Friends

I have so many great friends!!  Here are a couple things that have happened recently.

I've been saying goodbye to a lot of good friends who've left on missions the last few weeks.

First, my very best friend Ashley left several weeks ago, and I miss her like crazy.  But she will be a great missionary, will kick butt at learning Romanian, and I am already loving reading her emails and letters!

Becca, me, Ashley, and Ali the night Ashley got her call

My friend, Conrad, also left the same week.  I keep missing him randomly every few days when something reminds me of him.  But it's great to get his letters, too, and I know he is just loving the MTC and learning Russian.

Conrad and me a couple months ago at a party

Then, my brother-from-another-mother, Clay, left on his mission a couple weeks ago.  I have only gotten one letter from him, but it was nice to hear from him.  Hopefully he'll keep up the communication so I don't totally lose track of him for two years.  I think he's doing well (haven't heard otherwise).

Saying goodbye at Danielle's wedding

An old friend, DaNae, is leaving on her mission tomorrow.  I got to hang out with her for lunch one day recently when she was in town, which was nice to take time to catch up and say goodbye.  She's going to Morristown, New Jersey, Spanish speaking.  I hope she has a great time!

After eating at our favorite haunt... J Dawg's!

A couple Sundays ago I went up to Salt Lake to have dinner with a bunch of friends.  I love these guys!  We had a great time and it was so fun.

Top: Ruben, Rachel, Danie, Taylor, Yandhi, Jake

Bottom: Evan (yes, that Evan), me, Sara

On our way home, we stopped by Temple Square so that Sara and Ruben could have a look.  I went with them and we got some great pictures:

Also, I've become pretty good friends with my roommate Lynn (which has been very nice, considering the past frustrations I've had with roommates).  We've started having "roommate dates" every Saturday where we go get Panda Express and eat it at the duck pond.

And don't forget that one day it was raining and me and my friends danced in the rain and splashed in the puddles and then jumped in the pool in our clothes...

Ruben, Taylor, me, and Lynn

 Danie, Taylor, me and Lynn

Life is great!!

All That Dating Finally Paid Off...

Well, I've been trying to keep this on the down-low up until now (at least on my blog), but I think it's finally reached a point where I can share it safely.

It's official:  I have my first boyfriend!

Some of you know about him from me already, but the long story short for the rest of you is this:

-His name is Evan, he's 22 and from Lehi, UT.
-He was my home teacher last fall and winter semesters.
-Our first date was the last weekend of January (as part of my 13 week dating streak).  We made tie-dye shirts for each other, which we both still wear.
-He's been my running buddy since the beginning of March.  We've been slacking lately, but for a while we ran just about every day.
-I kissed him (my first kiss EVER) the night before I flew home to Florida.  He was very surprised, to say the least.
-When I got back from Florida, we started going on more dates and spending more time together to see how it went.
-He held my hand for the first time while we watched The Fellowship of the Ring.  Mind you, we weren't even sitting on the same couch.  That takes skills.
-My favorite place to go with him is Squaw Peak.  (But not for the reason most people go there.)  I love the view of the valley up there at night.  I don't know that I'll ever get used to the view from the mountains.
-He has yet to kiss me, but that's totally fine with me.
-We've started reading Believing Christ together some nights.
-We also like to watch episodes of Psych with his roommates.
-And we always stay up way too late together.  Both of us have been sleep deprived for weeks. :)

That's a pretty good description of our relationship, I think.

Also, I just realized that I don't really have any pictures with him, so I will try to rectify that soon!

In the meantime, here's a silly picture of him:

 (He's making that face because I was forcing/convincing him to try a maple doughnut with bacon strips on top.  It's really delicious, he just doesn't think so.)

Back in Utah

On the plane from Phoenix to Salt Lake

A lot of stuff has happened since I've been back in Utah, and it's only been 2 weeks!

I got a new calling... the first Sunday I got back.  I was called as the new Relief Society president for my singles' ward.  It's definitely been an overwhelming experience so far, but I think once I get used to my new responsibilities that things will seem much more manageable.  It's also nice that the ward is small right now because it's summer term, so I get to practice in a smaller setting before the deluge of new students in the fall.  It's going to be a great experience!

Sara started classes... just 2 days after we got in town.  Luckily, she has her friend Christina out here with her, too, so they've been spending a lot of time together navigating campus and figuring things out for classes and such.  I know it's a lot for her to be experiencing at once, but I think she's really enjoying it so far.  Most everyone she's met in our ward likes her a lot, so she already has a lot of friends, whether she realizes it or not.  It's cool to watch how much she's grown just the last 2 weeks.  She's learning a lot more about life and being independent, which is really good for her.  I think she's going to love BYU!

Work, work, and more work... I'm not taking classes this term (thank goodness!!), so I've been working upwards of 30 hours a week which is really great for the money, but doesn't leave me with as much time to spend with Sara or my other friends as I would like.  But, I can't complain.  I have a great job and work with great people.  What's not to like?

Lehi Rodeo... The weekend after I got back, we had a tri-ward activity to go to the Lehi Rodeo.  The wards did a BBQ before it started and then we walked over to the rodeo grounds.  It was pretty cool to watch the rodeo. I've only been to one rodeo before, but I don't remember much from it, so it was fun to actually pay attention to what was going on.  My favorite part was when they had the motor cross bikes come out into the arena and do flips and tricks off a ramp.  It was quite thrilling.  After the rodeo, there was a YSA dance at a chapel parking lot down the road.  We went to check it out and I ended up staying with some of my friends until 1am.  It was a pretty lame dance music-wise, but still fun to spend time with friends.

Missionaries... Also, this last Wednesday I said goodbye to two of my good friends who entered the MTC.  One of them, Ashley, is one of my best friends who I met in my freshman ward and we've been really close since then.  She is going to Romania and I am so excited for her!  I'm very, VERY sad to see her go, but it will be fun to write her and hear about all her adventures.  The other one is a guy from my ward last year named Conrad.  He's my friend Taylor's older brother, and he and I got to know each other pretty well in winter semester.  He's such a great guy, and I'm so glad he's serving a mission!  He's going to Russia (brrrr!) and it will be really fun to hear from him, too!  I LOVE missionaries!!

My mom is in town... and it's been really fun having her here!  She hasn't been out for 5 or 6 years, so she's having a great time visiting places she used to live and seeing old friends.  She's getting to meet my friends, too, which I think is a lot of fun.  I've had to work a lot most of the days since she's been here, but we hang out whenever I'm not at work.  Speaking of, tonight we're going to watch STADIUM OF FIRE together and we are so excited!  Stay tuned for pictures from that!

What can you do with a month in Florida?

Midway through May, I went home to Florida to visit for a month.  It was really nice to be home, see old friends, and spend time with family.  The visit was also a milestone of sorts, because when I came back to Utah, I brought Sara out with me, which makes my parents officially empty-nesters now.

Florida
I love the Florida heat and humidity.  It's the familiarity and how it makes me feel at home.  I love walking outside into that tangible wall of heat every time.  :)  Call me crazy!  One thing that I realized I don't miss much about Florida is how many bugs there are.  I guess I never realized it before, but I've grown accustomed to hardly ever seeing bugs in Utah and never getting bitten by anything.  I got home and every day I had new spots on my skin from the fresh round of bugs that I happened to encounter that day.  Yup, I definitely don't miss that about Florida.

Dances
Sara and I attended a few LDS dances the first weekend I was home.  There was a tri-stake YSA dance on Friday night that we went to.  It was Sara's first YSA dance, and one of the few I've ever attended.  It was pretty typical, and fairly boring, too.  To top it off, my parents were coming home from the temple that night and they stopped by to spy on us.  Too bad there were no interesting boys for us to have been caught flirting with. :)

Cocoa Beach
On Memorial Day, my mom and Sara and I went to Cocoa Beach.  Unfortunately, there was a "dangerous marine life" warning because of all the jellyfish in the water.  They were strewn across the beach as well, which made even walking along the shore slightly treacherous.  Because we couldn't get in the water, we walked along it anyway, taking pictures of the jellies and even getting brave enough to pick some of them up (by the tops of course). 

Lots of jellyfish!

Sara and me

Dentist
I had a couple dentist appointments while I was home.  I hadn't been to our family dentist for 3 years, so I guess it wasn't too surprising that I had some cavities to fill.  Turns out, I had cavities in 3 different teeth, and each tooth had more than one cavity for a total of 7 or 8.  I returned a week after my initial check-up to get them filled.  They numbed me up and drilled away at my teeth for an hour or so.  Now I have some shiny new teeth!  I had a hilariously crooked smile afterward because no matter how hard I tried, my lips would not move the way they should!  Anyway,  I was glad to get that over with so I don't have to worry about it at school.

Sara's Graduation
Sara graduated from high school on June 6!!  It was cool for me to attend graduation and experience it all from the viewpoint of a spectator instead of a participant.  I really could have done without all the speeches, though.  Why does our culture think it's necessary to always have speakers at events like that?  Why not just get on with the fun stuff that everyone actually came for, huh?  Anyway, I'm really proud of Sara for getting through high school (I know how tough it is), and proud of her getting AP Honors through it all, as well as participating in marching band!  Now it's time for college and all the new adventures there!

Family before graduation

Sara's Wisdom Teeth
In preparation for college, Sara had to get her wisdom teeth out.  I think that two of them were impacted, which might have made for some complications in the surgery, but luckily, all went well.  Better than well, actually.  She had a miraculously fast and easy recovery (she ate pizza the night after the surgery), which was a blessing because it allowed her to better enjoy the last week of her summer in Florida.  I got to play nurse for her the first couple days, waking her up every hour to change gauze, get new ice packs, drink some fluids, and sometimes take meds.  It was definitely an interesting experience because I realized that I'm more business-like than lovey-dovey in my patient care, so it's probably a good thing I didn't go into nursing... :)

Sara's Grad Party
Two nights after getting her wisdom teeth out, we threw a graduation party for Sara at our house.  There was lots of food, good friends, and swimming, too!  It was good to get to see and spend time with everyone who came.  We even got to watch a video my mom made with pictures and old home videos of Sara growing up.  So cute!  (From the vids, we realized that I use to be a major brat, show-off, and attention-hog sometimes. Yikes!)

Sara, Amanda, and me at the grad party

My little buddy Camden at the grad party

Siesta Key
To celebrate (or mourn, in our parents' case) Sara's last week at home before college, we took a family vacation to our favorite beach spot on Crescent Beach in Siesta Key.  It is SO beautiful.  We stayed for 4 nights (new record for length of stay at one place for our family) and it was wonderful.  We tried out some new restaurants, including a shady-looking place called Munchies 420 that had 'POTatoes' on their menu (figure that one out? It took us until after we'd left), and also an Amish restaurant with fried chicken the size of moobs (man-boobs) and scores of homemade pies.  But most of our time was spent on the beach, soaking up as much sun as possible before we had to live in Utah for the next 6 months.  Overall, it was a very successful, albeit low-key vacation.  Not to mention, Siesta Key was rated the #1 beach in the nation this year.  I highly recommend it!!

Moob-sized fried chicken

Mommy and me at the beach (and very burned)!

Kim's Birthday
My BFF from high school, Kim Johnson, had her birthday the last week I was home.  Though I missed the actual day of the celebration, I was able to take her out to lunch at the end of the week and spend sometime catching up.  We've been apart too long and we miss each other too much now!  But the funny thing is, we pick up conversation like we've never been apart.  We spent forever just chatting away at Pei Wei, probably annoying the heck out of the employees who wished we would just leave already.  :)  Happy birthday Kim!!

Danielle's Wedding
We got to attend Danielle Machado's wedding reception the night before we flew out to Utah.  She was, of course, stunning and her dress was gorgeous.  She was just glowing, though I'm sure exhausted.  The cultural hall at the stake center was decorated all cute, Dad was DJing the music, and there were lots of old friends to visit with.  Chris Raskey had just gotten home from his mission 2 days earlier, so I got to see him for the first time there and it was so fun!  He's exactly the same old Chris I knew in high school. (For some reason, I expect them to come back from their missions completely different.  Nope!)  It was fun to dance and talk with him.  It was perfect that most of our ward was at the reception, because then Sara and I got to say goodbye to everyone one last time before we left.  Of course, that also means that it turned into a cry-fest, what between Sara and her friends and Mom and Lorraine tearing up over losing us.  Anyway, the reception was a lot of fun with all the usual festivities, ending with sneaking out to decorate the couple's car and then sending them off amid a crowd of sparkler-bearing guests.  It's so weird to think that she and I are so close in age, and yet we are in such different stages of life now.  I'm so happy for her!  I love weddings-- even if they do make me wish I were get married myself!

About to smash cake in face...

Danielle and me!

The last time a lot of us will be together... :(

Saying goodbye to Clay who leaves on his mission soon...

Car decorations

Getting to see Chris again after about 3 years!

Me and mommy! <3

Same old Chris... :)

Last time we'll all be together for 2 years

Kind of a bittersweet vacation to tell you the truth.  So many goodbyes, but lots of happy reunions, too. 

Life is good.  Real good.  :)