happy haps

The last few weeks have been a bit of a whirlwind, but here are a few things that have happened:

I finally went ice skating! I had been wanting to go since December, but something always came up. Thank goodness a few friends and I were able to go the day before it closed so my dream to go outdoor ice skating could come true. It was mag-ic, buuuut it just doesn't quite compete with playing tag on the frozen meadow behind my cabin. Some things just can't be beat!

I have an obsession with these apples. They are like three dollars a pack, and I probably purchase 4 packs a week. I am practically a smoker. I know I can cut up my own apples, but these taste so much better.  Also, I've had a hard time saying no to ice cream lately, and it doesn't help that I can buy it for just one dollar!

In January the most perfect girl scout knocked on my door, and Torill and I got a little too excited. I ended up ordering four boxes of cookies. They just sounded so delish, and she was so cool that it was hard not to keep adding more to the order. They finally came, and let's just say I only have two boxes left. Don't worry Torill, I'm saving them for when you get back :)

Work has been so great these past few weeks. Braxton has actually wanted to talk to me, and I love it! I love to hear about what girl he asked to dance at the school dance, or what friends he's been eating lunch with. I love when he refers to his seventh grade friends as "sevies", or how interested he gets when he overhears me telling his mom about a date I went on, even though he is constantly trying to pretend he hates romance and anything of the sort.

I feel like I've been able to teach Rylan some useful skills, such as tying his shoelaces, his phone number and address, how to draw a dinosaur etc etc, and it feels good! Sarah (my boss) has been soo good to me since I started working for them, but these past few weeks I've been especially grateful for her! She's always sending me home with a loaf of homemade bread, or some type of gift. It's good to be able to know such a nice family, and it's especially good to be able to have them as friends!
 

Last weekend I drove down to Provo to stay with Lexie and Bekah. Lex and I went on a double date with her boyfriend Jordan and his cousin. We played a game at Walmart and made a yummy dinner. Bekah was also on a date that night at Scheels so I think it's safe to say that Provo dating consists of playing games in large stores. The three of us stayed up way too late with a major case of the gigs. Sadly I had to leave early Saturday to take a test, but Beck and I managed to get in a couple hours of guitar time before I left. Just so you know our days of staying up until two in the morning playing JB songs while trying so hard to sing at the same time have paid off! This cute "selfie" of Beck is all I have to show for that weekend, but it really was the best to see them. I love my best friends!!

My good friend Katelyn had an extra ticket to Passion Pit and invited me to go with her, and her friends Joey and James. I can not even begin to tell you how happy this made me. It was honestly one of the best nights of my life. We made it to the front, but decided not to stay there for the whole concert because we were getting beat up, and when you are short it's hard to not get stuck in peoples armpits (yes that is gross, but it is true). I came out of the front completely dripping, and my shirt had turned into a dress, which obviously means it was a heck of a good time. It was a crazy concert, and if you don't believe me I will show you the bruises on my back and the ones covering both of my feet. Battle wounds bring out a sense of pride in me. 

This picture isn't great, but it's the view from my uncle Jeff's deck. I love going up to Eden every once in a while for Sunday dinner. Sometimes a little drive in the mountains is all it takes to clear ones mind. This week was extra fun because my cousin Sonja was in town and she was having a birthday party for her sweet daughter Valentina! Val is one of the cutest little girls, who says the funniest things. It's hard to believe she is only three because she talks like a 20 year old.

My family saved me...again. When I was driving home from Eden I hit a rock and my tire blew out. My aunt Lil was in front of me so I called her and she came to help. My cousin Blake and aunt Gretch were only 10 minutes behind so they stopped and helped as well. When Blake changed my tire, we found out my spare was flat too! We tried to drive it to the gas station to pump it up, but it didn't last. We put my aunts spare on my car, and my cousin traded cars with me so that I could get back to Salt Lake. The next morning Black and Gretch went and had my tire fixed, and replaced my spare tire. Blake was coming down to Salt Lake to do a little work, so I didn't even have to drive back up to Ogden. I know I say this all the time, but I really do have an amazing family. How will I ever repay them?!

This is my roommate Ally! She is from Gig Harbor, Washington which just so happens to be where one of my best friends, also named Ally, is going to be serving her mission! I think I may just have to take a trip to Ally's home town to try and spot Sister Cope ;) Anywhoosies- Ally pretty much studies all day everyday because she is a rock star like that, but lately we've been able to have nice chats every night when she get's home. I tell her about my boy problems, and she tells me about the time she drank too much tequila with her grandma in Cancun. I tell her about how awesome my run was that day and how I broke through a major wall, and she tells me about how awesome her study group went because everything finally made sense to her. We are super different, yet very much alike. Most importantly we both love ice cream, and she puts her dishes in the dishwasher, so we get along quite well.

Not pictured:

• Apartment hunting with Bailey (by apartment hunting I mean Bailey doing all the work, and me going with her to look at one place..but hey that's more than I've ever done before). If all goes as planned I am going to be living with some sveet gullls next year.

• Hanging with Berk and Chandra, & Jordan and Moses. I love that they are willing to let me tag along on the nights that I have nothing to do. We went to the Gymnastics meet at the U together, and I loved that I was able to hang out with them outside of the house! Plus we saw a perfect 10, which is always cool.

• Temporarily becoming a workout addict. It was nice while it lasted!  

• Climbing with Berk and Chandra while receiving some good advice from them. It's great to have their perspective. Man they are just so good to me.

• Nailing my Spanish oral exam. I wasn't in class the day we chose our partners so my teacher paired me up with someone random. My partner just so happened to be this guy who dresses extremely well, making him hard not to notice. We didn't get together until the night before the exam, and it took foooreevvver to prepare our three 5 minute conversations. We were both way nervous but we ended up doing great (at least for us). We were so relieved and proud of ourselves afterwards.  I think my score ended up being something around 88/100, but I call it a success!