Gotta Love Technology!

Wow, so here I am sitting in an airport in Cincinnatti, Ohio on my laptop without it plugged in, enjoying the internet with their free Wi-Fi. I'm even connected to David's automatic-answer-and-start-video webcam and am watching the inside of his house, haha! I just think its cool as can be, and it gives me something to do for the next 25ish minutes that I have to wait to board the airplane.

Super cool, that's what!

FHE

Last night's FHE was really good. Well, we decided it wouldn't be FHE... see, we have a 'Brother' apartment and a 'Sister' apartment. Well, our sister apartment NEVER comes to FHE, it's always us and our brothers (and they are all always really busy so its nice they always make time for FHE), so on Sunday we took a 'Family' picture and last night we went to Anthony's house (he's our oldest 'brother'). He has this next door neighbor who turned 94, so he suggested to us that we go see him and sing him Happy Birthday. It was such a good experience! Anthony's house is out in the country and it was beautiful!!! We went to his house, his mom gave those who hadn't eaten some spaghetti and then we all ate these delicious cookies she made.

There were cows and farms (Anthony's folks have a farm) and horses all over, and they had a tire swing! I got on it and Anthony gave me an underdog and since he's 6'4" he shoved me up into the trees! It was on a willow tree, and so so so beautiful! After we were done at Anthony's house, us girls scrambled in the back of his pickup and we drove to the 94 year old's house. That guy looks great for 94!!! He was up and moving, came right to the door in his plaid shirt, jeans, old battered up cowboy boots and belt (I think its so cute/sweet when old guys wear their cowboy boots! Anthony's dad was too). He seemed awful touched that we came and sang to him, and he gave us one of the cakes he got for his birthday because he got two.

Then on the ride home, Anthony took us the scenic route and it was beautiful and breathtaking. Definently showed the reason why Idaho's my second favorite state, I want to buy me a ranch out here sometime its so pretty! (Even if you have to irrigate all over the place)

Teton River Dam... at 11:30pm!!!

So, yesterday I saw Jon Schmidt -- AMAZING! And afterwards I went to Cami's boyfriend's apartment and watched Newsies with Justin and Cami and Justin's roommates. We had to leave RIGHT before the very TIP of the end because curfew was upon us, but I LOVED it, that movie is so amazing and fun and it just gives me chills!

Anyways, Friday night (curfew is 1am on Fridays) I was wondering what to do until Justin and Cami invited me to go to the Teton River Dam even though it was already like 10:30 at night. It was the two of them and then Justin's friend and his ex-girlfriend Brittney who I talked to almost the whole ride, she was really nice!

To sum it up, we drove into the middle of nowhere, I discovered that Justin is a crazier driver than David (and while I felt safe-ish, I still feel the safest when David is driving, even if he is peeling out around corners on dirt roads), then we parked on the side of a cornfield in the middle of nowhere, hiked through it for like 10 minutes, then proceeded to descend a rocky slope that was VERY steep (and if it had been daylight, I probably would've considered it impossible and not gone down), and while everyone else would confidently walk on steep flat sheets of rock, I kept getting on my butt and sliding - it was SO much easier! Finally, when we got to the bottom, we walked out to the edge of the river bank and I could SEE in the dark the beautiful grand-canyon-like thingy that had the river flowing through the bottom. I SO wished I could've seen it in the daylight, but the stars were beautiful. We walked way far down the river bank until we found a bunch of jetting out rocks that we decided to climb over to get to the dam opening. I thought I would slip and fall, but I didn't.

Then we got to the opening, slipped through an opening in these iron bars, then slid through a small opening in this cement wall (they had apparently cemented it off, but people busted a hole through) then we got in there and ran through the tunnel, it was SO fun! You had to either straddle run or run on one side then run on the other, then back and forth so you didn't lose your balance. It was so fun just running through there! Plus, everything echoed like a second later so it was loud but cool sounding. If you said something, you could wait a couple seconds then it would say it back to you. Pretty cool! Then we reached the control room, slid underneath this big thing that was being held up by a iron grate (if it fell, it could've sliced us in half, kinda fun/freaky) only, oh we THEN had to climb up a ladder and then up a tunnel thing with a rope -- Justin and Cami had to pull me up because I'm so weak-muscled. Really, I felt stupidly dependent the whole time because I"m so weak and clumsy and unbalanced. But, we went into the control room and saw the neverending ladder (its like 12 flights of ladder steps Ephraim told me later, somewhere around 300+ steps). Then we came back.

I had alot of fun, even if I was clumsy as heck and weak besides, everyone was patient and the guys were nice. We got home just barely under curfew, and then me and all of our roommates peeked out the window at Cami and Justin who stood outside embracing and talking for 20 minutes before he shoved a kiss on her face (literally, I watched the whole thing!) which was THEIR first kiss and HIS first kiss and HER first kiss in 5 years, so it was something we'd all been waiting/expecting for. Plus, Taleea had a HOTT date Friday night as well, he was VERY good looking and she had an awesome time with him - we're hoping he'll ask her out again, he's just perfect for her - tall, kind, sweet, caring, and plays the guitar besides!

4th of July!

Okay, I really don't feel like posting in this blog, but I kinda sorta oughta, ya know? Anyways, I got a bus ticket July 1st to go to Becca's on July 3rd at TWO IN THE MORNING on the Salt Lake Express. I didn't know how to get the dang thing, but luckily my roommate's boyfriend's cousin pulled it up for me. Oh. Speaking of which, last Tuesday night we had our "bake off" it turned out just to be a pie fest. I made a blackberry pie, Ephraim and Shelly made lemon meringue, Justin made an apple pie, and Cami made this delicious cracker candy. It was all very good. I made mine ahead of time because I thought it'd take longer than it did, and when I took it over, they had all just started, but I was able to get some math homework done so that's good. We had a good time, I learned how to play "Poo Head" a card game, and we enjoyed eating all the pies with ice cream. Mmmmmmm mmmm good! I had 4 pieces of pie leftover afterwards and on my way home gave away 2 of them at apartment 204 and then had 2 leftover for Katey and Taleea.

Anyways, so before I could leave for Becca's, I had to turn in my take home math test that was due Thursday (the 3rd) at 2 PM and I was leaving 12 hours before at 2 AM, so I finished it up by about 10:30pm and I had 30 minutes to get to the Romney and turn it in. Well, I RUSH up there and then once I'm in the Romney I ran through the dark halls (lights were being turned off all over the place, it was odd being in a college building at night, I've never done that before), luckily, I ran into a security guard and he had to actually unlock a door that led to a hall of offices where my math teacher's office was so I could drop it in her slot. Thank goodness for him! If he hadn't been there, I wouldn't've gotten to turn it in on time! But anyways, I got it turned in, then ended up walking with Taleea and Katey to the park, slid in some mud and got blasted by a sprinkler, came home and changed and then packed and stayed up till 1:40 when I left to go catch my bus that made one stop on the way to Becca's and that I attempted to sleep rather uncomfortably on the whole night.

So Becca picked me up at 8:15am Thursday (July 3rd) morning. I had eaten somewhat of a breakfast with snacks in the car, but I ate some bacon at her house once we got there. After awhile, we left and took Belle, Lily and Noah to play putt-putt while Allen went to a comic book store. Had fun, but I got bored fast putt putt gets old, especially when poor Lily kept getting distracted by other things than hitting the ball. We went to Carl's Jr afterwards, climbed up the play thing with the girls and slid down these slides in there that were really fun! I think we went to Wal*mart at some point too... Friday, Allen kept Noah and they went and saw the Hulk while me, Becca and the girls went to a picnic thing with her sewing/quilting/knitting friends and their families. I ate WAY too much stuff, all kinds of crap, but enjoyed myself. Came home, finally went to the stadium to watch fireworks, paid $4 in all and it was AMAZING! The fireworks were set off on the ball field and some would come RIGHT OVER us and looked like they were gonna fall on us, it was the BEST firework display I've ever witnessed.

Saturday we got up, ate breakfast, went outside with the girls and Noah and let them play in this wading pool that Becca and Allen got on Thursday when we dropped by ToysRus. We put their plastic play slide's end into the pool then put the hose on it, but the girls wouldn't get on or slide unless we held their hands or held them while they went down it. Don't think they liked it too much, because neither of them wanted to do it again. :D Me and Becca tie-dyed, then we ended up going to Craigo's for lunch (Mom and Dad's treat) which was wonderful, then went to Wal*mart for about an hour, then went to Sam's Club at some point. Came home, not sure what we did... late that night I know, me and Becca went to Wal*mart and then RUSHED to Winco so I could get some Beef Jerky in bulk (haha) and WHAT a place! It was so cool! Bulk of everything! So, I'm planning a huge shopping trip there when I come back in the fall to stock up on food. Finished right about at 12am with the shopping.

Sunday morning was interesting, hahahahaha, we walked to church for their first time, got a little sidetracked but got there almost on time. Church was nice, everyone was nice and I love their building, its like this old institute building Becca said, and it was cute, reminded me of the AME church our branch stayed at for awhile. Then, the walk home took about 1 hour 20 minutes because we didn't go back the same way, tried some shortcuts, got sidetracked, and had to stop at a motel for Belle to go potty. Anyways, I had a great time on the walk because I needed the exercise and could only think of the calories I was burning. We were all tired and sweaty afterwards, I napped a little and then got up to help Becca with dinner. We made biscuits, beef chunks in gravy, mashed potatoes and peas. Allen made salads for me and him. Once I was done, I rushed and got all my stuff (and a heck of alot more!) packed up and Becca took me to the bus. I hugged her sadly and left.

My bus dropped me off where I was supposed to catch another, but it wasn't there and he told me it could be anywhere from 10:45 to 11:00PM before the next one came (apparently, it was 10:00 and we had missed the 9:45 one), so I was a little bummed. But, Heavenly Father is merciful and 10 minutes later (after my bus left me) the next bus arrived! They were running 20 minutes late!!! So, I got on and actually got home 30 minutes earlier than I was supposed to -- before curfew! All of my roommates were up except Vanessa and I was SO happy to see them and be home! I loved being at Becca's, but I was anxious to get back on schedule with exercising, school, eating, etc. They all loved the tie dye I did for them too, which was nice.

Our OWN Ball!

So, last night there was this "Enchanted Garden Ball" that Taleea and I REALLY wanted to go to, but... no one asked us! So, Taleea brilliantly thought up this: we do our hair, makeup, etc. but dress DOWN; go to Taco Time like that, then go play soccer, come home and eat strawberries with chocolate and sherbet with Sprite while watching Jurassic Park. We ended up not playing soccer, and only watching a little bit of Jurassic Park before we got bored with it. But anyways! It was fun! My first time wearing make-up while I'm here, and I'm wearing it this morning... I think I'm gonna start wearing it every Sunday or something.

Anyways, so we went to Taco Time, then came back and ate it, then ate some strawberries with chocolate. We walked down our porch thing and met some girls from apartment 203, they were so nice and one is a Clogger! And she JUST started clogging while she was here, went through Beginner-Advanced classes and is now a clogger in the Collegiate dancers team! That gives me HOPE! I'd LOVE to get on that dance team! We eventually started Jurassic Park and Mike dropped by and watched a little with us, but we mostly talked. Then he left and we finished eating our sherbet with Sprite. I ended up turning off Jurassic Park and then going to the lounge where they were having a celebration for Mandy from apartment 206 because it was her birthday. Met some new people, hung out for awhile until I realized if I stayed any longer, I would eat myself to 200 pounds! Once we came back, I'm not sure what we did but I eventually got bored again so I left to walk a lap around our apartment complex. I ended up coming up the second floor on the other side and meeting the people who at Mandy's party and taking up the rest of the food and stuff. We all ended up talking and hanging out, I met a guy who's from and hour or so south of me in Virginia! And he said he'd be my running buddy, so that's cool!

Anyways, we all ended up taking blankets to Porter Park and stargazing for a while, it was fun! I almost didn't go because I was like "Well, what if someone fun comes by our apartment?" well, that was silly, because I need to socialize! So I went with them and had a great time! We got back just about 10 minutes before curfew too!

Sociality

There is SO much to do at college it is SO fun! I went to Swing Dancing this week AGAIN, but not Latin/Ballroom (I went to that last week). People are popping by all the time and since our door is almost always left open (because its hot inside right now - not extremely but just uncomfortably warm at times) since we don't think we have air conditioning, people just come in whenever! Last night one of our home teachers, Bryan dropped by and then this guy named Ron (I've respelled his name for him: Rahnn, good huh? xD) and we already had my friend Katie from a couple doors down and Amanda (who was Taleea's and Katey's roommate last fall) was over, so we all stood outside and talked and laughed for a good 40 minutes. And tonight, good ole Taleea planned an "International Dinner and Zorro" is what we've all been calling it; we're gonna eat international foods and watch Zorro. We've invited alot of people, so hopefully they'll all show up!

Ya know, it's a good thing I brought all my movies, because this is the second time we've had an activity to watch a movie and the only reason we're watching it is because I own it! I just think its funny, so its a good thing I'm such a movie hog.

Oh, and I won't be able to do any of the trail rides they do each Saturday because the "tickets" are all sold out. >:( Oh well, I guess others need to ride horses more than I do, no matter how much I feel I need to... Anyways, I need to go post on the bruingtonbiggestloser.blogspot.com blog and still check my math homework answers. Tootle-loo!

Quick note!

Gotta make this quick because I've still got to do my ab workout, shower, write/sign Kristen's b-day card, make Daddy a Father's Day card, brush my teeth, say my prayers and go to bed!

I'm having TONS of fun here at college! Yes, homework stinks, botching my eating plan stinks, and other things stink but there's still good stuff. I went to the Swing Dancing thing last night and was there from beginning to end - I had a BLAST! I had SO much more fun this time than last, learned a few Charleston moves, went with my math buddy Kathryn and met her very fun friend Alyssa. If the three of us weren't asked to dance, we'd just do the Charleston and some weird move that was a variation of the Charleston I think... dunno! I also tapped and clogged around during some of the songs, and I just had fun! Maybe next time I'll lay off a little on the clogging/tapping so people don't get freaked out by me, but I was just being myself!

Tonight we went to the Latin and Ballroom dancing, but there weren't many people. We went to Ballroom first and they'd already started teaching the Samba and it looked hard/intimidating. So we meandered over to Latin (Latin and Ballroom were in separate Ballrooms) where they were Salsa'ing - yay! I know how to salsa! - so a girl who said she's normally an instructor but was playing a guy's part to partner with some of the girls, asked if one of us wanted to dance with her. So I did, learned some moves and then this guy named Phil came in and we partnered, I taught him the salsa basic move and some other ones we had done and then he took it away and led me perfectly! He caught on really fast, then we danced a couple dances, and he taught me the Tango and some really cool spin that had me spinning like 5 or 6 different times. I actually FLEW onto the floor at one point, he felt terrible I could tell, but I just laughed it off - it was fun!

Anyways, the dancing is really fun and I'm going to a workshop this Saturday from 10-12... not sure what kind of dancing it is, but hopefully it'll be ballroom/partnering.