Happy Birthday Alex!

This studly looking young man is one of my very best friends in the entire world and it's his 19th birthday today! We grew up playing power rangers, doing crazy "experiments" with dirt, worms, and countless stuffed animals. He introduced me to putting salt on my tomatoes and eating them as a snack, we've done countless FHE's of swimming and going to the library. Together we have planned group dates, bike rides, and we have even supported each other all those times when our poor little fishies died. Primary was always a blast when it came to listening to Alex's talks; in the time it took one kid to give a 5 minute talk, Alex could do a talk of the same length in 30 seconds flat.

One of my most favorite experiences with Alex was when we both received the Kiwanis Award for teenagers that will make a future difference in the world. To stand up there with my "brother" and get surprise awards that we had no idea we were getting was an event I will never forget. Alex was smiling his classic Alex smile-where you can see every bulging vein in his neck and he has this huge cheesy grin on his face. I didn't really care about the award, I was just pleased to be able to stand with a kid that I really do think will make a difference for the better in this world.

Sure, he's a little quirky, but he's the best friend anyone could ever ask for. Alex is always there to stand up for a friend in need, he can move his hips like none other, he's friends with everyone he meets (and I mean EVERYONE), and you can't help but laugh at most things that come out of his mouth. If you have never met Alex, I give you just one suggestion-meet him! He is one of those people in live you will NEVER forget!

So... Happy 19th Alex!

Go Green

Everything and I mean everything in Oregon is green. You know the song, "It's Not Easy Being Green" by Kermit the Frog? Well, apparently for Oregon, being green is extremely easy. Beginning with the leafy green treetops traveling the length of the moss encrusted bark finishing with the grass covered roots as they disappear into the ground. Everywhere you go it's green, green, and more green. My mind was going into green shock. As much as I love green, I was glad to finally be back in Utah where God generously used a full pallette of colors around the state. Don't get me wrong though, Oregon is a beautiful state to visit! It was a much needed vacation from school and some great sister bonding time! The trip itinerary consisted of...

Day 1

Goodbye to Mom and Grandma at the airport

(Misty's first plane ride-she, of course, loved it. It was NOT my first time, but I still freak out because I hate flying.)

Picking up our fancy schmany Chevy Malibu from the Rental Place

Finding our way through the one-way streets to our hotel for the first night-The Aloft.
(and rescuing Codi from insanity of her week conference for work)

Day 2

Multnomah (yes, that's how you spell it) Falls. Gorgeous, wet, and you guessed it-Green!

Multnomah Falls Gift Shop where we picked up some sweet awesome souvenirs for the parents and for ourselves, of course!

Waiting for Misty to get off the phone...

My favorite falls; it really looked like a horsetail coming out of the rock!

The Dalles (where they higher/lower the water for ships on the river) we crossed the bridge so we could say we'd gone to Washington, then crossed right back over into Oregon.

Day 3

Seaside! The word "beach" means that no matter what the weather, you HAVE to take off your shoes and socks and run in the waves.

It's hard to tell, but my toes are bright red and numb from the freezing Pacific Ocean water.

Visitor center at "The Column"

(it really was just that... a column)

Look close, you can see the pictures and a story is told around the entire column.

Day 4

The Portland temple! The spires stick out from behind a vast array of pine trees and you can sneak a peek of Captain Moroni standing tall and blowing his trumpet from certain spots on the freeway.

Day 5 (Homeward Bound!)
Met an older gentleman on the plane ride home who was on his way to Grand Junction. He was this amazing architect and traveled the country for his company. When the stewardess came down the aisle we both couldn't decide between the airline peanuts or the cookies. He got the peanuts, I got the cookies. We ended up halfing them and sharing with each other. He helped me out with my American Lit. homework and I sat and listened to his presentation about budgets, stats, and the logistics of running a company. Definitely an entertaining 2 hours of flight time (all the while the guy next to the window fell asleep before the plane even took off! If you're going to hog the window seat, you'd think you'd stay awake long enough to enjoy looking out it...)

The plane landed. No crash landing. I was alive. But... we were welcomed by a blanket of snow on the airport ground and swirls of snowflakes around our heads as we headed to the baggage claim area. A girl just can't seem to get a break! At least it's snow and not rain... right? Ha!

All in all a great vacation, great company, great memories! Thank you Big Green Oregon!

Rex Lee Run 2009

Two Thumbs Up for Cancer Patients!

Can you spy Jamie?

What a cold day to have to run on this year! It was definitely worth it though! For those of you who are unfamiliar with the Rex Lee Run, it is a 10K/5K race that honors the late cancer patient and president of BYU-Rex Lee. It has since grown into a race that honors all cancer patients and survivors and all proceeds are donated to cancer research. I ran with my wonderful cousin and his wife (who generously made me choc. chip pancakes after the race) and I beat my time of last year by 5 minutes. Pretty good, eh? The best part of the race? Honoring the cancer survivors and those who have passed on because of it. My wonderful adopted Grandmother was one of these amazing people. Char Currie is someone who I miss more than anyone. She was the best Grandmother a girl could ask for and after 4 rounds of cancer she was able to go home to live with Heavenly Father last summer. I ran for this amazing woman this year and I was proud to have her name on my back. She was at my side the entire race! For those of you who have ever battled any kind of cancer, know that I admire and respect you so much. Shoutout to Mama Johnson for overcoming her cancer years ago and for my good friend Mike who battled it in the 5th grade.

Wed. March 18th. 2009. Mark It On The Calendar As...

... the Day that Jamie may not live through.

My life this past week...

6 tests taken
3 papers written
1 history book approved
1 rock final finished
2 basketball practices practiced

6 mailrooms sorted

1 missionary birthday letter sent
1 5k run and 20 miles of running accomplished
1 talk written/given
2 old friends caught up with
1 suitcase packed

1 brain burnt out

and yet still to go...

1 american lit. paper that may end up being the one cursed thing that leads to my downfall.

The depressing paper is due at 7:30 tomorrow morning before I leave for Oregon. How many pages I have done, you ask? Zilch, nada, nothin'. I consider this a problem.

My creativity is shot and nothing is flowing as I sit here at the computer waiting for something intelligent to enter my head so I can bust it out onto some 8 x 12 paper and run it up to my teacher's office bright and early tomorrow.

Who needs American Lit. anyways? Let me just enjoy reading for exactly that-reading. Who cares about analyzing Robert Frost and what he really means in his poems?

Thanks to the Robertson's who have let me take over their night lives for a couple of evenings and helped me brainstorm for this wonderful essay (now all I have to do is put it onto paper and sound good) and a shoutout to the Lloyds who I was lucky enough to see last night!

Rock On

We've all seen the Rocky Movie Series... For those of you who don't know-I love Rocky. I even have the Rocky theme song on my phone and I have the Rocky yell down to perfection. The only reason I'm telling you all of this? Because I happen to be having a final on ROCKS in exactly one week. Yep. ONE week. It's kind of coming quickly. And when Jamie gets stressed? She either goes for a run (it's been too cold) or she listens to great music like the Rocky theme song to build her up. What's funny about all of this? The fact that I'm listening to the Rocky theme song so I can take a final on ROCKS. How's that for happenstance? Anywho, I thought I'd give you a taste of what I've been up to for the past 5 hours...

This clear rock formation is actually a mineral called Calicite. It's nice to look at, but it also looks EXACTLY like...

HALITE!
Get this, this clear rock formation is a mineral also and the only way you can differentiate between calcite and halite is by licking Halite (which tastes like salt). So yes, I have been licking rocks. Who knew I'd actually have to ever do that for an actual grade?! It's kind of disgusting too, it's makes me wonder, Who else has licked this rock?

Let me introduce to you this bad boy named Gabbro. Cool name? Yup. It's an igneous rock that is cooled slowly inside of a volcano. However, it looks exactly like...

BASALT!
Basalt is also igneous and is cooled inside of the earth also. I'm sure you're dying to know how you tell these two apart? Basalt has the teeniest tiniest little air bubbles that you can barely call air bubbles.

So that's it. My life. For the next week. Rocks. Thought of the day? Who cares?

Good News of the Month!

I. Am. Going. To... OREGON!

For those of you who don't know, BYU has some insane reason for not having Spring Break. So... I'm making my own (Yes, this does mean I miss 3 days of school, but hey, I'm actually getting things done early for once and not procrastinating). I am going to have a wonderful 5 day vacation with two of my very best friends: a.k.a-Misty and Codi. Thanks to Codi we all have an excuse to go to Oregon for her work training thingamabob. The beach, hiking, and getting lost in the airport-I will see you all in a blissful 2 weeks!

Remember how I only have 2 weeks before we leave though? The only doubts I'm having?---Rock Final, 2 Papers, 4 midterms, and a 350 page book to read.