may-onnaise

Well....lamest title ever. Give me some credit....it's late and my brain is tired :)

soooooo....

what a month it was!!

Frankly, let's say......that May blew April (and many of the preceding months) outta the water.

First, check out the top of my blog page....i added quotes. It's pretty :)

But enough small talk. Let's get down to business. The highlights of my little month of Mayflower:

- Recycling! Thanks to me, my apartment now officially recycles. Beautiful!

- Barbie-Q's. My new apartment complex has a pool....and some grills....hence, the outdoor feasts have been plentiful. I want to grill every meal for the rest of my life....

- IKEA. Took a field trip to this superstore with my roommate Lars and our friend Austin. Did you know they sell yogurt cones at that place?? Also, I bought a cactus....life is good.

- Institute calling. Yes, I am the ward Institute chair! It's so fitting.....I am such a huge fan of institute! Most BYU-ers usually have religion classes so they miss out, but during the summer Institute is the thang to do! It's been fun motivating people to go. Plus there's treats every week.

- My new ward. I can't say enough about this.....the people, the activities, my sweethearted Bishop.....i adore every bit of it!

- Pudding fight. YES THAT'S RIGHT!! One day i was sitting in the library and i thought, i want to have a pudding fight! So....i did! Gathered some people at the park with bowls of pudding, counted to three...and drenched each other. I recommend doing this multiple times in your life.

- Porch swing. Yes, dear old porch swing moved to our new apartment complex with us! I think it's helped us make more friends than anything else....that porch swing is the hip-hoppin' place to be at our apartment complex. L-O-V-E it!

- Morning scriptures. For the first time EVER....i have become a consistent morning scripture reader. This habit has been years in the coming and it's a delicate one to hold on to....but so worth it! I love the way it makes my day feel better right from the get-go :)

- Jesus in my planner. So, I have this obsession with my dayplanner. We are committed to one another. My life revolves around that silly thing. I( shamelessly admit that I sometimes even write things down AFTER i do them....what is the purpose in that? For remembering, maybe?) The point is....one day I absentmindedly stuck a picture of Jesus in my planner....and He has stayed there ever since! It's so great to have Him be there whenever I open up my planner since I do it soooo many times a day. It helps buffer the stress of my multiple to-do lists.

- School. Well....i use the term "highlight" loosely for this item on the list....I do love learning. Do i love going to class after 16 years of going to class? Do i love doing busy work after a lifetime of it? Take a guess. But i DO love the topics....American Heritage and one called Family Adaptation and Resiliency. I love that history is finally meaning something to me, and of course I love the second one because frankly I love my major. I love feeling educated. The class is about helping families deal with crises such as divorce, death, illness, abuse, etc. Maybe sounds depressing but I eat it all up. What better way to save the world then to be informed about it??

- Frisbee. Yes.....i have frisbee back in my life. Every wednesday and saturday. Need i say more? Blissful, blissful sport of champions!

- Volleyball. Thursday nights are sand volleyball night! What could be better than a sport that lets you dive around in the dirt while wearing shorts and laughing with your friends?

- The "campout." Haha...i forgot about this until I saw it on my list. Earlier this month me and my roommate Kate and some ward friends went out to the grills and roasted marshmallows. We also built a tent by the pool and sat in it to eat our s'mores. "S'more of what?" "You're killing me, Smalls...."

- Make-A-Wish! This month I did a shopping spree wish for a boy named Juan. His family doesn't have lots of money so it was great to see him pick out clothes and shoes and stuff at the mall. This is the most typical kind of wish for teenagers. Good times!

- Habitat for Humanity. I mudded a house! Silly cement dried my hands out for about a week. Pictures will follow below...

- Kickball. Yes, joined the ward intramural kickball team.....we are terrible. I've never laughed so hard while playing a sport. Kickball = the great equalizer....everyone looks like an idiot trying to catch, kick, or throw that ball effectively. Love it.

- New roommates! Have I written about them already?? What can I say, I love them to death! Probably my favorite bunch of roommates thus far in life. Can't wait for Kelsey to come back from Italy and move in with us...then life will be complete!

- Triage (Tree-ahjz). Definition: When nurses at war have to let some soldiers die so they can save other ones. Application: One day, I expressed to my roommate Kate that I didn't see how it was possible to get EVERYTHING done when it comes to school and still have time for anything else....she said, "Sometimes I think college is a matter of triage." I laughed. And wrote it down.

- Staple shirt. So, I bought a shirt. Silly me didn't try it on. Put it on one day and it didn't fit right. But, i loved the color (bright green, naturally...) Lacking a sewing machine to alter it, I did what any thrifty former girl scout would do....I stapled it. People complimented me all day. They have no idea...

- Swimming pool. I absolutely love living in an apartment with a swimming pool! It's the greatest to go jump in right after school or work. It's almost like being at home....except there's a lot more people in this pool...and no waterfall....hmm

- Scooter. My roommate Lars has one of those razor scooters and she let me take it to school one day. Did i mention school is on a hill here at BYU? Yes, i got to ride the scooter down the hill at the end of the day. Pretty sure i smiled involuntarily the whole way down...

- Special Olympics. I have always wanted to volunteer at this and I got my chance last Saturday! Me and a couple roommates and a couple friends went to volunteer cuz the Utah summer games was held at BYU. The only job they had for us was to wave pom-pons around and cheer for the athletes.....which i LOVED! The determination on their faces when they ran around the track was priceless. Made me a little emotional, let's be honest...

- EFY!!!! Ooohh just can't get it outta my life! I forgot that by retiring and staying in Provo I wouldn't escape it....because campus is flocking with EFY kids!! And...i love it! Despite all the drama and crazy lifestyle and endless dorm dwelling that drove me away from it in the end....i love those youth with all my little heart! I managed to get my hands on this summer's CD and i've been jamming out to it nonstop. What a special place in my heart!

- Memorial weekend. Huzzah for 3-day weekends! Me and my roommates and our friend Austin decided to go on a mini roadtrip....so we hopped in a car and drove up the canyon! We found some neat little towns. I love little small towns! Best.

And on that note.....it's picture time! I think they're all out of order but....Enjoy :)


Here's one from the Memorial Day adventure! Found this bridge in the middle of nowhere.... Also found this bear. At a lodge.

And this tunnel in the middle of the woods...

Me and Lars climbed a tree at the forest ranger station! Unfortunately it was closed for the holiday so we didn't get to go inside the station....but this tree was still a good Plan B...

Smokey the Bear was the only one still on duty at the station that day. He looks a little peeved that all the other rangers left him to go have barbie-Q's without him. Psh.

THE PORCH SWING! This is me, Lars, Abby, and Kate. The only roommate missing is Jenny....but we still love her.

This is right before the pudding hullabaloo....those bowls are full of pudding. Chocolate, banana, tapioca, butterscotch, etc. etc. Yum...

And here we are after! We were a lot more drenched than we look. Okay maybe i was mostly drenched....that's what happens what pudding fight is YOUR idea.....everyone's common friend is YOU so they all feel most comfortable creaming you with handfuls of pudding. Delish.

So we only had one working shower for awhile and we let Abby go first....this is me and Kate outside baking in the sun. No really, I think I baked into a little pudding brownie....*ding*

Habitat! This is us trying to get the right consistency with the plaster/concrete stuff...

And here i am hard at work! Look at me go! This was before my hands turned into little cinder blocks. Silly cement....

Love this picture! This was taken at a work picnic.....since i work on campus the picnic was with a bunch of faculty members so they went all out. The food was scrumptious! That's Abby in the yellow dress (did i mention i work with my roommate? that's how we met...) anyways then there's me trying not to laugh with my mouth full, and then there's Meg, my hilarious coworker, pretending to be funny for the camera. Good times...

Well that's about it, kids! The month was full of awesome stuff but it definitely flew by. Only like 2.5 months til i gradjeeate and then.....and then....well, maybe that's a story for another blog....which i'll write sometime when i've made a concrete decision about the "and then" portion of my life :)

peace and luff!