Christmas Eve candlelight dinner. A tradition started by my mom when I was a kid.

I don't know about you guys, but I'm happy to see this year end, and welcome 2014! Not because I anticipate this year to go any easier than last year, because let's face it, there are things looming on the horizon that I'm not ready to deal with yet. They won't be here for a while, but they will be here in 2014. All I know is, I'm ready for 2014 to begin. I feel this is a year that will cause great change to come into my life.

This is possibly the year that was coming down the road, that I needed to be prepared for when I fell apart in 2009. I needed to fall apart, to be able to put myself back together properly so that I would be able to face the hardships that were coming. I had put myself together all wrong in the past. I was holding on by a thread at all times, I was a human in survival mode, and am now in battle mode. You can't fight battles if you're barely surviving. 2009 and 2010 brought a LOT of change. 2011 was a small test to see if that change had become fast within me. 2012 was a season of simple faith and gave me strength to be able to manage 2013.

So what has 2013 been?

It was full of a unification of my family that had never before happened. See my holiday posts here and here. But it was also full of trials. BIG ONES.

To explain, I'll liken it to a religious parable -- the parable of the bush that gets pruned. The bush cries in pain as its branches are cut and it asks the gardener, "Why would you hurt me so? I was doing what I am supposed to do. I was growing and spreading my branches and leaves." But the gardener keeps on cutting, until the bush feels it has nothing left of what it was, only to find that the following growing season it turns into a more beautiful version of itself that it never knew was possible.

2013 was the year of the gardener pruning my branches.

Here are the strongest feelings I've had this year in no particular order:
being lost, fear, anger, confusion, depression, anxiety, contempt, disengagement, insecurity, lack of value, lack of control, education, faith, hope, love.

I've been angry at God more times than I can count this year. I know that it's ok for me to be that way. God wants us to take our feelings to him because he's our parent and is there for us at all times. At least that's what I believe my God is. If I can't talk to Him about everything, and anything, including my anger for what he's allowed to happen this year, then I can't rely on him at all. 

There was the time that I sat in my car and yelled at Him for His plan, because the plan hurt me in a way I didn't ever see coming, and I did NOT like it. There was the time I told Him I wasn't going to talk to Him for a while because I was too upset to put my feelings into words. You see, I have a relationship with God as if he is a tangible being. I rarely talk about this in my church or with people, because I feel that most lack understanding of my relationship with God, and my relationship with Him is my business, and mine alone. We all need to find our relationship with God, I am thankful to have the one I do.

I welcome the year 2014, not with a hope for it to be smooth sailing (because what I have on my list of events in 2014 is anything but that), but with hope that because I have had my branches so pruned this year, and had my understanding of faith so deeply altered for the better, I know I can handle it even if I come out with scars I wasn't expecting. Because 2014 is going to be a battle, there will be battle scars.

Although, inside my heart, I keep a prayer that this next year will surprise me and be smooth sailing. I will have to wait and see, though. Time has a way of revealing all things to us.

So, with all this being said, may we all be able to look forward to 2014 with excitement, with hope and... let's do this!

Happy New Year everyone!

Guys, my Thanksgiving holiday was truly THE best. Here's why:

The entire setup and most of the group. (Crazy Panorama)

My siblings and I arranged to cook the entire meal by ourselves. We ended up roping my stepdad in to cook the turkey, but other than that, we set everything up, prepared the food and organized the whole day. All my mom had to do was show up and eat. It worked out to be a HUGE success. My mom just hung out while her children prepared food in her kitchen and got everything together. When it was finally ready, I asked her what she thought of the day. And she said, "I should've had you guys making all the food for the past several years. This is really great."

I'm so glad we were able to make her Thanksgiving. She is unable to cook anymore and half of the time she can't even eat anything, so it made me really happy that every single one of my siblings was on board to execute my plan. When I first thought of the idea, I texted my oldest brother and his response was, "OF COURSE, I will make the turkey!!!!"

We had to change those plans because he has 5 kids, and couldn't get there with enough time to cook it, but I loved his enthusiasm. Everyone was the same way. After dinner we all just hung out, watched old home movies, and talked with my mom.

My mom and her newest granddaughter.

My sister, sisters-in-law, mom and me.

I spent the entire next day with my mom. It was nice because I never get time alone with her anymore, and I really wanted it. Also, it allowed my stepdad to get some work done and not have to worry about her for several hours. I cleaned their house and sat with her while she slept. She used all of her energy staying awake on Thanksgiving so she slept almost the entire day Friday. I can't imagine what her life is like anymore. We talked a little bit about how she feels lately, and it's been really hard on her. She can't form a sentence almost 80% of the time now because she can't find the right words to get her thoughts out. Her thoughts are a big jumbled mess. Every now and then she'll be able to say exactly what she means, and it makes her really happy. The rest of the time she's pretty frustrated. I feel so bad. It's amazing what 9 months of time can do to a person. Back in February, she was as she always was -- healthy, vibrant and full of energy.  Nine months later, she's deteriorated quite far. It breaks my heart every time I see her, but I know that she's still my same mom that has always been there.

Despite all this, her hair is finally starting to grow back. It gives me hope that good things are coming.

Saturday, my sister, and one of my sisters-in-law, came back over to my mom's house. We spent the whole day decorating her house for Christmas. We had a lot of help decorating by way of some little elves (three of my nieces), and it was a lot of fun! My mom slept through most of it, but when she woke up and could see it, she made sure to tell us it looked great! Christmas is one of my mom's favorite times of year, so I'm really grateful we were able to get her house all setup for the holiday season.

Mom's tree, freshly decorated by the granddaughters (ages 3-7).

All I want for Christmas this year is for my mom to have a great holiday, and to have vast improvements in her health. She is the most beautiful person I know, and I hope and pray that we'll find a way to get her health to improve. It was such a beautiful Thanksgiving, full of help, service, and family. I couldn't have asked for a better weekend. I feel rejuvenated and ready for this holiday season!

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone! I'm too busy cooking food, and eating it to write a real post. So you get THIS DELIGHTFUL GEM OF A PHOTO. (I save my best work for when I'm not salivating over turkey!) Don't forget to tell everyone how grateful you are for them today.

I'm just happy my whole family gathered together this year to celebrate Thanksgiving with my mom. I am so thankful for my loved ones. I couldn't handle life without them!

What are you thankful for this year?

Leave a comment below. I'd love to hear from you on this lovely holiday!

Restaurant in Portland.

Justin and I decided to celebrate our 1st anniversary vacation-style. We went back and forth between Redwood National Forest on the coast of California, or Portland. We aren't really sure what drew us both toward Portland, but it ultimately won. Maybe it's that we both randomly said it seemed cool to live in Portland several months ago. Maybe it's that to get to the coastal redwoods it was a 14 hour drive and Portland was only about 10 or 11. Either way, Portland won our vote and we booked a cute little one bedroom apartment off airbnb.com. The ride there was long but very fun, and we couldn't wait to get there. Driving into Portland is really neat. The first several hours are just flat and open land, but then you drop into the Columbia River Gorge and you're in a lush green forest. Everywhere we looked it seemed like ivy, fern, moss, flowers and other greenery were spewing out with reckless abandon. We explored the city, ate some great food, went to a massive bookstore (one of our favorite pastimes), and just had a great trip.

I LOVED IT.

Here are pictures of one of my favorite places that we went. This is Multnomah Falls, just outside Portland.  This place isn't done any justice by the photos. It was a beautiful 60-70 degrees, there was mist in the air from the falls, and every plant was a very vivid green. We also were able to take a short hike through the area nearby and enjoy the cool, crisp air the mountains provided. Justin isn't in a lot of the pictures because he is a typical guy and hates getting his picture taken.

The next post, which you'll see in a day or two, is of the Portland Japanese Garden in Forest Park in the middle of the city, my other favorite place we went. It was rainy that day, but it provided a really nice overcast, peaceful feel in the garden. I just didn't want to overwhelm you all with photos, so check back on Saturday and you should be able to see those ones too.

This is the story of my life right now. I used to draw almost daily in high school and then stopped for 10 years once I moved to college and got distracted with life. Since getting married, I have discovered I love making art again. Sure it's super amateur, but it's mine and I made it. I'm extremely proud of it. Here are 2 of my fun little stabs at being artistic. I even painted that frame!

I friggin love bookstores. Not just because books are cool, or because I met my husband for our first date at one, or because books smell good. It's because you can find AWESOME stuff there to expand your mind!

WHO DOESN'T LOVE A GOOD MIND EXPANSION NOW AND THEN?!

The bookstore we went to had the classics for super cheap! And they are in... wait for it... HARDCOVER. Hell yes! Can I get an AMEN?! Hardcovers are my favorite type of covers.

Got this masterpiece tonight for under $7. Can't wait to read all 682 pages of the crazy stories the Grimms came up with.


Mr. Awesome and I love to go to book stores. He's getting all programmy lately in computers, so we got him a cool book to teach him those skills. I also got a book on how to become a better blogger. Let's see how well it teaches me!

Anyone have any good books to recommend for me? I love fiction, WW2, and DIY stuff.

You know why I love animals? They love you no matter what. One time Justin and I were watching a show at the end of a long awful day. We were eating hot soup and finally relaxing. Justin got up to get something and accidentally spilled his drink on the carpet. He got frustrated because the spill was the icing on the cake of our horrible, no good, very bad day. In his frustration, he chucked a pillow and it hit the blinds causing a really loud noise.

Our cat, terrified by the sudden outburst of noise, attempted to flee the scene. Only he couldn't easily get out of there because I was sitting on the couch blocking his smooth getaway. He clambered over me, scratched my arm deeply in several places and caused me to spill my hot soup on my lap. Then Justin chased him out of the house for being a punk and causing problems. Poor scared kitty!!! (But can we say awesome protective husband? Nobody hurts his woman. Nobody. Hahaha!)

Shortly after this crazy chain reaction, we both felt bad for him and let him back in the house. He was neither angry nor skittish around us. He was just stoked to have cuddle time with his friends.

I wish people were more like this. Sometimes they are, but more often than not it takes more than 5 seconds for someone to be over it when you hurt them. A lot of times it takes even longer to forgive OURSELVES for pain we have caused. I know whenever I make mistakes, I berate myself for it for hours or days. I just feel I should know better than to do wrong. (How dare I be human!?) But animals just know we are all animals. We all react in situations whether for good or bad. So they forgive us a million times over and instantly.

To finish the story, the spill that caused the chain reaction actually had us laughing in the end. Who would've thought all of that would happen in a matter of 5-10 seconds? I know I was stunned when I was sitting there with a lap full of hot soup.

The moral of the story is, I love Justin and I love this cat. And we're a happy family. Oh... and forgiving is important!

I have found a new love, it is latin dancing. My friend Ginene took me last weekend at a place here in town. I have turned down a few invites to go latin dancing from her before because I was nervous to make a fool of myself. I mean have you seen me? I've got super long pencil arms... they have a mind of their own and this mind doesn't include a graceful ability or the sultry skills that latinas are born with. I can't even shimmy without shaking my hips on accident too. It then turns into something like a full body seizure. Naturally, you can see why I avoid any dances involving the word sexy. Most of my dance moves consist of acting like a nerd doing the robot, or a full body flail.

So anyway, we get there and some of her friends are there, and a couple of her really cute latino friends spent the rest of the night teaching me my newfound latin moves! It was great! I've always loved salsa music, and I love mexican food, so I guess it's a given I'd love latin dancing too. I think my dancing friends were just Casanovas, because some of their lines consisted of "Did you used to take ballroom, you seem like a natural!", or after smashing his toes, "No that's my fault, I put my foot under yours." Yeah, and I always say that when someone smashes my foot too. "I apologize for running my face into your fist, I feel horrible for making you punch me."

Also, in other news, I may have found a job. I'm excited! They seem like a fun company, and I start next week. Double thumbs up for me! Not to say my job hunt didn't take forever and have weirdos in it. I mean what's with the old guy still living his high school basketball glory days who after asking if I was single and after I told him what I like to do for fun, then proceeds to eye me up and down and guess audibly if I'm one of "those crazy girls". I'm going to guess his definition of crazy meant freaky (or kinky), which also means I threw up in my mouth and cried inside a little. I'm also going to guess when he achieves something amazing at work he smashes the nearest office nerd into the nearest cubicle wall and yells, "O'DOYLE RULES!", and does the air guitar for an extra effect.

....what happens to females in their early 20's when they're stuck in a car all week instead of laying on a beach because it's freezing in "sunny southern California", here is a simple explanation by way of video.

This is what happens to Andrea.


This is what happens to Ginene.


And finally... this is what happens to me.

I know not very many people know about my deep dark secret that I am shedding light on today. I think it's because I'm afraid people will judge my skills and I'll feel stupid when they realize I'm not a genius at what I'm about to tell you. Here goes...

I love to play the piano, and wish I had one everyday.

There. I said it! Not very many of my friends and family ever get to hear me play. My bishopric has heard me on many occasions plinking away for hours after our church meetings are over. For the longest time I would sneak into a room and stop as soon as someone came in to listen. Lately though I'll leave the door open, or just keep playing when someone peeks in. I think even my best friends have never heard me play.

One thing I wish I could do that I have yet to be able to, is make up songs. I need to read sheet music to play anything because I've forgotten all my chords and theory to be able to just sit down and knock out random music. But I will give myself credit. I can play most things written down. I was given the talent of sight reading. I have lots of sheet music and usually keep my entire sheet music collection in my trunk so I can use it whenever I find a free piano.

The latest idea I've had and I only share this because I want to be comfortable with this instead of hiding it too, is I want to learn how to sing and play at the same time. I don't profess to be a good singer, I don't know if I like my voice, or if anyone else will either. I do know however that I am able to carry a tune fairly well and I am the daughter of a woman whose voice could be mistaken for Karen Carpenter's so maybe there's some talent hidden in there somewhere! But don't ever expect to hear Mariah Carey's high notes come out of me. I'm an alto, and low soprano, and I'm shy. Why am I sharing all this you ask?

Because I'm teaching myself to sing and play the song above. I can't promise I'll ever sound good, and no I won't be adding my rendition of her song to Youtube for all my "fans". I just wanted to tell people so I can't pretend I wasn't given a talent that I'm hiding.

But don't ask me to play in church. Hymns make me sound like I rarely play... for some reason they are excellent at jumbling my fingers and making me mess up, which for me is SUPER embarrassing, and I feel the need to say out loud "sorry", to which then I feel even dumber for feeling the need to apologize for hitting the wrong note. I have no idea why it embarrasses me... it just does.

Last night I went to the BYU Hunger Fair. It was really interesting. When I got asked if I wanted to go, I was actually really excited. I'd heard about this kind of event before and really wanted to see what it was like. When we got there we were told our group would be sitting in the low income section. This section was most of the room and was covered with cut up cardboard boxes, you know, for comfort since we had to sit on the gym floor.

The room was divided into 3 sections, there were the "rich" people, the middle income, and the low income. The rich people were sitting at nicely decorated tables, and were in the front of the room. The middle income were sitting on chairs around the edges of the room, and the low income were all stacked throughout the middle of the room. We took up probably 60% of the space.

The rich people were served first, and given a full course meal. The middle income people were served hot dogs, and got to eat second. The low income people were served last, and given one bowl of rice and beans, and a plate of chips to share. We were lucky and got a second bowl of rice and another plate of chips, but the 4 of us had to share it all. And we decided to vote one member of our group who will remain nameless (*cough*, Eric!, *cough*) out of the village for hogging the bowl! haha!

Our group was also representing the illiterate people of the world, and how most people will never get a chance for any education. They talked about how the rich people usually just worry about how many years of education AFTER high school their kids will go to, and how these people are also the ones with diabetes, obesity, and other problems other countries don't face because they can barely make enough food for everyone.

It was really cool event, and also a realistic representation of how the world is divided. We even started to joke about stealing the rich people's purses or distracting them while we stole food off their plates. Also throughout the night some "tourists" came around and started taking pictures with the "poor people sitting in filth". It made me think about how people must feel when we fly ourselves to other countries and take pictures with people who probably have never been able to afford a camera much less some shoes, in their entire lives. And the whole time never thinking what we could do to help them.

Halfway through the program I got up to go to the bathroom and at first was like "my legs hurt so bad from sitting on the floor, I can barely walk" and then I berated myself for complaining because A) I was walking through a building with heating, to a bathroom with a flushing toilet, B) I wasn't going to have to wipe my butt with my hand, and even if I had to, there was handsoap, hot water, and clean towels to clean my hands with, and C) I only had to sit on the floor for what, 2 hours?, while some people never get to sit on a chair or use a bed ever, and the floor is covered in garbage and other filth, and our cardboard was clean and no one smelled.

I really liked the whole event, the Hare Krishna group came and performed a song, and there was a mongolian dance, and then a cute group of kids who escaped from the Congo to the U.S., sang a song and danced. I just wanted to run up and kiss each of these kids, and tell them how amazing I think they are for living through what they have and ask each of them how they stay so happy.

My biggest challenges don't seem so big when I think of what other people on the other side of the world are living through. I've got bronchitis and I'm complaining about how sick I am of coughing and how the antibiotics make me nauseated, but then I think, I am able to go to a doctor and get medicine to kill the disease, instead of letting it turn into pneumonia and then dying. Sure my family has had it's hardships, my mom was poor and a single mom, but she still was in the top small percentage of those who have everything they need. And that only lasted for a few years. We've always had a roof over our heads, and plenty of food to eat. I've always had clothes that were nice, and I even was able to buy my own car in high school.

I think about how last year, at my job I earned more than my mom told me she earned when she was raising three kids alone, and how I complained that I didn't have enough money. I was able to save up a lot of money to live on this semester, and also I had everything I needed, I even had surplus... so what am I complaining about? That I can't just fly off to Rome tomorrow because I don't have 2 grand to drop? Or that I can't buy myself the piano I want? Sheesh! I really am spoiled! I have a closet full of clothes I never wear, over 15 pairs of shoes, and at least that many jeans... and I ate 8 dollar meals every day for lunch. I really have a lot to be grateful for.

I think I'll stop here, I could go on for pages.

My friend Jordan has a really nice camera and I played with it the other night at his house. Here is my favorite picture that I took.


I liked that the 3 guys were all doing the same thing, and it goes in size succession. Large, Medium, Small. I really am proud of me. It's definitely nothing great compared to some people's skill but I'm excited about it!

This weekend was really fun. I went to the Valentine's date dance Friday with my friend Danny. We had to dress nice and we both looked great! The music was provided by a band of old men who played all sorts of music. We danced the cha cha, the tango, waltzes, and any other kind of dance we made up. (We were creative to make up for our lack of skill!)

Saturday Andrea threw a party at her house for Valentine's day and a friend's birthday. We helped her decorate cupcakes and cookies for the party and then danced the night away! Here are some pictures from the party. Sorry, I don't have any from Friday night.


Some of the girls from the party.

My friend Danny.

Ginene and me dancing.


Jaron and me.

Most of the weekend group.

I applied for Graduation today. A bittersweet moment in my life. For some reason I was sad to do it, but ridiculously happy and proud of myself as well. I will be walking in the commencement ceremony May 1 at UVU... IF everything goes as planned. I'll give you the details later when it's more set in stone! I'll then be finishing my last 3 classes of my bachelor's degree during summer semester. I checked and so far, I've got at the very least 5 classes to choose from! SO, to sum up all the blood, sweat, tears, nights hunched over my desk typing papers, AND 5 majors later...it's all coming to it's completion date very soon! You have my permission to give me a big hug next time you see me, I'm hugging myself right now. I'm so proud of me!

The sad part of this is... I don't want to leave now. I've spent nearly 7 years (yes THAT long)saying I can't wait to graduate. All of the sudden I picture myself as this kid holding on to the playground monkey bars because she absolutely doesn't want to leave the park while her mom is tugging at her from the other side. (Strange, I know.)

It's funny how the only future goals I have at the moment include throwing myself a disco party for my 25th birthday (which is in a couple months!), figuring out how to get Lasik eye surgery, travel the world for 6 months, and to buy a pigmy elephant named Stampy, all while paying off my student loans and deciding what the heck I'm going to do with my life! (That last one is not really going to happen, unless you know where I can find a tiny elephant!)

I always assumed I'd feel ready to take on the world, and the only thing I want to do is take myself on a really long trip.

Oh and here's a cool picture of me. I make awesome faces sometimes.

So there's a few things I'd like to do in the next little while. Some are possible with a lot of help, and others may take a lot longer to accomplish. Any comments are welcome!

1. First things first, what am I going to do after I graduate? I would like to move somewhere but I want it to be a social place where there are lots of people to have fun with. I'm going to be 25 when I finish up this summer, So any ideas?

2. Next I need to tackle the idea of Grad school. Where should I go? I know I probably will need to get on this one soon... I just can't bear the thought of more school at the moment. OR more debt.

3. I want to go to the study abroad in Mexico this summer. Or France. Either one teaches me the local language. Mexico is my first choice. It is probably going to be about $4,000. I have to pay the program fee which takes care of me while I'm there -- that is $2,000. Then I have to pay tuition (about 5 credits worth of spanish) and pay for my round trip travel and other discretionary spending. So I am estimating $4,000. France I'd be living with local families in Nice. Mexico I'd go the last month (JULY) and be staying in the Yucatan peninsula around Playa del Carmen, and exploring the Mayan culture. Also if I do this, I will be deferring my graduation til Christmas instead of August. It is worth it if I go. I just don't know what to do though!

4. Also, I want to go backpacking through Europe. Anyone want to come?! I need to know though, how much money I'll need, any tips for the travel, good places to go, things like that! I've never been out of the U.S. and am in serious need of some world exploration! My friend Andrea and I are talking about doing this next year. Please help us plan properly!

5. Also, if anyone knows anyone I could go stay with for a few weeks in another country, or a cool city in the U.S. and just explore the culture and such, I'd love to go do that too. I'd substitute this for my study abroad in Mexico!

6. Sometime before I die, I want to go work in a foreign orphanage. Mexico, Costa Rica, Romania, or help the starving, or AIDS ridden people in Africa. How can I make this happen? Any tips would be most helpful!

Well I'm officially a few weeks into my 2nd to last semester. I'm taking 18 credits, and am no longer an employee anywhere. It's an interesting setup for my life. I saved up over $5,000 and am going to be living off that until it runs out. Sometimes, even though I'm at school most of the day like a regular day shift at a job, I still feel so unproductive not being at a job. I've had a job my whole college and highschool career. This just feels off. I will adjust soon enough once the heavy homework load kicks in. I will say that it is really nice being able to sleep a little longer everyday than I've been able to in years. Also I have my nights and weekends back! I've missed them so much!

My classes are interesting. I'm taking Psychopharmacology, which is basically drugs and how they effect the brain. I'm taking Child Abuse/Domestic Violence, and also a Child Development class. These will both be very interesting subjects. I think the class that will try me the most is the Group Psychotherapy class. I signed up for the teacher with the best ratings, and for the first hour of every class we are doing group therapy as a class. So I'm going to be learning A LOT about everyone in the class this semester! Don't ask me to share what I learn, we've all agreed to confidentiality because it's really group therapy, not just mock therapy!


Here is a video clip from Hero. It's a pretty neat movie if you want to see it. It's got Jet Li in it. I really like it.

This is one of the first scenes. The other scenes vary in color, because according to the Chinese (and my teacher) there is an order of color for the more closeness to the truth. I'm not sure the exact order but I guess the movie goes by the color order so each scene is a different color. It's really a cool film.



Another class is survey design. We'll have to design surveys and conduct research at school or around town. This will be a big homework project, and I'm thankful we're doing it in groups. And then my last class is Myths, Magic, and Religion. It's an elective, and it's pretty cool. Right now we're watching Hero. For those of you who've seen this, it's big on symbolism and supernatural abilities. We're going to be studying shamans, medicine men, religions, and other things like witchcraft, etc. It's pretty cool!

I am so excited! I am hoping to be finished by August this summer! Keep your fingers crossed that my last 3 classes will be available in the summer so I'm not stuck in school til Christmas! Also, pray for me that I will be able to find the money to make this happen. Since I have no income currently, it will be a task in itself to make sure I have money for summer!

Last night I went 80's dancing in Salt Lake with some girl friends. It was great fun! We dressed in our finest multi-colored spandex and ugly shirts, and danced the night away to great 80's music including Men Without Hats, The B-52's, New Order, and other awesome bands! We did have to spend a lot of the night pushing guys off the back of us, some guys think they are given free reign to dance dirty with us, but we weren't having it! We were there to dance and have fun, not to meet weirdos! Haha! Thanks to Andrea for getting us to Salt Lake in record time so that we got in for free. I've never seen a Toyota Corolla move that fast, especially with a car load of people. Whenever I have more than 2 people in my car I am pretty sure my axles are going to snap and my wheels will fall off and start rolling down the freeway. Oh my glorious 11 year old car. It is going to fall apart before it ever stops running.

The weekend before we had the ultimate Rock Band experience with my friends Garret, and Scott. And some people they know. It was quite the setup. Mic stands, surround sound, projector screen, and concert lighting. HAHA! It was great! I even mustered up the courage to sing to No Doubt and The B-52's. The best part about it was that the music was so loud I couldn't hear myself so who knows if I have my mother's talent or not!

Anyway, here are a few pre-dancing pictures. Another girl took tons from the actual club and I don't have those from her yet! Also there are some Rock Band pictures first.

For New Year's this year I went to my friend Zane's cabin with his girlfriend Mikaela, and Brandon. His grandparents live in the mountains in Oakley, Utah. It was fun because once you get up to their neighborhood you have to snowmobile around to get to the houses. I'd never snowmobiled so that was a fun new experience! His grandpa came down to the parking lot at the base of the neighborhood and picked us up.

We spent the night at their cabin, and his grandma was so nice and made us pizza and root beer floats. Then we watched a movie and rang in the new year with Martinelli's, popper fireworks, chips and salsa, and a 1 o'clock bedtime. We were all so tired for some reason!

Then this morning we woke up and had a delicious breakfast of pancakes, eggs, and ham. Special thanks to his grandma again! She was great! Then the guys had to help Zane's grandpa shovel snow of the back porch roof, so we all went and played outside in the snow. It was so pretty up there with the quaking aspen trees everywhere. After all our hard work outside we had a delicious lunch of tomato soup and grilled cheeses (my favorite lunch!) and then watched another movie and came home.

It was so much fun! Here are a few pictures from the trip...

We were thirsty and thought eating snow would help... nope.

Waiting to whitewash the guys... hehehe.

All bundled up and ready to go play outside!

Admiring each other's manly ability of shoveling snow.

Mikaela leading our expedition into the forest.

Here's a scene from the forest... just kidding it was the backyard!

Keep up the good work guys!

We ate too much junk.

Happy New Year Brandon!

Zane's grandparents have a dumbwaiter... we put all our goodies in it and then sent them to the tv room!