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!