Carpe Diem

The other day at work [I stand in the same spot for 4 hours and have a lot of time to think] I was thinking about life. I was thinking about how I am currently 19 years old and on my next birthday I will be 20. I will no longer be a teenager. I will most likely graduate from college when I am 20 and then I will have to face the real world, get a real job. I am not ready for that at all! So I was thinking about this and then I started thinking about the movie The Dead Poet's Society. If you have not seen this movie, go and watch it right now. I think this is a fantastic movie. Anyways, in this movie Robin Williams' character is talking to his students and he says:

They're not that different from you, are they? Same haircuts. Full of hormones, just like you. Invincible, just like you feel. The world is their oyster. They believe they're destined for great things, just like many of you, their eyes are full of hope, just like you. Did they wait until it was too late to make from their lives even one iota of what they were capable? Because, you see gentlemen, these boys are now fertilizing daffodils. But if you listen real close, you can hear them whisper their legacy to you. Go on, lean in. Listen, you hear it? - - Carpe - - hear it? - - Carpe, carpe diem, seize the day boys, make your lives extraordinary.

I want to make my life extraordinary. And so to prepare for my twenties, I am going to do some extraordinary things. I have taken the last several days to really think about life and things that I want to accomplish in life. I have thought about things that I have always wanted to do but have never taken the time to do or have been too scared to do. And now I am going to do them. Before my 20th birthday, I am going to do these 20 things (in no particular order):

1. Skydive

2. Eat Sushi

3. Audition for So You Think You Can Dance – or Cougarettes

4. Travel – Visit [at least] 2 states I have not been to before

5. Read the Bible – both Old and New Testament

6. Drive [or maybe walk] across the Golden Gate Bridge

7. Learn words to “We Didn’t Start the Fire”

8. Run ½ Marathon

9. Go to the circus (or Cirque du Soleil if the circus does not present itself available)

10. Eat a giant piece of Pollyanna-like cake

11. Hike the Y

12. Watch all of the Lord of the Rings movies

13. Read Jane Eyre – I have tried this once and got nothing out of it, so I am going to enjoy it this time around!

14. Make myself a dress – a cute dress that I will wear!

15. Attend a professional ballet

16. See the Nutcracker

17. Play in a pile of leaves

18. Visit 7 Temples I have not visited before

19. Ice Skate in an Outdoor ice skating rink

20. Better express my emotions

This blog is now dedicated to the documentation of my "bucket list" so to speak. And now wish me luck as I begin my journey of making my life extraordinary as I prepare to exit my teens and turn the big 20!

Cougartails

My family came up from Arizona for a couple of days while everyone was on Fall Break. It was so much fun to have them all here and eventually I will post pics and talk about what all we did, but I don't have all the pics yet - so for now here is what Wyatt and Noah were super excited for in Utah:

COUGARTAILS! That's right....my dad, grandpa, and brothers came to the BYU Homecoming Football game with me and we got some cougartails. Last year I told the boys about these delicious BYU delicacies and of course they were dying to have one. So we bought 3. One for Wyatt, one for me and Noah, and one for my Dad and Grandpa. It was the [almost] best part of the game.

For those of you unfamiliar with this BYU treat, here it is. A maple covered long john that is longer than Wyatt is wide. Oh man, my mouth is watering just thinking about it!

Look at Noah enjoy that thing! He loved every minute of being at the game.

I think they enjoyed it too - even if they thought it was a bit too sweet :]

It ended up being a really good game even though BYU has been failing miserably this season [really, did we have to lose to USAFA??] We actually won this game! Which made it even more fun! The best part [even better than the cougartails] was probably after the game. We were walking outside of the stadium to the car and guess who is standing in the street - Elder L. Tom Perry with his wife! That's right. We all stood there for a minute just staring at him, but lots of people were shaking his hand and taking pictures with him, so we joined in the crowd. All 5 of us were able to shake his hand. It was so awesome! He is a very tall man too. As my grandpa said, he had a very firm grip, but his hands were so warm even though it was cold outside. You gotta love BYU and the many opportunities you have to meet/see various apostles and general authorities!

That's What You Get For Waking Up In Vegas...

I am smack in the middle of midterms week. But am I studying right now? No. I am facebook and blog stalking. I am tired of studying. So I will take a break from it and document my trip to Vegas last weekend!

My roommates boyfriend left on his mission this past week and so we all headed down to Vegas for his farewell! We went down Friday after classes, spent all day Saturday there, and then headed home Sunday evening - getting home close to midnight. It was a fantabulous trip! It was definately needed as a last fun event before midterms began. We stayed with a family that my roommate knows from her trips to Vegas and let me tell ya, we were treated like royalty! We were taken such good care of. Saturday we went to Lake Mead and spent the whole day on the lake wakeboarding, wake surfing, tubing, and just swimming. It was so nice to be in the sun! I actually got some tanness too - people at work commented on me looking tan! Haha but it was a well worth it trip!

Me and Kenzie and Saudalia as we left the Provo area!

The four roommates in front of the house we stayed at!

He will be such an awesome missionary!

Stopping at the chair in Beaver again on our way home from Vegas!

Now it is back to studying I suppose....only 3 more midterms, 1 paper, 4 days, and then my family will be here to play with me! :]

Moab

I just finished up my second week of school. Bleh. Haha it actually has been a pretty good semester so far. I am enjoying my classes and my professors (which makes a huge difference) and the work load has not been too crazy yet. I am taking multivariable calculus, theory of analysis, social inequality, biology, Doctrine & Covenants, and The Living Prophets. It will be a doable semester and I am so grateful for that. Midterms will be here before I know it though and while we still aren't super busy, Kaitlyn and I decided to have an adventure.

Yesterday Kaitlyn and I drove down to Moab to go to Leslie and Alison's baby shower! We headed down at about 8 and got back just before 6. It was a quick adventure but totally worth it. Leslie had invited us and Emily down last semester but it just never worked out for us to go down there. After realizing how short of a drive it really is (and it's an easy, pretty drive too) we totally want to go back sometime! It was so good to see both Leslie and Alison as well as Sharon, Enoch, and Jayne. I love spending time with family, especially family that you don't get to see very often. Again, I failed at life and didn't take any pictures! I wish I had though because alot of the drive was pretty and Moab was a nice a little town. The park we were at was really pretty too with lots of big trees! Can you tell I am from Arizona and am used to the desert? :] Anyways, thanks for inviting us down! We had a lot of fun!

My Dresser

My bedroom doesn't have a dresser, so me and my roommate went to Goodwill!

Before:

After:
The two brown drawers will soon have pictures mod-podged to them.
I love my dresser :]

Adios Gilbert

I love Gilbert. I really do. It's where I eventually want to settle and have a family (in like 20 years of course). It's home. And it always will be. But for now I have another home in Provo! I just got back up here and it's weird to be here again. On one hand it feels like I never left and on the other it seems like I shouldn't be here - the summer wasn't long enough. But it was. It was four months. Now it is time to have fun, study, work, study, and try to have some more fun in there. While I loved my roommates last year, I am excited for my new ones. I am rooming with one of my friends from high school and I think it will be a good year. It's been a good weekend already. We talked all 6 hours driving from Vegas to Provo (never once turned on music) and having been meshing really well in setting up our room. Of course, it's always hard to say goodbye. But it has to be done, so this year Kaitlyn and I decided to treat our siblings as a way of saying goodbye - we went to Jumpstreet! It was lots of fun - a fun goodbye. Not a sad one. 3 months till Thanksgiving...let the partying - I mean studying! Begin :]

Life

I have been pretty busy since my appendix was removed....but at the same time I feel like I haven't done a whole lot! Here is a quick run-down and some pics of what I have been up to since that crazy week in June :]

• California! I have gone twice now, once with the Rogers' and once with the Hatchs'. Both times was only a quick weekend, but at least I was able to go with both groups this year which beats last summer!
  
• Dance officially ended for the summer :( This makes me so sad cause I LOVE my studio that I teach at. But I will be back eventually and I always visit so I will be able to see them whenever I am home visiting.


• I have gone hiking with friends a couple of times this summer. The first time we went was before the appendix and So You Think You Can Dance (we hiked Camelback which was a killer but sooo fun!) Our most recent hike was to Fat Man's Pass at South Mountain. Not gonna lie - it was flippin HOT! But I would do it again in a heart beat :]


• I went to Cow Appreciation Day at Chick-Fil-A with my mom, Kaitlyn, Noah, and Taya. We dressed as Cows at about 9 pm and got free food. I love free food :]


• Babysitting is officially my new job. I babysit one little girl once a week while her parents work. She is super cute and happy! Love her! I also take whatever jobs I can get! I have done a long weekend job (Saturday to Wednesday) which wasnt too bad. Yesterday I had 2 babysitting jobs right in a row for a grand total of 14 straight hours of babysitting! Wow...


• Last but not least.....Quilting! This is such a random thing that I love to do....but it is so fun! I am almost done with a quilt that I have been creating and imagining in my head for about 2 years (this is my first summer actually working on it though) It is huge! It is going to be a king-sized quilt - and I love it!
  

About 4 weeks left untill I head back up to school! Definately bitter sweet since I will miss my family, but I am so excited for my classes and, not gonna lie, to be on my own again!

My quilt! I just need to add some borders on the outside.

Hiking!



Me and Taya at the Beach!

This is my cousin Marlee!

I told Noah and Taya to act like they liked each other...and this is what I got :]

Oh Wyatt.... :]


Free food!