friend? ... or foe?.

last night for fhe we decided to play some water balloon volleyball, however, i am pretty sure by the lack of room at all well know parks that every other fhe group at byu-i decided to do the same. we finally remembered that we knew of a tiny little park, park saint park, hidden away in a quiet little neighborhood, so we headed over there. luckily for us, we had the space we needed to play the game. this park is more a small field than a real park, but they do have 2 swings, a really old metal slide, and, my favorite, an old metal merry go round. after we were done with the water balloon volleyball some of us decided to re-live our childhood and take a whirl on the merry go round.

not the actual merry go round.

we were all doing great and loving it. one of our fhe brothers decided that we were not going quite as fast as we should be going and told us to hold on because he was going to make it go as fast as he could. so we all took a tight grip and there he went. let me tell you, he wasn't kidding when he said he was going to go fast. it was super fast. after a little bit of him twirling us he stopped and i thought, here we go, just ride it out to the end, so i loosened my grip a little and began to enjoy myself when i feel a sudden burst of speed, he was pushing again. as soon as i felt that little burst of speed i knew it, i was going to be coming off of that merry go round, and not at all in a pleasant way. my tuck and roll method wasn't quite as effective as i had hoped. i ended up having my head and shoulder scrape along the ground for a little bit. (my roommate caty described it like this, "you know in the movie cool runnings, when the bobsled flips over and the sledders heads are all scraping along the ice and they look all bent funny and you are sure they are going to break something, thats what you looked like, only your head was in gravel." needless to say, as i sat up from my glorious fall my entire fhe group surrounded me asking if i was okay. i was. i really was. i mean, i could tell that it hurt, and that i was probably scraped up, but other than that, i was good. they weren't sure i was telling the truth, but i was fine. all in all, i left wondering if merry go rounds were really as fun as i had always remembered them, or if really, they were death traps waiting to happen. after a little more time of being able to ponder it i've decided, as long as you don't let derek spin you really fast (or know he is going to double spin and not single spin) and you maybe choose a really good spot where you aren't likely to slip off, merry go rounds are still pretty much wonderful. after everyone had finally decided i was okay derek did his best to make the situation less awkward by saying, "who wants me to spin them next?" seeing as i am a good sport i replied, "me!" only thing is, i really did kinda wanna go again, but of course my roomies wouldn't let me. boring. haha. all in all i was glad that i was okay and that i didn't break my neck or anything. i'm always grateful when the Lord looks out for me and keeps me safe.

scripture of the day:

Proverbs 29:25 The fear of man bringeth a snare: but whoso putteth his trust in the Lord shall be safe.

today i am thankful for:

* protection.

* merry go rounds.

* priesthood holders who were ready, worthy, and willing to give me a blessing if necessary.

* friends who care about me.

* that i didn't end up with a bald spot on my head.

* ice water.

<3.

swiss steak?.

so, i called my mom the other day and asked for a recipe for "that stuff you sometimes make on sunday." well, she told me what it was called, but i still don't know. so, i got the recipe and decided to make it. this is mostly for her because she told me to let her know how it turned out. so here goes ...

it was delicious! i cooked it up! and it was so tasty! and we put it over some mashed potatoes that i also made. accompanied by some, very delicious, corn on the cob. it was a very tasty sunday dinner. i am becoming quite the cook up here at school. maybe if my momma is nice it will stay that way while i am hope for the 7-week break! here are the pictures!

cooking is fun! its the dishes after that aren't such a happy time. but i am enjoying being able to cook!

scripture of the day:

Acts 14:17 Nevertheless he left not himself without witness, in that he did good, and gave us rain from heaven, and fruitful seasons, filling our hearts with food and gladness.

today i am thankful for:

* yummy food.

* roomies who like to eat sunday dinner together.

* momma's, and how they give you tasty recipes to make tasty food.

* revelation.

<3.

birthday bonfire bash.

so, as it would happen, stephanie and i both share a birthday week. this makes life pretty exciting come our birthdays. we decided to have a birthday bonfire bash to celebrate. my birthday was on Sunday and stephanies on monday, so we decided to have our party on either friday or saturday. after lots of decisioning we decided on friday because there was a school music thing on saturday that a lot of people go to, and we didn't want to be competing with that. so we invited our friends and found a good place and had our BIRTHDAY BONFIRE BASH!

the bonfire.

s'mores.

gabe in the middle of a wink (brandon in the back).

my roomies!!! (minus cathy, she left earlier).

brandon wanted us to carry him around, personally i think he should have been carrying steph and i around seeing as it was our birthday party.

tyler thought it would be smart to cook his hotdog and toast his bun at the same time.

cathy with a s'more.

spencer wore my mitten to roast his stuff because his hand kept getting so hot.

hyrum by the fire.

so ... this picture i decided to put up because my roommates think it is hilarious because apparently i spent the entire night talking to boys only. these two particular boys i didn't meet until that night. they were hyrum's friends and came with him. they were both super nice and funny and i didn't want them to feel awkward or left out so i had to be nice to them, right?? :)

the birthday cards tyler, kyle, and spencer got for stephanie and i.

it was extremely fun! i seriously love all my friends up here so much! they make my life so much better than it would be without them. we all had a blast, and i finally got to enjoy a bonfire in rexburg, next time we will aim higher and get a real big bonfire going out at the sand dunes. or maybe we will just do something else. i hope you all had a fantastic fathers day! i love you all!

scripture of the day:

D&C 98:18 Let not your hearts be troubled; for in my Father's house there are many mansions, and I have prepared a place for you; and where my Father and I am, there ye shall be also.

today i am thankful for:

* awesome friends!

* fantastic roomies!

* my daddy, he is amazing!

* bonfires.

* birthdays.

* boys.

* roommates who go to the temple with me every week!

* friends in classes so you have people to talk to and are able to feel more comfortable and more likely to share.

* rain.

<3.

pajama pants.

so, the next project that i have finished in my sewing class is a pair of pajama pants. i made them for my roommate lauren. she picked out the fabric and i sewed.

they turned out really cute i think.

scripture of the day:

1 Nephi 16: 2 And it came to pass that I said unto them that I knew that I had spoken hard things against the wicked, according to the truth; and the righteous have I justified, and testified that they should be lifted up at the last day; wherefore, the guilty taketh the truth to be hard, for it cutteth them to the very center.

today i am grateful for:

* free sewing machines/sergers to use while i am at school.

* friends.

* family.

* following the spirit.

* courage.

<3.

dinner "with" aunt kathy.

so, everytime that i drive to/from school aunt kathy likes to see me and treat me to dinner/lunch. it is always fun and i enjoy getting to spend time with her. on the way up this last time i was with lauren and hyrum and we still stopped by to deliver some curtains my mom had purchased for kathy. we got there, but kathy was not around, we had not expected to get there so early and neither did kathy. she was off at a church meeting. so we had to be on our way without even getting to see her. it was a bummer. i was pretty excited for her to get to meet some of my friends. well, a few weeks ago i get a card in the mail, and who should it be from? aunt kathy. it said she was sorry she missed me and that she had wanted to treat my friends and i to dinner. it also contained some money which she told me to use to take them out. how sweet is that? it made my day, and lauren and hyrums as well. so, we decided to modify the plan just a little, and instead of us 3 going out to dinner we invited some other people over, and included my roomies and made chicken rolls, broccoli, rice, and brownies with ice cream for dinner/dessert one sunday. we also played cards and then did some mock speed dating and told each other our secrets. it was way fun/ny and the dinner was awesome!

our chicken rolls:

lauren and brandon "praying":

hyrum and i:

six of us at the table:

playing speed uno after dinner:

brandon and caty:

owen and i:

we have kind of been on a kick of actually making real food since then, since it was so delicious. it was a very good dinner and we were all really grateful that aunt kathy made it possible! i love you!

scripture of the day:

James 5:13 Is any among you afflicted? let him pray. Is any merry? let him sing psalms.

today i am thankful for:

* aunt kathy.

* thoughtful people who put a smile on your face.

* my friends and roommates who are all awesome.

* amazing home teachers/fhe brothers who bless my life and help teach me lessons i need to learn or be reminded of.

* my family.

* the good influence other people can have on me.

* the temple.

* that i didn't really fail my nutrition test, my teacher just used the wrong key.

<3.