Oh-Hi-Oh-Hi-OH

Round on the end and high in the middle!

I needed a break from my job big time. (It was only 8:45 AM and I wanted to throw my stapler at Jose) I went to Ohio to visit one of my BFF's Lohol. It's been a loooong weekend. I flew in late Thursday night into Columbus. Lohol lives two hours away and my plane didn't get in until 1am.

We grabbed a bite and didn't hit the road until around 2:30. Bed time was around 5 for us and we had to be up by 8 to be ready to leave for Kirtland at 10, AM! We stopped in Columbus at an awesome mall for lunch. I was a little sad because there were so many stores I wanted to go into but we couldn't. After a 5 hour drive we arrived in Kirtland and went straight to the visitors' center.

We watched a little video, received a tour of some of the historic houses and buildings and then we also watched a video about Joseph Smith. I think it's the same one that's currently playing at Temple Square. I didn't take very many pictures because I knew I wouldn't do anything with them and delete them eventually anyways. I DID take a picture of the house below because it reminds me of Anne of Green Gables.

I have a weird obsession with old houses. I think that's one of the reasons I want to live in the east, there's soooo many of them and hardly any in Utah or AZ. Also, as said before, I was on very limited sleep from the flight the night before....I was so good! I didn't snap at anyone the whole next day. I did start zoning out at Red Robin. But still, props to me for controlling my emotions.

The next day we went to the temple for the 10:30 showing. Their video sucked. It's interesting to see how the two churches tell the story of the same thing. One cool thing that they do is after the movie is over, the screen lifts and the curtains open to a huge glass window that allows you to see the Kirtland temple. They wouldn't let us take any pictures of the inside. Since we were a small group, they allowed us to go up on the 3rd floor (rare treat) and see the classrooms. Some of the flooring seemed unsteady and half the time I was expecting to fall through at any moment. The rooms were very sparsely decorated with a piece or two of furniture. One neat thing is that even thought the 3rd floor is like a rectangle divided into 5 sections, they had windows on every single wall so there was an abundance of natural light.

They had bunches of these flowers on the grounds. A girl with the group said they were Dahlias. They are my new favorite flower. If you look closely, you can see how the petals unfold.

Me in front of a pretty colored bush.

The group.

After Kirtland, we went on to the Morley Farm. It was fah-reezing! I was told how nice the weather is so last minute I brought my sweatshirt. I was still chilly.

Sitting on a chair made out of a wood. On the Morley Farm on the hill where they had the schoolhouse.

After the Morley Farm we went to the Johnson Farm. I didn't take any pictures there and haven't seen any from anyone else's camera that I like. So you're all SOL.

Here's a picture of me and Lohol on the way back. I'm so happy because I know that rest is just a few hours away.

The driver kept telling me that I need to dance and I kept refusing. I'm not a car dancer.

What I've Made

I'm sitting in the Las Vegas airport waiting for my flight to Ohio. Can I just say how awesome this airport is because they offer free WiFi?!? It's so nice to have a fast internet connection, even if it's for only 15 minutes.

A week and a half ago my friend Jen and I went to Color Me Mine. I thought they closed at 9 but turns out they close at 8 on weekdays. We showed up at 7:30 :S The girl was like, really? You want to start now? We said yes because I was set on painting something that night. Here's my bowl that reminds me of a dinosaur.

RS also had a floral arranging night. I learned a lot and now consider myself to be a semi-pro. I will be available for parties and weddings soon. I had to trade off my rose pink roses for extra lilies-I think it was WELL worth it. I've never been a rose lover anyways. I think it turned out pretty snazzy. It's amazing how we all had nearly the same flowers and each arrangement was different and cute!

My fingers are now sticky from a Cinnabon and I'm pretty sure I've reached my 4000 calorie mark for the day. Oh how I love being on vacation where (almost) anything goes!

Busy Weekend

The 'rents decided last minute to come for Conference. My mom drove up with my aunt earlier in the week from Heber, Az with my dad and the boys coming up early Friday. Thursday was my Aunt Lorie's birthday so I drove down to Orem to go to dinner with them. I can't tell people enough how much I love Chili's chips and salsa! My co-worker Tim and I used to get them to go all the time and haven't lately because we've sworn off eating out.

Friday night Megan and I went to a huge LDS singles dance that they have the Friday before General Conference. We got there around 10:30 and didn't leave until 1am. My knees ached so much the next day! Kenny and Stuart showed up later on and it was a little weird to be at a dance with my younger brothers. It was fun times though. I didn't go to sleep until around 3 that night because I was talking on the phone and then watching TV.

Unfortunately, I woke up at 8 the next morning and couldn't get back to sleep. I got out of bed around 9 and was out the door by 10, on my way to Mapleton. I enjoyed listening to the talks on the radio because I was able to focus more. It was pouring rain the whole way down so it took me over an hour to get there. After the first session has finished my mom, Lorie and I went to the Barn Boutique! I love the new ideas that people come up with every year! I totally snuck a few pictures in of things that I thought were cute and I could make them myself because they were WAY overpriced.

This next one wasn't overpriced and I can't make it. I just thought

it was really cute. It's two pirates with a parrot in the middle.

I bought some flower things and some pumpkin chocolate chip bread, YUM!

After the second session of conference and a few hours of being lazy, us girls went to Corn Wagon Quilt Shop where they were having a girls' night. They were making purses out of dishtowels that looked really cute. I didn't make one because the pockets were too big and I'm not talented enough to modify a pattern.

I left Springville around 7 and headed to SLC to get Megan and head to Park City! A girl in our ward was given a condo for the weekend so a group of about 7 or 8 went up. We went swimming and then watched Iron Man and ate WAY too much candy. The next morning I was up by 6 but couldn't make noise because of the other girlsso I forced myself back to sleep and didn't get up again until 8 or 9. It turns out almost all of us did that but thought everyone else was asleep. We had a delicious and fattening breakfast and then watched both sessions while doing a conference pack that Erin had brought for everyone.

After the last session, I headed BACK to Mapleton for dinner with everyone. Jeff and Rivka's little baby Bray was having stomach issues and you could definitely tell when he was in the room! We weren't able to play any games that night so now I'm owed double game playing next time I hang out down there. I collapsed into bed around midnight that night and cursed my alarm the next morning.

Engaged!

No, not me! Jeff and Jenny are officially engaged! From what I remember of the story, Jeff left notes all over the place for Jenny that said I love you because... and had different reasons why he loved her. They went to the temple later that night and then for a drive around the Capital building. He said he had something for her in his trunk and returned with a notepad from work. After a roll of the eyes from Jenny, he gave her another thing that had another note along with the ring underneath.

Jeff was asked about their relationship quite a bit this last weekend and he said that they started dating in April (I say May, but he might be right this time) And then he was asked who was more into the relationship first, him or Jenny. He said Jenny and I openly disagreed. He was always asking me to take pictures of them together long before they were dating as well as making stone art (see above) with their initials while they were still in the hang out phase. Jenny may not take my side on this one, but I'm always right on my blog.

Moving on to Jenny herself. Jeff truly is blessed to have found a girl like her. She has the patience that I wish I could have just a fraction of! She is the most easy going girl that I have ever met. Jenny was my first friend in the ward and she is what has made such a difference in my desire to keep going. I love the fact that I can tell her that "I've had it" and she completely understands what I mean. I think it's great when you can become such good friends with a person that you can communicate with looks instead of words. I have had the best summer that I can remember because of Jenny and the friends that I have made because of knowing her.

Roughin It

My ward went camping this weekend to a stake property around Kamas (past Park City, pretty much BFE). I've found that I can deal with camping as long as there's some kind of toilet. I hate feeling dirty but the wonders of technology have given us sanity cloths and those were my best friend for the past 16 hours. Jeff, Brant, Megan and I went up Friday night with Megan going home because she had work the next morning. What a trooper for even coming at all I say!
We had delicious chili with chips and cheese. Throughout the night everyone sat around this huge fire pit that was about 5 feet wide, while others played games. If you know me at all, you don't even have to ask whether I played games or not. We played a card game called Up and Down the River where you have to bet how many rounds you will win for that deal. Jeff and I tied for second, but I was sitting next to the guy that won and he totally cheated, rendering his win false and making Jeff and me the champions! We also played Catch Phrase later on that night. Some of the things the had were utterly ridiculous! How do you explain rubber nipple to a crowd of LDS people!?!?

Brant, Jeff and Carrie are pictured here. They weren't ready for my camera.
Brett being his usual self.
Girl in green is Michelle. She's absolutely wonderful because I know that I can talk openly with her and she can empathize. We both like sushi mucho!

The night was cold but not so cold that you couldn't sleep. I was in a tent by myself with an air mattress and a down comforter. That's another reason why I didn't mind the camping :) I didn't go to sleep until 2:30 that night and woke up around 6 because Jeff was walking like a bear around camp and woke me up. Once I wake up in the morning, I have to go to the bathroom and if I fight it, I just lay there and can't sleep. I foolishly did that for an hour before I admitted defeat and just woke up for the day. After breakfast we decided to play chubby bunny. I lost horribly but I do have to say, for a girl, I held my own. I got 11 and Brant only got 12. Jeff anhilated us with 15.

Me telling them how many I currently had in my mouth

All in all it was a fun time but by 10am, I had lost it from being so sleep deprived and pretty much bit Jeff's head off more than once. He probably only deserved it half the time.

Mi Casa

My house isn't finished yet. I'm a lazy girl. But here's what it looks like so far.

Labor Free Weekend

Kayleigh and I went to Kingman for Labor Day Weekend and I was able to talk our cousins Chris and Renee to come with their little girl Jayda. It was so nice to veg out for 3 days straight. I'll admit that we had some bigger dinners and I lost it. No tears, just snide remarks to everyone around me. I really don't know how to delegate. Well, I do, but I like things done my way and would rather do it myself if people don't want to do it my way. I know, I'm crazy, but at least I admit it! We played Settlers of Cataan and I WON! I hardly ever win against Jeremiah and was extra surprised because Chris is a very good player too! Hillary and Renee are great players but all three of us are more consistantly losing than winning (sorry girls). Hillary took on the huge task of going through all of her baby clothes and getting rid of the ones she doesn't want and reorganizing the ones that she does. Jack and Jayda had a fun time playing in the plastic containers. Hillary thought it would be fun to have Jack try on one of his Halloween outfits. That's a onesie. Kenny, Kayleigh, and Stuart don't play games as often as the rest of us. I'm not sure if they like playing games. They're more of a movie going crowd. As you can tell, Kenny is so excited to be playing with us.