It's About Time I Got Some 'Help'!

Tonight was the best night I have had in a bit, and I really needed it!  A few girls in my ward wanted to go see 'The Help'.  I haven't read the book yet, but the previews looked good, and Jess adores the book, so I wanted to see it.  So Andrew and seven of us ladies trucked over to our Cinemark to see the 6:40 show.
I was absolutely hilarious, because anyone who walked into the theater would definitely be able to tell it was a chick flick.  There were groups of ladies sitting together, and I only counted three men in the entire theater (including Andrew).  We even sat behind a group of eight ladies that all came together, and their ages must have spanned two or three generations.  It made me laugh, because that is what my college girlfriends and I will look like in a few years!
Anyway, the movie just captured me from the very start.  I didn't know the characters or their stories, so I found myself wanting to hurry up and see what would happen next.  It was like I wanted to watch the movie at double speed so I could see what happened to everyone.  Halfway through the movie, I knew I wanted, no, NEEDED to read the book!  I kept leaning over to Jess and telling her how good certain parts were, as if she weren't sitting right next to me.  I gasped in shock, laughed, and cried until my 8 squares of toilet paper that I brought along with me were soaked.  I knew I had mascara streaming down my cheeks, but I didn't care.
After the movie was over, I had a craving that wouldn't go away- I wanted chocolate pie.  For all of you that have read the book or seen the movie, you know how crazy that is, but I wanted it.  So I stopped by our local Village Inn, and what do you know?!  It was FREE PIE NIGHT!  I grabbed my slice of French Silk, headed home, went immediately into Jessie's room, and grabbed her copy of 'The Help'.

If you need me, I will be curled up on my bed.  And I may not answer phone calls.  Sorry!

Why My Nephews Are the Coolest- Exhibits A & B

I have the sweetest nieces and nephews.  I'm serious.  I love them each to PIECES!!!  Today I was reminded how much I miss them when I got a voicemail, and Jess told me a story about Colorado.

Jess and Andrew went up to Denver a few weeks ago to see Sarah, Todd, and fam on their vacation.  Yeah, I'm more than a little jealous, but I had already committed to house/dog sit for my boss, so I couldn't tag along.  Jess told me the funniest thing today.  They had been hiking one morning, and when they went back to their cars, J.C. popped into Jess' and Andrew's car saying, "Man, I need a break from my parents".  He then proceeded to plug into his iPhone, and play away.  Can't you just see that coming from J.C.?  I can even hear the inflection in his voice.  What a cutie!

 

He is so dang cool.

And then I also had the most wonderful voicemail from Braden today!  I saw I missed a call at work, and had a voicemail.  When I saw it was from Ashley, I wanted to hear the message right away, in case it was an emergency.  When I heard Braden's voice talking to my phone, I almost burst into tears right there.  There is just something so special about hearing your family say the words, 'I love you!'.  When it comes from a child, it just melts your heart into a little puddle.

  I love you so much, buddy.

What can I say?  My family is amazing!  :)

What a Relief!

I am DONE with my prerequisite courses!!!!  I took my final for my last math class today, and I really couldn't be happier.  I had an awful teacher and honestly didn't get much instruction, but I am confident that I did well in the class. 

And now I move on to my COHORT!  I will be taking classes at 8 a.m.  But I just figure that I will be going to work by that time when I am out of school, so I might as well get used to it.

I am ready to start this last leg of my Bachelor degree!

Meet Wicket!

This is me with my new friend Max.  After meeting him, I decided I was going to change his name to Wicket.  Some of you may know who Wicket is.  Yeah, I'm a nerd.  But don't you see the similarities?!

I want a dog!

I FOUND THEM!!!

I found those pics that I thought were erased from my computer and my camera!  WOO HOO!!!  I will get some updates with pics here soon.  I'm just so happy I found them!

Ouch!

Remember how excited I was to be the sole owner of my car?  That was until today, when I had to finish replacing my tires and get an oil change.  A whopping $300 later, and it was hard to remember that elation I felt at owning my car.

Look for that silver lining . . .

And Then There Were None

Sorry for the weird and cropped pic, but my blog is public and my information is correct on my checks!  :)

This is it, folks.  The LAST payment for my car!  It's a little more than usual, but it feels so good to send this baby off.  I own a car now.  It's mine.  All mine.  I love that I can consider it an asset instead of a liability.  I tell you, I am slowly whittling down my expenses, and it feels so darn good!

Quickie post

During the course of the day, I caught myself thinking '_____ is one of my favorite things in the world'.  I thought I would share a few of those things, since they will give you an insight into how zany of a person I am!  These were really my thoughts today. 

"(some of) My Favorite Things In the World!":

1.  Red Mango frozen yogurt with blueberries and strawberries
2.  Catching up with a good friend
3.  Sitting outside, but in the shade of a big huge umbrella
4.  Vacuum tracks in the carpet
5.  Ice cold milk
6.  Having a roommate that is related to me
7.  Thunder and lightning storms while looking out over the valley
8.  The songs "Valleri", "Calypso", "America", and "Sound of Silence"

 and MOST IMPORTANTLY . . .
9. My mama, who loves me so much that she worked her tired little fingers to the bone to make me the apron I was so excited about.  She even express mailed it to me so I could have it as fast as possible.  She also included a few little 'surprises' that really made my day.  Thanks, Mom.  I love you!

Isn't it cute?!  I had to take a pic in the mirror because I don't have any roommates right now to help me out!

God Bless America

I should learn the words to that song.  I only know about half of the first verse, how sad is that?

Today was a glorious Fourth filled with food, friends, and fireworks.  Can't get any better than that!  I was in Salt Lake for the day, and spent some time with Lindz, her sister Erin, and their Westie puppy named Boo.  It's not good to have pets around me, because I will ignore everyone else and just play with said pet.  Proof of this was pointed out to me when I spent hours playing with the puppy and her plastic toy replica of a foot.  My friends know that feet and I don't really get along.  Well, this dog licked my toes, bit them a little, and then had me play with her plastic foot toy for around an hour.  Yeah.  I'm a sucker for pets.

Moving on . . . one of Erin's friends invited us over for a barbecue, and we jumped at the chance for some grilled food.  It's one of the best things about the summer- grilled ANYTHING!  We whipped up some chicken kabobs, sliced up some watermelon, and headed out the door.  I was utterly shocked at what met my eyes when I saw the food table at this 'barbecue'.

Now, this is how my family (and most Midwesterners) roll at a barbecue/picnic:

Corn casserole, chips, mustard potato salad, baked beans, sandwiches, KFC, mashed potatoes, maybe a few carrot sticks, a veggie tray that doesn't get eaten, you get the idea.  Hearty, filling, not-so-healthy options.  When I scoped out the food table at this BBQ, it looked like everyone had brought a salad with weird stuff in it!  I think everyone there had watched their favorite Food Channel chef and used a recipe from their show.  It was so fancy and gourmet!!!  There was salad with spinach and fruit, white potato salad with feta, rosemary, and fennel, Quinoa, cucumber salad, pepper salad with 5 kinds of nuts in it, homemade granola cookies, homemade grain chips, ginger ale with fresh mint in it, and that is just for starters, I can't remember the rest!

There was a long line for the barbecue, so I ended up just loading a plate with all the different salads (yes, I tried them all!), and getting my veg on.  I am not very adventurous in my food choices normally, but I have been trying to branch out.  Most of the salads were pretty good, and the white potato salad with feta and rosemary was AWESOME!  Even though the food was out of my league, I still had a great time.  It was mostly people from the single adult ward, so the age range was a little higher.  But I met some great people and had some good laughs (along with some amazing food!).

After the non-BBQ (I didn't even get to eat anything that was grilled!), we headed back to Lindz's house and set up camp on her front lawn.  They live just across the street from the park where the fireworks were being set off.  We literally had the best seats available.  Aerial fireworks were legal for the first time this year, and Lindz's neighbors really went to town with a great show before the Big Show.  I felt a little ashamed of the small fountains, sparklers, and morning glories that I brought for us to use.  But, Lindz and I had a great time playing with sparklers with the kids next door.

I kept trying to get a photo of me spelling my name with sparkler.  Yeah, it didn't work, but I had fun attempting.  And no, I didn't burn myself or set anything on fire!  There was only one rogue ember, and we took care of that really quickly!

We really did have the best view of the Big Show.  It was a great end to a great day.  I love the fact that we celebrate all the wonderful things about our country on the 4th of July.  Although it may not always seem like it, there are a lot of blessings and things to be grateful for that come from being a citizen of this amazing country.  God bless America and keep her safe!