Golden Birthday!!!

I'm not a teenager anymore, I'm a mature and sophisticated young adult now. lol, so how did we celebrate? We had a space part of course! :) I woke up for work, and saw that my roommates had decorated the apartment for me by putting tin foil over one of the walls, and attaching sticky notes, balloons and signs to it to make it look like buttons and knobs, They drew each planet on its own plate (complete with a fact on the back about that planet, such as If Earth had a twin it would be Venus; or Pluto is a dwarf planet lol, those are my two favorites... Thanks Becky for letting me tap into your well of knowledge!!) The hung the planets on the fan blades in order so it was like they were in orbit. They had glow in the dark stars on a wall, a control station, and green cellophane like a portal as you go into the kitchen. So after work (where I received a candy bar) I came home and opened a package my mom sent up for me, and it had a cook book!!! a yellow shirt (the one I'm wearing in the pictures) some mascara, lotion, candy and gum!!!! That sustained me through the rest of the long long day, and when I got home around 5:30 I went with Becky to the Sprint store to fix her broken phone, got lots of birthday calls and then we went home and Kendis had gotten California Pizza Kitchen for dinner, and then we made space helmets!!! Followed by some fabulous presents (wrapped in newspapers with pictures of things like an alien on a stretcher) I got a snow globe egg, a pokemon kite, a frizbee, "brass knuckles" that say GAME on them in fake diamonds hahaha, a pink duck that tells me when the bath is too hot, a movie "Teenagers in outerspace" and "Battle of the Worlds" (I've yet to watch them, but they sure look exhilarating!!) and a dog purse w/ leapord print on the inside, and you can wear the collar as a hair tie!!! woo lol Then Kendis and I painted our nails, I did a dark purple and she did Barbie pink lol, then we tried to splatter then w/ a different color (mine white, hers black) it seriously got all over! it took me like 20 mins to get it all off my hands and arm! lol and Kendis had a little too much flick in her wrist and she got some in her eye!!! she drops the brush and falls to the floor screaming "My eye! Oh oww!" (but laughing at the same time) "I'm serious its in my eye! ahh! ohh!! gahh!!" lol So she runs to the bathroom and washes it off, and then has mascara all down her face, and Becky was like "man, how much paint did you get in there?!" lol- she didnt know it was the make up, well i think she did, and was just being funny. Anyway, after than we did back massages and it was a glorious way to end a fabulous birthday!!!

Cleaning fairy or cleaning nazi?

Okay, so we have cleaning checks every month right?? Well this month I got the bathroom and I cleaned it so well because I failed 3 times before (and I'm supposed to be a custodian... lol ironic right??) even though I clean way better than any of my other roommates and spend seriously about 2 hours cleaning (when I had the oven and 1/2 the kitchen I swear I spent 3-4 and still failed!). So I really cleaned everything to the detail, and I come home the next day to see fail by my name. Grrr! I've been able to laugh it off in the past, but seriously?! I mean this is just getting ridiculous!!! My roommate was like, I think it's because some of us took showers after you cleaned it. So I go into the office to explain my case, but what happens? of course the lady I need to talk to isn't there and won't be in until the next day after my rechecks are scheduled! So what does that mean? I have to reclean the tub to avoid the second fee ($35) and then come in later and state my case. So I do, I reclean it, and it looks exactly the same as it did the first time... some stains, but clean. So the next morning the cleaning lady shows up. Its an old woman, probably 75.. short, portly, glasses (too low of a perscription...just speculations :) And she says I'm here to check the tub, all sweet and innocently. (but oh i know better than to fall for the act) so I go back there and one of my roommates just got in the shower!!!! So I told her I think someone just got in... and she gets all upset, lets out a big sigh like I just took her so out of her way and says all annoyed, "well I guess I'm just going to have to fail it then" and I said, "Are you kidding me?!?!" and she replies "No! I can't wait around here all day, I have other apt's to check!" and I said "even if she gets out right now..." and she just repeats that she has to go... so she asks where the sheet is and I said, maybe I took it into my room... So on my way back to check I knock on the door and have to kick my roommate out of the shower... and then I can't find the cleaning sheet!!! Kaylee comes in and tells me she thinks she saw it in the garbage, so we go digging through the trash with the cleaning lady saying extremely irritated in a raised voice (in the cleaning nazi voice as I like to call it) "You threw it away?! You never throw that sheet away until I clear it!" and "I have to go!" "You never throw that sheet away!" (and she says never the say that check out lady told you you could never return your green sweater Nicole lol, I really had to try not to laugh at how dramatic she was being, and I probably would have if I wasn't so annoyed and angry at that time) lol sheesh we know! calm down! then she says "is that girl out yet?" and I say yes, so she goes back and checks it and comes back "well it passed, so don't worry about finding it," (which is good because at that moment we pulled it out only to find jam or strawberries or something had been put on top of it, and now 1/2 of it was wet and dissolved haha) "but next time, don't throw that sheet away!" Then returns to her sweet voice, smiles and says "Goodbye, have a nice day!" ahhhhhhhhh!!!!!! my roommate and I just stood there for about 5 seconds looking at each other in disbelief with our hands held away from us, covered in trash. Later that day the roommate who was in the shower (and told me why I failed the first time) said that the tub looked exactly the same if not dirtier than the first time I cleaned it (b/c she was in there). And that the cleaning lady was like "Oh, yes, this looks much better!" "Thank you dear, you can get back in the shower now" (in her cleaning fairy voice). I swear! Dad, it's like your haircut story at the MTC! I could have done nothing and she would have said that! My roommate (that was in the shower) said she bets they have a quota they have to fill or something, just like cops, b/c there has only been once when all of us have passed (lol and its usually me who doesn't). I would believe it, b/c there is always full sized candy bars in the office, and a sign in the yard that says "refer a friend and get $50!!" -- here's an idea, just treat your tenants right then they'd refer other girls on their own and you wouldnt have to pay them to do it, and then you wouldn't have to charge for everything to cover it!!!! My theory is that when she was little... maybe middle school or elementary that there was a girl in her class that was mean to her, or maybe she knew a Monique in High school and they were best friends, but then Monique stole her boyfriend or something like that, and she is seeking revenge on me b/c of my name... just one theory, but I think its promising! :) So what's the moral of the story? Check out the childhood of your cleaning fairy/nazi and change your name accordingly! :) Or, if you are a cleaning fairy (manager): give the tenants a break, they usually do clean and they have a LOT going on! Do your job of course, but be nice, and let them reclean it right then if you are there so they don't have to pay the fee. Because they are the ones who recommend others to live there the next semester, so you really get more money from a happy tenant then a failed cleaning check.
Sorry about the tangent, but I just had to get that out there... I find comically ridiculous

Rexburg!!!

I went up to Rexburg about two weeks ago and it was so fun! It was so good to be back up there, it really is like a second home, and it was so good to be with Alma, Nicole, Jagger and friends again!! It felt like I had never left, just like I was back living up there again. Too bad I only got to "live" there for a short weekend. But I sure did a lot in those few days!

The first day I got in we decided to go sledding (seeing as how it was mid January and I had not played in the snow yet... and I live in Utah...) so we went up to the practice fields, where some brilliant mind built the snow up even higher on the hill so that it went above the fence!!! This is not sarcasm when I call this person brilliant, I'm serious! It was so sweet!!! It was a steep hill of joy! Alma and I went down it on the same tube- or air board rather... and it was so funny.. the first attempt we hit a bump -- and you get going down that thing, so it turned into more of a mini jump-- and I wasn't even on the board anymore, but slid right along with it, just sitting in the snow instead of on the board. We were laughing so hard that the snow made our teeth freeze, I think that was the most painful experience of the night! Then we tried it agaiThe first day I got in we went sledding up onn a few more times, and one of them I chinned Alma in the back (sorry about that by the way...) and the next time he didn't even hold onto the handles! so when we hit the bump he fell off and I went sledding down the rest of the hill on Alma, and Alma sledded down the rest of the way on his face! (lol, no apology there --who doesn't hold onto the handles??) Nicole had some rockin rides down the hill as well!! But Jagger didn't want to play... he just sat out with one of us like a lifeless vegetable. No emotion that kid! lol but he does it so cute!


(Just some examples of how cute this guy is!!!)






So after sledding Nicole and Alma went on a date and I met up with some friends and we went to Wingers then back to my friend's to play some karaoke!!! My voice was shot, I mean 4 hours of rockin out in the car on the drive up, and then an hour or so of karaoke! I sounded like a frog the rest of the weekend!


The next morning started bright and early (not as early or bright as it should have) with Alma and I driving up to R mountain, and snow shoeing up the back of it!!! It was awesome!! Snow shoes are seriously amazing! They help so much! We took them off at the top and tried walking around and we sunk down to our shins and were falling over and everything. lol. But since we got a late start and needed to get back to Nicole and Jagger (and a glorious breakfast which I'll et to) we took some of the air boards up with us, blew them up at the top and sledded down the mountain!!!! It was awesome!!!!!!! (disclaimer for any parents reading this... there is a trail that we followed so we knew it was clear of rocks and trees and plants). I went off a little 1 foot drop off and got some air!! lol it was crazy! But the snow was so deep and powdery that it didn't hurt any. Awesome idea Alma!! We'll definitely have to do that one again. So we get home and have an amazing breakfast w/ Nicole and Jagger -- crepes!!!!!!!!!!!! (oh man, those sound so good right now) then we put in some of my laundry and played Ninja Turtles on nintendo!!! (haha, that just reminded me of when we went sledding the first day and Alma was wearing all black and played ninja for a little bit hahaha)

Then later that night we went to the hot springs (smelled like easter eggs that had never been found) but it was fun and my skin was so smooth after!!!







Then after ashower, and another scrumptious meal, I went to Craigo's with some friends, then we went back to Catherine's and played a game where you put the camera on self-timer, and then push the button and call out an object and everyone has to grab that object, and get back in the picture and pose before the timer goes off. lol it was so fun!!!



















Not too hard in a small apartment, but still hilarious results! Then we played curses for a little bit, and then it was off to bed! The next morning I went to church and got to hear Alma give an awesome and motivating talk about being more Christlike, and hear Nicole sing in the choir! (they sounded like angels!!! They were amazing!) Then sadly there were quick good byes and it was off to Provo again.

Thanks so much again for having me guys!! It was so fun to see you! I love you!!!!

Miracle Worker

Richard Simmons: Dance Your Pants Off!!!!

Not only exhilarating and whimsical, but he fills your head with images of butterflies and fairies... oh wait, that's him... but really, its a very practical tape... you learn that running around in circles clapping your hands and singing (with the occasional reverse) not only drops pounds, but tones those muscles!!!! ahahah... it was so fun though!! Totally not something you do to "feel the burn", but just something you do for the experience (usually when you're in an extremely bored or crazy mood; and even then you can only take so much...)
The best part was that two guys from our ward stopped by when we were about 5 mins into our "Celebration" song and dance... lol we haven't seen them since.. poor guys, I think we scared them.

These are some of the sweet moves we learned from him:
This is us getting our game face on ...

We took the challenge, you should too, here are our results to help inspire and motivate you!!:

Before:
from another angle...

After

Us gone crazy after 15 mins of Richard and his shinnangins

Some normal pictures so you don't have the last ones be the last ones you remember and think of when someone says our names. :)

Stoned

We're not talking "throw a rock at the retarded kids" kind of stoned, or the Bob Marley high... but kidney stones. I had a really bad stomach pain the Sunday of the long weekend that lasted from 5:30 ish until after midnight and included chills, throwing up and pain... lots of pain. I thought it was just a weird thing, maybe something I ate, but it returned wed at 2:30 in the morning... so i just laid in bed for about an hour until I had to get up for work and then it subsided some during work but came back around 10 that morning. That's when I decided I should go to the health care center and see what was going on. After a few tests, including getting my blood drawn, twice because the first time the girl went through my vein... sheesh. but hey that way I got two Tasmanian Devil band aids... one for each arm! The doctor concluded I had an infection and put me on antibiotics, and said there was a possibility of a kidney stone, and if the pains didn't stop by Friday then to call back and they'd set up a CT scan. Well the pain came pretty much every morning and sometimes twice a day, and so I called back and set up an appointment for Monday. I wasn't sure if I was going to get a scan done because it is just kind of like "oh yep, we were right... now wait it out and drink a lot of fluids" Theres really nothing they can do about it... but Sat I was in pain pretty much all day and figured I should get the scan so I knew a) if it even was kidney stones, b) how many c) how big, and therefore about how long until it would all be over.
So today I had the scan, and this time the girl didn't let the needle "thread" with my vein...? I'm guessing that means, oh I hit it, but didn't think I did, so I took it out to soon... then the lady who actually would be giving me the scan asked if she wanted her to do it while the other lady asked the questions... so she went on the other arm and hit the vein the first time.. yay!! oh, but then forgot to put the cap on because she couldn't find where she put it. Turns out it was in her hand! So I'm asking questions, then all of a sudden the nurse is like, oh, I'm sorry, here put your arm over here, we're making a mess. I look down and there are is a delta of streams of blood running down my arm and dripping all over the table and floor. Man you'd think after all they make nursing majors go through that they'd know how to put a needle in a vein! and the best part is that each one of them told me before they started how nice my veins were.
Anyway, that's not the point of this entry... So I get a few scans done and find out I have a bunch of stones in both kidneys, luckily they are in the kidneys, and they usually don't bug while they are up there, its only when they start to fall that they kill. So pretty much they can all start falling one after the other, or it could be years till they give me trouble again, or they could never move. So glad I got the scan, that cleared everything up so much! :) But pretty much, I think I already got rid of the one that was giving me trouble, and hopefully the rest of the little buggers will stay put.

Paint Ballooning!!!

Have I got an activity for you!!! Paint ballooning! So pretty much you fill water balloons (or regular) up with paint and water, then go to a paintball course and have a war!! You can wear white shirts, and have each person or team be a color, and then whoever has the most of that color on their shirts, that color team wins.

This was the assembly line the night before making the balloons. McCall would hand me a balloon, I'd fill it with paint, pass it on to Jordan who'd fill it with water, then Durkin and her Mom would tie them. It was so cold that night!! Our fingers were absolutely numb, there was water and paint everywhere because we couldn't control or feel them!! lol




Nikki manned the hose; she'd turn on and off the water for Jordan...







The next morning... at the battle grounds. This is a before shot... while we were all still smiling and friends.







At our stations, ready for the attack.







A three way sneak attack.





I was crying because Durkin sucker punched me... then she felt bad and tried to comfort me... haha, no what really happened is I was getting her so bad that she squirted me in the eyes with paint water, then while I couldn't see she came over and attacked!!!! It's true, look at the left hand... Cheap.




We used the extra paint after all the balloons were gone... that's fun too. Just put them in the plastic ketchup and mustard dispensers and squirt them at each other.






The aftermath....

EFY interview

So I decided to apply to be an efy counselor over the summer, and had my interview a few weeks ago. Lets just say I don't think it went to hott :). So first off it's a group interview which makes everything 10x more nerve racking because now you not only sound stupid and inexperienced in front of the interviewers, but you are comparing yourself to the other applicants the whole time, hoping for their failure so you don't look half as bad! lol - ya that's a good process, I mean that's what efy is all about anyway, putting others down to boost yourself up right? It's right up there with stripping away your self-confidence and looking to others for acceptance. sheesh! lol Well, anyhow, the interview consisted of 9 people, and 2 interviewers, and we introduced ourselves (name, home state, what we are doing - ie school job etc- why we want to be a counselor - the money? No, actually I just like to scream and get no sleep- and where we want to do our sessions) then they asked us two questions each... yup your entire summer hangs on these two questions... no pressure! you'll do great! :) So one of them was a scenario question that one of your kids could ask you. Mine was "So there is a cafe down the street from my school and they play music there, and stuff, so my friends and I go there after school, and all my friends drink coffee, but I just get decaf, is that okay?" I mean what do you say to that?? Then the second question went even better! I actually forgot the question as I was answering it!!! hahaha So needless to say I just rambled on until I remembered the question and hoped that it all combined into a suitable answer. lol. There is an up side to all this however, my friends from Idaho came down because they interviewed as well, so I got to play with them all weekend!!!