My Newest Adventure

Although I'm pretty sure all of you already know, I thought I'd make it even more official by posting it on my blog...but I'm getting married!  His name is Cameron Hunter and he's WONDERFUL!  I've known him since 8th grade and we even dated in high school.  We dated off and on, and even when we weren't dating we stayed really good friends.  He's always been one of my best friends and he's helped me get through a lot of trials and challenges.

He got home from his mission the day after I moved home and things just fell into place.  We got engaged 6 weeks after he got home.  I know, I know, it was quick, but I felt like it was okay because we've known each other for almost as many years as we didn't know each other.  We're getting married on the 27th of November, the day after Thanksgiving, in the Bountiful temple.  I hope to see all of you there!

Here are some pictures of our adventures together.  He's a cutie, or as Aunt Eileen puts it "He's handsome!"  We have a ton of fun together and I enjoy every second I get to be with him.

We went up the mountain to take pictures of the fall leaves.  They're not all quite there yet, but we sure had fun taking pictures anyway.

This picture is from Lagoon.  This was taken on the very day he said "When we get home, I'm going to talk to your dad."  That was it.  Technically he never asked me and I never said yes. :)

We went on a night hike up at the "C"...I guess we were scared or something.  I don't really know why we're making these faces.

He borrowed one of my sweatshirts...and well...it was a little small for him.

These are our super hero faces.  Yes, we're conquering the world one mexi-mustache at a time.

Hello Seattle

Steven was a trooper and joined me on my adventures to Seattle and Idaho. We drove over 2000 miles but it was a blast, at least for me. We visited Audrey for almost a week and we got to see some new things, including her new baby. I'll post the pictures from Idaho in a couple of days, I don't want to overwhelm all of you with jealousy. :) It was so good to see Audrey, Barrett, Daven and new little Afton. She's a beautiful baby with TONS of hair! Thanks again Audrey and Barrett for letting us crash your apartment!

TWIN FALLS

On our way to Seattle, Steve and I stopped in Twin Falls to have some dinner. We crossed this huge bridge and at the bottom of this gorge there was the most beautiful golf course. It was sweet!

IN SEATTLE

I seriously could not get enough of Afton's hair. I love it!

PIKE'S MARKET

In my personal opinion, Pike's Market is a must see if you're visiting Seattle. There are tons of fruit stands, honey stands, fish stands, flower shops and any other shop you could possibly imagine. There are people singing on the street and hippies everywhere. It's great!

LINCOLN PARK (no not the band)

This is the "Sandcastle Beemine" as Daven named it. We took the only patch of sand we could find on the beach and built a fantastic sandcastle. Good job Steve and Daven!

We saw two jelly fish in the water. One was dead and just floating along, and this red one looked as if it were dying. I didn't think they came this far north. Shows you what I know about jelly fish.

On our little hike to the beach, we spotted a spotted owl. I've never really seen one, so I thought it was pretty cool.

I just love this picture. Afton sure is a great baby! She didn't even cry when Steve held her. :)

THE FERRY

We rode the ferry to Vashon Island and it was one of the highlights of the trip. There was a street fair and we walked around for a while, passing little booths as we strolled up the street. I really love street fairs, mostly because they always have live entertainment. There were a few bands and singers that I really liked, and there was even an old man dancing/doing Tai Chi under a tree. I wanted to take a picture of him, but I didn't really think that it would be appropriate. He seemed really into the music.

I officially love Seattle, and I hope that Audrey and Barrett enjoyed our company as much as we enjoyed theirs!

Wendover and the FUNBUS!

A couple of weeks ago a few friends and I paid $15 to ride the Fun Bus out to Wendover. It's actually a really good deal. You pay the $15, they drive you to Wendover and back, you get a $25 all-you-can-eat buffet, a little coupon book for free drinks and discounts at stores and $5 to gamble. So, if you don't take any more money than the $15, you get a full belly and a few bucks to blow on Black Jack or Craps.

I realized that I really hate gambling. I don't really like spending money or shopping, and just blowing money on a card game was silly to me, but the whole experience was really fun. We also decided to dress up, and when I heard this I thought "I'll go as a cowgirl." Everyone else went in 80's outfits, so we looked pretty silly walking around the casinos. Who am I kidding? All the old people there looked way silly, we fit right in.

So, if you're looking for a cheap date or just something fun to do, hop on the Fun Bus to Wendover. It will be well worth your $15 and 6 hours.

Fun Fun and More Fun

For my birthday I invited my roommates, cousin Brittany, my brother and some other friends to go camping at Zion National Park. We had such a great time and got to enjoy the beauty of southern Utah.I love Brittany to death! She's super hard-core, but is also very sincere and genuine. I consider her one of my best friends.

Blowing out 21 candles.

My roommates Liz and Kiley.

Hey my good lookin' brother!

I must admit this is probably one of my all-time favorite pictures of Steve!

A few weeks after school got out, my friends and I went camping and rock climbing. It was rainy and cold, but totally worth it!

I figured everyone wanted a good picture of my bum. Well, here it is. I really love rock climbing and want to get better at it (*hint* *hint* Steve).

A lot is going on in my life, but because I have to go to work right now I will have to wait until another day to update you. Life is good, I'm happy, I love my family, and I'm extremely blessed!

Her Morning Elegance

I have always wanted to make a stop motion music video, and I think this one is beautifully done. The song is pretty awesome too, or at least I think so.

Life is good in Logan, and I will be posting more pictures pretty soon. I just don't have the internet at my apartment so I have to use my friend's computer. All I have to say is "Hooray for Summer!" I'm going camping tomorrow and went camping at Zion's for my birthday a couple weeks ago. I'm so excited to spend lots of time outdoors. Logan really is beautiful at this time of year!

Spring is Springing!

I, along with everyone else in Logan, have been complaining about the poor weather. Just two days ago it snowed and covered all of our beautiful green grass with a white blanket of coldness. I figure I can't control the weather, so there really is no point in making a big deal out of it anymore. If it's gonna snow, it's gonna snow so why not enjoy it?

We have had some beautiful days sneaking in every once in a while, and on one of them we (meaning Marisa and I) decided it was time to have a BBQ. So, we called and text all the roomies and some other friends and embarked on a park adventure. It was so nice to be in the sunshine again, even if it was a little chilly still.

They totally weren't posing for this picture......well....kind of.....

Marinda, the light of my life and one of the happiest people I know.

Liz and Marisa....they look like this probably 90% of the time.

It was actually quite remarkable that Tasha ate a hot dog, considering that she hates them.

Chrissy and Tanner playing catch, only appropriate on a beautiful day in the park.

Colby was kind enough to watch the grill and flip the hot dogs with a stick (I forgot a spatula).

I can't remember why Liz posed like this, but I sure like it!

And this picture has nothing to do with the park, some of us just decided to hit up the hot springs a few days earlier. It's really nice to have friends that like to do fun stuff. I'm really lucky to have them!

Oh Arizona!

As most of you already know, I went down to Arizona with the family last week. It was so wonderful to see the sun again and to attempt to get a tan. On our way back we stopped at the Grand Canyon, and I must say it is pretty grand!

Steve looks so much in awe...or like he's about to sneeze, I don't quite know!

Now, I look like I'm in awe. I've been working on my facial expressions lately.

This is where everyone else is putting theirs.

I'm so glad that my parents still like each other. They are a really good example for me.

Posin' by the watchtower. Work it baby! Work it!

We spent a morning at the riparian preserve and it was way fun. The kids discovered a couple of dinosaurs while we were there. Good work kids!

Two of my favorite girls in the whole world!

We went to a spring training game in Scottsdale. We watched the Giants and the White Sox play. It was really fun to be in the baseball atmosphere, with all the salesmen yelling about peanuts and beer. We also had awesome seats on the second row right in between home and first base.

Workin' the shades as always.

Mmmm! Hot Dawg!

Swing batta batta, swing!

Lillian Eliza...one of the most precious little girls I know, even if she is posing on a dirty truck in the parking lot of Lee's Asian Marketplace.

Dad's been searching and searching for herbal laxatives. Finally, he found some.

It was so wonderful to be in 85-degree weather and to go swimming. I didn't think that Logan was that cold until I came back. The day after I got back it snowed 2 inches and has continued to snow all week. Yeah...I wasn't too happy about that. :) I guess we do need the moisture so I shouldn't complain.

Thanks again Jen and Alec for letting us stay with you. Thanks mom and dad for letting me read out loud to you on the drive back. And thanks Steve for taking silly pictures with me and being the best brother ever!

Happy Morning...Too Happy

Happy Mornings - The funniest videos clips are here

I must say, this is a brilliant commercial. If I drank coffee I would go and buy me some right now, but since I don't, I'll just watch this video a few more times.

Pretty Much Wonderful!

So, I have some of the greatest friends and family in the whole entire WORLD!!! Last week I was reminded of how much I am loved and it was a great feeling. My family cares so much about me and I am so lucky to have them to turn to. I also have great friends like Katie Elizabeth Hawkes, who take time to make me posters. I was having somewhat of a downer day on Saturday and I got a little package from Katie. This is what she sent me.
I actually started crying a little bit when I put it all together because it made me so happy. I've hung it on my wall and that it where it is going to stay. I really am so blessed to have such wonderful people in my life and Katie is pretty much wonderful!!! Thanks Katie and the rest of my family for caring about me so much!

President's Day Weekend

A bunch of friends and I went down to Cedar City for President's day weekend. We went hiking at Zion National Park, visited the St. George temple, and ate at In-N-Out. We also celebrated Valentine's day and gave each other Valentines. It was such a good weekend! Being in the sunshine did make me a little excited for spring and summer. Logan isn't as cold as everyone told me it would be, but a little green and sunshine could do me good I think. :) Here are some pics from the weekend.

I love the St. George temple. I think I always took it for granted when I was younger, but I really do think it is a beautiful temple.

Katie Elizabeth Hawkes...always keeping me on my toes.

We had to do a classic/modern staircase picture...I mean who wouldn't?

I thought that the green trees scattered amongst the red mountains and snow was so beautiful. I've never been to ZNP in the winter...funny how I lived only 45 minutes away my whole life!

Kelsey...I just love this girl!!!

Lauralee is kicking the mountain...who needs Chuck Norris when you have her?

Um yeah...Jared is sitting on the edge of a 150 ft. cliff. Of course I was comfortable letting him do that!

Some nice woman eating an apple took this for us. It's the only picture we have with everyone in it.

We almost slid off the mountain hiking to this specific spot...hence me holding on for dear life.

Marisa is hugging the mountain...she's such a hippie!!!

Trying to take a candid picture...yeah we're all genuinely laughing...well genuinely forcing our laughter.

Katie and Marisa two of the cutest girls.

I thought this was a cool shot...boy do I have an eye for photography! :)

I was actually trying to do a toe-touch, but it just looks like I'm riding an invisible bull.

Hooray for Zion!!!

I Believe I Can Fly!!!

I have officially become blog happy! I guess because I have been seriously slacking these past months, I thought I would try to make it up to you and myself. I haven't been taking many pictures lately, but in the past week I remembered that I kind of love to document every crazy, silly, random thing I do. I really hope you don't mind. :)

These are of me and some of my roommates and friends flying. If you really wanna know the secret you can ask, but for now just look and enjoy. Laugh out loud if you so desire.

Marinda...and I don't think I have ever seen her so happy.

Kiley and Marinda...once again Marinda looks like a kid that just found a swimming pool full of their favorite candy.

Sarah (the beautiful one on the left) is the one that inspired these pictures. You can thank her if you really feel the urge.

Tasha, always looking good, even if she's flying through the air.

Super Kiley to the rescue!

Hai-Yaaa!

Marisa just casually doing a bum drop. What else would she be doing?

Colby and Marisa just taking a little nap while levitating.

Super Colby! I seriously wish I could just lay out like he does!

Timberrrrr!

I don't know how this one happened, but "Holy Air!!!"

I don't think I have ever seen Kiley so petrified.

This one really accents my albatross arms. No wonder I can fly so well!

This is probably one of my favorites, because Sarah looks like she's flying towards the camera at 500 mph.

I'm sure that you're truly amazed, and hopefully somewhat entertained. We spent probably a little too much time taking these, but it was absolutely worth it!!! Watch out Super Man, KK10 can fly too!

Jowling

Okay, okay! I know I'm in college and that I'm supposed to be acting like an adult, but sometimes I like to remember what it is like to be silly. One of my friends showed me how to take crazy pictures last summer, and I asked if any of my friends had heard of it. My good friend Katie Hawkes informed me that it's called "Jowling." Basically you shake your head back and forth really fast, while relaxing your face muscles then take a picture. If you do it right it looks like someone just punched you, or in my case, like you're retaining water in your face. I hope that my friends don't hate me forever for posting these. :)

This is Marisa Johnson...more flattering pictures of her soon to come.

This is Lauralee, Katie Hawkes roommate. She did a fantastic job, if I do say so myself.

I know....nothing really to say about this one.

The beautiful Katie Hawkes trying her best to relax her face. She tried so hard so I'm giving her an A for effort.

I hope you're not too grossed out, but I just laugh so hard every time that I look at them that I couldn't help sharing them with you. Also...I want you all to notice that I've updated my blog twice in the past week! That's right! Thank you all for looking and commenting! It always makes my day.

Sun! Sun! Glorious Sun!

Logan was cold, Phoenix was warm and I happened to have a round trip ticket in my name. My good friend Jesse Pettit got married last week, and I have been aching to return to the land that I fell in love with last year. It was so fun to see Jen and Alec and the kids! I also got to see Austin, the little boy that I worked with when I lived there, and it made me unbelievably happy!

It never fails to surprise me how much I really do love the desert. There is a beauty about it that is indescribable. At first I didn't think much of the desert, but I found myself appreciating the cacti, dust and palm trees so much more. I really hope that I can return soon, but I am still happy in Logan. :)

Here are some pictures from our hike at Papago Park.

Have I mentioned lately how much I really adore these kids?

Eric donned my favorite boots and tramped around the house a little bit. I think they look pretty good, maybe a little too warm for Phoenix, but stylish all the same.

Here's the artsy side of me coming out. I thought that this dried up Saguaro cactus was beautiful and haunting all at the same time.

Christmas Wishlist

The holiday season is officially here! Because I am so ridiculously popular, tons of people have been asking me what I want for Christmas. I'll save those of you who actually check my blog the pain of asking me. So, here they are. I've narrowed it down to three things:


This really is no secret. I have wanted a bloodhound ever since I watched The Fox and the Hound. Copper is just so darn cute when he trips over his own ears and howls that little howl of his. I'm also kind of frustrated with the dating scene, and keep thinking that a constant companion, such as a dog, would bring me more comfort than any old boy (no offense to all those boys that read my blog).
I decided that I'm not green enough! These shoes are made out of 113% biodegradable material. Shoes that you can put a penny in...advertise your enviornmental beliefs....and throw out your car window without worrying about littering...could one ask for more? I submit that one could not!

Now...last but definitely not least. I really, really, REALLY want a beard hat. I am so pro-facial hair that I'm considering starting a website that promotes beards. Unfortunately I don't have enough testosterone in my system to grow one myself. Well, that problem can be solves with the "Handy Dandy Beard Hat." It not only keeps your face warm, but it also accentuates your eyes. Color choices include: mustard yellow (as pictured above), sea green, magenta and cornflower (blue)

I did try to pick things that aren't too expensive. I will also accept cash or credit donations. To donate please call me at (555)-555-1212 or send your donations to 1234 Mystery Lane, Lewisville UT 90210.

Have a Merry Christmas everyone!

Family Pictures

As many of you know, I have awesome roommates! We spend so much time together, we laugh probably a little too much and we don't fight over the dishes. It's amazing how wonderful life can be when you're surrounded by good friends. Because we're all away from home, we have turned to one another and have become like sisters, which is why we decided it appropriate to take some family pictures. All of the following are now hung by the fireplace with care. I can't wait to hang stockings underneath them when it gets a little closer to Christmas!

Naturally I cropped this one, so it looks better on our wall...but you get the picture (no pun intended).

This is Marinda...I love her. She is always the one person that sees me do something stupid. I love it, because it gives me someone to laugh with. You know when you trip and no one sees, so you laugh at yourself and everyone thinks you're wierd? Yeah that doesn't happen to me anymore because Marinda always sees. :)

Yours Truly

This is Kandalee. She is a work-aholic and we don't see much of her around the apartment, but she is one of the sweetest people I have ever met.

This is my actual "room" mate Liz. Days with her are filled with laughter, skinny jeans, and an alarm that goes off every 5 minutes.

This is Tasha, the peacemaker in our apartment. If ever our conversation leads in the direction of gossip or mean things, she turns it 180 degrees into a conversation about happy things like ice cream and unicorns.

Kiley is a beautiful girl that is such a hard worker. She's also very clean and sometimes I feel like she does too much for our apartment. She is strong and knows exactly what she wants from life. I have such a great respect for her.

Sarah Jane, our adopted roommate. This girl is an amazing artist with a fabulous personality. She meets me in "The Hub" (a.k.a the foodcourt) every Tuesday and Thursday for lunch. We usually share pizza and breadsticks. Mmmm! So good!

I am so unbelieveably lucky to have the roomates that I have! They are my best friends and I love the fact that I am excited to come home to see them every day.

Luau

Our student stake had a Luau for family home evening. They were awarding 12 tickets to the nicest steak house in town and 12 tickets to a corn maze to the apartment that was best dressed. I was thinking yesterday about what I would wear and it hit me! I was inspired to be a......

That's right....I chose to go as a pig to a luau! Apple in the mouth and all. I bought the sweats today and found it to be a win/win situation. I got to dress up as a pig, and I got some wicked sweet pink sweats.
You see Liz to the left going as a surf board. Kiley next to her as a Hula girl. Myself as a pig (yes that is a red curly tail on my behind), and Sarah was a Tiki Man. Seems like a champion team, right?!
Sarah had absolutely no peripheral vision with this mask on, and it was awesome because I could make fun of her when I was standing by her side and she had no idea. I didn't really have any reason to mock her either, I was the one in the pig suit.


Sadly enough, we didn't even get an honorable mention in the costume competition. The three groups that took 1st through 3rd consisted of people on a cruise ship, men in banana suits, and girls in full out scuba attire (minus the air tanks). Their costumes were awesome, but I was just so proud of my witty idea that I felt gypped. On the drive home I was wallowing in my sadness and exclaimed "I'm going to wear this to school tomorrow just to spite them! I'm sure I'd get at least one date out of it." Right then, I realized how awkward I looked while driving my car and my roommates thought the same. But come on! Who couldn't resist this?

The process of finding our costumes was fun and it was a great excuse to hang out with my roomies that I love so much! At the party supply store we saw these awesome glasses and had to take a picture. I am having so much fun here in Logan! I love all the people (minus the judges at the Luau) and am really feeling good about where I am in life.

Foot and Life Update

I'm sure that all of you have been concerned about my poor little foot and here's the update on it. It's still ridiculously purple all over, but I can walk at a brisk pace now and can get to all of my classes without any problems. I've been trying to wear pants that don't draw attention to my boot, but all my bell-bottom jeans are dirty now, and today I wore my skinny jeans. It looks pretty funny with this gigantic boot over top my skinny jeans on my left leg, and a cute little sparkly flip flop on my right foot. Here's a picture of it.

This is my foot all purple-y. It's bruised on the sides and on the bottom. I didn't even know that a foot could look like this. It has been pretty fun trying to coordinate my clothes with the shades of purple and blue on my foot. I noticed that I sure have a lot of gray stuff.

I also went home last weekend for Labor Day. I wasn't planning on going home quite so soon, but Steven was in town and I couldn't pass up an opportunity to hang out with him. While I was home I spent a lot of time with Suzanne Wood too. She's leaving on her mission in less than a month, and time with her is precious as well.

Suzanne makes some of the best cookies I have ever had. This woman is like a modern day Betty Crocker!

Possibly the last cookie we'll share before she leaves. That's ok though, we'll have plenty more to eat once she gets home.

Mom has taken up knitting. She's making beanies for babies and I think it's so great that she's doing just another thing to make the world a better place. She's such a great woman!

Here's one of the beanies that she made, it's quite colorful, and selfish little me requested one for the upcoming winter season.

Steven played Ultimate Frisbee (what's new?) and ended up hurting his shoulder. He wore this hot pad for a few hours, then very lasciviously ripped it off and tied it around his head. Is there any wonder why I love him so much?

I kinda love this guy!!! He's the best brother I could ever ask for(don't worry Barrett and Alec, you two are the best Brothers-In-Law I could ask for!).



So, I'm doing really well. My foot gets sore after walking around campus all day, but because I haven't started work yet, I've had a lot of time to rest it. I had so much fun in Cedar City over the weekend, and I'm so thankful I could have spent so much time with my family. They're pretty great!

One Time...In Tumbling Class...

So, here it was. The third day of school. I'd spent my day from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. walking to classes, taking notes, singing arpeggios and scarfing down a PB'nJ. I decided to work out at the campus gym for the first time. You know, to scope out the guys checking themselves out in the mirror, while lifting weights. I came home, ate a wonderful dinner (homemade BBQ chicken pizza made by my very own roommate Tasha), and did some dishes. Earlier, in my ceramics class, a girl told me about a free Adult Tumbling class being offered that night. I thought "I've always wanted to know how to do a back handspring." So Liz (my roommate) and I ventured off towards the Hyper Building.

Things were going great. The coaches were cute, my form was decent (or so they said) and I was going to achieve one of my life goals. With some spotting, I was able to accomplish a fairly decent back handspring. After everyone in my group did one, he asks us "What would you like to learn next." I'm thinking "How bout we learn how to do one without spotting? I'm not ready to learn anything else." "How bout backtucks?" He asks, with little to no enthusiasm. He demonstrates and the one boy in my group goes crazy and starts gabbing about how he's always wanted to do one. I watched a couple more demonstrations and thought, looks easy enough. I tried one, and landed roughly on the spring floor. I had done one! Horay! I backed away and let others in the group try.

As I sat there observing, another thought came to mind, "Hmmm...I haven't had a good injury in about two years now. Maybe I should finally bill those stinking insurance companies and get my parent's moneys worth. I'm sure the E.R. is looking for patients tonight." I step up to the instructor (who, by the way, looked like he just recently had his wisdom teeth removed), and asked what would help my form on my back tuck. "Once you jump up, grab onto your knees." Sounds simple enough. One...two...three...jump...flip...POP...SIGH..."Are you ok?"

To make a long story short, I hobbled home, called my Mom and asked if it would be cheaper to go to the Urgent Care or the E.R. My awesome roommate Liz accompanied me to the Logan Hospital and we spent a good hour and half giggling and taking pictures. I didn't break my foot, but the doctors think I tore some ligaments. Wahoo! I will be going to the Podiatrist soon to find out exactly what's wrong with my foot, but for now I have a splint and crutches. My roommates have all been so helpful, and it's be really good for me to humble myself and let others help me.

Here I am in my wheelchair getting my hospital wristband put on.
My swollen foot and the bag of ice that I got with no help from the Tumbling Instructors.
No words.....
My fabulous roommate Liz. Oh how I love her.
Woe is me!

Yep, that's the foot.

It's a sad day in the neighborhood, despite what Mr. Rogers thinks.

I'm In Logan!

The birds are singing, the temperature is cooling, there are people everywhere, school has officially begun! I moved to Logan five days ago, and guess what. I love it! It's absolutely gorgeous up here! You can drive 10 minutes in any direction and be in real-live, genuine farm land; cows, manure, fields of wheat, barns, horses, the works. The actual city of Logan has some pretty beautiful houses. Pretty much it's my dream town, filled with vintage, brick houses and fields for miles. I think I could live here the rest of my life. I guess I should give it some time huh!
Anyway, here are some pictures of the place that I live now. It's called Kampus Korner. Isn't that so cute how they use two k's instead of c's? Oh wait...we're in college not 2nd grade. It makes for a wonderful joke though. "I'm Katie from Kampus Korner, spelled with two K's. Isn't that Krazy with a capital K?" Te he he! I think the older I get the more and more lame my jokes get. That's ok. Maybe someday I can be one of those cute and annoying old people that always makes bad jokes, but because I'm so cute everyone will laugh at them.

This is the hill I have to climb to get to campus. It doesn't look too intense from here, but I will eventually put a picture on that gives you a better idea of the torturous treck to campus.
Here's my building. Hopefully, no one will stock me now that they know what my apartment building looks like.
This is an awesome tree that's just outside of our front door. It's the best thing to climb in and we plan on taking a family picture (the roomies that is) in it.
K.K. 10 That's my place.

This is my cute little room. You are actually seeing more than half of the room in this picture...and I share it with another girl. I shouldn't complain though. My mom had to share one room with 15 siblings...well probably not that many, but somewhere around there.

Anywho, this is my new home, for the next 3 years at least. I think I will be really happy up here. If any of you want some awesome cheese, please just give me a call. :)

Fun with the British

Oh my holy fudge! I know it's been too long! I have many excuses, and all are legitimate, but I won't lay them on you. One of them was that nothing too exciting has been going on, until lately.

My friend Dani just returned from living in England and visited Cedar. She called me one day and asked if I would like to hang out with some of her English friends that she met overseas. Naturally I agreed, and came to find out I already knew these gentlemen as well.

Well...a night that began with a friendly hike evolved into a crazy game night that included ice cream, tongues (I won't go into detail with this one), bum wars, portraits drawn by other people, sniffing necks, cereal boxes, and dryers. Needless to say, it was one of the craziest and funnest nights I have had in a very long time.

Now that I've got you intrigued, here are some pictures from the Game Marathon.

Here's a sunset from the top the mountain that we hiked. The sunset was beautiful! Unfortunately it was so beautiful because of the smoke from the fires in California.

The circle of life.

'Nuff Said....

Here's the whole group that went hiking. The two boys in the striped shirts are the ones from England. They're pretty cool and they have sweet accents.

Kevin Kofford (one of the ones from England) bought these Luchador masks in Mexico. We had some pretty intense bum wars with these bad boys on.

This is a game entitled "Self-Portrait." You write your name on a piece of paper, and pass it to your left (obviously a group of people is sitting in a circle). The person you passed the paper to draws the outline of your head, then passes the paper to their left. That person now draws your eyes and passes it and so on. At the end you get a beautiful (or not so beautiful) picture of yourself.

We then played a game called "Do" where everyone writes down five different things to do on five different pieces of paper. You put the strips of paper into a bowl and pass it. You draw a paper and have to do what it written on it. On this one, Tyler had to sniff my neck. It was a little awkward, especially since I smelled funny from the hike. Also, we're holding hands because I drew one that said "Hold hands with the person sitting to your left for 15 minutes."

Then I had to lick Tyler's knee (yes we became close friends during this game). Notice how I'm clenching his leg for fear that he will kick me again (he kicked me in the head on my first attempt).

Someone drew a paper that said "Try to fit yourself into the dryer." Dani, Kevin and I became extremely intrigued and tried it ourselves. Here's Dani's attempt.

Here's Kevin's attempt. As you can see, he needed a little help from Dani.

Because I'm super competitive, I had to get in the furthest and, as you can see, I did. Next time, I will do my best to actually get my head in, but I was a little focused on the the little wing inside the dryer that was uncomfortably nestled in my butt crack.

Here are some Bum War videos. It was pretty intense, as you will see.

I tried some different tactics, but I think I just need to work out more, then maybe I would be able to beat people that aren't only under the age of 5.

Because I'm so behind on my blog, I will probably be updating it quite a few times this next week. So, if you're bored and you want to see how crazy I can truly get, just check my blog. I love you all!

"Good Job Eileen!"

As many of you know, my Aunt Eileen lives with my parents. I recently moved back to Cedar City, and have had the opportunity to spend some time with her. She has always had a habit of internalizing the word "good." If ever we're talking about how the movie was good, or how the food was good, she will always say "Good job Eileen!"

When my Dad was serving as a Bishop of a married student ward, he spoke one time about this habit that Eileen has. He made a wonderful point, and these past few days I have really thought about it. He said that instead of being so pessimistic about ourselves, we need to internalize the word "good." We need to tell ourselves "Good job Katie!" or "Good job _______ (fill in the blank)!" Instead of beating ourselves up about little mistakes we make, we need to remind ourselves that tomorrow is a brand new day, and that we can continually try to change and become more like our Father in Heaven.

So, the next time I'm feeling down on myself I'm going to say "You're doing good Katie!" I think that by doing so, I can be a happier person and have a more optimistic perspective on life. Feel free to join me in the "Good Job!" movement. :)

Sombrero Expedition

My cute friends Katie Lee and Katie Hawkes and I went on a sombrero expedition. We went to the mall and tried on every hat we could find. There are some cute ones, some ridiculous ones, and some crazy ones. We had so much fun! Horay for the Katies!

Classic!

So I work with a little boy, named Austin, and his family has a pool in their back yard. We spent a whole day in their swimming pool and were doing tricks and making up games. MacKinzie, Austin's older sister, and I were competing to see who could stay on this beach ball the longest. Here is my attempt...and the fact that I'm putting it on the internet for all to see proves how the entertainment of others is much more important to me than my self respect. Feel free to watch it numerous times.

Great Friends

If I have learned anything in this past year, it is that I have fabulous friends! In Arizona and in Cedar, pretty much everywhere. I am so grateful for them all and don't know where I would be without them. Here are some people that mean the world to me.

The Ranch Chicks. I worked with these girls in Idaho two years ago at Elk Creek Ranch. Some of my best memories have been made with these girls. By the way, their names are Brianna Haynie and Krista Isom.
Kendra Haynie, I don't need to explain why I love her.
My new friends Katie Lee and Katie Hawkes, who both informed me of a little known fact: Everyone needs a Katie.

My friends from left to right: Corey Gillett, David Packard, Rustin Foster, and Tyson Hugie.
My cousin Brittany Lewis at my Aunt Eileen's 50th Birthday party.
Austin (the love of my life and little boy I work with) and his sisters MacKinzie and Madison. These people have become my second family here in Arizona and it is going to be hard for me to leave them.
My awesome friend Annalies (a.k.a. Bib)
Jerika Barnes, Saryn Haynie and myself at my birthday party in Cedar City.

I love reflecting upon my life and recognizing how truly blessed I am. I feel so loved by everyone and it's a good feeling. I wish I could put a picture of everyone that has changed my life on here, but I know there wouldn't be enough room.

Raspberries!

Lillian is by far my favorite niece...ok she's my only niece, but I love her guts! Because I love Jen and Alec and their kids so much, I basically live at their house about 2 days a week. I was babysitting Lily whil Eric was at Pre-school and was blowing raspberries on her tummy. She was laughing that genuine gut laugh and I couldn't resist getting it on video. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

Safest Bathroom Ever!

I recently embarked on an adventure that included wheels, a couch, people, and a giant hill...yep you guessed it, we rode the couch down the hill. It was all fun and games until our last run, when we tried to fit as many people as we could on the couch. I chose the front, on the bottom, thinking it would be the safest. Boy was I wrong! Half way down the hill the homemade dolly shattered, causing everyone to catapult forward and land directly on me. My left leg is a gigantic bruise, but it's a great story.

After our grand adventure we went to Filiberto's, a mexican restaraunt where you can play "What's in my meat today?" I made a visit to the restroom to check out the damage from our crash, and felt very secure in this ghetto little restaraunt. Three locks on one door. I've never felt so safe in my life...then I left the bathroom.

Boys and their Pyromania

One very important lesson that I have learned over the years, is that boys like to play with fire. It doesn't matter whether it's an actual fire, fire or relationship fire, or flirtation fire, etc. Someone managed to bring an extra dresser (or they stole it from some homeless guy in the mountains that only had a dresser and a fish-hook to his name) and decided to put it onto the fire. A common equation for boys: Fire+Something to make it Bigger=Happiness.

Now, not only do they have to make the fire bigger, they have to profess their manliness by hitting it with something, physically jumping over it, or seeing who can handle the heat the longest. Do I understand it? No. Do I laugh at it? Yes.

HUZAH FOR FIRE!

Camping! Camping! Camping!

I don't know about you, but I love camping. I love smelling like campfire and bushes. I love singing and coughing on the smoke. I love squatting 18 times by 17 different trees to relieve myself. The whole experience is just....(sigh)...wonderful!

Jesse Pettit is playing my guitar behind me and it looks like I have a wad of gum in my mouth...but I don't.
Very few people know what this is. It's called a campfire. According to the Merriam-Webster's dictionary it's: "a fire built outdoors (as at a camp or picnic)." Also, few people know that fire has the magical ability to blow smoke in the very direction that you are sitting. No matter how many times you get up to move, it follows you, just like that weird boy at church.
Oh look at me, looking all mildly amused at the fact that I'm taking a picture of myself by a fire. How cute!
Jesse and I. Random pose....
Just finishing up the peach cobbler left-overs from the night before. Yummm!

New Updates

I realized that I haven't put too much on here since I started blogging, and thought maybe people would want to know what's going on in my life.

Some of the most exciting new I have is:

1. I got mooned recently.
2. I decided to move back to Cedar City this summer.
3. I had a weird dream last night that made me mad at a few friends of mine.
4. I have a new obsession with Slushes from Sonic.
5. My dodgeball team is doing fairly well.
6. I rented "Girls Just Want to Have Fun"

Some people might think that it's sad that my exciting news isn't all that exciting, but sometimes life doesn't hold surprises around every corner. Growing up I always wanted to be older, I always thought that life would be more exciting with age, but unfortunately I have found that it's harder to be surprised. When I was a kid, everything was invigorating and exciting. I always had a new adventure every day. Trials were more of a challenge than a burden. Now, I feel like I have to lower my expectations if I really want to be pleasantly surprised about anything. This comes off as pessismistic, but it's actually the opposite. If I lower my expectations before I go to a movie, I come out thinking "That was what I expected" or "I loved it!" Before, I would go in thinking it would be a great movie and came out mad that I had wasted 9 bucks on a film.

I expressed my new view of life to my sisters and brothers-in-law, and Barrett kindly responded: "Just don't do that when looking for a husband." He made an excellent point. I need to expect more from things that will altogether change my life, and expect less from everyday indulgences.

I hope this doesn't sound like I hate life and I am disappointed all the time. I am actually loving my job, my ward, my family, my friends, and so many other things. Life has been very good to me, and moving to Phoenix has given me a greater appreciation of that. I feel like I've changed for the better down here, and I will continue to grow and change no matter where I live, or how many times I am mooned.

Ideal

I wrote this song a couple of months ago, but I still really like it. It's a simple song; one about falling in love with the idea of someone and not the real person. I have been guilty of falling for the idea of a person, but this song is about being on the receiving end. It's hard to let go of someone that thinks so highly of you. I wondered if anyone else would ever think that way, but I knew that staying with this boy wasn't the right thing, and it wasn't fair to him. Long story short, I broke up with a great guy, and wrote this song about it. Enjoy!

I've Finally Joined Blogspot!

Hello to all my beautiful friends and family! I have thoroughly enjoyed seeing all of your blogs and learning what's new and changing in your lives, and I figured it was about time for me to follow suit.

For all of you who don't know, I am currently living in Gilbert, Arizona, and I really love it. I live about a mile and a half away from Jen and Alec, so I get to see them just about every other day. Audrey and Barrett live only a couple of hours away, so I get to see them about every three weeks. I love being close to them and in a new place.

If you are wondering why I moved to sunny Arizona, I will tell you. I was going to school in Cedar City, and I liked it, but I felt like I needed a change of scene, and I also wanted to see how I would fit in in a different community. Moving here has been one of the best decisions of my life. It has definitely been a challenge, especially with the roommate scene, but I feel like I have grown a lot. I have also learned a lot about myself.

I am attending Southern Utah University online, and I am supposed to graduate in May with my Associates of Science. I am also working for Lauren's Institute For Education (L.I.F.E.). Through them, I work with a little boy that has Down Syndrome. He is basically the love of my life, and the only boy that I truly understand. Once I started working with this little boy, I realized that I would really like to work with people that have disabilities for the rest of my life. I checked out my options and found the best possible fit for me. It's called Music Therapy. For those of you who don't know, I write music and am currently working on a demo CD to submit to recording companies. Music is my life and I have always wanted to do something with that as well. Music Therapy is pretty much summed up in its name; you provide therapy through music. It focuses on speech therapy, physical therapy, fine motor skills, self-help skills, cognition, social interaction, and communication. I auditioned at Utah State University for their program about 3 weeks ago, and I have an audition this weekend at Arizona State University. I am hoping that I get into at least one program.

That is about all the important stuff that is going on in my life. I don't have a boyfriend, nor am I really interested in anyone, so there is portion of drama that I don't have to deal with right now. :)

I hope that all of you are as excited as I am to continue to see your blogs and keep up with everyone!