Adventure in SLC

One of my good friends invited me to go with his family to The Leonardo's "Body Worlds" last night so I jumped on the bandwagon and went with them. Everything was so interesting! It had everything from the process of plastination, to the indepth explanation of the circulatory, respiratory, and cardiovascular system. They define every muscle group with plasticized "specimens" (people who were actually once alive and have all the fat and water in the body replaced with liquid plastic in their veins to hold the structure) and they explain the differences between a healthy and a diseased organ. There were the different phases of a baby fetus through the first 8 weeks of it's life and stories and quotes behind all of the organs of the body. I'm still in awe about most of it. The most random thing they had at the exhibit was a camel sliced in 3 pieces so you could see everything inside. It was crazily insanely cool. If you haven't gone, GO. It was worth every penny! After Body Worlds (which took us about 2 hours or so to go through, just be forewarned, it's a long exhibit), we went out to eat at The Mayan. Everything was top notch yumminess, even the spicy salsa was worth eating! I was so full I'm pretty sure I rolled out to the car. Here's some pictures from the night (sorry, but no pictures were allowed inside the exhibit)...

It was a long car ride squished between the Young boys...

The only time he didn't have his beanie on...

Look! A tucan in the tree.

This kid drank 5 glasses of punch and Sprite... nutter.

All of the food was good quality if you minus the fries. They weren't crunchy like fries should be (they were more like rubber) so, as you can see, we found another purpose for them.

Allow Me to Introduce You to My Life These Days...

I've decided that the stipulations and questions they put on applications these days are ridiculous. The 'put your birthdate here' and 'put your last name here' or 'sign here, here, AND here, are completely annoying. Do these people not know that they just asked me my name at the beginning of the stupid thing in the first place? For the love. Seriously, shouldn't these things be short, simple, and to the point? They're going to be reading hundreds of them and they want me to repeat myself? Seriously people. Get a life and do something better than make up irritating questions that you don't care what the answer is anyways. There. I'm done ranting and raving now. All I have to say is if I don't get into my program after all of this, there could be a little girl who may get a little annoyed.

Overdue Christmas Tag

Heidie tagged me... so here goes... (I know, Christmas is over, but what the heck?)

1. Wrap presents or just put them under the tree? Definitely Wrap!
2. Colored light or white lights on the tree/house? For the tree, depends on the decorations. Colored on the house!
3. Do you hang mistletoe? Nope... but I think we should start. ;)
4. When do you put up decorations? Day after Thanksgiving.
5. What is your favorite Holiday dish? The whole pan of chocolately fudge
6. Favorite holiday memory as a child? Sleeping upstairs in the attic on Christmas Eve with my sisters.
7. When did you learn the truth about Santa? Not quite sure on that one...
8. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve? Our Christmas Pajama's from my Mom
9. How do you decorate the tree? We rotate the theme every year. This year's was the western theme.
10. Snow. Love it or dread it? Love it; until my nose gets too cold or it gets too heavy to shovel.
11. Can you ice skate? Yep! I'd like to try it going backwards one of these days...
12. Do you remember a favorite gift? I'm a big fan of the blankets my Mom made us this year.
13. What is the most important thing about the holidays for you? Remembering Christ, I'm afraid I didn't do too well this year.
14. What is your favorite holiday dessert? FUDGE!
15. Favorite holiday tradition? Going to Grandma's for Christmas Breakfast
16. What tops your tree? A random christmas light
17. Do you prefer giving or receiving? Giving
18. What is you favorite Christmas song? Too hard to pick. The one I DON'T like is the 12 days of Christmas or Feliz Navidad.
19. Candy Cane. Yum or yuck? Yum!
20. What do you want for Christmas? Well seeing that Christmas is over, for NEXT year... I like the small thoughtful gifts the most. The ones that mean something between me and the person giving it. I'm a sucker for picture frames and pictures...

Alrighty then, since I had to do this, I'll make my sisters do it too. I'm tagging Misty and Mel.

Strike One

...They're almost over. The scoreboard so far? Jamie-2 Testing Center-1. Yep, that's right. Bombed one test, passed two. Should be interesting to see how the next two go. GULP! And here I go, off to home plate again! Batter up!

Live Life And Love It!

Have you ever wondered how someone could even think of taking their own life? I've thought a lot about it this past week. A good friend of mine has tried taking her life in numerous ways that should be unfathomable to man. As I stayed up with her through the night last night, I had a lot of time to think. It truly blows my mind how a Child of God could even attempt to take their life and end a gift that we've been given to enjoy on this earth. I guess my message to you today is to LIVE life! Live it and love it. Whatever comes your way, hold your head high and move forward. That's all our Heavenly Father will ever ask you to do. Whatever slack we may have, he'll take up as long as we're doing our best. I have a saying I like to say when the going gets tough-"The church is true! So what else matters?!" That's what it all basically boils down to, isn't it? As long as we're doing our best and we know that the church is true, that's all that matters. Let's all be Christ's hands this Christmas Season and help each other out! Merry Christmas!

To Those Who Wear The Black Name Tag...

Here's a shout out to all the missionaries in the field. I think Wednesdays are pretty much my favorite day of the week. It's the day for missionary P-days now and that's when all the Mom's forward all of their missionary sons letters to all of their missionary sons friends (one of those friends being me). AND sometimes I get an email or two from the ones who are allowed to email friends. Seriously, Wednesdays rock because of the LDS missionaries serving in the field and telling me about their experiences. How could you not just love Wednesdays?! I also received two awesome letters in the mail yesterday from some missionaries who are very close friends. How grateful I am for all of their service and sacrifice! It's a testimony building experience to see your grade school pals growing up into 19 year-old missionary men who grow so much on their missions. So thanks to those of you who ever have, will, or are serving missions. You are truly my heroes.

Week of Thanks

So here's the update on this week of thanks...

1) Thursday was Thanksgiving (as if you didn't all know that...)! But it went well this year. I had to miss out on all the baking this time due to work, but the food was still great! My cousins and I thoroughly enjoyed our annual basketball game (which my grandma even got in a couple of shots, just like she does every year and shows us all up). It was an EXCELLENT holiday!

2) My dear friend Chris gave his "farewell" talk today. He did great. He cried. I cried. I'm sure the entire ward pretty much cried. He'll do great. We spent the night over at his house tonight chatting it up with all of the gang. I sure will miss him. But watch out Taiwan! The greatest missionary ever is coming your way!

3) I slept in every day and it was wonderful. Wanna know what I DIDN'T do? Homework. Yup. It'll be a crazy week of studying and catching up now, but ya know what? It was worth it! :)

4) Had a pretty rockin' date over the weekend. That's about all I'm going to say on that one.

5) We decorated the Christmas tree tonight. We always decorate it the Sunday after Thanksgiving. We all decided on the western theme this year. My Mom made mini bandanna's and wooden stars to go all over it. She's the best Mom ever. It looks pretty awesome.

6) Oh! And how could I forget? I went to one of my best friends house to celebrate her big 2-0 birthday! We had a blast, here are some pictures from the glorious party at her house (sorry, there aren't many).

Stephanie and the Birthday Girl!

One of my very best besties... Kate

We are just so happy to be friends :)

Email From God

To: YOU
Date: TODAY
From: GOD - The Boss!
Subject: YOURSELF
Reference: LIFE

This is God. Today I will be handling all of your problems for you. I do not need your help. So, have a nice day.
I love you.

P.S. And, remember....If life happens to deliver a situation to you that you cannot handle, do NOT attempt to resolve it yourself !! Kindly put it in the SFGTD (something for God to do) box. I will get to it in MY TIME. All situations will be resolved, but in My time, not yours.

P.S.S. Once the matter is placed into the box, do not hold onto it by worrying about it. Instead, focus on all the wonderful things that are present in your life now. If you find yourself stuck in traffic; Don't despair. There are people in this world for whom driving is an unheard of privilege. Should you have a bad day at work; Think of the man who has been out of work for years. Should you despair over a relationship gone bad; Think of the person who has never known what it's like to love and be loved in return. Should you grieve the passing of another weekend; Think of the woman in dire straits, working twelve hours a day, seven days a week to feed her children. Should your car break down, leaving you miles away from assistance; Think of the paraplegic who would love the opportunity to take that walk. Should you notice a new gray hair in the mirror; Think of the cancer patient in chemo who wishes she had hair to examine. Should you find yourself at a loss and pondering what is life all about, asking what is my purpose? Be thankful. There are those who didn't live long enough to get the opportunity. Should you find yourself the victim of other people's bitterness, ignorance, smallness or insecurities; Remember, things could be worse. You could be one of them!

Have a nice day.
Love,
God

...I found this today in my thought folder and I thought I'd share it with you. I hope you enjoyed it!

Janae's Day of Birth!

Happy Birthday Janae!

For those of you who don't know who Janae is, let me explain her to you. She's the classiest-most elegant-all time smartest-incredibly happy-musically talented-best laugh-always blinks in pictures-loves dressing up-kind of girl you'll ever meet! She also happens to be one of my very best friends who is always there for me and sacrifices a lot for all of her friends. She's the most thoughtful, kind, and the most considerate person I've ever known. Always thinking of others and rarely herself. She's my hero!

Can't get much higher...

Happiness, twitterpation, and floatin' high above Cloud 9. Best weekend ever. Amazing. Wonderful. No other words to really describe it besides, THE BEST EVER. Period. Hands down. No doubt about it. It doesn't matter how you say it or what you say about it, it was amazing. If that made no sense to you, don't worry, it's ok. Just thought I'd tell you that. I hope your weekend was amazing too!

[Let the Good Times Roll]

Even back in the day I still loved cowboy boots...

Close up pictures are my favorite.

I miss this face.

This one too...

And these ones...

My favorite place ever=Nashville, Tennessee

Cousins pretty much rock.

Formal Dress+Sunburn+Pictures= Bad Idea

I rode in this to church once.

BYU's finest mail crew...

Kazoo-ing

Today I played this...

Which made my "teacher" make a face like this...

Which made me do this...

All in all, a good day. Don't you think?

P.S. If you ever try to "Kazoo" sometime, remember to "hum" into it. Don't blow. I wish I would've known that...

Happy Thoughts Anyone?

You know those times when you have bubbling hot cocoa and you're supposed to wait to drink it or it'll burn your tongue right off?
I did that today.
I was in a real big hurry.
My tongue is officially a big, fleshy, raw chunk of muscle waiting to be healed. You should hear me talk. It's even better in person.
*Note to self, next time you drink hot cocoa, make sure you have enough time to let it cool.*

And since we're on the topic of my sad sad life... That cursed time of my life is back... the awful, "chills-down-your-spine-never-wanna-hear-again" word---Statistics. That word, combined with, "Exam 3: 40% of your grade," makes me want to drop dead right now (which is sitting on my comfy cozy bed-not a bad place to die if you ask me). It's going to be an extremely long week. Someone please tell me why we can't just bump Thanksgiving up a week? All in favor... say, "I!"

Don't think I'm a big complainer though. A wise friend once told me that for every bad thing that happens in your day, a good thing happens to counteract it. So I guess I need 2 good things to counteract the 2 aforementioned crappy things. Here goes...

1) A very dashing young man (who happens to be going into animation) drew me as a cartoon today. That's right. Me. A cartoon. Who'da thunk my face would make it as a silly little cartoon? The cartoon beats the real deal anyday. I'll steal it from him and post it so you can see it.

2) I got a haircut today. I've fallen in love with short hair this year. I'm one of those girls who loves her ball caps, and short hair+ball caps= the perfect combo.
Those are my two "happy thoughts" of the day.
Hope you had a superb day.
Sweet Dreams.

Heaven in a Breadstick

Where is November going?! In the words of a good friend of mine, "the days are going so durn slow, yet the weeks are flying so fast!" She took the words right out of my mouth. I can't believe November is halfway over already! Which means Christmas is right around the corner... a good friend of mine leaves on his mission in less than a month... and finals are way WAY too close! Whew! I haven't treated 2008 so great this year, I guess I should make up for it and make this year go out with a big BANG! How I'm going to do that... I'm not quite sure yet. :)

On a better note...Have you ever had a stuffed breadstick from Magleby's fresh? One word-Yum! And their chocolate cake is SO good! Rich chocolately yumminess that sticks to the roof of your mouth. Yum! I feel so full, but it was entirely worth it! I won't take credit for the great idea to go to Magleby's today though... I guess I'll finally give Daniel some credit for finally picking a good place to eat out. :) Go to Magleby's. Right now. You know you want to.

Personality Schmality

This one's hilarious... kind of the "I'm going to kill whoever did this to me" look on his face.
Smile!

Ready... Set...

These definitely made me laugh and get my 6-pack for the day. I just can't get over the first cat in the water. I'd hate to be the one who's around him when he gets out of the water... and who says animals don't have personalities?

BYU Football and Some Old Fashioned Friendship Time

BYU Football + your two best friends+Ice Cream=The best day in a long time! These are my two best friends. We're all so different, yet that's what makes us so close. I love it! These two girls are my best friends for life. Hands down. Ya gotta love 'em. Oh, bytheway, BYU Cougars won. Rah rah rah rah rah! GOOOOOOO Cougars!

My Mom

This amazing woman is my Mom. It's her birthday today so I figured I'd do ten things I love about her.

1. She is the best example of service I've ever seen. Whether it is taking out someone's garbage can at 4:30 in the morning, going around raking leaves or shoveling snow, or taking someone treats when they're sick and talking with them. She visits with the elderly, loves the little children, and magnifies her callings in leaps and bounds.

2. She is beautiful! My Dad sometimes says I have her smile, if I do, then I'm one lucky girl! She goes running everyday and is always on her feet doing something. Not one drop of makeup touches her face (besides the occasional swipe of mascara and lipgloss), she doesn't need it!

3. She's tough. Not only would I not want to be on the wrong side of an argument with her, but she's not a sissy girly girl. She can get down and dirty and she's not afraid of hardwork (which she's instilled in me).

4. She loves my Dad with all her heart. Look at the first picture. They're still as much in love today as they were 26 years ago when they first got married. That's the kind of love I'm holding out for. She's shown me the meaning of true, eternal love.

5. She can party with the best of them. When you get her going, she'll dance in the kitchen while we're doing dishes and bust out singing Disney with us.

6. She has the most steadfast and immovable testimony. It seems that every trial she has had to go through has only made her stronger. Whatever Satan throws at her, she throws back at him twice as fast.

7. She loves nature. She would rather be outside or at the cabin, than stuck inside the house doing nothing. She's passed that love onto all of her girls and I'm so grateful for that.

8. She loves music. She's the one who taught me to play the piano and put up with all my whining and complaining during every lesson. She pushed me to learn an instrument and now we sing in the Ward Choir (where we have so much fun together!).
9. She cooks the yummiest food in the world. I could live on her chocolate chip cookies and frosting for the rest of my life and die happy. She dutch ovens, grills, sautee's, roasts, and even barbecues. She knows every recipe that you need to live a happy, long life on good food. :)

10. I love that she's MY Mom. Yup. Sorry, she's not yours. She's taught me all I know in life and I'm looking forward to learning more from her. Thanks Mom. You are truly amazing.

Random

Let me introduce you to a girl who is basically unforgettable. This, is Joelle. I spent time with her for the first time in months tonight and I realized how much I've missed her. So here's to my crazy, insanely funny, adventurous friend who gets me out of my bubble/comfort zone and having the time of my life. Props to you Joe-Joe.

A New Artist

Bob Marley. That's probably all I have to say and I would be satisfied with this post. But I guess you all want an explanation. Bob Marley is one of my new favorite artists. I know... Big surprise. Country girl getting into Jamaican Reggae. I never thought it would happen. But alas, it has and I'm suprisingly satisfied that it's happened. The song that really made me love him-"Buffalo Soldier." I love the Jamaican twist it has and the rhythm. That's my schpeal for today on music. I'm not a big music fan unless it's my country and the few pop songs I've grown to appreciate. So if you're reading this, jump for joy, click your heels, and eat a couple of spoonfuls of peanut butter right out of the jar for me. Bob Marley. If you don't know who that is, go look him up. You'll love him!

The War is On

Think of the worst thing that has ever happened to you. Now multiply that by 10 and that is what happened to me today. Yup. You've got it. I went into the "stash" that my sister and I keep up in our rooms and guess what? ALL of the Reese's Peanut Butter Cups were gone! Gone I tell you! There I was, craving the peanut butter chocolatey yumminess and there were none to eat. So you know what I went downstairs to have instead? A carrot. You heard me right, a carrot! Sometimes you just don't feel like healthy food, today was one of those days. Combine that with the fact that I'm getting over the flu and it just makes everything worse. Thank you Mr. (or Miss.) Peanut Butter Cup caper for eating all of the Reese's. Watch your back. Next time, you won't be so lucky.

Good Night Never Neverland

Shall I tell you a little bit about my day today?

I woke up. At 10:30a.m. And it was amazing. Then I went over to the Lloyds to watch Savvy while Thad and Julie took off on their separate ways to have fun. While they were gone, Savvy and I tore up the house and partied like there was no tomorrow. Just kidding... we really went on a walk, drank "pink" milk, and watched the Princess and the Pauper (not too bad for a Barbie movie and that is coming from a girl who tore of the heads of Barbies when she was little) and then a bit of Lilo and Stitch. Then it was back to the house for some hard core smackdown on a research paper before the Ward Chili Cook-Off. Pam was her amazing self and put together a great ward activity. The chili was incredible, not a lot of hot ones this year besides Bro. Young's (which is usually the case). Alex and I got sick of it after a while so we took off to the Creamery to get some ice cream. We decided to split a banana split. Please realize we'd just eaten bowl after bowl of chili and were stuffed to the max. Probably not the smartest thing we've ever done. After stuffing ourselves even more with Pralines and Caramel yumminess that was drenched in hot fudge and covered in coconut sprinkles (Alex's pick, not mine) and butterfinger flakes, we decided to actually be social and run by the Boshards house to see if anyone wanted the rest of our demolished "split." We ended up tossin' it. The guys were all over at the Boshards still and got a great idea to watch a movie-"Hook." It's an old school spoof of Peter Pan and the only one who has it in the ward is none other than yours truly. So we grabbed the movie from my house and Chris realized they didn't have a VHS player at his house. We proceeded to go to his Dad's work to find one. We didn't. So we ran up to the cabin, grabbed the VHS player there and then came BACK down the canyon, where the entire way I listened to them all sing Pokemon songs and Japanese gibberish. Sometimes I wonder if we hadn't all grown up together, would I have ended up being friends with them all? I honestly can't answer that question... So we watched Hook tonight. It was good. My favorite character-the curly haired boy who yells "Good night Never Neverland!" and then practically spews spit on his lamp to put it out. Priceless. Then I made it home, brushed my pearly whites and now it's off to bed for me.

Sweet dreams. Don't let the bed bugs bite. Good night Never Neverland!

Blast From the Past

I went through THE Black Box today. For those of you who do not know what that is, allow me to enlighten your mind. The Black Box is the box of all my little trinkets, letters, and what other "whathaveyou's" that I have deemed important over the years. I thought that tonight I would give you a glimpse as to what it contains inside:

My BYU vs. TCU ticket from Fall 2007; freshman year of college

One of those classy magnetic necklaces that you can make into a bracelet also. My cousin brought it back from China for me.

A glass dolphin statue that Chris brought me back from Cancun

A bunch of hoopla from past dates (pictures, dance cards, bracelets... you get the gist of it)

Gold medal from FCCLA Nationals in Tennessee

An old paper back copy of "Island of Blue Dolphins," by Scott O'Dell. My 5th grade math teacher passed away and we all got to pick a book out of his bookshelf. He had read this to us and it is what got me loving dolphins.

Polished rocks from Brazil from Jared

A poem my Dad once wrote to me

Missionary letters

John Wayne postcards and whatnot

Notes my Mom used to put in my lunches

A necklace from the Smurph

Letters from gal friends over the years

My Patriarchal Blessing

First plane ticket (Tennessee)

Favorite scriptures and quotes

A piece of cloth from my first attempt at making pajama pants.

My first CTR ring

A Glimpse in the Life of a College Student

This is what I've been doing all day and once I get done writing this lil' message, I will start it up once again. Any guesses to what "this" is? If you guessed Statistics 221 studying, then you're right! Ding Ding Ding! Who knows what the mean of a sampling distribution is? How 'bout the meaning of extrapolation? Or there's always my favorite, explain the Central Limit Theorom in detail and be able to use its definition in a fusion question. Those are only a small handful of questions I need to know for my test tomorrow. I'll stop there so your head doesn't have to hurt like mine now does. Insanity is prevalent and sleep is nonexistent. It's a great way to live, if you haven't had the chance to experience college life, then consider yourself deprived. Welcome to my life.

Welcome Insanity

Cabin Bliss

Mid-terms are officially over! Ah... sweet bliss. For a much needed break last weekend we (the family) had a mini weekend vacation at the Fairview cabin for Codi's birthday. We got there and the first thing we did was get inside from the pelting rain! We ex'd our plans for the drive-in movie theater and stayed in the cabin, eating good food and playing games all night. We fell asleep listening to the rain and piling on all of the blankets onto our beds. My thermals even made it out of my closet for the first time this year! Brr! The colors are at their climax among the trees right now. Reds, yellows, and oranges covered the moutainside and the raindrops on the leaves in the morning were a beautiful sight to wake up to! Then it was listening to the first session of general conference on the radio while we watched the rain trickle down the windows. BEE-U-TI-FUL!

We built this... Welcome to the Madsen CabinHappy Birthday Codi!

First Day of the Month

It's officially been one month (from yesterday) since I bought my last book. On the first day of every month I like to go into the bookstore and buy a book that I would actually like to read, NOT something my professors are convinced to thrust down my throat and inevitably make me hate forever. Today, I bought, "Speaker For the Dead" by Orson Scott Card. I've heard it's good, if you haven't read it. DO.

I don't get nearly enough time to read as much as I would like to. When I was younger, I was a little speed reader and I couldn't wait to get my hands on every book within reach. Unfortunately, college has slowed my progress on when and what I can read, so last year I started buying a book on the first day of every month, determined to read at least one book a month for my own entertainment. It's been working out quite nicely. My library is slowly getting built up-I've always wanted a room dedicated just for books. It would be upstairs in the house with a big bay window and a window seat taking up the entire outside wall facing the mountains. That would be surrounded by floor to ceiling bookshelves on all of the other walls with a rolling ladder to get the books down (let's be honest, being short has it's perks, you get cool ladders). A fireplace would be situated in an alcove in the corner of the room with enormous red armcharis to sink into. My small, waist high bookshelves and dinky window in my little attic room will have to suffice for now.

Old classics I'd love to have...

Sort of what I want... endless bookshelves (and a really cool ladder...)

Quinterelis

Making up stories has been one of my favorite pasttimes... When I used to babysit, I'd tell kids any story with any character. I've missed making them up, so I decided to write all of you one tonight! Enjoy the story about the purple mouse I like to call-Quinterelis.

Once upon a time there was a purple mouse named Quinterelis. Quinterelis lived in a teeny tiny hole located in the peach colored kitchen of the little old grandma of Little Red Riding Hood. One day, after a Big Bad Wolf had been thrown out, Quinterelis was scouting the tile floor for cookie crums or a little wedge of cheese. He rounded the corner of the antique wooden table and came to a stop at the table leg. There she was. A beautiful, soft pink mouse named Twindy-Loo. Twindy-Loo and Quinterelis had once gone to "How to Avoid Deadly Mousetraps" school together. She had sat in front of him, and he had almost failed the final exam when she had twitched her tail at him as he was trying to deny the cheese on the trap. He'd almost been snapped in two that day... literally from the mousetrap and then again as his his heart broke right down the middle as she left school with Rudolphus Rat. Quinterelis had thought he would never see her again! And now there she was, right in front of him once again, nibbling on a piece of two day old swiss cheese. With a strong determination, Quinterelis lifted his chin and marched towards Twindy-Loo. Unfotunately, he didn't see the smidgen of slippery jello on the floor and manged to step square on top of it. He flailed his arms and tried to catch his balance, but to his horror, the jello stuck to his foot and he slid right into the lady mouse of his dreams. Twindy-Loo gasped in fright and skittered off to the other side of the kitchen. Quinterelis sat in a heap of tangled tail and 4 legs pointing every which way. Twindy-Loo turned and instead of screaming, she started giggling, then burst out laughing, rolling on her stomach trying to stop the fit of glee she had begun. Quinterelis started to blush, turning his purple fur to a deep magenta. He untangled himself and stalked off to the corner of the kitchen where his hole was located. Twindy-Loo finally got ahold of herself and ran to Quinterelis just as he reached the opening of his hole. She squeaked her "I'm sorries" and Quinterelis quickly forgave her. They went into Quinterelis' teeny tiny little hole and lived happily ever after.

A Late Moonlight Ride

My family always finds random things to do in the mountains... this time, my sister found out that they have moonlight ski tram rides at Sundance when there is a full moon. So we went. Enjoy the ride...

I couldn't help but love this old red station wagon. It had everything from kayaks to rubber tubes to helmets and frisbees loaded and stacked on top of it. They even squeezed in a few ice chests and the oars in the back.

*Note the wild sunflowers off to the right, they're also my favorite flower*

Taiwan!

(Watch out Taiwan... this is what you're about to get)

Congrats to the soon to be "Elder"! Chris got his call and he's going to... the Taiwan, Taichung mission! How insanely cool is that? The only bad thing about it is postage just went up. 94 cents to send one letter across seas. That's almost equal to one entire DOLLAR. Small price to pay to write to the missionaries serving in the field though. Shout out to Chris and Taiwan!

Black and White

Black and white pictures are so classy. Without the color, it seems like you can make up your own story and use your imagination more easily than with a picture filled with color. Simple. Beautiful. Perfect.

Bacon

Yes, that's right. Bacon. This is a shout out to all of you who have ever saved my "bacon" before. Sometimes I wonder how I'm still alive, but here I am. From almost losing a couple of fingers when I was five to wrecking the family dirt bike as an early teen to the not so graceful tumble I took down the stairs last week. What can I say? I'm accident prone, but never broken a bone! So here's to you. To my Grandmother who saved my finger and any other cut I had. To a mother who hopefully has enough patience to last eternity as she waits for her tomboy of a daughter to grow up graceful and poised (Ha! Like that'll ever happen). To sisters who I will always call my best friends. To a friend who taught me math while we ate gummy bears and another who taught me the value of laughter. To a young man who played me "Beloved" on the piano and another who has guided me through the last year of my life. To the ones who go running when I need a partner and to the one who lived in Tooele, but literally came in rain or snow if I needed a date for the weekend. To the one who calls me, "Angel" and the one who's told me her deepest, darkest secrets. To the secret admirers who sent balloons or flowers and the ROTC supplier at BYU for free t-shirts. To all of the cashier tellers who gave me a penny when I needed it and the person in the car who stopped for me so I could cross the street. Thanks to those who I will never know your name. It is you who helps me be a better person, and keep my "bacon" of course.

A Smile A Day Keeps The Frowns Away

I am a definite people watcher. I love watching people and making up stories about what their lives could be like. A man dressed up in a corduroy suit with an uncoordinated red tie could be a retired rodeo clown now going for his Ph.D in Mechanical Engineering . The woman who buys a tray full of dollar menu frosties at Wendy's becomes a soccer Mom who forgot the treat for after the big game. The elderly couple holding hands as they walk down the street will celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary and stuff cake in each other's mouths that night, renewing their love and keeping it strong.

As I was watching people today, I decided that there are 3 types of people when it comes to walking past strangers and saying "Hi." There are the ones who give a friendly nod and a quick smile with just their lips as they hurry off to class. There are the ones who I like to call "out-of-the-zone-in-between-classes" people. They are either too busy talking on their cell phones, looking at the ground while they walk, or look away as you pass by. And then there is my favorite type of people. The ones who catch your eye as you walk past, give you a full grin and give a resounding "Hello!" Today, I decided I wanted to be the latter. So I was. Every person I walked by today got a full out smile and a hello from Jamie. Guess what happened? I, of course, received a few blank stares and weird looks, but I also got a big toothy grin from a guy I'd never seen before in my life, high-pitched "Hello's" from a couple of freshman boys, some tentative "Hi's" from some girls, and a 5 minute conversation with an attractive man by the name of Sterling on his way to a Physical Science lab. The best part of it, everytime I said hello with a smile, there was always someone behind the stranger I had just said hello to, with a smile on THEIR face. You could tell on their faces that they expected their hello from me as well as I walked past them. I like to think it makes a difference in someones life. Who doesn't like to get a smile? So next time you're walking past someone, give away a smile. It doesn't cost much, doesn't take much effort, and is the first step to making a stranger into a friend. Happy Smiling!

Goodbye Fantasy...Here Comes Reality

Isn't it interesting how just two days of college classes can change your life in minutes? I go from a fun-loving girl working in a mail room to a full-time sophmore who no longer has time to have a random social life. My fantasy summer of noncommital relationships and fun has ended. I'm once again stuck in reality where I will be carving my future with a pen and textbook in hand. Sounds like such a beautiful life, doesn't it? My future is in the Lord's hands. While I try to carve my life with a pen, He will be shaping and molding me in ways unbeknownst to me. Who knows where I'll be in a year? A month? A week? What an adventure. What a thrill. So here I go, into the unexpected and crazy world called Earth. Watch out, giant blueberry (Rocketman), here I come.

Gobbledygook

Research Paper. We've all heard those dreaded two words in a college English class, or any class for that matter. My topic-How Sesame Street can affect young, preschool age children. Through the grueling process and putting in long hours of researching for a 15 page paper, I came upon the incredible word that Big Bird once shouted out when he was frustrated, "Gobbledygook." Please take note of the fact that it was 2 o'clock the morning before the paper was to be turned in. I, of course, looked up its meaning and found that it meant "nonsense." Coincidence? I think not. I found this to be God's humor finally finding a place in my life. Here I was, early in the morning, writing a paper that was full of exactly that-Nonsense. I went on to finish the rest of my paper, but couldn't help to chuckle at my own personal joke about the so called "nonsense" I was writing about. So thus begins the blog all about the nonsense in my life... Gobbledygook!