PHOTOS from this semester:

Liz Donaldson and I on the worst couch of all time! Ha I love it. Our cushions are too small for the couch so it spices things up. Liz has been an excellent friend to me this semester!

Our futsol team went out for ice cream to celebrate beating the most intimidating team in the semi-finals, making it to the championship! I seriously went into that game thinking that it would be cool if we weren't totally destroyed! I must brag that I scored a few sweet goals! We went into double overtime, it was still tied so we eventually won in sudden death shoot out! Definitely my favorite game I've played in a long time! I have loved futsol (futsol is basically just indoor soccer) this semester. My roommates brother started this team and we are just a bunch of random misfit people who look so thrown together. Just looking at us, nobody expects us to win but we held our own! The boys on our team were so randomly nerdy and funny and I loved it! So many other teams would have a couple cocky guys who never passed to the one girl on their team and that just ticks me off. So beating them was so satisfying! :)

We actually lost the championship but whatever. Here's a shot right after our last game.

Liz's Dad gave her a fatty gift card to Olive Garden so we were all treated by Mr. Donaldson! Above is Rebekah, Liz and I waiting to be served. Below Dustin and I are about to get waisted... see the wine glasses! Ya right. Am I the only person who doesn't really like Olive Garden? I've been there probably 4 different times and every time I've been ridiculously overcharged for something small, or my food was just gross. And I'm not even picky! This time was probably my best experience since I didn't have to pay. I just ordered a Caesar Salad- how bad can that be right? I asked for dressing on the side, and I got a soup of lettuce drenched in dressing.... Not a big deal but seriously... every single time I've been there, no good.

The sun was shining and so were we! My birthday this year was excellent! We had a little shin-dig at the end of the night where some friends came over for cake and ice cream. Amelia also drove from Logan and suprised me with an Armadillo Cake! I told her thats what I wanted for my birthday (like the grooms cake in Steel Magnolias) and she actually made it! It was an excellent surprise! After we at it, it looked like legit roadkill on a pan so I doorbell ditched it off at a friends place. :)

There was a special needs dance that we went to. Probably one of the funnest things ever. (Confession: I had a hard time distinguishing who was "special" and who wasn't! HA!) Its amazing how you go to support those with disabilities but they are the ones who make you feel like a million bucks.

The school had the Peking Acrobats perform. It was definitely one of the most entertaining, insane, favorite performances I've ever been to! Here's some pictures I grabbed from their website. You'll look at it and think WOW and then I will say multiply that times 48902 plus the adrenaline rush you experience while watching it and that was the Peking Acrobats! The whole crowd would literally scream out loud or inhale a breath of terror every other second! Here is some of the stuff they did:

@ the show:

There's my update!

Oh MERCY!!! THE 2010 OLYMPICS HAVE BEGUN!

I had an Olympics party last friday! The opening ceremonies in Vancouver were reason to celebrate! I thought the ceremonies this year were a little weird and kind of crazy but still totally entertaining and still amazing.

The lighting and passing of the TORCH! so dramatic! It was rather stressful trying to pass it with out letting go of the button that kept the torch lit up! Our torch may or may not have been a light up princess toy from Wal-Mart...

We had our own Olympic games! The Nylon/Orange game - I don't know what its called but I remember doing it when I was little... You put an orange or apple in the leg of a nylon, tie the nylon around your waist, put an orange on the floor, and you have to try and knock the fruit from one point to another by swinging your hips. Looks a little awkward, provides for some good entertainment :)

You can barely see the gold medals hanging from the ceiling from the picture above, but the winners of each round were presented one of those medals. And of course the ultimate winner earned the Mexican Coconut juice, with pulp!

Mr. Marc blowing up the balloon as big as possible. Those things just keep stretching! I wish I had taken more pictures because the decorations were fabulous! I must say the Olympics inspire me to go all out. I made food and people brought stuff from all over the world... well kind of. A baguette and cheese from France! Bruschetta from Italy! Sopes from Mexico! Potstickers from Japan? all those Asian countries, and Pizza for the one and only USA!

Its been a while since I actually planned and hosted a party and I forgot how much I love it! It was a 3-day weekend so a lot of people were out of town, including all my roommates except Catherine. So i was worried nobody would come and I didn't know how it would turn out. but my Olympics party was all I ever dreamed of! :)

This semester is so much better than Fall! Oh man I moved out of that smelly hole I was in and now I'm with fun girls in Colonial House. I lucked out with roommates this semester.

We went to the Peking Acrobats show and it was INSANE! Afterward we attempted our own acrobatic skills!
Nancy - she's the craziest funniest thing! Rec Management major, knits hot pads, wears literally whatever she feels like, she is the one with her mouth wide open in the picture below, has an unforgettable laugh, Nancy and Beth provide daily entertainment Finger painting for FHE
I am FHE mom this semester.Catherine- she is new to all of us this semester, from Thousand Oaks California, I'm a big fan of her.

Bethany - from Texas, boy-crazy, planning on serving a mission, she is best friends with Nancy and also has a unique laugh,
Rebekah - I lived with her last semester, sings beautifully, I've never heard her say anything harsh or negative, interior design major, from Boise Liz's birthday dinner at Craigos

Happy Birthday Whizard!
Juuuust being domestic! I was making Liz's birthday cake. Airplane! With Liz's boy Colby

Liz aka Whizard- My third semester roomming with Liz, she takes good care of me! finds my keys, feeds me meals, my personal mapquest, and she makes divine guacamole! Can't compain, life is good!

I can't comprehend how much goes on in the world all at once. Friday night Lindsay Millett's husband Derek was killed in a car accident. They had been married just a year. He went to work and never came home. Her whole world is upside down and those of you reading this will think "oh how sad" and then continue on with your day. And there is nothing wrong with that but it just boggles my mind. Lindsay and I are 4 days apart, shared all the same friends and memories through middle school and high school. I remember at the end of one summer in high school, we went through the calendar and figured out there were only 4 days of the 3 month summer where we were both in town and didn't see each other. Anyway, its just weird when unexpected heartache hits so close to home.
The moment Derek's life ended, Lindsay became a widow at 21, a husband, son, brother, friend, home teacher, student, coworker was lost. And at the exact same moment in time, wherever it be in the world, I bet somebody got married, a baby was born, a hilarious memory made, a first kiss, a conversion to the gospel etc. I just can't comprehend it.

Heidi Anna Roper Macey

After Christmas on the 28th I flew to Utah for Heidi's wedding on the 29th. She was married to Bobby Macey in the Draper temple at 9am. I went to her hair appointment with her at 6 in the morning! (I will never get married before noon!) Heidi has been my roommate since January 2007 and completed our little friend trio with Kelsey (who is now serving in the Philippines). I'm really missing them this semester!

I've met tons of people in the last few years- roommates, acquaintances, study buddies, friends from the ward... etc. Its interesting how all these people come and go and I don't give it a second thought. But there are those rare few that stick. Heidi stuck. Why? Because we love all the same things? No. I like shopping. She dreads it. She loves to read. I'd rather Sparknotes or watch the movie. Chocolate: I say milk she says dark. She wakes up at 5 to ponder the mysteries, I drag out of bed at 10, annoyed by the existence of morning.... The list goes on. But the friendship has turned into a deep, unique love that is more of a sisterhood. Its kind of undefinable. Maybe it happened over time as we laughed ourselves to sleep in the same twin bed, or ran a half-marathon together or prayed and fasted for one another's well being or ate too many heath blizzards and had to go on a no-sugar diet, or pulled each other through emotional messes or bickered about dumb things, or stressed over boys or carried each other's burdens and felt deeper pain for one another than we did for ourselves, or maybe it was all the times I felt understood and loved even when I was being ridiculous. Anyway, I can't describe the ways I've loved being Heidi's roommate. Here are some pictures from her happy happy day!

2009

January- I started at BYU-Hawaii. Kelsey left on her mission to the Philippines February: My birthday- Amanda and MyMom came to visit! Heidi left on her mission to Brazil
March: Temple Trip to Kona over on The Big Island

April: I flew back to the mainland and began working for the Schei's and the Allens.

May: Just working... Heidi came home on medical release
June: I visited Liz in California
Kevin and Kimmie got married in Portland

July: 4th of July Utah Trip
August: Coldplay Concert
September-Started Fall semester in Idaho, lost my tan
October: Kimaree left on her mission to San Diego, I went to Boise for Halloween with McBrides November- Thanksgiving in Seattle

December-Home for Christmas then off to Heidi's wedding in Draper Utah

Theres the recap! Its crazy how much can change in a year at my age! Its been a good 2009! On to the next! 2010!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!
I start another semester tomorrow in Rexburg! (I'm taking pre-reqs that will allow me to apply to more nursing schools) I want to do a little 2009 recap soon so look out!

Recent post-it notes to myself:

Our future is as bright as our faith.

Keep thou my feet
I do not ask to see
The distant scene
One step enough for me