The hunt is on...

Have you ever played Where's Waldo? I love to play it along with ISpy. But when it seems like you've misplaced something, you want it to be just as easy to find it as in the games. It seems like our new house is  giant black hole waiting to steal something important while we're not looking. I've misplaced by school binder and a library dvd. Which were of great need these last couple weeks. You can only ask the question "Now where did you have it last?" only oh so many times. But what else can you do?

Wet Ducks

          Today was a fun day. It was Dad's day off of work and he went straight to working on some more remodeling. For lunch we headed to Costco and while we were there we decided to purchase the new hard wood (laminate) flooring. It took a lot of work to load it onto the cart because they are heavy. The weather has been overcast for a couple of days now....heh heh heh. So we pushed the cart of flooring to the otherside of the parking lot where we are parked, and over to our trailer. We get over there and we see a little hail starting to come down. In a matter of seconds we are in a complete downpour. I have never seen so much rain come down so fast! We all jumped into the truck because we were getting drenched.  We just sat in the car for about 5 minutes hoping the rain would let off, meanwhile we hadn't brought a tarp and the flooring was just sitting in the cart outside. We keep hearing Dad say Why! Why! Why! Everyone else just thought it was funny. It was the first time this summer it had to rain.
            It was flooding the parking lot. We all jumped out of the car because we needed to at least hurry and load it because it didn't look as though it would stop. I had never been in nor witnessed that much rain. With half of it being rain and half hail it was like standing under a cold shower. My older sister and I were getting pelted, it was so wet I had a hard time keeping my pants up and we were laughing so hard that it was difficult to lift such heavy things. It was hilarious! We got all loaded and we quickly got in the car and we were soaked to the bone. My sister and I were ringing out our shirts and squeezing water out of our hair.
            Then finally on our way home about 10 minutes later, it stops. We went inside after unloading then and we had to open all the packages and had to quickly wipe them dry. As Mom said, "It's the first time we are mopping the new floor".  It was fun. I would do it all over again if I could. I think everyone would have except Dad. :)

Fair Week Day 1 & 2

             It's fair time again! We drove to my Grandma's house and got here yesterday. When we got there we found out that my Grandpa took my Uncle and Cousin fishing. Later on in the day more family came and we decided to go into town and watch Despicable Me 2 at the theatre. It was so cute, it's well worth the money to buy. After the movie we went to Jack in the Box for dinner and played a big mean round of the game Pit, back at home. My Aunt got my cousin and I addicted to a Despicable Me 2 : Minion Run game on our tablets. Beware, you can't play it just once.Then we ended the night off with my cousin and I watching "Shark Week : Megalodon in current waters?". It was so much fun.
            Today we woke up early to go to the parade. We parked ourselves in the shade but by the end we were baking in the sun. The parade seemed a lot longer this year. After the parade we hung out awhile at the house until the men returned from fishing.  They caught and brought home a big bag of trout. They said they wouldn't complain if they went back out. We then went to the local D.I. which is pretty much a must every time we come. Later in the evening we went to the fair grounds to watch cattle sorting. It was very embarrassing but when I sat down of the bleachers during the cattle sorting, my pants caught on a nail and I was stuck where I sat. I didn't mention it to anyone until after about 10 minutes of trying to maneuver it off by myself. Nope, I ended up having help. It was embarrassing but funny. Then we got a Maple Bar, and headed for home.
             
             

Very Busy

I keep looking at the blogs that I follow and I am really envious of their dedication. One blogger blogs every other day, which I really wish I could do. Either I have nothing to blog or I have so much to blog that I get busy and sidetracked. But here is what I've been up to.

First, we finally moved. At the moment we are doing a lot of remodeling like taking down wallpaper, fixing the old kitchen to make it Mom's way, and getting ready to put in new flooring (both carpeting and tile).
The problem with moving was that we had to bump up the move-out date so we could be into our new house sooner. The reason for that is because of family vacation. The new owners wanted to close on a date that was right in the middle of the 2 week trip. So we asked to make it sooner.

Then, because of multiple reasons we decided to put our little dog Sadie, down. We knew it was the right thing to do but it was really hard. We said goodbye and it's odd to see her for the last time and think that you won't see her again until heaven, that in a couple of hours we wouldn't be able to do things we her anymore. She was one amazing dog. She was so patient with us. Infact, when she was a pup we use to dress her up in baby doll clothes and sit her upright and push her around in a baby doll stroller.  It gave us comfort to know that Grandma B. was probably waiting to meet her. Grandma really loved her. We laughed when we reminded ourselves that we asked Grandma what we should name her, when we first got her and her only name response was "Bonnie".

After moving in just enough to get our vacation packing done, we left for 2 weeks back east. We went all over the place. We were on the lawn of the Washington Monument on the 4th and got to see the fireworks. We went and walked the Boston Freedom Trail. We saw the 9/11 Memorial. My favorite part was going to the American History Museum and seeing Julia Child's kitchen. More details are on Around the Butcher Block. But it was so much fun. It also was the first airplane ride for half the family and we got to take 4 of them!

Last Saturday I got back from a week long girls camp. It was way fun. I got to be a Youth Camp Leader. This camp was with my new ward and so I got to know the girls from my ward a lot better. I got a really bad sunburn on my face and it just goes to show you should never ever forget to put on sunscreen. My lesson was learned.

This is my summer thus far. I still have another girls camp with my old ward and then we might go to Grandma's for the fair. But we are not sure due to the home renovations.

We Like to Party!

Tonight we celebrated my sister's birthday. She is 21! Her birthday was earlier this week but with everyone's hectic schedule we planned it for tonight. My brother and my sister-in-law came and it was awesome that they could come. You always know that the party wouldn't be as great without family members. We had a nice dinner and then opened presents. For dessert we had some really amazing cake pops that my sis-in-law made and brought. (They were french vanilla and red velvet! :) ) It was really hot today, it got up in the mid 80's which is definatly a change in the weather we've been having. But because of the weather we bought some water balloons and played catch in the backyard as party of the games. It was a really fun night. Having her birthday and her being 21 doesn't seem right. It doesn't feel like we are getting any older. I'm very happy that she is a part of our family.

A Little Update

      Well the photo challenge obviously was permanently put off. It was fun while it lasted but it seemed like when the smallest thing happened it took me away from the blog. But now I'm back with a little update.
       A couple of posts ago I said that I was moving...well sadly we are STILL in the process of moving. We had an open house yesterday and we had a couple of groups go through so I guess it was a small success. But in order to get the house ready to be shown, we have condensed a lot of stuff (as in packed and boxed). It's been pretty boring around the house because my sister and my mom and I had packed all of our fabric and we are going crazy. The dilemma we are in right now is that we have access to the house we are going to be moving into, but in order to fully buy and move in officially we have to sell the house we are sitting on now. It feels like an extremely long process.
       Tonight I went to my mission prep. class. I absolutely love it. I've been going to it for a couple months now since they started it in our stake. We have already gone through each lesson and now we’re to the point of doing scenarios. We were set into companionships and then our topic was the restoration. My "companion" and I went up there are (not to brag) but we nailed it. It was so exciting. We introduced ourselves, stated why we were there, gave the message and then bore our testimonies. I still have a couple more years to go but I really can't wait for the real thing on my mission. At school I had an experience to give my testimony in a copy of the Book of Mormon to my friend and that felt really great too. I am so grateful that the mission age was changed.

Day 11: Something Blue

My picture for "Something Blue" is my Hardy Boys Mystery Books. I love them to death. I collect them. I also collect the Nancy Drew Mystery Books. I know that they are definatly under my reading level since I am a junior in high school, but they are so much fun to read. I mainly find them at library sales and the D.I. With us moving, I've had to box them all up. Which was not much fun because I always see them in the open. They are the only books I have on my bookshelf.



This is not all. :)



Recap and Day 10: Childhood Memory

So just a recap. My sister-in-law and I are doing a 30 photo challenge. Every 10 days I'm re-posting the challenge so we are all on the same page (or so to speak). So we have already done 1-9 and today will make 10. Go check out her pictures HERE.

Day 10 is a childhood memory. It's kind of tricky because I had a lot of ideas for this one. I could just sum it up and take a picture of my house. It has so many memories inside and out. It's been announced officially that we are moving. It's true. It's been kind of hectic around here since we are packing everything up. Looking for boxes has been pretty fun though. We check the businesses around our area. We are moving into my grandma's old house. She passed away last July and so we have been thinking about it and we decided that we want the house as ours so....now we need our current house up for sale. We are quickly packing and fixing things up.

Anyway so the real Day 10 picture for me today is my stuffed animal bear. His name is Gus. Gus has been with me since I was 7. I got him for Christmas. Since then I always ask for a teddy bear for Christmas. It's sort of a tradition now. So here he is.

Day 9: Someone You Love

Tonight my older sister and I were bored. Which is not a suprise in most cases. So we decided to color. Legit Coloring. We got out my IPod and cranked it up. We put glasses on and Lip Synced. It was so much fun. I think we laughed and sang more than we colored though. I think in the half an hour we did it I only colored ONE page. So my picture today is definatly someone I love. My older sister. :)

Day 8: Bad Habit

I think that one of my bad habits is that I listen to too much music. (Or at least others think so) Also when I love a certain song.... I tend to play it into the ground. Yes I admit, I'm guilty of that but can you blame me if it's a good song? My younger sister says that I listen to my music 24/7. Which at times just drives her up the wall. So that is what my "Bad Habit" picture is for today. My beloved IPod.
The current songs that I listen to (all the time) are...

"Another One Bite's the Dust" by Queen

"Tell Me Why" by Dion and the Belmonts

"You Can Call Me Al" by Paul Simon

Day 7: Fruit

Just one question....HOW IN THE WORLD DO YOU MAKE A PIECE OF FRUIT LOOK ATTRACTIVE???? This question has been puzzling me ever since I first saw the list and even with the picture up, I am still wondering. At my house the fruit and the ongoing option for an after school snack is and I quote, "I don't know how about an apple, orange, or a banana....I just bought some today." My sister in laws picture is so much better. She makes it look like you will enjoy eating it. Like there's a variety. An apple is what I had on hand or so to speak so....here is my semi-attractive apple. :)

Day 5 High Angle & Day 6 Low Angle

My sis-in-law and I both agreed that we would do both of these days together since they were so similar.

                                             Day 5: High Angle

                                             Day 6: Low Angle

Day 4: Something Green

               I'm going to explain it a bit. This "green picture" is a picture of my ProStart logo on my chef's jacket. ProStart is what I have been doing for most of the day. For those that don't know. I love to cook. At my school they offer a class that teaches us to cook on a college level. Today we competed at the Capitol building against all the other schools in Utah that also offer the class. This picture worked the best for me today since I saw everyone and their dogs wearing it.

Day 3: Clouds

       Today was a little more difficult than I thought as far as picture taking. To start things off, the near future forecast says it's going to rain. On top of that, as Winnie the Pooh would say, "Today is a very Blustery day."It was so bad that it ripped our mailbox off the side of the door. So I waited and waited a bit to see if the gray sky would look any better than it did. Which sadly, it didn't. I watched my window often and ran out to take a picture (before the wind blew it away). It turned out better than I anticipated. The sky was completely gray. The clouds you see where very dark. No blue sky at all. :(
      I text my sis-in-law and asked her what to do since it defiantly wasn't working for me at the moment. She said "....Lol Ummm get creative??" So here's my attempt.

Day 2: What I Wore Today



Nothing totally special...Reminds me a lot of cotton candy.

Then I wore the Snoopy necklace below and some pink flower earrings.



This is a very special necklace to me. My friend brought it back from her
trip to Knottsberry Farm. She and I have a little thing for Snoopy.

Ice Fishing

Last weekend my Dad took us up to Strawberry Reservoir and we went ICE FISHING! We brought our really great friends and my sister-in-law and my brother. But it was a blast.
We woke up extra early to pick everyone up and we took off on the road. On the road we played "I'm going on a camping trip..." to which I kept butting in not knowing it wasn't my turn until I got to the middle of the alphabet and then stopped when everyone was laughing. Yes, it happened more than once. :) Right before we got there we saw a white truck caught in the snow and so with our handy dandy winch we pulled them out.
     When we got to the lake we layered our clothing which seemed as though we all looked like we gained 5-10 pounds. We set everything down in a nice area and we started making holes with the Auggers.

                     This is the first hole that we started.

                   A little bit away we started another one.
    Meanwhile back at the first one they are still going after Dad and my brother have already made 4 others.

  How many people does it take to drill a hole? Finally help steps in and we answer the question.

      We really had a great time, here are some more pictures.

                                   

I actually fell asleep in the sled at one point and there is nothing better than cheeze-its and Harry Potter.

 By the end of the trip we realized that we didn't use as many layers as we thought we would. We didn't catch anything (we almost pulled in 1 and we got a couple of bites) The only thing we caught was a sunburn. The day wasn't a total loss because we took the sleds and went sledding after.

30 Day Photography Challenge

I am so excited for this challenge. It means more blogging, more time with my camera, and getting to see how my sister-in-law shows her point of view from her lens. I am so excited! Today starts Day 1!

Day 1: Self Portrait

Since my sister-in-law is doing it with me, I want you to see how she's doing...

Go Follow HER.

Junior Prom

           This past weekend I went to Junior Prom. It was so much fun. I'm telling ya, guys should ask a girl to prom even if he doesn't want to go because it will make her whole night, and creates stories to tell her future family.
           Anyway, our day activity was fun, we went to the Living Planet Aquarium. It really is a fun place and there is so much to see. Then I got home only to find that my family wasn't. Panic attack! I needed to hurry and get ready, my hair done, makeup, (all the stuff you do to get ready to go to the biggest dance of the year). They came home just in time (45 minutes before I had to go) and my oldest sister did my hair. She did a fabulous job. It looked fantastic. My new sister has a friend who let me barrow a dress and all it needed was a shrug. I liked it plus the shrug made it modest. He came to pick me up and we did the official flower exchange. I'm telling you now watch out girls, we have the hard part. I totally forgot how to put his on his coat. So luckily Dad stepped in to help. We left after a brief picture and an introduction to my family who was all present (sitting on the couch and whispering) and watching.
           We went for dinner at Romano's Macaroni Grill. It was really good. I didn't finish it though because it was a huge portion. I felt bad since he had paid. At one point a waiter walked over with a note for my group. It was from some other couple or patrons at another table that was unknown. (I'll let you read it in the picture)......Yeah Man! They were so nice. I didn't feel as guilty for not finishing now. They were sweethearts. It makes me want to do it sometime, like as a tradition. Let's just say that dinner was great.
           The dance was held at the Capital Building. We went up a balcony of stairs and seperated to each side, boys and girls. (If you can imagine) When it was time they called the girls name and who escorted them (my date) and we met in the middle of the stairs. He knelt down and gave me a red rose and walked me down the rest of the stairs while everyone took pictures. I guess it's a tradition. The first dance we got was with our parent. So I got to dance with my Dad and it was very nice, fun, sweet....etc. I loved it. Then we took more pictures and parents had to leave after that. It meant the world to me that they came! I love them so much.

My date and I

My date and I + my best friends as a couple

This is the note that was given to us at the resteraunt
(we had quite a few couples at our table, they were really generous)

This is one of my best friends in the whole world

    The dance was awesome and we had a blast. He was such a gentleman.

New Semester with New Projects

         

            Wow as much as people say that this school year has gone by quick I am just begging for it to go faster. I think it's going as slow as mollases. I have new classes because of the new semester, (a different math class and all my classes are switched around). I'm just trying to settle in again.

            The end of semester break was very well deserved. I got to do 2 of my most favorite things in the whole world, one which was starting a new Harry Potter book (#5) and second being sewing. For the record I am trying to read the whole series, not sure of the time limit but I'm having a great time. Sewing! I started 2 quilts, I swap so I don't get totally bored of one. But also over the weekend I started a mission prep class in my stake and I got to hang out with my new sister and I had a huge blast! :)

            

Sorry that I haven't blogged in  a while. The place I find myself distracted from blogging the most is, of course, Pinterest! I hear other people say "I'm so proud of myself, I had a pinning spree" then I go onto their page and they only have maybe 10 new pins. It makes me feel guilty because when I go on one I feel like I'm in a fabric store sale and I feel like I'm buying (pinning) everything. There was a pin that said something to the effect that "If I had everything I pinned on Pinterest I would be placed on the Hoarders Show". So I have to make a self goal to not get distracted and to focus on the blogging. (It just has so many cool things)