Back to Boring..............

Although I find myself busy busy busy, there really isn't a lot to say. I've been on a few adventures this week -- none of which I can disclose any information to on here. But they were really fun, definitely something I needed to happen in my life. Cassie (my best friend/roommate) ran her first marathon this last week. It was amazing to see how happy she was when she got home. I am so proud of her for going out there and killing it!!!! She's my hero of the week.

I've just been trekking through school. This is my last week of classes! I just have to push through today, finish two--ooor three------ ok fine, four papers today. Then one presentation. One digital story. And that's it! This was a really tough term for me. I'm not sure why, but I just am feeling really discouraged with my major right now. I know I want to teach, but every education class I have keeps deterring me just a little more. But I will persevere!

Michelle (my sister) and her two munchkins fly in from DC today. I have to give a presentation and then work, so I won't be able to go pick her up from the airport. But I am so excited to get to have a rumpus with her kids! I am so excited that I even am wearing jeans, so that I can better roll around on the ground with the kiddies. That's a sacrifice, we all know how much I hate pants!!

Once school is done I have a horrible weekend of work. And if I live through that, well then I go to my favorite place in the whole world (it's tied for favorite with Seattle) --- Hebgen Lake, Montana!!!!! And this year I don't have broken ribs!!! So, I am really pretty excited to say the least. So. The next few posts will be more eventful! Stay tuned!!!

Oh, and I guess you can watch this horribly embarrassing video I made for my fictional 10th grade English class...

Meme party after the worst week ever:

Ok, I will be the first to admit that I should be asleep. After I tell you what we've been through the past few days, you'll be like, "Mmm, girl! You should get that hiney up to bed!" And yes, I agree with you completely. But I'm talking to my OH (Other Half) on Facebook, and since she's oh so far away (pun intended) I have decided it's worth getting less sleep to catch back up with her. Plus, Julie Meme'd me in her blog. I have no idea where this "Meme" originated...and I hate things like this...but I love talking about me, so I figured I would go ahead and fill it out, and then NOT pass it on to someone else. Ha! I'm sticking it to the man!

So this week was an intense one. One that makes you realize what is important in life, and how much your family means to you. At least that's what it made me realize. Dave was in a little accidente (said with Spanish accent) on Tuesday afternoon. A table saw picked a fight with him, and took a few fingers with it. When all was said and done, he ended up at the U of U hospital up in Salt Lake with a few sorta messed up fingers and one less pointer finger. He's home now, and is taking things really well--if you asked me. If you didn't ask me then don't read that last sentence. I got to be up at the hospital with the Taylor family for the duration of the trauma. I was blessed to not have work so I could be around my family. Dave is such an amazing guy that this further cements my belief that the worst things happen to the best people. I have my mental list of people I would with this injury on, don't go thinking I'm too good a person, and he is definitely not on that list! He got to go home though just 24 hours after the accident happened, and I think he's doing a lot better since he has his own bed and his dog near by. And as if the accident wasn't enough, I awesomely got really sick at the hospital the last few hours we were there. When we got home I was sick all that night, then slept like crazy, and then was a lot better the next day. Now I just have a cold, but I am not, nor will I ever, complain about having a cold. I'm just glad every member of my family is safe and sound at this juncture in my life (is juncture the right word? I'm not so sure). Now I am sitting by a pile of late homework and box of kleenex having a small panic attack about how I am going to possibly pass my classes this term. But, hey, I know I will pull it off. Somehow I always do. After work tomorrow I will be heading back home to Alpine for a weekend with my family, and a weekend of doing endless hours of homework. I have to also write a myth about how red hair came to be--or freckles--but I think I like red hair more. So, if anyone has any ideas for my story, please please lemme know! Ok, here's this random bit of information about me that you never really wanted to know, but are going to read anyways. I just want you to know that this will be five minutes of your life that you are never going to get back, so read on at your own risk.

Oh! And shout out to Maddie who sent me a letter this week. Arriving just in time for me to come home after the craziest 36 hours known to man. She wrote the most wonderful things ever that made me so happy. I was so overjoyed that I promptly jumped into bed and slept for four hours--although that might have been the illness' fault, I'm just realizing......

If you could go back in time and relive one moment, what would it be?
This is a tough question. And I have allotted only seven minutes of my life to answer these. I might be in trouble here. Ok! I guess I would go back and find a time where my mom and dad where married, and we were all together, and having fun. I don't have any memory of that, isn't that terrible? I have forgotten them all. So I think it would be great to remember when my mom, dad, sister and I were together and happy -- but that might not have even happened to begin with, so then this answer would be void.

If you could go back in time and change one thing, what would it be?
Obviously I would have changed what happened to my aunt Lynnanne. But, like Julie, I will keep things not so heavy hearted and say I would change the two years of college I attended first out of high school. I took such pointless classes and failed most of them anyways. Waste of my life!

What movie/TV character do you most resemble in personality?
One night I was watching Friends with my roommates-which is just like most nights, I'll let you know right now. I realized there are three main women characters on friends and three of me and my roommates. So I decided to assign us each a character. And then I realized that we really are just like them! So, I am just like Phoebe from Friends. She's a vegetarian, she loves cardigans and rings, she's super free spirited, she wears dresses a lot, she does crazy things that she believes in, oh, and did I mention---she's a vegetarian. We're pretty much the same person. Hopefully I can marry a guy like the one she marries, Mike. Man, that would be awesome.

If you could push one person off a cliff and get away with it, who would it be?
Hah. I can't put down my honest answer, I would be in epic amounts of trouble. But most of you can guess who that would be. Even putting that down is going to get me in trouble. But hey, why have a mind if you're not going to speak it? Or something profound like that. So, for the purposes of this blog post, I would say that I would probably push off the person who is in charge of parking at my University. Whoever decides it's okay to have event parking in the same parking lot I pay to have a permit for definitely needs to fly off a cliff.

Name one habit you want to change in yourself.
My self-esteem is always pretty low. So I think I would change how self conscious I always am.

Describe yourself in one word.
I dunno. Cassie described me in one word just the other day, but I can't remember what it was. It was crazy or something like that. So I will go with zany. That's probably a good one.

Describe the person who named you in this Meme in one word.
Selflessintelligentlovingcreativeandhilarious. ... haven't you heard that word? Strange, I use it all the time!

Why do you blog, in one sentence?
My sister, Michelle, always says I need to write for a newspaper, so this is my own mini newspaper. (It was a run-on sentence, but we're gonna count it as just one)

Only three minutes behind schedule!! Hurrah! I am going to sleep! I have a super long day tomorrow! And I am still sickly, so I need my sleeeeeeeeeeeeep. Pray for Dave please! He needs lots and lots o prayers. And if you're in the greater Utah area, I really like carrot cake -- so feel free to bring some of that by our house any time. I don't think Dave really likes carrot cake that much, but hey, gotta keep the whole family happy, right?

And I'm back. In black. Lie, I'm actually wearing blue.

Yesterday was Memorial Day. Maddie picked me up to carpool over to Lynnanne's grave site. We met our family there, to honor the greatest woman we have ever known. I love when my family gets together. I love it when we get together in honor of Lynnanne, because that's when I can feel her love the most. Although, I do feel her presence in my everyday life too! Well, that's a whole nother (yeah I said it) blog post, so back on topic---When I got in the car Maddie said that I needed to start writing in my blog again. She said she missed reading it. At the time I just shrugged it off, I have my hesitations for coming back and writing again (these will be discussed in approximately two sentences). But this morning as I was hiking, I was thinking about how it would be fun to start writing again. Also, I have an eight page paper due tomorrow, so this will also be great procrastination. A lot has happened since I stopped writing on here. I originally just forgot a few weeks in a row to write, then it was a few months in a row, and then I just stopped writing entirely. Then I realized I really had no life. I do the same thing week after week, and who wants to hear about that. Also, I am a facebook addict to the core, so really my every move is already being recorded on crackbook. I have really gotten out of the habit of writing. (Side note, my ankle is twitching, and it's freakin me out...) While I failed to write in my blog, my aunt Julie and my cousin Brooke both started blogs of their own. In the beginning, I was kinda the writer of the family. This is no longer true. I can't seem to write anything of importance anymore and Brooke and Julie's blogs blow me out of the water. They're so articulate and clever. Plus, they both actually have lives. So, I decided to not write in my blog any longer, and not even try to compare to their brilliance. But then if we fast forward back today, and the need for procrastination: I realized that my blog is a lot different than theirs. Plus, I like writing here. So as I hiked up the side o that mountain, I threw my hands up and said, "Why the heck not?!" (Spoiler alert: I didn't actually throw my hands up. I was way too tired to pry them from hanging by my sides).

And here we are.

Today is May 31st. When you go to sleep tonight, have the last words out of your mouth be, "rabbit, rabbit, rabbit." Then when you wake up make sure the first three words you say are, "hare, hare, hare." This will ensure good luck in the month of June. I always forget to say these words. I never have good luck. I am half way through a summer block of school. Summer terms are called blocks because they're only 7 weeks long, instead of the usual 3.5 months. They cover the same amount of information, and I receive the same credit amount... it's just in half the time. So, class periods are twice as long. A usually 50 minute class turns into an hour and forty minutes. But, before I can barely blink, the term is over. So, it's definitely worth it. I usually get pretty stressed during summer blocks, but I can handle the crazy amount of stress for the last three weeks of the semester, and then it's just over. Then I get to lounge the rest of the summer. Totally worth it.

Last week, or maybe even the week before that, I decided that I am young, and need to actually use my body to the best of its abilities. I miss nature, and I miss Seattle. So, I decided to go hiking. It's actually my goal to go on a grand hiking trip next summer, but we'll see how that pans out. There's a mountain just by our house, with a big Y painted on the side. BYU (the LDS college here in Provo) is just beneath the mountain. So, that's why this Y appears randomly on the side of our mountain range. It's not a long hike. I think it's just shy of two miles, or something along those lines. But it's all up up up hill. So, I have been dragging myself out of bed a few times a week, and hauling myself up the side of that hill. It's horrible. And I hate it. And I want to just throw myself off the side of the mountain, and hope for the best. But every time I make it to the top, and sit down on the Y, I get so unbelievably happy, it's worth it every time. It's also getting a lot easier, so that's nice. Before I needed CPR every 20 feet or so. But now I'm doing a lot better. It puts a skip in my step all the day long. Althou

gh my steps usually include limping once I get back down. My thighs are killing me!! This morning I rolled out of bed and drove up to the trail head (yeah, that rhymed. Legit). I hiked up, and nothing too exceptional happened. I did pass a rabbit on his way back down from the Y. I said good morning as we walked past each other on the trail. I'm pretty sure he gave me the head nod. Although, I didn't have my glasses on, so I can't be 100% for sure about that. There was an old man, no really really old man, at least 75, who ran to the top, turned around, and then just started jogging back down. He smiled at me and said good morning. He was at least 75, people! And there I was-at age 24-wheezing up a storm! Barely able to raise my hand in a salutation! So so out of shape. That man is my hero. When I got to the top it was pretty windy, so I had to cut my peaceful viewing of the valley down to about five minutes. Going up took me just shy of 40 minutes. Going down takes me just over 10. Prett

y much it's impossible to not just jog the whole way down. Heading down is when things got exciting. I was hauling down a switchback when three deer crossed my path, prancing right up the side of that thurr mountain. Scared me so bad, I definitely peed my pants. Who knew those deer could just run up the side like that?! Where are their switch backs?! I mean really...what about the out of shape deer?? Someone has got to look out for them. So then when I finally regained consciousness, my heart attack ceased, and my pants started to dry out a little, I resumed walking down. Then-in the same switchback mind you-I passed this amazingly cute (in my opinion, my sister would not have agreed, and complained that I need to have higher standards for the way men look) guy. He was wheezing like crazy, which made me like him even more. And he had the cutest bull dog ever, who also appeared to be having a hard time breathing. I was smiling ear to ear, because that's what I do once I

reach the top for about four hours straight. So, I said good morning, and smiled at him. He managed to get out a hello, and we made eye contact for a good four seconds. Nothing too impressive, but it was a good moment. If I was in Seattle I would fill out an "I Saw You" and find this guy. But, I'm not. And I don't think Utah works this way. He had a beard. He had a dog. He was out of shape. He was hiking the Y. I mean really, match made in heaven! I almost stopped and said, "Oh, you're hiking up?! What a weird coincidence, I was just on my way up also!" Then turned right back around and marched back up that mountain side. But, I knew that would result in immediate death and/or my knees falling off. So, I just smiled, and went on my way. Maybe next tuesday we will meet again. I don't think he even noticed the fact that I had wet my pants just moments before! I call that a win!

So. Anyways. That's the excitement of my life. For the first time in a long time, I really feel more like myself. Sometimes Utah sucks me in. It takes a lot of work, but I can pull myself back out if I work on it. Summers are always the hardest because my family all leaves to Montana. My friends all vacation. And I am sitting in my living room in Proho, being responsible. But, I have Juan Carlos. And now the sun is finally out. So, I'm expecting some pretty great moods, and consequently some pretty great adventures coming my way!

Thanks for reading. Hopefully I will keep up with writing, and then post less on crackbook. Now, if you will excuse me, I have to go place my first letter to my cousin Covey who just left for his mission, and my one millionth letter to my friend Robby who has been on his mission in the mail box before the mail lady arrives. Keep your fingers crossed I receive some mail of my own.

Tanksgiving!!! Nothing better than a thanksgiving with my family, in my ALMOST favorite place ever. r,a

This past thanksgiving I got to go up to Oregon to see my family. My aunt, Lynnanne, was very ill, and it brought our whole entire huuuuge family up to Beaverton to get to do the thing us Taylor's do best-- BE THE MOST AMAZING FAMILY EVER.

So, mostly the trip was us just getting to be together, and to hang out. I've grabbed a few of the photos which I really think sum up our times there, and will discuss in brief detail (say detail the fancy way in your mind while reading that please, de-tail) the goings ons on the trip.

Multnoma Falls:

We got to take a day trip to Multnoma. I've been SO MANY times in my life, but I always love getting to see how beautiful the scenery is. I also love getting to sing along to Mylie Cyrus (how do you spell that girls name?) songs on the way up in the big 12 seater van. It is always so much fun just getting to mess around with my cousins.

For Thanksgiving we went over to the church. First we had an intense round of family b-ball. Yes I did play in a skirt and some heels, and yes I was dang good at it. Mostly it just turned into Julianne, Taylor, and I trying to tackle each other, but hey, isn't that what basketball is all about? Oh wait-- that's a different sport. Anyways, I wish I had some photos of that, but certain people don't let certain photos from their certain cameras into the hands of ANYONE else, so we will never see just how rockin I was out there on the court. (Oh well, it honestly may be for the best.)

We also made these cute turkeys out of oreos and peanut butter cups, it was fun getting to see how creative we all got, there were pirate turkeys and zombie turkeys. Then it was even more fun getting to eat them later.

We spent a lot of time in with Lynnanne. It is always amazing just to be near her, she is such a beam of love and joy. We decided to brighten up her room a little by adding colorful snowflakes hanging from the ceiling. They were all so beautiful, who knew we had such great cutting skills?!?! Us Taylors really do know how to rock.

Taylor decided that his goal of the trip was to get as many photos of me taking naps--with my own phone! He got me at least 5 times. I would even fall asleep with my phone in my hand, and somehow not wake up to him taking the phone, taking the picture, uploading it to facebook, and then putting the phone back. Taylor is one sneaky individual, let me tell you! One day I will find a way to get him back... mark my words.

After getting to spend so much time together as a family, it was really sad when the week was over. That was the last time our whole family will be together for many years! But I am so excited and happy to say that I know our family will all be reunited before we know it, and get to spend a looooong time together after that. I'm glad we all came together, and once again, did what we do best-- BE THE MOST AMAZING FAMILY EVER!!

No 2-oh-10 posts?!?! This cannot stand.

Alright, alright. I guess it is time to either update the ol' blog, or just delete it, as it sits, unread, unupdated, unloved... so, UPDATE it shall be. But with what?! WITH WHAT?!?!??!

Here's a list of what is to come:

Thanksgiving in Orrregon

Christmas in DC

Some random photos I had developed

My Birthday in Seattle

And boring college life randomness (get excited for that little gem!)

You can expect to see these start appearing as quickly as today! Or as slowly as never. We'll see how things pan out. But, at least, I have posted this, which does count as a blog update, which should keep all my blog followers happy and at bay for at least a few hours!!

Thanks for staying loyal all you fans out there. You won't regret your daily checking in, to see if I have posted more more MORE for you to read. Your diligence will pay off...

Pioneers! O Pioneers! By Walt Whitman

Come my tan-faced children,
Follow well in order, get your weapons ready,
Have you your pistols? have you your sharp-edged axes?
Pioneers! O pioneers!

For we cannot tarry here,
We must march my darlings, we must bear the brunt of danger,
We the youthful sinewy races, all the rest on us depend,
Pioneers! O pioneers!

O you youths, Western youths,
So impatient, full of action, full of manly pride and friendship,
Plain I see you Western youths, see you tramping with the foremost,
Pioneers! O pioneers!

Have the elder races halted?
Do they droop and end their lesson, wearied over there beyond the seas?
We take up the task eternal, and the burden and the lesson,
Pioneers! O pioneers!

All the past we leave behind,
We debouch upon a newer mightier world, varied world,
Fresh and strong the world we seize, world of labor and the march,
Pioneers! O pioneers!

We detachments steady throwing,
Down the edges, through the passes, up the mountains steep,
Conquering, holding, daring, venturing as we go the unknown ways,
Pioneers! O pioneers!

We primeval forests felling,
We the rivers stemming, vexing we and piercing deep the mines within,
We the surface broad surveying, we the virgin soil upheaving,
Pioneers! O pioneers!

Colorado men are we,
From the peaks gigantic, from the great sierras and the high plateaus,
From the mine and from the gully, from the hunting trail we come,
Pioneers! O pioneers!

From Nebraska, from Arkansas,
Central inland race are we, from Missouri, with the continental
blood intervein'd,
All the hands of comrades clasping, all the Southern, all the Northern,
Pioneers! O pioneers!

O resistless restless race!
O beloved race in all! O my breast aches with tender love for all!
O I mourn and yet exult, I am rapt with love for all,
Pioneers! O pioneers!

Raise the mighty mother mistress,
Waving high the delicate mistress, over all the starry mistress,
(bend your heads all,)
Raise the fang'd and warlike mistress, stern, impassive, weapon'd mistress,
Pioneers! O pioneers!

See my children, resolute children,
By those swarms upon our rear we must never yield or falter,
Ages back in ghostly millions frowning there behind us urging,
Pioneers! O pioneers!

On and on the compact ranks,
With accessions ever waiting, with the places of the dead quickly fill'd,
Through the battle, through defeat, moving yet and never stopping,
Pioneers! O pioneers!

O to die advancing on!
Are there some of us to droop and die? has the hour come?
Then upon the march we fittest die, soon and sure the gap is fill'd.
Pioneers! O pioneers!

All the pulses of the world,
Falling in they beat for us, with the Western movement beat,
Holding single or together, steady moving to the front, all for us,
Pioneers! O pioneers!

Life's involv'd and varied pageants,
All the forms and shows, all the workmen at their work,
All the seamen and the landsmen, all the masters with their slaves,
Pioneers! O pioneers!

All the hapless silent lovers,
All the prisoners in the prisons, all the righteous and the wicked,
All the joyous, all the sorrowing, all the living, all the dying,
Pioneers! O pioneers!

I too with my soul and body,
We, a curious trio, picking, wandering on our way,
Through these shores amid the shadows, with the apparitions pressing,
Pioneers! O pioneers!

Lo, the darting bowling orb!
Lo, the brother orbs around, all the clustering suns and planets,
All the dazzling days, all the mystic nights with dreams,
Pioneers! O pioneers!

These are of us, they are with us,
All for primal needed work, while the followers there in embryo wait behind,
We to-day's procession heading, we the route for travel clearing,
Pioneers! O pioneers!

O you daughters of the West!
O you young and elder daughters! O you mothers and you wives!
Never must you be divided, in our ranks you move united,
Pioneers! O pioneers!

Minstrels latent on the prairies!
(Shrouded bards of other lands, you may rest, you have done your work,)
Soon I hear you coming warbling, soon you rise and tramp amid us,
Pioneers! O pioneers!

Not for delectations sweet,
Not the cushion and the slipper, not the peaceful and the studious,
Not the riches safe and palling, not for us the tame enjoyment,
Pioneers! O pioneers!

Do the feasters gluttonous feast?
Do the corpulent sleepers sleep? have they lock'd and bolted doors?
Still be ours the diet hard, and the blanket on the ground,
Pioneers! O pioneers!

Has the night descended?
Was the road of late so toilsome? did we stop discouraged nodding
on our way?
Yet a passing hour I yield you in your tracks to pause oblivious,
Pioneers! O pioneers!

Till with sound of trumpet,
Far, far off the daybreak call--hark! how loud and clear I hear it wind,
Swift! to the head of the army!--swift! spring to your places,
Pioneers! O pioneers!

Hey Pals! November is upon us!!!

HEY THERE campers! How's life? This is me, currently:

I just got done jogging and watching Glee, so now I figured I'd sit and cruise on the computer for awhile, jet around on the good ol' world wide web for a few ticks of the clock. Today was a pretty lame day, if I do say so myself. It started out bad, and I fear that means it was destined to remain bad! But I did get clocked by a moto-cycle-cop going well above the speed limit (it's incriminating to divulge how above I was going) and he didn't even pull me over. Oh happy day! Hmmm, lemme think of what else is happening right now. We've had some really hard times in my family recently. Illness, and all the really not fun stuff you never want to have to deal with. It makes me so sad! But it also helps me realize how much I love my family, and my friends, and how glad I am to have all of you in my life! I know I know it sounds so corny, but it's the truth. I need to work on showing all of you how much I love you... so if you want a hug come get one. Well, there was me being nice, enjoy it while it lasted!! Bwahahaha.

School is still going well, just 3 weeks left! Can you believe it? I know I can't! It really did fly by. And somehow I'm busy all the time now, who knows when that happened! I'm always schooling, playing with friends (and yes I do mean playing, complete with slumber parties in the afternoon at the park), working on church things, jogging jogging and more jogging, or staying in touch with all of you! Oh sure, there's still time for my favorite shows, and there's always time for music, and never will I give up my nap time. But I do seem a lot busier than I have been in months past, and I even have to use a planner. In my old age I seem to already be forgetting the everyday things. Eeeeegad.

Keep your fingers crossed for me, just for life in general. I feel it's either gonna go really really well, and the majority of the world will know who I am, or one of these days I'm going to go on a rampage while looking for parking at school and end up just mowing down pedestrians and cars alike... that would probably land me in jail for quite some time and result in life being not so good. One of those two is our outlook. Hence you all crossing your fingers. It makes a difference! Oh, and wishing at 11:11 pm, that always helps too. Oh, and today is 11/11, so you can totally break out a wish any time before midnight.

And in other news, my sister's due with her second baby, her first boy!!!, in just a few days!!!!!! I'm so excited. I'll keep all of you posted, never fear. I can't believe I'm going to have a nephew! I can't wait to see what they decide to name him! And to see how cute his little smooshed face will be. I love being an aunt.

Adios me loved ones. Seriously, come get your hugs before I change my mind on dulling those out so liberally. And if you live in Seattle, give the city a kiss from me, I miss it like mad!!!