Back in the Bubble

Last Wednesday I made the 10 hour drive in my little car [aka the white stallion] from Palmdale to my new apartment in Provo. Classes start tomorrow at BYU, so I came up a few days early to have fun with my roommates and to get our apartment all set up for the year :)

I made pretty good time on my drive and got through it alone by playing my music on my iPod and singing along really loudly. I highly recommend it - nobody is there to make you feel self-conscious and it can be very entertaining :) My last stop before arriving in Provo was in Washington City, UT where there is an In-N-Out. Sadly this is the closest In-N-Out to me while up at school... but not for long! Yesterday on my way back from Walmart I saw this sign which made my day:

Yesssss!!

Anywho... I arrived at my new apartment just before 5 pm and with the help of my roommate Dani and her boyfriend, all of my stuff was unpacked from my car. It took a bit longer for all of my belongings to be unpacked from the bags and boxes, but it is all done now and that is what matters :)

I have had a lot of fun with my roommates Dani [who I share a room with], Karina, and Kelsey! I think that this is going to be a great year! We have been working hard to make our apartment our home and to get it looking cute - the ghetto-ness is less apparent now ;) We still have a bit of work to do and once it is all done I will post some pictures.

I miss my family back in California and I love them very much, but I know that I have plenty of people near me here who I can turn to. In addition to my roommates I have friends from back home, my cousin Katy who is here for her freshman year, Scott's younger sister who is here for her freshman year as well, and Scott's grandparents who live a few miles away. I got to visit with them a few days ago when I stopped by to pick up some belongings they stored for me over the summer and that was so fun! It was nice to see them again and to catch up on our summers. They are so sweet and I am grateful to know that they are there for me :)

I am very excited for the upcoming semester... but we'll see how that changes once I purchase my books and classes start. I'm optimistic about it though. This semester I'm also going to try to find a job, so that will be a new adventure which I am looking forward to. I guess I'll just have to let it flow and see how it goes! :) [and I'll try to keep up my blogging for it all!]

Tricky Time

Isn't it strange how time seems to drag on... and on... and then all of a sudden it is over before you know it? Thats pretty much how my summer has gone - I have been so anxious to get back up to BYU and now it is already here! crazy...! [I wish all things would go like that ;)]

I have had a great summer at home with my family and working at Frazier Masonry. Today was my last day at work and now I'm kind of sad that I won't be going back there for a while. My boss bought me lunch today [yummmmy Chipotle :D ] and my coworkers surprised me with a cake to celebrate my going back to college- it was very sweet! I have had the privilege to work with some really great people this summer! Plus my job kept me sane by giving me something to do when I would have just sat at home alone and gone crazy, along with giving me a paycheck which is helping to pay for my tuition - so I have been very grateful for this job! I will definitely miss being the receptionist at the office. But it is time to move on to bigger and better things! [I hope]

What it is really time for is packing. If you know me well, you know that I am a procrastinator... so you aren't surprised that I haven't really started packing yet, when I am leaving in 36 hours exactly. Silly me. And if you do not know me well, now you will learn one thing about me - I generally wait til the last minute to do everything... I don't know why, I just do. Always have, probably always will... I make it work. I think the pressure helps me. But anywho - it is time for the prep, packing, and goodbyes. Then a bit of a drive and I will be back in the bubble of Provo with my awesome roommates! Yay :)

I am definitely going to miss my family and friends in California, but I will do my best to keep up with my blog and I can Skype as well so that will be my way of making up for the distance :)

Here I goooooo!

Dodgers and Treasure

On Monday my family went to a dodger game for Family Home Evening. My Dad and Jill are HUGE sports fans and have instilled some of that in us kids. It was very fun to spend the time with my family and enjoy a good ol' baseball game. I had not been to a Dodger game in quite some time, and this time we sat in the All-You-Can-Eat Pavilion out in right field, so that made it especially fun :)

Sadly the Dodgers lost, but it was great being there nonetheless. I would post some pictures, but my brother is still borrowing my camera. Heather and Nathan took some pictures, so I'll see if I can steal some from them soon - or else I'm sure that Heather will blog about it and I can post a link.

The game was over at about 9:30 and it took us a while to finally get home because of traffic. When I did finally get home I had a surprise waiting for me. My mom checked the mail and I had a letter from Scott! She thought she would be tricksy and make me hunt for the letter. She had done this before, but this time she put a LOT more effort into it! The scavenger hunt she made before had only 4 simple clues spread through the house and I got the letter quickly... but this time was much different. It was late, I was anxious, and she had placed 18 clues and hints around. EIGHTEEN!! I got a bit flustered and they were laughing at me as I hunted and scoured the house.

My mom had placed little hints in a bunch of movies located on our large dvd racks, which are no longer in alphabetical order thanks to my nephews and tumbling racks - so I had to search through all the dvds to find the ones my mom hinted about. I was ripping open dvd cases and scouring the racks to find them all. Then there were a few vague hints that took me a while to figure out. It was pretty difficult when I was so anxious to get the letter and when my family was watching me and laughing at me. It was also really fun though - I love scavenger hunts and treasure hunts like this, and it had the BEST prize ever of a letter from Scott! Good times indeed! :D Thanks mama for giving me fun memorable adventures!

Here are a few pictures that I got with Nathan's camera - - he e-mailed them to me a yesterday with a message that said "Here's your photos, cause i know you're dying to blog about it!" Haha :)

The stack of dvds and clues that I ripped open and scattered in my rush

The best prize ever! :D

a few of my obsessions

I LOVE my new blog layout, and cannot thank my sister Heather enough!! check out her blog Hizzeather HERE :) She is awesome!

So- that is one of my new obsessions. I hope you like it too!

Other obsessions of mine:

1. Owl City. This is my new favorite band. I was introduced to them by Scott when he gave me a CD with a bunch of random music and then I asked him for more of this band. And now I can't get enough of them! I highly recommend you check them out! On the Wing and Vanilla Twilight are a few of my favorite songs from them
2. ALIAS on dvd. The tv show is amazing and addicting. I am already of season 4 and I am loving this show all over again. I had a major crush on Michael Vartan starting in middle school/high school because of this show :)
   
3. Bread and butter. It may sound weird, but I love to have a slice of bread with some butter spread on it. I have it with rice... pasta... almost any dinner. I guess I'm just a carb girl... yumm

Those are my main obsessions at the moment. Here are a few quotes and lyrics that I am slightly obsessed with also:

1. As many times as I blink I'll think of you, tonight
2. I don't need a telescope to see that there is hope - and that makes me feel brave
3. 'Cause the spaces between my fingers are right where yours fit perfectly
4. Optimism is Key
5. Let it Flow
6. Don't knock it til you try it
7. Definitely, Definitely... [Canadian Border Patrol on youtube]
8. The entire songs Happy and Trouble by Nevershoutnever

And here is one last obsession- my adorable niece Evey! Isn't she just the cutest thing ever?! :)

YSA Conference

Last weekend I attended the California Young Single Adult Conference and had a great time! I attended the session in Torrance, CA for YSA between the ages of 18 and 23 in the Los Angeles Temple District. I got to hang out with my good friend Samantha and had the opportunity to meet lots of new people and enjoy wonderful talks and fun activities. I actually had to give a talk today in church sharing my experience - so I thought it might be good to share some of my favorite quotes that I took note of from the conference on here too.

- "Avoid and resist mediocrity, which is a habit of our fallen nature. You don't have to be the best, just be your best." -Elder Clayton

- "You can't perfect yourself, but you can try your hardest and then Christ will add His hand and help you." - President Martz

- "Our blessings cannot be taken away by anyone, they can only be given away by us." -President Martz

- "Like a GPS system, God will never stop giving us corrections" -President Facer

- "Distraction from what is important can be destroying" -Brother Pond

- "Make good choices and submit your will to the Father, because our will is the only unique and personal thing we have to offer Him" -Brother Davis

- "Reverence begets Revelation" -President Bird

Besides many spiritual experiences, the conference was filled with fun including a dance, many sports and activities, lots of food, and a Humanitarian Aid project where we tied over 70 quilts. It was a great experience and I am so glad that I was able to attend :)

Sam, Trey, and I enjoying lunch on Sunday

YSA as far as the eye can see

The crowded Cultural Hall for the Humanitarian Aid project

Summer 2009 part 2

This summer I have had the great fortune to spend a lot of fun time with my family, which has included several family vacations with my dad's side of the family. The first of these vacations was a week in June that we spent at a Beach House in Ventura. We have gone to this same house for years and I have so many great memories there! Every other year my aunts and uncles and cousins and second cousins meet up for a week of fun and relaxation. This year there were 60+ people occupying two levels, so it was a bit cozy, a bit crazy, and full of adventures!

The week was spent enjoying the ocean and the sand, laughing and catching up with family, lots of duels in Tetris Attack on the classic Super Nintendo, birthday parties, plenty of entertainment provided by my adorable little cousins with their fashion show and talent show, and just relaxing. I love my family so much! You may think that over 60 people inside this one Beach House sounds too crazy and that it wouldn't be very fun for a week, but it was amazing! My family is so great, we all get along so well and just LOVE getting together!

One of my favorite parts of the week was the Family Home Evening that we had together with everyone. All of us were crowded together downstairs and we talked about how the tradition of going to the Beach House started, about my amazing Grandparents Eugene Grant Morris and Alice Jean Morris, and then we went through all of the family there and made sure that the little kids knew who belonged to which family [my dad is one of 9, so you can see how it would get confusing for the little kids :) ] I loved listening to everyone share memories and express their love for this family. I am so blessed with such an incredible extended family!!

And I must express my gratitude to my Uncle Wade who did a HUGE favor for me in being the middle man for me and mailing my letters off to Scott during the week at the Beach House :) I really appreciated his willingness to deliver that precious cargo for me. [There ya go Wade! I told you I wouldn't forget to give you your due credit!]


Family vacation number two was a week in July where a smaller group of us stayed on a Houseboat on Lake Powell for a little over a week. This is my favorite vacation! My family does this every year. There used to be a much larger group, and we would stay on two houseboats, but over the years less and less people come so this year there was only 13 of us at the most. We had a great time playing Wizard and Yahtzee, reading books, and of course going out on the on the lake to have fun with the boat. My Aunt and Uncle Murdock have a timeshare on this houseboat, Ed's Fun Time, and they also have a very nice speed boat supplied with skis, wakeboards, tubes, and a banana boat. We are so grateful for Amy and Mike for all that they do for us and their kindness. This vacation would not be possible without them and all their hard work for us :)

I had a great time wakeboarding, wake surfing, and playing with the "inflatables" - especially with our new-found fun "banubing" where we have the banana being pulled behind the boat between the two tubes and we do crazy maneuvers and jump from one inflatable to another. Thankfully we didn't have any big injuries this year, just some blisters and of course faceplants. I also really enjoyed reading at Lake Powell. This year I read over 3 books, and I know that my aunts read even more than me. Lake Powell is a great combination of fun and relaxation in a gorgeous location with amazing family members- what's not to love? :)


I am still battling with my pealing skin after getting a little bit sun-burned at Lake Powell, but I still have a pretty good tan, so we'll see how long this lasts... ;)

Besides these great vacations I have enjoyed playing with my nephews and my adorable niece a lot. I went to a couple of Jethawks Baseball games with my family, one with Ethan for his first baseball game, and another with Ethan and Tai for Tai's first baseball game. It was so fun to watch them as they would watch the game and look for the mascots walking around. Ethan loved going up to Kaboom and Stealth the Jethawks' mascots and giving them high-fives and hugs- it was adorable! At the stadium they have a grassy area off to the side with a bounce house and a huge slide for the kids to play on, so we spent a lot of time over there too. It was great to spend that time with my family and enjoy my nephew's first times at a baseball game!


Currently I am done with all my trips and plans so I am just working, enjoying being with my family, and being a bum before heading back up to school in a few weeks. My time is also spent writing letters to Scott and watching the tv show ALIAS on dvd. I absolutely love that show and was obsessed with it when it was on tv, so I am enjoying remembering all the things I loved about it now. I just finished season 1 and hope to finish all 5 seasons before heading back to school. If you are ever in need of something good to watch I recommend this show :)

*updated on 8-2-09 with larger collages