed back to Laura's and whipped up dinner for them! It was so fun and I was glad I could help out in such a wonderful thing. I loved being in Utah and I can't wait to go back in less than a month. I was only there for 5 days and by the end I was so tired! Those girls kept me very, very busy! Here are some of the many, many pictures taken while I was in Utah:

Well it was then on to Texas to fulfill my bridesmaid duty to Brittany. It was
so fun to see her and to help her and her family out with cutting up food,
helping with bridals, running errands, tying bows, filling food trays and so
much more! I loved every minute I was there (well besides the unfortunate drama that surfaced from somewhere else...). It was crazy to see my friend get
married to such a wonderful guy! I was there from the very beginning and they
are more perfect for each other than I could've ever imagined. They are going
to have such an amazing life together and I can't wait to hear about it all!
Haha. But the day of the wedding was so fun! I was so grateful that I was able
to be there to help and support her and her family through everything. I loved
Brittany's family too! I felt right at home as soon as I walked into the door.
Her parents are the nicest people I have ever met and her siblings are hilarious
and crazy! I was so glad to finally get home though. I missed my family a lot and I was tired of traveling! Plus I realized how much I love my car!! Well here a once again just a few of the many pictures taken in Texas:

Hope you all enjoyed! Until next time...

What a glorious weekend!

2008-04-21T10:19:00.003-05:00

I had one of the best weekends of my life in a long time. It was Stake Conference for our stake out here in Minnesota and we had the privilege of having Elder David A. Bednar and Elder Kent D. Watson of the Seventy attend. What a wonderful men they are! You can tell how much they both love the church and all the members. We were taught some amazing things and shared amazing moments together. I was able to attend the adult session since I am 19 and considered an adult at church! I was then able to go to the youth session where Elder Bednar and Elder Watson held a Q & A for the youth. Man are the youth of my stake amazing! They had such remarkable questions that they asked and got some amazing answers. To top this weekend off we had a 71 degree day!! And it's continuing on into today. Life couldn't get any better :)

I leave for Utah on Thursday morning and I am so excited I can't even tell you! I am so ready to get out of Minnesota for a little break and to be around people that are my own age for once. Don't get me wrong I've loved being home it's just that I need people my own age to be with for a little while. But this is the big trip where I fly to Utah for a few days and then off to Texas for Brittany's wedding!! I can't believe she's getting married so soon! I was able to get my bridesmaids dress made and so that's a huge thing I got checked of my list. Now I just have to get a present...ohh man Bee I don't know what to get you! I also am in my last week at Boom Island :( I am very sad that it's ending but I have loved being able to work here and learn as much as I have learned! It's been a great experience filled with great people and it's too bad that it's coming to a close. But on the bright side now I am going to have time to finish putting together my room and reading all the books that I have yet to read!! So I am ready and excited for that. Hope everyone is well! See you next time :)

I've been tagged...

2008-04-09T12:18:00.003-05:00

I have finally been tagged to do one of these things and so here are my answers!

A-attached or single: single and hopefully for awhile...I've still got lots to do!

B-best friend: My parents, my sisters (well...getting there), and My Florida girls! And a few choice others. (I had a hard time picking just one. You can't pick just one for this question!)

C-cake or pie: Hot Apple Pie :)

D-day of choice: Hmmm...as of right now Tuesdays. All my favorite shows are on that day!

E-essential item: Chapstick

F-favorite color: Pink

G-gummie worms or bears: Either.

H-hometown: Maple Grove, Minnesota

I-indulgences: Shopping Online! (Oh Lindy you and I are the same!! We can never resist a good deal online!)

J-January or July: July by far!

K-kids: none.

L-life is incomplete without: Many things, but mostly my family and friends.

M-marriage date: Hmmm I'm going to predict mine since it hasn't happened yet....October 9th, 2010! Let's see if that actually comes true!

N- Number of Siblings: 3 sisters--Maren, Shelby and Dayna

O-oranges or apples: apples, but I love oranges too!

P-phobias or fears: car accidents...they give me the chills.

Q-quote: "Look unto me in every thought; doubt not, fear not." D&C 6:36

R-reason to smile: All the many things in life that have happened, are happening, and are to happen!

S-season: Fall. I love the changing of the leaves. It makes great pictures!!

T-Tags: Kristi Aase and Brittany Dethloff.

U-unknown fact about me: I have a new found love for Jane Austen. I know that's not really an unknown fact but since no one really knows then I figured that might work? haha.

V-vegetable: Green Peppers

W- Worst Habit: getting to bed early...it's something I REALLY need to work on come June and July...if not EFY will kill me!

X-Ray or ultrasound: Well I've only had an x-ray so I am going to have to say that.

Y-your favorite food: Oh too hard...can I say everything? Ok I'll just round it down...Cafe Rio Chicken Salad! Haha.

Z-Zodiac sign: Virgo.

Yay Me!

2008-04-08T19:17:00.004-05:00

So I finally got up enough guts to get my hair cut really short. I have NEVER had it this short before but I was just getting SO stinkin sick of my long hair (even though my mom will probably cry over the fact that it's gone now...) but it just wouldn't do anything and I know that part of the reason is because I'm style-dumb or whatever it is you want to call it. So I went in today and I was so nervous! Haha. But Ann (my hair dresser) cut off my pony tail and BAM instant short hair, there was no turning back! So far I am loving it and I can't wait to play around with it and see what I can do. I didn't get it blow dried with a round brush today so hopefully I'll get a little more "bounce" and volume when I do that.
Here's before:

and after:

and here's the lovely pony tail that I hope to donate seeing that it's over 8 inches! I'm planning on sending it into Beautiful Lengths. But here it is:

Well that's about it for this post. I hope you enjoy the before and after pictures. I tried to get some good ones but then again who likes pictures of themselves? Not me that's for sure...toot-a-loo for now!

2008-04-04T20:43:00.000-05:00

Last night we had the fabulous opportunity to go and see the theater production of High School Musical. It was FANTASTIC! Dad gave Me, Mom, Maren, Shelby and Dayna tickets for Valentine's Day this year, which we were so surprised and excited since we thought it was all sold out. So after a full day of nannying for me, we went out to T.G.I.F. and had a good dinner and then left for the State Theater downtown. We were able to get awesome parking and were able to get in our seats with 15 minutes to spare. As the show started Dayna leaned over to me and excitedly said "I can't believe this is actually happening!" The show was SO cute and I am so grateful to my dad for pulling some strings and getting us those tickets. The other fabulous thing that happened yesterday was the fact that we reached 58 degrees!!! WOOOO!!! Spring is finally here and I am so happy that the snow is melting and that I don't have to layer up anymore. Today was yet another beautiful day. Here's a picture proving once again that it was a warm day.

My mom and I went to the Art Fair held twice a year here in Minnesota. It was at Canterbury Park. There was 5 HUGE areas of all sorts of booths ranging from frames of pictures to stars to blankets. Man you name it. But...the best part of the whole day was the fact that we couldn't find our car when it was time to leave! It took us about 45 min to walk around this huge parking lot until we finally found it. It was ridiculous! I was also joking when I said it was the best part of the day. Well here are some more pictures from the festivities last night. Enjoy!

Happy April Fools Day!

2008-04-01T22:12:00.002-05:00

Well we Minnesotans got a real trick played on this past weekend. Even though it wasn't actually today that it happened it was still a cruel trick of Mother Nature to play. Last weekend it was so beautiful! Sure a tad chilly and windy but the sun was out and it was a nice couple of days. Sunday was actually the warmest day the news said. I believe it was in the 40's but I'm not quiet sure. Well I woke up for work yesterday and to my surprise (I actually knew about it the night before but still...) it was snowing yet again. It will never stop I tell you! I don't know if I want to come back and live in Minnesota after the winter that we've had...well anyways I didn't get a chance to get any pictures yesterday but here's what we woke up to today.

Luckily everything was melted by the end of the day. Ok not everything but it is supposed to be in the 50's by this weekend so things are looking up! Well, I hope everyone had a wonderful April Fools day!

Easter Pictures!!

2008-03-28T23:10:00.002-05:00

So I was finally able to get the internet working in my room and so here are the Easter pictures. I have some from dinner and the egg hunt and then some are me just messing with the camera and the beautiful flowers we had! We didn't have a very sunny warm day so I also included a picture of the weather. Easter is such a wonderful time of the year for everyone to celebrate. I am so grateful for the gospel that we are blessed with everyday. Things have been going a little rough for me these past few days and it's been hard for me to see the good in certain situations and people. I know though that I have been given this trial, this challenge, for a reason and one is to make me a better person and to be stronger. Knowing those two things are what's been getting me through each day. I am so grateful for a loving family and supportive friends that are there for me. Ok, sorry I got all touchy there...but I hope everyone's Easter was wonderful. Until next time...!

2008-03-24T10:42:00.003-05:00

Take the Quiz here!

I took a quiz today to see what Jane Austen character I am...and it said that I am Marianne Dashwood! I've only seen Emma once and read 1/2 of the book but I loved her character and I felt for her while watching the movie. Man I am a sucker for Jane Austen movies/books!
Yesterday we had our big Easter feast and I took lost of pictures which I am going to be posting later. I am at work and so I can get access to the internet where as in my room on my computer (where the pictures are of course..) I am not getting a connection. So as soon as I do I will post. Besides we are doing our Easter egg dying tonight so I can included those pictures as well! Anyways, we had a really fun night! Flem and Kristi came over with there kids and we had a wonderful dinner and then we watched Enchanted, one of my Disney favorites!! And of course I can't forget the shows that both Maddie and Abby as well as Dayna put on for us last night. I'll see if I can upload the video of Maddie and Abby's. Then we played a game of Hot Dice aka Farkel! Oh how fun it is to play Hot Dice with Kristi. Both her and Flem are a hoot! Overall it was a wonderful day filled with a good church day, yummy food, and wonderful family!

Alright, alright, alright, alright, alright, hey...EFY!

2008-03-13T22:27:00.002-05:00

So I know that most of you know that I got asked to be an EFY counselor this summer but you probably haven't heard the whole story and I know you, laura, are going to be wondering how it all went down. Well so I had the interview, waited for what seemed like a million years to finally get an email from them end of January saying that they were interested in hiring me but needed the proper forms to continue the process. So I filled out the forms, sent them in the next day and once again sat and waited to hear back. About a week later I heard back from them and they had received my papers but I hadn't filled one out all the way so I had to redue it and send it in again...what a pain I know! So another week goes by and I get about 4 emails from them, meaning they were offering me 4 weeks of efy sessions all at BYU Provo, which is awesome, but I wished there would've been more. Well then I get to reading the weeks that they want me and one of them is the week of the annual family beach trip. Well I've already missed the past 2 years of the beach thanks to girls camp and then summer semester...so I did not know what to do at this point. I thought "well what if I'm supposed to go to this EFY session, what if I am supposed to be there to help a certain youth or what if...I'm supposed to meet someone special?" So all these things went through my head as I thought about what I needed to do. Then as I thought about missing yet another year at the beach I figured if I don't go this year I don't know when the next time I will be able to go. For the next 2 years at least I'll be in school summer semester and then what if I get married who's to say that we're going to be able to go and all that so I really felt that it was important for me to go to the beach and spend time with my mom's side of the family. So I sadly declined that one week of EFY but accepted the other three. I then sent them an email figuring that other people were going to need to turn down a week and so since I deferred summer semester this year why not ask for more weeks. About two days later I got an email from the EFY Offices asking for me to do 2 more weeks at BYU Provo! So I have a total of 5 weeks now which is great! I am so excited to work with the youth and to teach them more about the gospel. EFY is such an amazing experience and the Spirit is so strong there. Plus there's really cute guy counselors ;) haha just kidding family, but I'm really telling the truth, they're cute! I really lucked out with the weeks and where they fall during the summer. My first 2 weeks are from June 9th-14th and the 16th to the 21st. Then I have a week off and then I'm back on from the 30th to July 5th so I'll be there for the 4th of July which I am really excited for! I've never been there for the 4th so we'll see what happens. Then I'm off for 3 weeks which one week of that is the beach. I am then working July 28th-August 2nd and then my last week is the 4th-8th. So my plan is to just stay out in Utah for the months of June and July which is going to be awesome because I have so many family and friends out there to hang out with!! And that's the story with EFY. Hope all is well!!

2008-01-19T00:14:00.000-06:00

Ok I sorry the pictures aren't working on the blog but just click on the thing and it will take you to them!!

2008-01-18T19:47:00.000-06:00

Ok I am so sorry that I am so behind on this!! It's been over a month...and oh so much has happened. Christmas was great. We had almost the whole family here (wish you could've been here Steve and Laura). We had a really good dinner and then an hour long performance by the girls which was really cute actually featuring a funny 12 Days of Christmas dance by Flem! Then opening presents of course! What a great Christmas for the year 2007. Both my dad and Flem hosted a "Are You Smarter Than An Aase Brother" New Years Eve party at our house for some couples in the ward and their non-dance aged children. It was really fun to sit/participate in all the activities and food that were there. We were having so much fun that we almost forgot to ring in the new year! On New Year's Day Maren was brave enough to do what's called the Polar Plunge here in Minnesota with a bunch of the YW girls. It's where a bunch of crazy people jump into the frozen lake! I really wanted to go but I couldn't find my suit so I went as the photographer. Of course the day that we go is one of the coldest days it's been all winter and it's one of the coldest Polar Plunges there's been. So I froze just waiting for Maren's group (the Guppies) to come out and jump in. Of course with my luck i was filming the YW girls right before Maren and right when Maren was getting ready to jump my camera flashed "Full Memory Card!" HA! Everyone was a little mad...! The funny thing was about 10 minutes or so before the whole thing started, they had to stir the water because it was already freezing after 15 minutes of sitting there. It was that cold!! But it was really fun going and I am wanting to do it next year! Well there were too many pictures to put up so I decided to just put together a little slideshow. But at the end there's some pictures that some of the family took with Photo Booth on my computer. There's one of my dad and I...you can totally see the resemblance. Father like daughter anyone? Hope everyone is staying warm!! Love you!

Steve & Laura's new link

2007-12-07T06:24:00.000-06:00

Forgive me for doing this but I'm taking over my (Giles Family)families blog & making it my own because my extended family hasn't been really posting to it & it's to hard to find the time to keep up with both. So Paige has posted it as a link so please check it as often as you like to see updates on us. I still don't have much time yet but will do my best to get up Thanksgiving photo's & more posted. Miss you all! Love-Laura

Christmas with the Florida Girls!

2007-12-05T12:48:00.000-06:00

Here are some picture's from Kate and Peter's Christmas party this past weekend in Utah. It was so good to see everyone and it was the first time since Kate's wedding that all 8 of us have been together. Kate cooked up some amazing food! Lots of goodies that we all couldn't keep our hands out off :)

2007-11-28T11:34:00.000-06:00

BubbleShare: Share photos - Print Christmas Coloring Pages.

Here are the pictures from Thanksgiving! There's not much, it's mostly the house but I had a really good time being at home. I didn't want to leave because the house is so pretty and it was fun seeing my family but the only thing that is getting my through these next 2 1/2 weeks is that I get to go back home for a couple of months!

Avery & Regan

2007-11-18T14:10:00.000-06:00

Avery is getting so big!!! These are when she was only a week old so in the last 3 weeks she's grown so much. We had her weighed last Friday & she was just shy of 10 pds! She had gained 1 1/2 pounds in a week! She's such a stinker because I was thinking she wasn't getting much cause she's alwasy falling asleep when she eats which I thought was why she was wanting to eat every 1 1/2 to 2 hours. But noooo, she gets to "have her cake & eat it too!" Not fair!
Crazy to think that we've now entered the "double stroller" stage of life. Thankfully we haven't yet reached the "minivan" stage but if I'm promised a new van like Kristi's than I'm all for it!
Avery enjoying her 1st bath at home on Oct. 29th.
Farmor & Farfar are visiting right now & enjoying their granddaughters. We'll take some pics & post them soon. Love you all & miss you!!! Paige, please take pics of your house & post. Thanks! Laura

Avery home from the hospital

2007-11-18T13:51:00.001-06:00

Here is a video from when we brought Avery home from the hospital on Oct. 24, 2007. For some reason I couldn't get it to post through the blog so I set it up on photobucket. Regan was more impressed with Jasper than with Avery. Enjoy! Laura

Halloween

2007-11-16T11:19:00.001-06:00

2007-11-16T10:53:00.000-06:00

I am sorry these pictures are late in posting. I hope you enjoy them. I will be better at getting the Thanksgiving pictures up. Abby has a swim meet this weekend and otherwise we are doing home projects. We are looking forward to seeing Paige this weekend too.

Halloween

2007-11-13T14:41:00.001-06:00

Kristi thought I was nuts & gave me a lot of flack but I canceled Halloween this year & have no regrets!!! I just knew it was going to be to much for me to give out candy, Jasper barking everytime the doorbell was rung while Regan wanting to answer the door while also trying to feed Avery. I knew Steve wouldn't be home until 7:00 pm so I just wasn't going to even atempt to do it by myself! In fact I didn't even buy any candy so I just left my porch light off & enjoyed a nice quiet evening home. Part of me felt a little guilty as I looked out the window at one point & saw all the cute trick or treaters & thought it would of been fun taking Regan out but she really has no idea what it was all about & if I hadn't of just had a new baby (come on Kristi, I literally had just had a baby) than I would of atleast taken Regan to the mall of something like that. Our ward didn't even do a trunk or treat either so instead she just played dress ups with costume my mom bought from the gap clearance center & we got cute pics of that. Isn't that what's important are the cute pics? Speaking of pictures, I'm dying to see Halloween pics from all the girls so Kristi & Laci get to it!

Halloween Party at Aunt Lisa's

2007-11-11T15:55:00.000-06:00

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I was so gald that I was able to go to my aunt Lisa's famous Halloween party. Even though this year she didnt really go all out as usually, there were still some crazy surprises. This year Lisa wanted to do a Pirates of the Caribbean theme. She was dressed as Jack Sparrow...she was so good that I didn't even recognize her!! But I had a lot of fun with the family and I enjoyed the food!

Coming Home with Avey

2007-11-10T12:04:00.000-06:00

We came home from the hospital on Oct. 24, 2007 & were very excited for Regan to get to know her better. Regan was nervous being in the hospital & pretty stand-offish so we were hopeful that she'd be more excited at home. Well the 1st couple of days she was pretty much oblivious of Avery but now after a couple of weeks she asks several times a day to "hold Avery." She's also a big help in getting diapers & handing me things while I'm confined to a chair when feeding Avery. She even calls Avery her "baby sister".

Welcome Avery Ann Aase!

2007-11-10T11:30:00.000-06:00

So I'm a couple weeks behind on getting these photos up but better late than never! I took Avery yesterday to get weighed & she's already gained an entire pound since she was born almost 3 weeks ago. I can believe it because most days she is wanting to eat every 1 1/2 to 2 hours. The dr. said she is pretty much eating double of what is normal for an infant her age & weight! She is a feeding fanatic so if you try & call & I don't answer it's because I haven't quite learned how to nurse, keep Jasper off my lap & Regan jumping from my lap to the other recliner plus hold the phone (or atleast have it on speaker)at the same time. Give me some time but I do welcome lots of phone calls & I promise I'll return your call as soon as I can. I would gladly welcome some adult (& nieces) conversation! Paige, thanks for setting up this blogg because It really is going to be my outlet to escaping the kids for a few moments everyday for some alone time. I've put up some pictures on the Giles Blog & I've really enjoyed it. So everyone please keep your posts & pics coming! I'd love to hear all about everyone!

Halloween in Idaho

2007-10-31T23:15:00.001-05:00

Here are some pictures from my ward Halloween party. It was really fun, short, but really fun! I was dressed as poison ivy and Sheila and Jessi are dressed as the Who's from the Grinch. It took me about 45 minutes to do each of their hair. It was alot of fun to play hairdresser for a day! But that was Halloween for me. Not much more happened. Today (Halloween) I stayed home and did homework. Oh joy! But that's college life for ya...what more can you do?

The New Family Member has Arrived

2007-10-25T20:28:00.000-05:00

Avery Ann Aase was born on October 22, 2007 at 2:03 pm. She weighed 7 lbs. 9 oz and was 20 inches long. She has Auburn hair and Blue Eyes. We will post some pictures soon, but until then please visit the Giles Blog at http://gilessmiles.blogspot.com to see some pictures posted by Laura's Sister.

A Disney Wedding!

2007-10-20T01:52:00.002-05:00

I had the most amazing opportunity to go to one of my very best friends weddings. Kate got married to the famous Florida missionary, Peter, yesterday and she was absolutely BEAUTIFUL! It was so fun to be able to go and share this special day with her and all the other Disney girls. We had such a good time yesterday. Kate and Peter got married in the Bountiful Temple, where Peter's from, and then Kate's dad was kind enough to invite us all to the luncheon that afternoon, and then we went to the reception later that night. It was so fun to go and spend this special day with the both of them! Secretly I cant wait to get married...but don't worry family, I am no where CLOSE so you all can breathe normally!! Here are a few pictures though from yesterday.

New House under construction

2007-10-15T02:27:00.000-05:00

>BubbleShare: Share photos - Share your baby pictures" border="0" alt="" />
Hi Family,
We wanted to capture the construction in progress and take photos from the same angle each shot. We're not that sophisticated. So, we did take pictures but they weren't too consistent. The good news is we are finally done and we begin moving in next week.

Hope you enjoy the pics and we look forward to your visits.

Love ya,
Jan Erik

Lagoon Festivities!

2007-10-14T19:52:00.000-05:00

BubbleShare: Share photos - halloween photos

Well this past weekend was my cousin Joshua's big birthday ritual of going to Lagoon for a day of screaming and fun. Lagoon is all decorated for Halloween with pumpkins everywhere and people dressed up in crazy costumes running around. (I kinda felt like I was back in DisneyWorld for a little bit.) But here are some pictures of my cousins and their kids, Blake and McKayden. We were so lucky this year not to get rained on. It's just our luck that every year we go to do this we get rained on. I remember last year being pelted with rain while going on all the rollercoasters! As fun as that was, I was glad that it did not rain. It was very cold though however....I couldn't feel my fingers for the longest time! It was really fun though and it was good to get away from Rexburg and have some fun with the family.

Also counting down the days.

2007-10-13T22:12:00.000-05:00

I have been counting down the days until we move in our new house.
This apartment is soooooooooooo small.
Once we move in to our house, our house will feel so big because this apartment is so small.
And i cant wait until all you guys come out.
And Laura i love both those names they are both so cute.
And am so excited for your baby.
Please put pictures of your baby girl on the blog.
Love you and miss you.
Maren

counting down the days!

2007-10-12T16:28:00.000-05:00

Hey family-
This is a great idea to be able to keep in touch! So everyone needs to start sharing all their stories...Abby has a few good ones...so we all stay connected! We spent all of conference weekend at home organizing the office to make room for the changing table, glider & small dresser. It's going to be a multifuntioning room with the computer/baby room & Steve's closet all in one. The baby will actually be sleeping in our room for a couple of months but we needed a place to feed & change her at night without going into Regan's room & possibly wake her up. The best part about this change is that Steve actually went through ALL of his wardrobe & literally is getting rid of HALF...YES 1/2 of all his clothes!!! This is HUGE! Come on, we all know how large Steve's wardrobe is! From the first day I met him over 10 years ago, he has always had more clothes than I and Eddie Bauer certainly made things more out of control (all great deals I have to say) so now for the first time in all the years I've known him he can fit all of his clothes into one closet (minus sweaters which are in the armore)! I even took a picture to prove it.

A week from Monday, Oct. 22nd, sometime around 1:30 pm will be the c-section. We are getting very excited to finally welcome our new little girl. We ask Regan where is mommy's baby & she'll come over to my stomach & lift up my shirt to pat my rather large belly. I think we've narrowed it down to 2 names but that could change. Probably our 1st choice is Eliza Ann Aase & also Avery Ann Aase. My mom's middle name is Ann.

Here are some pics from the zoo today. It was fun but I'm definately worn out.
Love you all!
Laura

New House

2007-10-09T12:41:00.000-05:00

BubbleShare: Share photos - Halloween contest

Ok here are some pictures of our new house. These are some that Maren sent me through PIX messaging on our phones-not the best quality, but it's still pretty good. Things have changed a bit I hear...so these picture are about a week or so old.

Paige this is for you! Love you!

2007-10-08T20:04:00.000-05:00

YOUR A FALLING STAR, YOUR THE GET AWAY CAR.
YOUR THE LINE IN THE SAND WHEN I GO TOO FAR.
YOURTHE SWIMMING POOL, ON AN AUGUST DAY.
AND YOU THE PERFECT THING TO SAY.

AND YOU PLAY YOUR CARD, BUT IT'S KINDA CUTE.
AH,WHEN YOU SMILE AT ME YOU KNOW EXACTLY WHAT YOU DO.
BABY DONT PRETEND, THAT YOU DONT KNOW ITS TRUE.
CAUSE YOU CAN SEE IT WHEN I LOOK AT YOU.

[CHORUS]
AND IN THIS CRAZY LIFE, AND THROUGH THESE CRAZY TIMES
ITS YOU, ITS YOU, YOU MAKE ME SING.
YOUR EVERY LINE, YOUR EVERY WORD, YOUR EVERYTHING.

YOUR A CAROUSEL, YOUR A WISHING WELL,
AND YOU LIGHT ME UP, WHEN YOU RING A BELL.
YOUR A MYSTERY, YOUR FROM OUTER SPACE,
YOUR EVERY MINUTE OF MY EVERYDAY.

AND I CANT BELIVE, OF THE ARGUMENT
AND I GET TO KISS YOU BABY JUST BECAUSE I CAN.
WHATEVER COMES OUR WAY, AH WE'LL SEE IT THROUGH,
AND YOU KNOW THATS WHAT LOVE CAN DO.

[CHORUS]
AND IN THIS CRAZY LIFE, THROUGH THESE CRAZY TIMES
ITS YOU, ITS YOU, YOU MAKE ME SING
YOUR EVERY LINE, YOUR EVERY WORD, YOUR EVERYTHING.

SO,LA,LA,LA,LA,LA,LA,LA
SO,LA,LA,LA,LA,LA,LA,LA

[CHORUS]
AND IN THIS CRAZY LIFE, AND THROUGH THESE CRAZY TIMES
ITS YOU, ITS YOU, YOU MAKE ME SING.
YOUR EVERY LINE, YOUR MY EVERY WORD, YOUR EVERYTHING.
YOUR EVERY SONG, AND I SING ALONG.
CAUSE YOUR MY EVERYTHING.
YEAH, YEAH

SO,LA,LA,LA,LA,LA,LA,LA
SO,LA,LA,LA,LA,LA,LA,LA

LOVE YOU PAIGE AND MISS YOU
MAREN

2007-10-08T15:08:00.001-05:00

Great Idea Paige. As long as no one critics my spelling I will be a contributer. Now I just have to figure out when I will have the time to do it???

We all enjoyed conference this weekend. Saturday Kate went to a Girls Scout camp, so we were able to watched uninterrupted. She came home Sunday at noon. She had a great time though.

Yesterday Afternoon we all had dinner together (Laci and Girls came over) The older girls entertained them self with AG Doll play. They made some pretty funny videos. I will try to post them later.

We have a busy week ahead with all different types of activities going on. Abby is playing basketball this fall. She is just learning and has a great coach. She wants no tips from her Mom. Maybe I will have to find another girls team to coach.

Thats it for now

BYU-Idaho

2007-10-08T11:43:00.000-05:00

These are my roommates! There's me, Jessi, Sheila, Ashley (Hona), Brittany, and NIkki. We all have had a blast so far this semester and look forward to more adventures. Well school is going well. I've been very busy with homework and what not but I am loving every minute of it! I am taking a really great Graphic Design class and I have a really great teacher. I got the calling of FHE mother...again! So all I can say is its going to be an easy semester! We went down for conference this last weekend and it was a really fun weekend! Jessi has never been to conference so we were able to get Sunday morning session tickets. We are all really excited for Halloween. We're all still trying to figure out what we want to be...we're thinking about being the munchkins from the Wizard of Oz. The Lollipop Gang! But we're still trying to come up with some ideas of what to do so if anyone has ideas let me know! Here are a few pictures of our apartment too!

Hello Family!

2007-10-08T11:30:00.000-05:00

Hey family! I thought I'd finally start this blog that I've been talking about. This way we can all stay intouch no matter where we are. So feel free to post whatever you want on here. Since I'm gone in college I want to know what everyone is up to!!