Memorial Day Weekend: Sunday's post.

A day of rest. And we did just that.  And it was glorious. There was actually a church building right up the street from our cabin – so perfect. Now, you must know that I always wear some sort of heel to church and I wasn’t making an exception this time. And, I wish I had. I brought what I thought to be “sensible” heels – wedges. Remember how I said it was cold and snowing? Yup. That was Sunday morning. Luckily for me, I brought a maxi dress which means I definitely wore my jeggings underneath to stay warm. SEE, I AM SMART! But, walking in the mud and snow to the building was not the most fun...

 Because it was a holiday weekend, there were SO MANY PEOPLE. They even had to build an A-Frame next to the building just to hold more people during the holidays! I have never seen so many people, not even at a Stake Conference. But, it was amazing and we were able to partake of the sacrament and renew our covenants, which is always great. This past weekend has given me so much to be grateful for – like heaters ;) But, to really be alone in the mountains with my amazing roommates surrounded by some much natural beauty really made me open my eyes and be thankful for nature and the pure beauty of it.
 After coming home from sacrament meeting, we quickly changed into warm clothes (aka 7 layers) and made a fire.

Today was our relaxing day and nothing was going to get in the way of that. We started off the day by watching “Singing in the Rain”. I do not know how I have not seen it before today. I ABSOLUTELY LOVED IT. And Gene Kelly. Oh, yes. After that, we watched “What a Girl Wants” to satisfy our cheesy chick flick mood.

 We had bought all the ingredients needed to make chicken enchiladas at our Wal-Mart trip before arriving at the cabin so we got started on preparing that after the movie was over. 

 We soon realized we were running low on wood for our fire and decided to chop wood in the garage. HAHAHA I’m sure it was so funny to see 4 girls chopping wood. But, hey…we did it! And it felt extremely empowering.

I AM WOMAN. 

HEAR ME ROAR.

We continued our movie marathon by watching “Dreamgirls”, a movie Elise has never seen. The music in that movie…holy cow. I forgot how great and powerful it is! We ate our yummy enchiladas and put in another movie – “Pride and Prejudice, Pink Bible version.” Oh goodness, that movie is the epitome of cheesy chick flick but hey….it made me laugh and I actually loved it. ;) We made some hot chocolate to sip on and ate our snacks and found we were actually getting warm! The fire was doing a fabulous job and we found ourselves actually taking layers off! Yay!
We actually did go outside today...other than going to church. We wanted to go explore (aka see a moose) the Snake River so we walked a little ways down from the cabin to sit at a small dock on the river. On the way, we found an old swing set made of just wood and chains. :)

 We made it to the dock and it was just so incredibly peaceful out there. I cannot get over how beautiful it all is!

 This is how relaxed it made us ;)

 Do you see how beautiful this is? Gosh, I cannot get over it. Unfortunately, we didn't see any moose :(
 We came back to the cabin and decided we wanted to continue our semi-trend of musicals and decided to put in “Hairspray” – a movie Sarah has never seen!  I think we watched it to see Zac Efron’s face rather than because Sarah has never seen it, though ;)

We were going through some of the movies that Melissa’s grandma had when the girls found “The Swan Princess” and freaked out and ultimately decided to watch that to end our night.

Melissa went to bed about halfway through the movie and Sarah, Elise, and I fell asleep when the movie was just about over. We woke up around 1:30am and made our way upstairs to go to sleep. I really can't believe we watched 6 movies today. But, I feel so rested!

I am getting really upset at the thought of leaving tomorrow. I have loved being away from everything – people, classes, homework, work, stress. I really don’t want to leave our little sanctuary…

Memorial Day Weekend: Saturday's post

Woke up at 8:30am….ahh it was a cold night! I was on the end of the bed with Elise next to me, Sarah next to her, and Melissa on the opposite side of the bed. My stinker roommate who will not be named (but we’ll call her Sarah M. No, how about S. Meyers) hogged ALL the electric blanket! Jerk. But, the highlight of waking up that morning was when I thought my roommate Sarah had officially lost it. She rolled over and shined a flashlight in Elise’s face yelling “WHAT TIME IS IT!?” Elise looked absolutely terrified.

“JUST ASK ME WHAT TIME IT IS!!!” Elise was officially freaked out as she squeaked out “what time is it?” Sarah screamed back, “TIME FOR JUSTICE!!!” and jumped out of bed and down the stairs as we all lay in bed wondering what the heck just happened. Luckily, she explained to us later that it was from a movie and was just trying to be funny by quoting it. Ummm, okay Sarah. ;)

Elise is so domestic and made us some pancakes that morning while Melissa made us a fire. Well….the cabin quickly became filled with smoke as the chimney wasn’t fully open and then Elise started burning some of the pancakes. Heh heh heh heh heh…

After breakfast and hot chocolate, we decided to put on the windshield wipers I purchased last night. And, guess who are such bosses and installed them ourselves. Yup. WE DID. HOLLA ATCHUR GIRL. 

 See, we aren't totally inept ;) 

Then, were on our way to Yellowstone! We jumped out of the car while in line to get in the park and took a picture with the sign…like real tourists. The main animals we wanted to see were a bald eagle, a bear, and a moose. Well, the first thing we saw in Yellowstone was a bald eagle!! No, really. Elise saw it first and screamed and we all stared and it’s beauty. We saw a ton of buffalo and their cute babies. I kept saying “tatonka”, like what they call the buffalo in “Dances with Wolves” but no one understood me. I needed my family to yell at the “tatonka” with me… :( We also saw The Grand Canyon of Yellowstone which was absolutely BEAUTIFUL!! Ahh, the colors were so mesmerizing. If it wasn’t so cold, I could just sit up there and just stare at the canyon all day. We also saw Gibbon Falls, mud volcanos, hot springs, Hayden Valley, Yellowstone Lake, and last but not least – Old Faithful! That was so cool! We went to the Inn over there and it was an absolutely amazing sight. So beautiful. We also stopped at the new visitor’s center there and played around and learned some interesting new facts about Yellowstone. It was an amazing day in the park and I was completely captivated by the beauty of it. I cannot get over how beautiful everything was up there.

Tatonka! 

 

The Grand Canyon with the Yellowstone Falls in the background!

 Old Faithful :)

 Old Faithful!!

 Another highlight of the day – being in two places at once. Yup. We pulled “A Walk to Remember” and got to be in two places at once – something that is extremely high on my bucket list. As we were leaving the park, we passed a sign that said “Entering Montana” and I legitimately freaked out and naturally turned around so we could take a picture of being in two places at once. I WAS SO DANG HAPPY. Check that one off the bucket list!!

 Also, you should all know now that I indeed planned to look that way that day. Elise and I found some sweet jackets in the cabin that we wanted to wear. So, all day we looked like lumberjack hobos and we are dang proud of it. We rocked those outfits. You should also know that the hat I'm wearing says "My Greatest Blessings Call Me Grandpa." #SWAG

We came home and promptly made a fire to stay warm and watched “Catch Me if You Can” and only Melissa had seen it before so it was a real treat for the 3 of us. I LOVED IT. 

And, thus ends our magical day in Yellowstone – with s’mores and a movie by the fire :)

Memorial Day Weekend! Friday's post

Well, the roommates and I had decided a few weeks ago that we were going to go away for Memorial Day Weekend. Luckily, Melissa’s family has cabins in Yellowstone and from there, our weekend practically planned itself out. Only a dentist appointment, an exam, and recovering from Vertigo stood between me and my relaxing three day weekend.  And, here we are, on our way to Yellowstone! We stopped at Wal-Mart in Idaho Falls to pick up some food for the weekend as well as new windshield wipers for my car. My poor car…it was definitely in need of new windshield wipers! My dad told me to wait and get them at an Auto Zone so someone could do it for me…but that just made me want to do it on my own even more! About two hours later, we were at the cabin! And boy was it cold! It snowed that night and when we walked in the cabin, we quickly found out that we would have no heat. Great. So, we went to Melissa’s parent’s cabin (we stayed at her grandma’s cabin which is right around the corner) to get space heaters and down comforters…but, not before we had to check for bats…which FREAKED Elise and I out. Every room we walked into, we braced ourselves for bats by getting close to the ground and ready to plunge into the fetal position at any given signs of bats. Luckily, we didn’t see any… We got back to the apartment and plugged in a space heater downstairs as well as upstairs but that caused the power to go out and Melissa and I couldn’t find the main fuse! After about 30 minutes, we finally found it and we HAD LIGHT! Hallelujah. We settled in, but not before putting at least 7 layers of clothing on first, took some pictures in the cabin, decided we were NOT going to shower that weekend, and headed to bed where we had nice electric blankets and 4 girls sharing 2 beds to keep us warm. It was perfect and I can’t wait for our weekend to start!

Verti...what?

Vertigo.

I know you are thinking the same thing I am.

What?

Vertigo...according to Wikipedia... 

"is a subtype of dizziness, where there is a feeling of motion when one is stationary.^[2] The symptoms are due to an asymmetric dysfunction of the vestibular system in the inner ear.^[2] It is often associated with nausea and vomiting as well as a balance disorder, causing difficulties standing or walking."

Yup. I have that.

Sunday, I came home from my council meeting and was chilling in Elise's room when suddenly I had this shooting pain over my left eye. After thrashing around for a bit, it went away and I just assumed it had something to do with sinuses.

Boy, was I wrong.

After running upstairs to attend a ward scripture study, I had this splitting headache and the pain had not reduced any after 30 minutes. I was walking down the stairs to go to ward prayer when I suddenly felt very dizzy and couldn't see where I was going. Luckily, Elise was standing right with me and was able to stabilize me as I sat on the steps. That was scary. But, being an idiot, I shrugged it off and assumed it would go away. At ward prayer, I started to feel extremely sick. Everyone around me was spinning and being extremely loud and I was getting mad at every single one of them. Why couldn't they just sit still and talk quietly? That's when the dizziness came back and hit me hard. I made Elise take me home...and I'm glad I did because that's when I puked everything I ate that day riiight up. Lovely, right?

Monday, I went to gymnastics, hoping I would be feeling better. I felt fine...until we started to warm-up. That's when everything around me started spinning again and I couldn't take it anymore. So, I went home early and STILL wasn't feeling any better, so my dad advised me to go to the ER at once to get checked out.

Well, a CAT scan, 4 vials of blood, an IV, and 4 1/2 hours later, I was discharged on a diagnose of Vertigo. The IV they gave me made me extremely loopy...if only you could have seen the text messages I sent to my poor father and my poor roommate. They didn't make any sense. I remember crying at one point to my tech because I didn't understand why I was hooked up to an IV and I wanted them to "make it stop" (the crazy feeling I was having). And, also because I had to go to the bathroom and I was too scared to get up in fear that my legs would not be there. Luckily, they were. Elise is such a saint and walked to the hospital in order to drive my sick butt home. Monday was terrible. I was throwing up every hour and could not get rid of my dizziness. My lovely roommates picked up my prescription for me as well as some popsicles, soup, and crackers. Don't even try to tell me your roommates are better...because mine are the best.

So, here I am. I have been sitting laying on the couch since Monday and I am going crazy. 

1.) Because I am sick of having a headache and feeling so dizzy.

2.) I am missing classes...which means a lot of catching up to do. Greaaaaaat.

3.) I AM GOING STIR-CRAZY.

I went to work yesterday for 1 hour to do my private lessons...which was NOT a good idea. I felt so sick after that...threw up a whopping 3 times. (I should get an award for number of times thrown up in a 24hr period. I would win the 1st place trophy.) Then, I really don't know why I went to LTS that night for 2 hours working with 3 year old kids. That was such a bad idea. I came home and went visit teaching with Sarah to get pie...bad idea. Again. It felt good to actually eat something (I have not eaten anything in the last 2 days) but my stomach disagreed. Threw up that night, too. BOOM. Slept all night (yay!) and went to 2 of 4 classes.

But, the good news is I am finally feeling better (not as dizzy and nauseous, but I still have a headache). So, thank you all for your get-well-soon's and your prayers. I know they have helped me during these last few days. And, if you ever start to have a headache accompanied by dizziness, DON'T PUT IT OFF. 

You'll be glad you didn't.

Thank you, mama!

This video reminded me of when I was skating and I just can't help but stop and say thank you to my wonderful mama! I also can't help but cry at this video . . .

 So, mom,

Thank you for making me breakfast every morning and for doing my laundry. Thank you for taking me to that birthday party at the rink in Riverside when I was 5 years old. Thank you for introducing me to a sport I love so passionately. Thank you for hiring a private coach, just so I could keep dabbling in this little "phase". :P Thank you for driving me every morning, 6 days a week to a rink that was 45 minutes away just so I can have a lesson and to practice. Thank you for not only taking me to an ice rink, but to off-ice training, physical therapy, the doctor when I needed x-rays, choreography lessons, and so on. Thank you for sitting in an ice rink for 4+ hours and be absolutely frozen, just so I could skate. Thank you for traveling for skating with me. Thank you for your hugs and kisses when I would take a nasty fall. Thank you for holding my hand when I was scared to get an MRI and telling me everything was going to be okay. Thank you for telling me when it was time for me to stop and regroup. Thank you for our talks when I would become discouraged. Thank you for your smiles and cheers when I would compete. Thank you for supporting me and never giving up on me. Thank you for helping me to see that I wasn't defined by the sport I was in, but that I am actually so much more. Thank you for helping me realize that it was okay to stop skating when I wouldn't listen to my body when it was telling me it had enough. Thank you for sitting in my room and holding me as I cried when I finally realized I couldn't skate anymore. Thank you for helping me realize that there is more to life than just skating. Thank you for supporting me in my decision to go back to public school after my injury. Thank you for supporting me in my decision to move away from home to go to school. Thank you for supporting my decision to attend BYU. Thank you for financially supporting me for the past 20 years. Thank you for bearing with me during my rants about school, boys, my career, and the possibility of skating again. Thank you for making me into the woman I am today. Thank you for being so absolutely amazing!! The time we spent together at an ice rink are definitely some of my fondest memories with you because of how much you supported me. You have sacrificed so much just so I could do what I absolutely love doing. I love you so much! You are seriously the strongest woman I know - physically ;), mentally, and spiritually. I am seriously beyond grateful for everything you have done and continue to do for me and my brothers. You da besterest!!

 

Happy Early Mother's Day :)

A Thousand Years

So, I was on Facebook today when I saw my friend had posted this video of a cover of A Thousand Years. I love that song so I figured I'd watch it.

I've never heard of "ThePianoGuys"

and now I feel ashamed of myself.

I listened to this and tears literally came to my eyes. 

No, really.

Oh my goodness. It is just so beautiful!

It has been on repeat for about 45 minutes now.

So, watch and enjoy.

I dare you not to love it.

My week . . .

I really need to get better at blogging more often so my updates aren't super long . . . Like this one . . .

 

Monday:

Oh, Monday . . . the day we all dread. But, it actually wasn't bad at all.

Classes are long. 

Gymnastics = fun.

Sitting in Stats for 2 hours = not fun.

Philosophical and ethical issues = meh.

Advanced first aid for 2 and a half hours = not TOO bad because i have it with Elise :P

For FHE that night, it was combined as a ward. We all met up at Kiwanis park and quickly got involved in the various activities. Elise played soccer while Sarah and I learned some self-defense. Now we can defend ourselves :P

We came back to the apartment with Ethan and watched The Truman Show. Sarah and Elise and I were sitting in the living room until about 1am when Elise and I decided to go to bed. I was chilling in Elise's room when a half awake Sarah walks in and says "guys....something is going on." When we asked her what she meant she just shook her head and said nevermind before walking out. Well, that freaked Elise and I out so we ran out into the living room and asked her again what she was talking about. She told us she heard noises outside our door and when she opened it, she saw someone run away. Well, we opened the front door to find this...

We had been pranked at 1:30 in the morning while we were still awake with the lights on in the living room. .

We quickly cleaned it up and waited by the door for 30min just in case they came back. They didn't. But, we will have revenge . . .

Tuesday:

shorter day. thank goodness.

Gymnastics are M-Th and it's kicking my butt. It challenges me in ways I am not used to and I am SOOO sore. I love it!

Stats Lab. That one isn't too bad. It helps me with my homework lol.

One of my students from my UVU class messaged me a couple days ago and expressed interest in taking private lessons from me. So, we started her first lesson today. That was way fun :)

I had Learn to Skate that night and I work with the little Snowplow Sam levels. Although it is extremely challenging to work with kids aged 4-6 years old, I can't help but just love them. They are just so dang cute. Not long after I got home, Sarah and Ethan came back from the Ward Draft. Ended up going to a bonfire with Ethan, Taylor, the girls, Victor, and Courtney and that was way fun :)

Wednesday:
Elise was in an Ultimate Frisbee game! They were down 4-11 and came back to win it 13-12! Sarah and I were the best Team Moms :)

so proud!

Thursday:
After work, Sarah and I went to institute - it was so good! They even had Carrabas catered...mmmmm. After institute, we went to this bonfire for a little bit and then played picture sardines on campus with Victor, Jon, Ethan, Elise, and Sarah. We were hanging out around the library, finding each others true laugh when a campus po-po approached us. He said there was a call saying we looked suspicious...but he laughed it off and bid us a goodnight haha. We got home and the girls and I decided to prank the boys back. So, we ran to Smiths to get our supplies and we were on our way!

 Night games!

 

Our prank back 

The only thing is...they pranked us back within 2 hours of us leaving their apartment. And, we were still awake! 

It was funny . . . but, we are in the process of plotting our retaliation . . .

Friday:

my breakdown day. i woke up at noon and fell back asleep for half an hour . . . and i woke up shaking and crying from a horrible dream i had. so, i grabbed my keys just as my dad called me and drove to Rock Canyon park. I swear, he has the best timing and knows when i need to hear from him :) i ended up staying out there for 2 hours and came home to go to the Baseball game against San Diego with Elise. Our friend from Freshman year, Desmond, is the pitcher on the team and we really wanted to watch him play but he played the night before. We lost that night, 2-11 . . . but on the plus side there were fireworks after the game! So fun! And, we got to catch up with Dezz :) great night!

Saturday:

Ward Opening Social - Cinco De Mayo style! Salsa dancing, pinata, ultimate twister, and swimming. A nice day in the sun and I got some color! Hallelujah. Ended the night with pizza and watching The Other Guys with Ethan and then Taylor came over later that night for a quick visit. :)

Sunday:

Such a beautiful sabbath day! we all got sustained and set apart that day AND we had break the fast . . . so, a busy sunday! After ward prayer, Dustin, Ethan, and Taylor came over to chat and eventually led to talking about different experiences they had on their missions. It was so nice to see a different side to these boys :)

Monday (7th):

  New FHE groups! We played a name game to meet everyone and played a long, intense game of signs.We also played Never Have I Ever and we ended up making some rules - the last person with a finger still up has to jump into the Avenues pool . . . fully clothed and then hug someone of the opposite sex. Unfortunately, it came down to me and Jon so it was decided that we both had to do it . . . and we did! And, we got a few extras in with us as well :)

Jon and I getting ready to jump in!

Jon grabbed Elise, I grabbed Kurt. Victor and Sarah eventually made their way in, too hahaha

Spring semester has been crazy busy so far, but oh so very eventful! Here's to this week being just as crazy and fun as last week :)