Les Mis [Christmas] Day

I'm not even going to try and act like I wasn't excited for Les Miserables the movie. I was over the moon. In the last week I may have talked more about that movie and my plans for seeing it than I did Christmas festivities. I made a shirt just for the movie. And a pretty awesome one at that.

Christmas day is always spent with the Hatch family. So I told all of them that I was going to the movie and whoever wanted to join me was more than welcome to. We ended up with a group of about 14 of us who went. We all got our tickets the day before and then went down to the movie about an hour before hand to wait in line. And the following picture was taken right as we told my grandma we would have to wait an hour in line. 

Funny story about my grandma. She has Alzheimer's (not the funny part of the story) and loves going to the movies. Well my grandpa didn't want to go to the movie and she normally doesn't do anything without him (and vice-versa) but like I said, she LOVES the movies. So I said she could come and be my movie buddy. She was so excited all day to get to go to the movies. She kept asking when it would be time to go. When we finally left to go I was freaking out and super excited. On the drive over she kept laughing at me and telling me I was wearing her out! And then we got to the theater and stayed in a line outside. That was when we told her we would be in that line for an hour. She was a little upset at that detail. And thus one of my new favorite pictures was taken.

The movie was AMAZING though. Lived up to all of my expectations. I laughed. I cried. I bawled. It was great. And I came home and bought the soundtrack (in addition to the Broadway soundtrack I already listen to on a near daily basis). After coming home I also told Wyatt (who had had to work) that I would be his date to go see it as soon as he has time. Any time this week works for me!

And I can't forget to include these two. Sometimes they let me be a third wheel with them and it's just great. Hope everyone else had a great Les Miserables Christmas Day too!

Take a Chance

Remember in October how I went up to Utah? Hung out with all my old friends? Caught up with everyone? It's ok if you don't remember.

While I was there, I had a couple of things happen to me that kind of gave me a little push. A much needed push. The first thing was that I went to a lecture with Kenzie. It was during an hour when like everyone was in class or working, so I went to this class with her. The second was a conversation that I had with a friend. We hadn't seen or talked to each other in six months and while catching up he laughs and says, "You're exactly the same...(blah, blah)...you still don't know what you want." A year ago that comment wouldn't have bothered me. Heck, six months ago it wouldn't have bothered me.

But when he said this it kind of stung.
Because it was true.
And that really bothered me.

So I decided I needed to take some steps in deciding what I want in life. I needed to start applying for different things that I had interests in and see what opportunities may come my way. So I have started doing that. And one of those applications led to a final interview with Teach For America. Now I just have to wait until the first week of January to see if that will be an option for me.

Now lets go back to that first thing that happened in Utah. That lecture. It was given by a lady who had her MBA. Now, I have considered getting a masters before, but I just had no clue what to get it in because there is no way I am getting one in Math. I have zero interest in mathematical research (although I will admit some of my professors had really cool projects, such as the double bubble theorem). But listening to the lady speak, an MBA became more and more attractive to me. So I started researching.

Long story short, six weeks later I took the GMAT and kicked its butt. Seriously. I could not have asked for a better score. I don't think there is a person in the world who would have been dissatisfied with the score I got. Maybe that's a slight exaggeration. 1 or 2 people would have been displeased with themselves. And now I am just finishing up my applications to a couple of schools (trying to decide whether or not to apply to a couple more as well) and then it will be a waiting game for that one as well.

So basically, my trip in Utah became a little life changing for me. Especially since these different opportunities have the potential to take me anywhere across the country. Pretty big deal.

Now I just have to see what happens and be open to anything that may change my plans. Because if there is one thing I learned in the last couple years, it is that life changes very fast and while goals are necessary, you need to be flexible too.

Date Night

Don't let that title fool you. My date night lately has been these two kids.

Being the one in my family who doesn't have a boyfriend and who doesn't have a job that typically requires me to work the weekend evenings, I usually end up spending Friday night with my favorite youngest brother and sister. But we usually just stay home, maybe go get some dinner (tacos for me and Noah and Mickey D's dollar menu for Taya), and watch some sort of movie [or two]. Well last night I needed to get out of the house. My stresses of the last several weeks were finally over [more on that later] and I wanted to do something. And so we went to the Temple Lights!

They humored me and went to the musical concert that started at 7. But we only lasted there for two or three songs because a) it was freezing and we weren't really prepared for that, b) we were standing, and c) we wanted to look at the lights while everyone else was watching the show! So we looked at half the lights then went into the visitors center to see all the nativities (we found 4 from Germany, and Noah was shocked that I could read the German Book of Mormon...haha, apparently I have a really good fake accent and he doesn't know that I have the first line of the BofM memorized), and then watched Luke 2, and finished off with the rest of the lights.

These 2 can drive me crazy sometimes [a lot of the time], but when we do things like this they are so sweet. Noah was the one who really pushed us to watch Luke 2 and I am so glad he did. And then driving home we didn't listen to the radio....we sang our own Christmas songs! Apparently we don't know many words to many different Christmas songs. We kept going back to Rudolph! But it was a fun night and I loved seeing the Temple Lights again!

Side Note: An older couple at the Temple asked us where Dillon High School was. Trying to explain that it is a fictional high school in Texas from a TV show helped me realize for the first time how weirdly obsessive my family can be with that show. But we don't care. "Clear eyes, full hearts, can't lose! Rogers Forever." It's become our family motto! And by the way, I have become a fan of Connie Britton's (Tammy Taylor's) new show, Nashville. 

Reminders

Sometimes you just need a reminder. One of my old roommates posted this talk on Facebook the other day. I love Elder Holland. Well all the general authorities. But he can be so powerful.

While I was reading the talk I kept thinking back to something one of my other old roommates has told me many times through the past year. Doctrine and Covenants 45:62:

"For verily I say unto you, that great things await you."

I am applying to several different things right now for next fall. While I am excited for each potential opportunity, I am also scared out of my mind. And I keep wanting to back out and just stay with what I am comfortable in. But I can't do that. I know that the things I am doing are good and that I should be doing them.

That talk was a great reminder. Fear not.

Lessons From Roomies

I have decided that everyone needs to experience living with a variety of people. I know for some people it just works (and happens) to go from living with their family to living with their spouse. But I have had the chance to live with a variety of people and I think that if people have the opportunity to do that they should take it. I learned so much living with all my roommates in Provo.

I learned that no one likes other people's messes and you need to clean up after yourself.

A bowl of cereal at midnight is always a good idea.

Love someone and support them through their trials.

Sometimes, when you need to focus on something, it's ok to put your headphones in and pretend you are listening to music.

How to make really good homemade potatoe soup.

It's the little acts of service that mean the most.

Express your emotions. People feel the same way or have been in similar situations and can help.

Dancing in the kitchen isn't normal.

We all have our quirks, but those were the things I always loved most.

To all my former roomies: you guys are great. I miss you and love you all!

Acca-Believe It.

I love movies. I really do. I love to watch movies and I love to buy movies. And I love to go to the movies. Fortunately, my brother works at the theater so if we are ever not working at the same time (it has happened 3 times so far) we get to go enjoy some sibling bonding [but mainly] movie time. One of the movies we saw together was Pitch Perfect. Hilarious. So hilarious in fact that I paid to see it two additional times. And all three times were within the same week. I think I have the movie memorized.

Another movie I just saw that I would go see again is The Perks of Being a Wallflower. So. Good. I tear up in a lot of movies, but rarely do I have tears coming down my cheeks. There were tears on my cheeks during this one. This movie was funny and sad. You became friends with the characters, and just wanted to give Charlie a hug and shake him out of his awkwardness. But then Kaitlyn and I highly recommended it to our parents, telling them we both cried, and they came home saying it was just okay and questioning what part(s) we cried at. I'm going to say it's a generational thing. Or maybe not and if so, then they're heartless. Just kidding. A difference in taste? Or maybe who they saw it with? Cause believe it or not that makes a huge difference.

Anyways, the whole point of this post was going to be to vent my frustration on the rating system. And the fact that Hollywood feels the need to drop the F-bomb in movies, have nudity, sexual content, all that crap, when there is no need for it whatsoever. Most of the movies coming out in the next little bit that I want to see have the unfortunate rating of R. WHY?! Why has it become socially acceptable to be degrading, to promote immoral relationships, to use inappropriate language loosely and carelessly? It's so frustrating that the moral standard has become so low.

Now, I am not saying that all R movies are bad. I will admit that I have seen a couple where the reason that they were R was for reasons that are historically accurate/depict actual events. And with that I don't see a problem. People need to understand history and the world and not be coddled or protected from it. But some movies that are out or will be out soon that I would really like to see are R purely because the writer/director/producer decided to throw in some language and some nudity instead of leaving it out. And it frustrates me.

Right now the only two movies coming out anytime soon that I think I have interest in seeing are Wreck it Ralph and Les Miserables. Because everything else that has a trailer that appeals to me ends up with an R rating. Like Argo, Flight, and Gangster Squad to name a few.

And that's my rant for now. Stupid movies. But I still love them.

Sidenote: A movie I saw this summer that I just bought: Moonrise Kingdom. Go watch it. It's different but funny. And not obvious funny. Funny as in everyone in the movie takes themselves completely seriously but they do the most ridiculous things. And the placement of everyone in every scene and every movement is so deliberate. Wes Anderson is fantastic.

Morning Musings

I have officially joined the age of technology. Up till now, I have resisted Apple. I did not have any form of a smart phone, had my dell laptop from 3 years ago, and my iPod nano from 4 years ago. Well, I am officially the owner of an iPad. I am still pretty clueless to apps, do not understand Instagram, and #idontunderstandthis #itbugsthecrapoutofme. But not lugging my laptop back and forth to work everyday is fantastic.

Tomorrow I go to Utah. Hallelujah.

In case you didn't believe that I had a crazy schedule before, the stress of it resulted in shingles. A very mild case, but for about a week there it sucked. No worries though! It's all gone.

General Conference was this weekend and pretty exciting. I had to work during the first session though and when I got home my family told me the exciting news: boys can now serve missions at age 18 and girls at age 19. My response? I burst into tears and said, "That's so stupid!" Cause guess what? Wyatt can now put his papers in at anytime. And apparently I am not ready for him to leave yet.

I started training for a tough mudder about a week ago. And was sore for days. But that training is on hold for a little bit because I may be losing my race partner (see above).

And that is my life in a nutshell right now.

Tales of Work

Me: How old are you?

Dancer: 20!

Me: 20?! Are you sure? Are you 3?

Dancer: No! I'm 20!

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Dancer: I had a taco today!

Me: You did? Did your mom make it for you?

Dancer: No. I got it at McDonald's. We waited in the car and then I ate it.

Me: That sounds fun! What did you have for breakfast?

Dancer: I just had a taco!

Me: You didn't have breakfast?

Dancer: No! I had a taco!

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Me: How old are you?

Dancer: 3. My birthday's tomorrow!

Me: How old will you be tomorrow?

Dancer: 5!

Me: Will you be 4?

Dancer: 5!

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My dancers (ahem, my 3 year old dancers) can all be very insistent when they tell me things! But I love them and laugh every time I go to class with them. So really I started writing this post with the intention of telling the world about my day yesterday, but then wanted to include some funny conversations I had with my girls. So now the real story:

Having 4 jobs makes for a crazy schedule. Literally every single day is different. I don't even leave my house at the same time everyday (except Monday, Wednesday, Friday). So up to this point I have always checked my calendar for the day to make sure I know what time I need to be everywhere. Well, on Monday I knew I had to be at work in Phoenix in the morning (class then office hours) then a school in Mesa for an hour, then dance at Dance Element for 3 hours. 

In my head the whole day I was thinking I needed to end my office hours at 1:45 so I could be on the road by 2pm. Drive for about 45 minutes, teach an hour at the school, then drive 30 minutes and teach from 4-7pm at the studio. 

Have you noticed what I failed to notice? 

Those numbers don't add up right. Especially since I like to give myself an extra 15-20 minutes for each drive just in case something happens. Guess what time I was supposed to leave Phoenix? No later than 1pm. What time was I supposed to be at the school? By 2:10. When did I realize that? At 1:45pm. I had 25 minutes to make a 45 minute drive, change my clothes, and I wasn't even to my car yet. 

Oh. My. Gosh. 

My heart literally sank right to the ground. My worst nightmare was coming true. I panicked and took off at a run to my car (real professional like) and sped off. I called my boss to break the news. (Sidenote: For this job, we are an after school program. If we are late, I get charged $25 by the school. If we are more than like 20 minutes late meaning a no show we get charged a $100). Tender mercies. Let me tell you about them. Just for that particular Monday, I had an assistant that would be teaching with me. And she was already at the school. Also, my boss and her assistant were visiting my school as their first stop that day. Meaning they would cover for me. And my boss was so sweet and understanding about it.

I ran into the school only about 10 minutes late (tender mercy #3: no cops = no speeding ticket) still wearing my work pants with just my dance top thrown on. And I was super frazzled. But lesson learned. ALWAYS check my calendar. Even if I think I know my schedule.

Sidenote: I have 269 students. And I can name about 100 of them. Go me.

I heard it on the radio

I have recently started spending a lot of time in my car. About a minimum of 2 hours a day. Sometimes I am lucky and it is less. Like today! But time in the car = time listening to music (or a quick call to catch up with Utah friends, but they are typically busy with class when I am driving). When I was in Utah I always said that I missed listening to John Jay and Rich in the mornings (104.7) cause that's what I always listened to in the mornings in high school. And I never thought that I would say this, but they are kind of annoying. Like super irritating annoying. Especially John Jay. In all honesty, I feel like he belittles people and is just rude to others. Okay, sorry. Not my place to judge. But hard feelings going on there. Got it? I don't like listening to 104.7 anymore. So I switch between stations a lot. And I have recently discovered this song.

I love it. So now I just switch back and forth all the time between 102.5 and 107.9 and I usually hear it about twice a day. Today I decided that I just needed to buy it so I could listen to it forever. But, it is NOT. ON. iTUNES. What the heck?! What song isn't on itunes?? This song needs to get on there fast. Although, by the time it is I will probably already be hooked on some different song. Because, let's be honest, all good songs get overplayed and then you just can't take it anymore.

Oh well. For now I will love it and just keep flipping stations hoping to hear it.

Never Ever Breaking Up

Even if you aren't a fan of t-swift, you have probably heard her new song "we are never ever getting back together". Well, I was shown this little beauty today. It's awesome. Laugh out loud awesome. Pretty dang hilarious. Well worth the 4 minutes of your time to watch it.

How to pay the bills

...that is if I had any bills! [thanks to my parentals for free rent]

It's official! I have a job! Well, if we want to get technical: I have a couple of jobs! And I am pretty excited about all of them. It will get pretty crazy in the next couple of weeks, but I am ready to be busy!

So here is the run down. I currently have 4 jobs, with an agreement for a 5th job come November. Crazy, I know. But for some of the jobs I work less than 5 hours a week. Where are all these jobs? Good question. Here is a typical day for me:

Around 8am I head down to Grand Canyon University where I am an Instructor's Assistant for 2 classes. I am on campus until about 1 (sometimes a little longer) and then I leave. But it is not even close to being time to go home! Then I go on to job #2. This is working for a dance company that holds after school dance programs in the elementary schools. So I have 3 schools I am assigned to (one for Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday) and I just go teach dance for an hour! And then I go teach studio dance! This ranges for anywhere from 1 to 3 hours. Then one day a week after studio dance, I go back to an elementary school to teach dance for an acting/singing/dancing program. I get done with work at a different time everyday, but it is anywhere from 3 to 7pm.

My life is lots of teaching right now. And lots of driving. And lots of everything I love. I am teaching math, dance, and zumba and I absolutely love it! Let's just hope I can keep everything straight and get to the right schools and studios on the right day at the right time!

People think I am crazy with my long dance background, but then my degree is in math. Well, this is how I get to use both of them!

My Best Friends' Weddings

So the last 3 weekends one of my close friends [all of them also being former roommates] were sealed in the temple to their best friend! I am so incredibly happy for all them - and they all couldn't have married a better guy for them.

The weddings started off with Camille.

Camille and I met our freshman year at BYU - she was living with McKenzie and Meredith, some of my friends from high school, but she was from Mesa! Small world! So then we ended up living together the next two years. We have had some fun adventures together and I am so happy for her and Riley!

The next wedding was McKenzie!

McKenzie and I have been friends since our sophomore year of high school, and room-roommates for the last two years. We have had so many adventures together (skydiving, DisneyWorld, Ragnar/San Fran....) and she has been there for me through some of the hardest trials I have had to go through. And hopefully I have been there for her as well. McKenzie is one my closest friends and I am so glad I got to be there for her on her special day. Her wedding was also one of the most unique weddings I have EVER been to: The bride got sick an hour before the ring ceremony and reception. The bride and groom never made it to either of those events, so the majority of us at the reception ended up swimming in the pool. Fully dressed. And the bride and groom spent their wedding night in the ER. No worries though, everything turned out fine and after two I.V.'s the bride was doing well and they headed off on their honeymoon! Something eventful and memorable would happen at McKenzie's wedding!

The last wedding was Alix! And I am so bummed cause after the reception last night I realized I never got a picture with the bride! So this picture will have to do.

Alix and I have known each other the longest out of any of these friends. We have memories of each other going back to like third grade, but we weren't really friends until 7th grade. And then we were freshman roommates and entered the scary world of college together. We have stayed friends over the years and I am so grateful for that! Alix married her high school sweetheart, Jake, last night and I am so happy for them and excited for them to begin this phase of their lives together! Congratulations to you both!

Now with all these weddings over, what am I supposed to do on the weekends?! :]

That Moment Changed My Life!

Once upon a time [last year to be exact] I had a roommate named Meaghan. She was from Tennessee. And all 5 of the rest of us were from Arizona. So upon completion of the school year, she decided to come down to Arizona for a week before heading home for the summer. Well, seeing as how Disneyland and the beach are only 5 to 6 hours from the valley, a small group of us decided that she needed to have those experiences before she headed back on home. And so we went!

Towards the end of our wonderful day at Disneyland and California Adventures. Kaitlyn, Meaghan, and I split off to ride some of the little kid rides. Guess who we saw on our way to Fantasyland? None other than Mr. Mickey Mouse himself! And no one was waiting in line to see him! That is a rare circumstance at Disney and so we took complete advantage of it. We ventured on over and started taking pictures with Mickey. Earlier in the day, we had gotten Meaghan a pin that said "My First Visit" and it didn't take long for Mickey to notice that little guy. Well Mickey got super excited and gave Meaghan a huge kiss and the two of them were just awesome together.

After saying farewell to Mickey, we completed the journey to Fantasyland (grabbing some Dole Pineapple Whip Floats on our way) and got in line for Peter Pan. While in line, Meaghan was still on cloud 9  from having seen the magical mouse himself and exclaimed, "That moment changed my life!" I was dying laughing with how happy Meaghan was and I told her that I absolutely loved the picture we got of Mickey kissing her. She then informed me she was going to put that picture on a pillowcase and mail it to me for my birthday. I loved that idea and said please do. 

While still waiting in line for Peter Pan, I received a text from Meaghan. Confused, I started reading it and it said, "For Morgan's birthday send her a pillowcase with my Mickey picture on it and have it say 'That moment changed my life!'" I busted up laughing again, showed it to Meaghan, and of course she meant to send it to herself and not to me. But after all of that, I have wondered all summer whether or not I would get that pillowcase. Ladies and gentlemen, get excited. Last night, she gave me this beauty:

One of our other roommates {McKenzie} got married yesterday, and Meaghan came out for the wedding. All day she kept telling me she had a present for me. And all day I kept hoping it would be this pillowcase. Finally at about 10:30 last night she gave me the present and it was what I hoped it would be. I was estatic! I screamed, I jumped up and down, and {admittedly} I cried. I was so happy with this pillowcase. But Meaghan went above and beyond what she said she was going to do. She added this little beauty to the back: 

Yes. That is me. And yes. My shorts are hiked up as high as they can go and my shirt is tucked in. Upon arriving home last night, that baby went on my pillow. One of the best presents. Ever.

One year older. Wiser too?

Remember that post forever ago about how I was freaking out for my 20th birthday? I was already stressing out about getting older? Well that has completely flipped. I am so happy with where I am right now and feel like I am really at a great age!

Being an adult is fantastic. I am at the point in my life where I am working, but I can have so much fun too. I can do the traveling I want to do, go on crazy adventures, and just do whatever! It's so great. Although if something [read someone] were to come along and change that, I wouldn't be opposed to it. But for right now I am loving life!

I have had a pretty crazy year since my last birthday, so here are the highlights (many of which have been mentioned before...but it was a big year so deal with it :] )

San Francisco/Ragnar Relay

The greatest roommates I could have ever asked for! They helped me through some of the hardest times this year. And yes, we are all wearing matching shirts that have our faces plastered on them. We love each other.

Disneyworld!! With my 3 bestest friends :]

Graduated College! 

Disneyland! Truly the happiest place on earth - especially when you are there with fantastic people.

Six Flags! I love amusement parks :]

And then the greatest trip ever. A stop in St. Louis

The turn around point: Cedar Point Amusement Park. And yes, we waited over an hour to go on a ride that goes only straight up and straight back down. But it was completely worth it.

Chicago!! Love that city...I think I could live there and be one happy girl :]

Mount Rushmore - I love national monuments. There is just something about them that pulls me in.

Many people have asked so here are the stats on this trip:

5,207 miles driven

15 days traveled

18 states visited

7 nights camping, 7 nights hotel

4 nights camping in pouring rain

1 night camping in the most horrible windstorm of my life

1 night of sweltering humid heat

2 amusement parks

The best burger I have ever eaten in my life (I will go back to Denver just to eat at the Cherry Cricket)

I will need a couple of weeks of not being in the car for a minimum of 3 hours every day, and then I will be ready to plan our next roadtrip! Northwestern corner of the US maybe?

Words of Taya

Yesterday Taya and I spent 9 hours in the car together. Just the two of us. That girl says some pretty funny things.

"Who built the periods?" (the pyramids)
"My hands smell gorgeous!"
"Mom says I can't wipe my hands on my clothes. But she never said anything about my pillow!" (as I was telling her not to wipe her chocolate covered fingers on her pillow)
"Jada says I might marry someone famous. She reads palms."

She also loves to play 20 questions. Without waiting for the answers. This was a legit conversation:

"What if you knew Taylor Swift? What if she was your sister? What if she was your step-sister? Or your adopted sister? What if she was your aunt? What if she was your best friend? What if she was your grandma?"

The following didn't happen in the car, but was a conversation we had on the beach the day before.

I made a comment about Taya being the baby of the family and my mom said at least she didn't nurse her any more. Taya asked my mom what that was. My mom explained that it is when the mom feeds her babies milk from her boobs. Taya looked absolutely disgusted and incredulously asked my mom, "You did that!?" Followed by, "I thought that was a choice!" A little bit after the conversation, with a still disgusted look on her face, asked "Did you do that in public?"

Oh Taya...

Les Miserables

A couple weeks ago I was watching the Tony's and I saw this trailer:

Does this movie not look amazing?! I of course want to see it, but here is the appalling truth: I haven't seen the play! And I am dying to see it! Luckily during the Tony's there was also a commercial saying that this play would be at Gammage! In September! With tickets going on sale the next day! Well I bet you can guess what followed, and guess what came in the mail today.

Now the question of who will go with me.

I like glitter and sparkly dresses

....but I'm not gonna talk about that in my monologue. 

Er, blogpost. I'm gonna talk about sparkly shoes! My new obsession. And I have two pairs. 

These:

And these:

I love them :]

Starting Summer Right

I have definitely had a fantastic start to my summer. Wyatt graduated from high school (yes, he has officially passed Kaitlyn and I both up in height....although that happened awhile ago) and so we took him to Magic Mountain to celebrate! That's one of the great things about the jobs that I have for this summer. Babysitting - I tell them when I will/won't be in town so I only take jobs when I want them. And dance. Only 4 days a week and it just barely started today!

We initially told Wyatt he could invite some friends to come with us, but it was a last minute trip and they all had plans/work/other stuff going on and so none of them could come. So we invited our cousins Marlee and Kirsten! Marlee just graduated too, so it was a fun trip for the 5 of us!

That face. Wyatt makes it in almost every picture. It's horrendous. But anywho, the park was packed with Middle School kids who were there for their promotion party. The longest wait we had though was still only like 45 minutes which isn't too bad. And we did the whole park in like 6 hours. Roller coasters give me a headache. I couldn't take any of the rides more than once - except Tatsu. I think that's my fav!

After a day at Magic Mountain, we headed down to San Clemente for a day. Cause really, we can't be in Cali and not go there. And we ate at Pedro's. It's a must. And, I even got in the water! I was the only one and I don't know the last time I really got it in the ocean, so it was kinda a big deal.

Summer has been wonderful to me so far :]

Priorities

Summer is officially here! Two big things are happening tonight that solidify the start of summer for everyone. That may be an exaggeration, but really, I am excited.

First off in a few hours time, this kid is going to be the one in a cap and gown! So excited for him!

The second big event of the night is the start of my obsession. It lasts all summer long and I am so happy for it to start! It already looks like it is going to be a great season!

Only problem is, they both start at 7pm tonight.

An Ordinary Day

I know you are all just dying to know what a college graduate does on a daily basis. And let me tell you, it's pretty exciting. By the way, that was a sarcastic comment. I actually don't have much to complain about - I just still don't have a plan of permanent income set in place, but that will come. For now, I am continuing to enjoy my life!

On an average day, I get up in the morning and go to the gym, check facebook, email, blogstalk, watch a few episodes of either How I Met Your Mother, Scrubs, or whatever else Kaitlyn is watching, run some errands, and each day I typically have some sort of job (either babysitting Penelope or working at my dance studio). I also have a new obsession with healthy food. I have been experimenting a lot and while I enjoy my cooking, I may be the only one. But I found this recipe for breakfast smoothies and I LOVE them.

I also just got certified to be a Zumbatomic instructor (aka Zumba for kids) and I am so excited! I am teaching Zumba (for both kids and adults) this summer at my dance studio (Dance Element), as well as a bunch of dance classes too. So basically I am excited for the summer session to get started in two weeks!

In my spare time I have seen several movies this summer too. First, The Avengers. It was great. Who doesn't love superheros? Yesterday I saw Battleship. Not gonna lie, the only reason I wanted to see it was because Tim Riggins is in it. And I love him. But it was actually a legitimately good movie! I really enjoyed it! And Landry is in it too. He's so funny. Then today I saw The Artist. This movie won Best Movie at the Oscar's this year. But here's the thing, it is made to look like a 1920's film. So there is no talking and it is in black and white. Of course I had to see it to see if it really deserved Best Movie, and it was great! It held my attention the whole time and was really well done. While we may have been the only people in the theater under the age of 60, I totally recommend this movie!

Well, there's my life! Not too exciting, but I am enjoying my freedom! And may even take off to Magic Mountain and the beach next week just because I can.

Celebration

Warning: This post has a major overload of pictures! But enjoy :]

Upon graduating and becoming real people, we decided that we needed to celebrate. But we still have poor college student budgets. While a cruise was beckoning to us, we decided to visit the two places that never fail to bring us joy and happiness. The first being Disneyland! Yes, we were just at DisneyWorld, but they really are not the same place at all. And we both prefer the original Disneyland.

We drove over to Cali at about 3am the day we went to Disneyland (we're cool like that) and met up with some friends there. Specifically two of my roommates (Meaghan and Kylee) and Kylee's siblings and friend. We partied hard all day long and did both parks in one day! Without ever using a fastpass. And we saw the World of Color show which blew my mind. It was so awesome.

It was Meaghan's first ever trip to Disneyland and she has never been to Disneyworld, so a picture with Minnie Mouse was a must! 

Kaitlyn and I hadn't been to California Adventures since I was in High School, and it has completely changed! Mickey Mouse is now on the ferris wheel, there is no giant orange, Mullholland Madness is now Goofy's Flight School, there is a Little Mermaid ride, you can get to Tower of Terror from Bug's Land, and Carsland is almost done! So different. And in case you can't read what those pins say that we are wearing (which you probably didn't even notice the pins) they say "Just Graduated!" All the workers were telling us congratulations - it was fantastic.

Oh, and if Minnie Mouse wasn't enough, we got our picture with Mickey Mouse too! He was awesome and gave Meaghan a huge kiss since it was her first visit. It was pretty legit.

The ferris wheel all lit up for the World of Color show! Seriously one of the most magical and entertaining shows I have seen at Disneyland. It was my childhood all wrapped up into one show. I teared up a little. Meaghan and Kylee cried. Sorry to call you guys out :]

Roommates and Honorary Roommate at the end of the day! Yeah, Kaitlyn was our honorary roommate because she was at our place more than hers. We all love her though so it worked out great!

After our wonderful Disney day, we all met up again the next day at the one and only Calafia beach in San Clemente! On a side note, if all my happy places are in Cali, why do I not live there? Anyways, it was so nice to relax on the beach, get a little tan, and show my friends where I grew up during half my summers.

It was such a fun way to celebrate adulthood. Through the last three years Kaitlyn and I have become really close and I am so grateful for the friendship we now have! This trip was so much fun and I am glad I got to spend it with all these people!

Now time for reality and job hunting. Wish me luck!

Time To Be A Grown Up

Well, it is official! Grades are in and I officially passed all my classes [not gonna lie I was getting pretty nervous about one of my classes cause I didn't even finish the final]. I am a college graduate! An alumni of Brigham Young University. Pretty crazy right?! It is so weird to be done. I don't think it will hit me until the diploma comes in the mail and I don't go back to Utah in August. For now I don't have a grown up job, but I am teaching dance and zumba and have a couple other odd jobs. And I have a some possibilities for a grown up job but we will see what ends up happening! For now I am enjoying my summer and basking in the fact that I have no more tests, quizzes, homework, papers, etc. for the foreseeable future! Yes.

The whole family at graduation! And soon there will be a third graduate in the family!

Aren't we so cute? Love that we graduated together and got to experience BYU together.

The parentals. Love them.

I did it!

Season of Weddings

Wedding season has officially begun. In the last couple of weeks and in the coming weeks several of my good friends have/are getting married. And one of my best friends is about to join them! Kenzie - my friend from high school and roomie for the past two years - just got engaged and I couldn't be happier for her! We knew this would be our last year living together because I am graduating and moving back to Arizona, but she always accused me of leaving her. Hate to break it to you Kenzie, but you are leaving me! And it's only because it is for Taylor that I am okay with it :] 

Funny Story:

I heard Taylor was going to propose to her while she was teaching a class in the SWKT. The class ended at about 10:50 and at about that same time I was meeting Kaitlyn in front of the SWKT to get something from her. As I was waiting for Kaitlyn, Taylor and Kenzie came out of the building. I saw them before they saw me and I just stood there staring at them and smiling like an idiot. They finally saw me and both just smiled, said hi, and walked towards me. I kept smiling like an idiot waiting for them to tell me they were engaged. And I was trying to sneak a look at her finger. They both just kept looking at me and kind of laughing. And I kept just standing there like an idiot. They went on their way and let me just say I was so confused. Apparently they weren't engaged at that moment. They got engaged about 5 minutes later. It was one of the more awkward moments of my life.

 But since I can be a cheeseball, here is a montage of Kenzie and Morgan since senior year of high school!

Senior Year Calculus class - Mr. Stone loved us. He really did.

Freshman Year - We ran some race together and had quotes on our backs

Hiking Camelback Summer 2010

The beginning of our adventures living together!

Happy Birthday to us - Skydiving Summer 2011 for our 20th birthdays

Ragnar! San Francisco! Napa Valley! Fall 2011

DisneyWorld Christmas 2011

We are such great roomies

If you just looked at all of those pictures: Congrats. You now know the [big] adventures of Morgan and Kenzie. Sorry you had to witness them all.