Hard to find...

People are plentiful.

Friends can be found just about anywhere. 

Good friends are hard to come by. 

Best friends are far and few between. 

I feel like that's kind of a poem? Ha, I know it's not though. 

Ignore the wall of sexy men behind us!

Getting close to try and fit Yosemite falls in the picture...

Add caption

Don't mind me... Just chillin at the beach with my cabinet.

Thermal cam... guess neither of us are very "hot" (get it?)

Ignore the ever lengthing mullet... it has since been removed.

I love my cousin. :) <3

Best friends are just that. They're the best. Best friends should bring you up, make you want to be better. They are what's good for you and you hope that as you grow and progress they'll always be what's good for you. Sometimes, they aren't though.

I have always liked having a few close friends. And then plenty of other just good friends. And that's kinda what I have now.

A best friend is hard to come by. But, to come by as many as I have is rare. They all mean so much to me. I don't wanna do lists. Because people get hurt when you do lists. (I am missing a few pictures of some of my best friends on this blog... these are just ones that were taken recently).

They say a good friend picks you up when you fall down. A best friend laughs, says "walk much?!" and then helps you up.

A good friend bails you out of jail. A best friend is there in the cell with you saying "man that was fun."

A good friend is always nice. A best friend lets you have it when you deserve it.

A good friend loves you. A best friend loves you unconditionally.

A good friend is there for you. They ask how you're doing. A best friend knows how you're doing and is there without you asking.

I am beyond blessed with the people in my life. Especially at a time that has been emotionally hard for me... I have never felt as much love from the friends I have (near and far) as I have this school year.

To the good friends of this world... I salute you. To the best friends I congratulate you for you truly have found something wonderful.

"A best friend is a single soul dwelling in two bodies." (If that's the case... my soul is split into 5 bodies... 2 more and I'll have just as many best friends as Voldemort has horucruxes... nerd joke!)

End With a Random Bang...

Goodbye January 2012... and good riddance.

Well, not exactly good riddance. This month has been a pretty good one actually. It's had its ups and downs but, overall I've liked it. I guess the good riddance is more or less a "goodbye January... wish you were January 2013 but, beggars can't be choosers.." kinda good riddance.

Life is good, ya know? I have friends here in Utah, back in NC and now scattered across the world that mean the world to me. I have family here in Utah, back in NC and scattered across the country who are far too good to me. And, I have an amazing guy serving the Lord in Argentina. I'd like to say he's all mine but, well... on a mission it's kinda 75-25% with the 75 belonging to the man upstairs. And it's probably more than 75%.

I have a job. I have a car. I have an iPhone. I have thousands of dollars in clothing, jewelry and other merchandise that I am so very thankful for.

In conclusion... I am blessed. January has been good to me. I'm 20! Weird? Yes.

Can you believe it... I am no longer in that "don't call me a teen but, I'm not yet an "adult" " kind of phase. I can now proudly announce my age in a room full of college kids without feeling like a baby. I am now starting to realize that I am getting older. It's kind of a weird "coming of age" kind of knowledge. Like... I know that it's all uphill from here. I'm only getting older. I mean back in the day who cares if you are 13 or 14... no one. You're still young. But, once you hit 20.. next thing you know you're 26 and saying "wow I'm getting old..." then it's 33 "and you think... I'm not really 30 flirty and thriving (13 going on 30 shout out)...I'm getting older." And then you have kids and they are out of the house and the next thing you know you have grandkids and you're retired.

So, what we've learned is that from here on out I am officially to use the phrase "man, I'm getting old." And I also can complain about my back hurting, my brain not working like it used to, I can say mean, judgmental things and people will justify it by saying "she's just getting old", I am now entitled to use the phrase "back in my day", and will probably get some reading glasses (if only for show) by the end of this school year.

I got my tape player yesterday. It finally came in the mail. And by finally came I mean... I got my money back from the mean Chinese people who never sent my first one and bought it from a new company. Sure it was more expensive... but it also came the next day. NOW there is something to complain about... eBay. Who has actually had a lifetime of pleasant experiences when buying things off eBay. No one that's who. It's such an amazing site full of steals and deals... and also full of literal steals and scams.

But, overall this has been a January for the books. I started my first ever diet. I kinda hate every second of it some days. When I want to eat every cake, cookie, and peanut (Nan ALWAYS has a tempting bowl of peanuts in our office) in sight. And that's a big deal cause I don't even like sweets. More often than not I am craving a juicy burger and some salty fries. And a bag of Lays potato chips. And normal food with no exercise. And I'd like to just sit and pig out. And lose weight and build muscle all by doing nothing. Aha! I am indeed an American.

But, I love feeling active. I hate the activity some days. But, it's good for me to work out. I have my goals. Will I reach them in the next year? Haha keep your fingers crossed, pick me a 4 leaf clover, cut off that rabbit's foot and for the LOVE would someone please develop a recipe for delicious low fat/cal/carb french fries (preferably the ones that taste like McDonalds.)

This is random. But, this is what's going on in my life as of January 30, 2012. Again...  sitting here wishing it was 2013. BUT, whatever. Right? You can't always get what you want. And my morning mantra has become "Anything GREAT is always worth the WAIT." Kinda dumb. But, it applies to most everything. Right? Right.

Anyway, to those of you reading this and to me who is typing it... do something nice for someone today. Write a note. Make a bed. Clean a kitchen. Give a compliment. Smile at a stranger. Buy your roommate a cute owl shirt... (cough cough Jenna and Kara... see picture below)

(Don't hate on the hair. It looks WAY better in person. Trust me. It was a GOOD hair day today.)



It's never a bad time to be nice to someone else.

Peace N' blessins.

And say goodbye and good riddance (in a good way) to January 2012.

I Work Out...

So, it's been two weeks since this whole "transformation" process began. For those of you who don't know... I am working out. I have a couple of goals. Hard goals to reach but, Kara and Jenna are right there with me! Anyway, this post is more just a facilitator for pictures:

So, this is our photo shoot before we went in...

The Cleaning Struggle.

OK. Whoever enjoys cleaning is lying. They love it being clean. I love it being clean. And coming from a relatively messy/organized person that means something. Right? Right.

Our apartment ever since we began cooking goes through dishes like CANDY. I feel like the sink is always full of new dirty dishes and the dishwasher is always ready to be unloaded. Either that or it's running.

I like organized chaos. OK. That's a lie. I tend to try and organize everything and put it in it's proper place... it's the putting things back that I am not so good at. And thus the cycle begins. Clean.... a shirt here... a jacket on the back of this chair.... a scarf that would really take 2 seconds to fold and put in it's bin has now temporarily found it's place on my bed... and then BAM! Just like that... the mess is back. And I am forced to clean. And it's not so much a mess... I mean all the clothes ARE folded. They just aren't put away. A folded stack on this chair... a folded stack on the floor... a couple jackets on the back of a chair... I mean who cares?

I do. It's weird. I like it clean. I like it organized. It bugs me to come into my room and see it messy... but, it's SO easy to keep it messy.

Same with the kitchen. I was taught to wash the pots and pans... but, my roommates put them in the dishwasher! So, they take up valuable space and then we have dishes in the sink. It bugs me, but I am not willing to wash EVERY pot and pan by hand... so the alternative will have to do.

Also, not having a vacuum is gross. We have to walk to the main building "check out" a vacuum and bring it to our apartment. And you get 30 minutes. Also... we live on the third floor. And they aren't nice light Oreck vacuums. They are the metal heavy ones. I broke last... Saturday night. And I decided we were NOT going anywhere till we got the carpet cleaned. I couldn't take it anymore. I hated coming into any room that had a floor. (Get it... every room) because it was NASTY! So, all 3 of us went to get one... Kara picked it out and carried it up the stairs. I started vacuuming and just couldn't stop. EVERY surface was vacuumed. Or.. just the floors. And then I finished the whole apartment, Jenna picked up the vacuum and carried it back down and we returned it. T is for team effort. Haha anyway, I kinda like vacuuming so, it was good.

Paper towels. OH HOW I MISS THOSE THINGS. Kara and I bought some from the creamery with the last of her meal plan... and they disappeared. I don't really know where they went? I need to check my car. Who knew you could miss something like... paper towels. I need them. I find myself in the kitchen yearning for a paper towel. Add that to the grocery list would ya?

The stove. Our stove gets SO dirty. We actually use it this semester... and it's white. And things magically just spill on it. Kinda annoying. And it quickly looks gross. But, we do a good job of maintaining and making sure it gets wiped up.

Next apartment I live in... Needs more homey-ness to it. Ours feels like a home cause Jenna and Kara are awesome! And I love living with them! And we are all BFF's. It just struggles to look like a home. Instead it looks like a home for troubled youth. And believe me... I'm troubled. But, I am no longer a youth.

Anyway, the apartment is getting clean. It's the staying clean part. Kinda stinks. I never realized how much my mom must HAVE to do to keep our house clean. I have been to downright DIRTY houses and I have been to ours... and I have been to one's in between. And I'll tell you what. My mom is Superwoman. Our house is awesome. And clean. And homey. And just kinda perfect.

One day... when I grow up... I'll be just like my mom! Fingers crossed... I have a long way to go!

Cleaning checks this Saturday... YESSSSSSSSSSSS.

Movies That I Love.

Not just movies that I love... older movies that I love. There really are only a few. Maybe that's because I'm not remembering them all... I don't know. But, the top few that I can remember are:

• Anne of Green Gables
• Pride and Prejudice (The 6 hour one)
• My Fair Lady

Pinterest Saved Our Wall...

Pinterest has been known to save a lot of things...

Weddings, wardrobes, friendships, craft time, vacation spots... you name it Pinterest has saved it. Well, it's really come through again. Pinterest saved our wall.

Our "living" room is pretty awesome. We have it lined with movie posters and even one of Justin Bieber. Well, we rearranged our posters to make room for our NEWEST edition... the poster me, Kara and Nikki made.

It's pretty sweet. Basically... we bought 120 crayons. Then we organized them by color and shade. After which we hot glued them to a poster board... and then took our hair dryers and melted them. Thus creating the BEST piece of artwork I have ever been a part of! Take a look for yourself... but, let me just say it one last time: Thank you Pinterest for saving our wall!!

The crayons are glued... 

The finished product!!

Kara and I deciding where to put this masterpiece!

Walah! (Keep your mouth shut... we know it's crooked but it's too late to fix!)

I also decided I am going to take JUMBO crayons... and hot glue them all the way around my first born's nursery. Instead of wall paper or patterns... they are going to have the most epic, crayon melted room EVER!

I thought I would humor you...

1 pt cookies sounds delicious right??

That's what we thought too.. Till we made them. Maybe check out why these are one point... And it's not because they are made with ANY healthy ingredients..

It's their size.

A nice after and before if you will.

Let the Workout Begin...

Workout- Noun. A session of vigorous physical exercise.

I guess I should start by explaining what this post is all about. First of all I gained a little bit of weight last semester. Not that it would be really noticeable to anyone but myself. But, I figured it was better to lose the weight now instead of risk that I add more on top of that this semester. However, when I tell people all that I normally get a scene similar to Mean Girls... Regina George: "I really wanna lose 3 pounds..." (silence) (hurriedly) Gretchen Weiners: "Oh my gosh why you're so skinny!?"

Just kidding! I don't tell anyone the reason for me and my roommates starting weight watchers (our own little small group... it's free this way) and our own 30 day shred.

With a lot of help from my mom on the weight watchers side of things (she has all the materials), we've devised our plan of how many "points" we get per day. Then we sit down and make a schedule of what days we are eating what and how many points etc... and then we grocery shop. AND all 3 of us stick to it! I like to think that I spearhead the food side of things, but Kara helps a lot as well.

Kara, is our Jillian Michaels... she is the workout Queen. And let me tell you my abs are feelin' it today!

It went something like this...
Me: "Kara, I can't go here my shorts are too short."
Kara: "They don't care... girls are here with shorter shorts than you."
Me: "I can't go. I look like a lesbian in work out clothes."
Kara: "You DO NOT look like a lesbian. I think you could pull of a really cute sweatband/headband thing though... but you look too girly to be a lesbian. Trust me..."
Jenna: "Day one and you're already backing out?!"
Me: (In my head "...yes"). "No. I just was stating my concerns."

I'm kinda a workout wuss.

Kara: "30 minutes on the elliptical."
Me: "30 minutes? That's too long."
Kara: "Get on the elliptical and do it!"
Me: "Yes ma'am."

And thus began our work out. She is the workout queen and has enough motivation for all 3 of us. I normally want to back out... but, she doesn't let me. She let's me and Jenna take rests... but, never give up completely. It's both rewarding and humorous.

We did insanity yesterday. Ha! what I wouldn't have given to have a small camera in the apartment to video tape us. She knew all the moves and me and Jenna struggled to learn them. Good times...

Later that night after we made our dinner, we wanted to go and actually do something. Someone suggested a place called air extreme sports... basically a big warehouse with foam pits, trampolines, rock walls (that you jump off of into a foam pit), rope swings (that you drop off of into a foam pit), basketball hoop games via trampoline and of course all things to make it as extreme as can be.

It was actually a lot of fun. It's more fun if you know tricks like most of the boys there did... I was happier watching them get enough air to do 8 front/back flips in a row and land in the foam pit than I was jumping. But, I had fun with them and we all left with the notion that sleep was going to come quite easily.

And it did.

My body is sore. And adjusting. So, six pack here I come. ;) Haaaa. Right.