Recent Happenings

 Oh how I love being back in good ole' Arizona. 

It has seriously been filled with fun everyday. Every minute. 

It feels a little weird though cause none of our "guys" are home {they are all on missions}. I went and visited their families throughout the past couple days. Oh what wonderful people. 

Don't you worry though! Even though they are gone and missed we are happy and surviving. 

{I didn't know if it was possible.... it is} 

Yesterday I went Ice Skating with these two cuties. 

Branson and Maisy seriously crack me up so hard. It was so fun. I just LOVE them. 

Right after iceskating I met up with these loverlys and we went to the Suns game. 

We got killed.... but thats okay cause I  honestly coundn't care less who won. I just like being there.

Fun times. 

Well I will try and keep this little baby up to date better. 

Right now I am off to lunch and the movies. YIPPIE. 

P.S Tomorrow is Christmas Eve and I am failing at the whole getting everyones presents thing. I keep meaning to do it but then stuff comes up, I get distracted and another day goes by hA..... I am going to do it TODAY though. Maybe. 

Another Thanksgiving Post!

The past week was spent with these wonderful people right here.

I love being around my family! 

With 30 plus people sleeping under one roof there was always FUN stuff happening. 

The days were filled with:

 LOTS of sports. 

Football, Volleyball, Ultimate Frisbee. You name it! 

My family is DANG athletic.. everyone that is except for me. 

So I spent most the time on the sidelines watching after a few to many points were lost cause of me! HA 

Just hanging out talking and watching movies. 

GEOCACHING. 

This is a new found little hobby for me.  

My cousin Robbie got me into it and we spent several hours searching for hidden "treasures." 

Holy addicting. 

I even bought the app. so now I am going to go pro :)

Eating. 

I swear there was not one moment where food was not present. I was never hungry when meals came around because there were snacks constantly surrounding us. The food was dang good though and the adults did all the cooking and cleaning which was a major plus. 

 Bike rides and hanging outside in the BEAUTIFUL California weather. 

Simply spending time with these guys! 

Having constant entertainment from this guy. 

 Being with my brother. I hadn't seen him for 11 months. I was one happy girl! 

Late nights and little sleep.

We also went shopping on Black Friday. Of Course. 

My brother, three of my cousins and I all went at midnight and it was insane! 

Shot off fireworks in celebration of Thanksgiving? 

I took two of my cousins senior pictures! Aren't they precious? 

Overall it was a wonderful time. I am so beyond thankful for my wonderful family and the opportunities we have to be together.

Now I am back in good ole Maine. I was welcomed in with lots of snow and studying left to do.

Only two more weeks of classes left to go though. 

Leggo. 

Rainy Days

I am currently in a state of ultra-relaxation.  

I told myself at 8:30 I HAD to go to the Union to study... but then right at 8:30 on the dot it started pouring. 

I think thats a sign that I was not suppose to go right? 

Thus I am all snuggled up in my warm, cozy room, have some delicious treats I bought today at the apple orchard's little store, and am ready to hit the books right here... well at least try too. I feel like my body is in a coma and I am loving every second of it.  

Well.. thats all. 

xoxo 

Awkward and Awesome

Well going off the whole "Daybook" thing I decided to make my own little Awkward and awesome for the week. The first full week of school that is :) So this probably wont be that great but hey... its procrastination from doing work, so all is well. 

{Awkward} 

• Running 6 miles in the rain, then going straight to class all soaking wet. Let me tell you.. sitting in class for three hours with soaking wet socks, clothes and hair is basically the DEFINITION of fun. Not to mention the fact that you smell like a wet dog to everyone around you, and look like one too. hA.
• Falling off your bike while trying to carry your sleeping bag, and other camping stuff. {cue applause now}Then trying to make it look like it was on purpose.. Yeah. Let me tell you, doesn't work...you look even MORE dumb.
• The 30 seconds {that feel like FOREVER} in which you sit at dinner alone because you got your food faster then your friend. Trying to decide if you should walk back up to pretend to grab one more thing or just sit there like a loser. I am telling you people EVERY TIME this goes through my head of what to do. Tonight... I just sat like a loser. 
• Calling your dad and once again having someone else answer the phone... after repeatedly telling him not to have strangers answer his phone. This time it was just another hitch hiker he picked up and drove with for two hours. Then me awkwardly not knowing what to say.. "uh.. so you having a fun time with my dad?"
• Watching a drunk boy throw up, while locking up my bike. Seriously it was like Niagara Falls coming out that boys mouth. {sorry if that was T.M.I. I just wanted to paint a clear picture} Once again I am questioned with do I go help him? Cause his friends surly aren't. Or do I follow their lead and let him be?? I am telling you people, these are things I can go without seeing. 
• Going to the gym then eating three cookies right after. Come on Amy. Get your act together.. Yo Fat is not going to eat itself.... if only though. Cause that would be SWEET!
• Losing my "One Card" for the second time in a week. 

{Awesome} 

• Finding my "One Card" in the middle of the street. After a brief moment of panic and retracing my steps of course. 
• Getting a package with Paradise Bakery Cookies, a letter from Jackson and Alex and Abbie's wedding Invitation all in the same day :) 
• Speaking of Weddings.. Bree and Stewart are getting Married TODAY. Chelsea and Trent are getting married next week and Alex and Abbie the week after! Oh goodness. I am sad to be missing them all but SO flippin excited for them. LOVE IS IN THE AIR my friends. 
• The fact that no matter where you cross, cars ALWAYS stop for you whenever you need to cross the road.... I may or may not, take advantage of this a wee little bit.. I just like crossing the street. 
• Having my own bathroom!!! YEAHHHHH {Crowd goes crazy with excitement} Can i just tell you that one role of toilet paper can last A LOONNGGG time for just one person. Who would have thought?
• My friend Clare yelling HI to me out the window of an apartment. I don't know why... there is just something about yelling out windows that makes me excited. When I have a house one day I am going to yell at everyone that passes by. {I have a feeling I am going to embarrass my kids a lot too} hA. 
• The fact that tomorrow is Sunday, which means I get to skype McKenzie! {Even though I communicate with her everyday.. Skype means I get to look at that beaUTIFUL face of hers} along with my other jolly AZ friends.
• That I absolutely LOVE my job working at the daycare. Cutest little nuggets ever.
• That life is FREAKING WONDERFUL 

xoxo

Kinda Obsessed

I am one to become obsessed with things... it can beANYTHING. 

People, blogs, subjects, books, pictures, you name it. 

Anywho I am a little obsessed with Pintrest right now and am basically have to look at every free moment I have. 

I can't wait to have my own cute little house all clean and decorated. 

Just makes me want to be all crafty and stuff. 

We went Camping.

Welp. I have been in Maine exactly one week...

but i must say in some ways if feels way longer. 

My room is all put together and done. Classes are going well. {I have only been to two thus far though} and Cross Country is just great. {Except I am by far the slowest on the team. Just trying to help boost other peoples running confidence ya know? hA } It has been so fun seeing everyone though and catching up on all the neat adventures they have embarked on over our 3 months away. 

So this weekend our cross country team once again went on a overnight trip to our Coach's camp. 

This little beauty right here. 

{This picture was taken at 6am this morning as the sun was rising} 

On the way there we stopped at Pineland to do a nice hour or so run. 

Once at the camp we went swimming and kayaked, played dodgeball, ate dinner, and had some Hurricane Irene clean up. {Picking up fallen branches and such} Then we gathered around a lovely bonfire while the whole team sang songs and ate smore's. Of course what kind of campout would it be without entertainment by the lovely freshmen? Complete with singing, dancing, and eating powdered donuts off of a string. So happy thats not me anymore :) 

{The girls team}

{The campsite} 

{Sleeping on the beach}

Overall it was a pretty fun weekend. Lets see what the next ones will bring. 

i like this.

"Today, while I was driving my grandfather to his doctor’s appointment, I complained about hitting 2 red lights in a row. My grandfather chuckled and said, “You always complain about the red lights, but you never celebrate the green ones.""

Need to start celebrating the "green" one more. 

Lets catch up!

welp. I am back at Bowdoin and back to my little blog! This little baby has been neglected WAY to much! Yet first... before I get into the whole "back to Bowdoin" thing lets play catch up from the rest of my summer. I kinda feel thats all I ever do on here... but thats going to change. Promise. 

Well EVERYTHING i did this summer was total FUN. I can say I did not experience one minute of boredom the entire 3 months. Oh happy day. 

But to spare YOU from boredom I wont go in depth.. but here are a few of the things we did to say the least.... 

Wonderful Cabin trip to Utah with the Merchants. 

Guaranteed fun with this family :)  

California Trip with Christina

 

 

Then another California trip with Sydney, Tommy, Maddy and Abby

 Then lots of random things... such as handing out otter pops to everyone we saw.

{yet no one really took them}

Then also.. TONS of mission farewells. Seriously EVERY WEEKEND we were at one.  

and now is letter writing for TWO years. Checking the mail is my new favorite thing :) 

{One of our "letter writing parties"}

Anywho classes start tomorrow and summer is over.. thus we will move on. 

But though I said it a lot.. I shall say it again... 

Summer 2011 was quite a good one :) 

"Hard work Doesn't Always Pay off"

Welp. Thats the lesson McKenzie Merchant and I learned these past two weeks.. 

"Hard Work Doesn't Always pay off"- as Maddie put it. 

Actually I am just kidding. I am a firm believer in working hard to achieve your goals. Lets just say that Kenny and I are not the natural entrepreneurs we wish we were. 

We decided that we wanted to earn some money this summer since neither of us have jobs. So our first plan was to make and sell Hair Flowers on etsy and other cute things we make. We got all excited and thought are lives were going to change and "everything would be different" after our "Sweet Pea Designs" business took off. (Oh.. and we named it that because in 5th grade we tried to make a magazine called that.. which was also a failure. So we were trying to bring in back... didn't work. But whatever. Its not like I care) hA. 

Anywho.. we made an etsy account, made business cards, a company sign, bought $70 dollars worth of supplies, locked our selves in our "office" for almost a week straight and got to work. Our flowers got progressively better, taking about 30 minutes per one. But... if I had to be locked in a room with anywho McKenzie is certainly the one. We had tons of fun and laughed like crazy at our little company and life.

So.. Lets just skip to the companies fall.... well before we even rose (which was never), we got a spot at the local farmers market. We worked SO hard getting ready for it and were so beyond excited. So that morning we show up in the 324812748 degree heat and well.. lets just say we made a totally of $1.20. Which came from selling a water. Yup. thats right folks we sold nothing! HA. But it was way fun... kinda!. it was just too hot for anyone to come outside. No one was there. So yeah. We still have our flowers on etsy and they honestly are really cute if you want to check them out. If not don't worry about it.. our moms have basically been buying all of them out of pity. But.. we kinda are putting "Sweet Pea Designs" on hold for a bit. 

So... After that was a failure, we had some crazy idea to do a little camp for kids. We ended up deciding to do a boys camp and once again could not be more excited. In our heads we had all these fun ideas and everything looked great. We even made camp shirts that said "Counselor" so we were official :)  Well... little did we know that when you get a bunch of 8-12 year old boys together it is the definition of craziness. Little boys are MEAN to each other is all I have to say. They were all so nice to us but were trying to kill each other! All our many fun activities that we planned went down the drain and they ended up playing basketball, and wrestled each other. It was very physically and emotional painful on the all of us! hA. I make it sound horrible.. but there were fun moments too. Like at the end of the day when they left! :) Just kidding. I love those little boys! It was good future parent training and got us some extra money! 

This was the best group picture we got. A whole three boys got in the picture! HA. 

Well... thats all for now. Got to go think of some other plan to earn money. I will let you know how it goes... but I think you can predict it! :) 

Call Me "Cheesy" but...

I am beyond grateful for everything that has happened this Summer. It has been one I will surly never forget and.. its only been one month! But this past month has been SO busy. {By choice of course. I LOVE being busy}  I LOVE what a wonderful family I have and such an incredible group of friends I have, and all the fun, and crazy things we do together.

So. Since I have neglected my blog thus far I will give a quick update: 

First.. the Coast to Coast trip ended in Success. I wish I was back stuffed in that little car right now :) I loved everything that we were able to see and the incredible people I was with and met! 

On that note traveling is so neat. You get to experience all these news things and learn so much about different places and people. It certainly is a mind opener. I have the traveling bug in me SO bad! I have this dream of just getting married and traveling for a year. Just living super cheap and going EVERYWHERE! Aw. Such a cool thing! 

Secondly: On a daily basis I have been doing so many fun things. If I don't say it enough, I have the GREATEST friend on the planet. I seriously just love them with all my little heart. So since I have been back, I have been spending these lovely hot summer days with them in my presence. 

We all went to visit our dear friend Stephen! I can not explain in words what an example and wonderful person Stephen is! He has stayed so strong and has kept such a high spirit through these hard times. He is truly such a light in the lives of all those who know him. He is already such an incredible person and I know as he continues to recover he will just become more AMAZING. 

I just LOVE this girl. I have had my dear Kenny by my side for the past month and I LOVE every second I am with her. I can't even describe how much fun McKenzie and I have together. I can be in the most serious mood, or insanely hyper and no matter what we have so much fun! She has been in Washington the past 4 days and I don't know what to do with myself. I am SO lucky to have her as my BESTEST FRIEND. {Oh.. and we just started a little company making and selling hair flowers.. You all should buy some. Support our college education fund. hA.}

Okay sorry. I will stop writing so much about how much I LOVE people, cause I could go on forever...

So I will try and be "Short and Sweet"

YEAH. For Pizza and Pasta at Midnight. 

Cooking lessons. :) Delicious. 

The most INCREDIBLE people in the world! Gah. How can you not love them!?

Sleeping in the Public Park. Fun Stuff. 

Having Lunch. 

{Really quick.. Can I just say that I have only been in Arizona 19 days and I am pretty sure I have eaten out at least 25 times.. Something is wrong with that. I am going to get FAT and be BROKE. So.. New goal... No more eating out.} 

Getting Pedicures. 

Well.. Lets just say I have done TONS of fun things. We are always doing something. Thus it has surly been a fun summer so far, not boring one bit to say the least. 

Third Matter of Business: Well this probably did not come as a shocker for many, but I converted to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. It was probably one of the hardest decisions I have had to make in regards to dealing with my family, but I could not be more grateful for the church and all the blessings I have received through it. It is a wonderful thing.

{a few of the people in attendance} 

 I was certainly overwhelmed by the generous number of people who attended my baptism and made the day wonderful. I am beyond grateful. 

Finally: Welp. That pretty much sums up what I have been up too. I am LOVING every second of summer and am VERY VERY HAPPY. I can't get over how wonderful life is. :) YAY. 

Oh.. and Happy Fathers day!! 

 I am so blessed to have such a wonderful father. He is AMAZING. 

Toot-a-loo :)