December Happy List

I'll get around to finishing up my photo challenge

I promise.

But today I am posting a happy list.

Because I need a little lift of happiness today.

And since it is December,

I am making it a December/Christmas themed happy list,

to keep in the spirit of things.

1. The Reason for the Season
2.  My Dad, Kenzie and Rebecca. (December birthday's)
3. The Light Parade
4. Christmas music and movies
5.  Hot Chocolate
6. Home made candies
7. Snow
8. The decorations and lights
9. Modern Medicine
10. New pajama's and socks to wear Christmas Eve

Not all of these are December/Christmas themed

some I just need to express my thanks for.

But I am so happy for each one of these beautiful things.

Day 6, 7, 8 and 9

Wow can you say slacker...

I missed 3 days on this picture challenge

so now it is time for catch up.

Day 6: A photo that makes you laugh

This is Braxton.

He cracks me up.

He thinks he is a serious hunter

just like his daddy.

Day 7: A photo of someone you love

How about of 2 people I love?
These are my two best friends
Kami and Kassidy.
Love them!

Day 8: A photo of your favorite band/musician

If you don't know who this is,
I am not sure if we can be friends.

Day 9: A photo of your family

This photo is about a year and a half old.
There is a new little girl
(notice Shalane, front right)
Then Jess is expecting a girl
and Amanda is expecting twin girls.

Yeah my family is huge!

Day 3

A photo that makes you happy

The following photo not only makes me happy

but cracks me up!

Please note the following things:

• I am wearing 3 shades of blue
• Kassidy's face
• Our creative use of fruits and veggies

I think it is safe to say that

Kassidy would kill me for posting this picture!

Good thing she doesn't ready this blog!

Love you Kass!

This photo was taken shortly after I had moved to Cedar.

It was the first big snowfall since I was living there,

so as soon as I got home from work Kassidy and I

decided we needed a snowman in our yard.

The snow was so powdery so it wouldn't pack

and we were freezing by the time we were done,

but it was so much fun!

Day 2

A photo of yourself a year ago

Ok so this one was hard.

Because, as most of you know,

last year at this time I was living on St Thomas!

(you sick of hearing about that yet? Because I talk about it a lot, sorry)

And I have A LOT of pictures from there.

So narrowing it down was difficult.

But here goes:

Brynne and I on Virgin Gorda

This was taken on part of our tour of The Baths

right before we came around to Devils Bay.

More pictures here.

As much as I love Utah

and snow and winter

and everything we have here,

I wouldn't mind going back and seeing this again.

The Nightmare Before Christmas

Last week I woke up to a text message from my singles ward.

That night they were holding a costume party for Halloween!

Awesome! 

I love dressing up!

Only problem my original costume idea was maybe not church appropriate...

(it was better then years past, but shorts and fishnets...probably not)

So I had to think of something fast!

I went to the fabric store and picked up a few different patterns

then recruited my mom to help.

My ultimate goal:

Sally from The Nightmare Before Christmas

My mom is A-MAZ-ING

and made this:

Not only did it turn out great

but I won Best Costume at the activity!

(she made both these costumes in just a few hours)

Thanks again Mom!

You are awesome!

Thriller!

It was so fun to get away to St George a few weeks ago!

Angie and I went down Friday to attend the

What Woman Want Expo.

They do this twice a year and I love it!

After that we met up with Bethany for sushi.

I hadn't had any since St Thomas

when my friend Sam invited us to the Ritz

and made us so many delicious rolls!

I love sushi so it was so good to have some again!

The next day my mom and Amanda came down

and we all shopped until we dropped!

(literally...none of us wanted to walk another step)

Then that night we went to THRILLER!!!

Odyssey dance theater is so good

and I love watching them any chance I get.

One of my favorite parts of the night was seeing my friend Karolann.

Each year dancers are selected to mingle/frighten the crowd before and after the show

and they also get to join in on the final dance of the night.

She did so good! 

It was so fun to see her dancing as a professional

after being on drill team with her years ago.

All and all it was a great weekend!

Rise and Shout!

This past Saturday I went with my Singles Ward to a

BYU football game!!!

It was so much fun.

(me, Jennifer and Melissa)

I hadn't been to a football game in a few years.

It was so fun to be in the crowd

cheering and yelling and just being completely "in" the game.

(cheap seats = the very top corner of the field)

There were few awkward moments

that had nothing to do with the game itself

but in the seating arrangements

but that is a story for another day...

Oh and BYU pulled out a win

so that made it even better!

Loving this song today.

A little old

but so, so, so good!

More pictures

Meagan sent me these pictures from St Thomas just this past week.

They are from Halloween and from the day we left.

It's funny to think now how excited I was to leave,
Because I would give anything to be back there now.

With Brian and all of our stuff
Getting on the plane
And Meagan said to show whatever emotion we were feeling about leaving...

And Halloween was so much fun
I was Alice in Wonderland
Kassidy was Harry Potter
Meagan was an Indian Princess
And Cory and Joss were Missionaries
(hence the "arm distance" and "breaking rules" pictures)

Happy List

I've made one of these before,

but I think it is time for a new one!

Taza over at The Rockstar Diaries posts these lists from people often,

and it is so fun to read the small things that make them happy!

It also helps remind me of the small things that makes me happy!

1. Re-watching a movie that I can quote in my sleep
2. Flowers blooming after months of cold weather and snow
3. The Book of Mormon
4. The smell of cookies or some other treat baking
5. New shoes
6. My nieces and nephews
7. Hearing a new song that I connect to instantly
8. Red Lipstick
9. Stargazing or looking out over the city lights
10. Looking at pictures that bring back the memories

What are the small things that make you happy?

(photo found here)

I promise there wont be to many more...

But I still have a few pictures from St. Thomas that I need to put up on the blog.

While I was down there I did more then just play,

I worked over 40 hours a week.

The people in my store and building are people that

I came to really enjoy being with and

I miss them.

Me and Bev

Me and Melissa

Me, Geoffrey and Kassidy

He was the PL for the Carnival Vicotry.

The best was he started on that ship only

1 week after we got there.  So he was one that

learned with us, and it was always good to

see him every Monday!

Me and Mario

He had a little sunglass shop under the stairs

in the same building as Del Sol.

He was so funny and I definitly miss him!

Meagan and Laura

I dont know why I dont have a picture of

just me and Laura at work! 

But this picture of her and Meg is classic!

There are other girls I miss,

Arrika, Sheryl, Vanessa, and Tasha.

And there are times when I even miss

Jaliem and Brian.

It was definitly a different experience working down there,

but it was so great to learn about a whole

different market then one I am use to.

The cruise ship market is a great one at times,

but it is still hard!

I am so greatful for this learning experience!
Thanks again Del Sol for the amazing opportunity!

The little things

Sometimes in life I think everyone needs to just stop and think about the little things that make life great:

• My parents: At times living at home again can be really hard, but when they leave me home alone for over a week I remember how much I love having them around.  They are wonderful people and I am one of the luckiest girls to have parents that will do so much for me.
• Snow: It is the end of February and it keeps snowing.  I hear people say every day how much they hate the snow and how they are so ready for summer.  Guess what I have lived in a place where summer lasts for months on end and it gets just as old as the cold can get.  I love that I live in a place where I get to experience all four seasons and I would be so sad if I couldn't do that every year!
• Rockstar energy drinks: You are amazing!
• Pepsi: I cant live without you! (So I might be addicted to caffine, guess what though I don't care!)
• Dresses: I love being a girl and being able to wear fun dresses!  I love that the simple act of wearing a dress can set you apart from so many other people.  They make you sit and act more lady-like and I think it is great.  Plus they are so comfy!
• Chances: I have had my kitty for 14 or 15 years now and I love her so much!  I know I wont have her much longer and it breaks my heart to think of that.
• Kassidy: No matter where I go, what I do, or how I act you are still there for me and can always make me laugh.  Thanks for being an amazing friend!  I honestly don't know what I would do without you!
• Basketball: Normally I am a baseball girl, but being able to go and cheer on my cousin during his senior year has been awesome!  He is a great player and I am so proud of him.  I know he will go on to do great things with this sport!  Take state this weekend and finish the out your perfect season!

Thanks to anyone who actually cares and takes the time to read this blog!

Christmas and New Years!

Christmas was one of the hardest days on the islands!  I had the day off work, but the other 3 girls all had to work because there were 4 cruise ships in port.  My plans for the day ended up falling through so instead I sat in my bed watching Christmas movies and crying, while doing some laundry as well.  Pathetic!  The days leading up to Christmas were really fun experiencing different Christmas traditions.  I saw palm trees with Christmas lights, steal drums bands playing Christmas carols, went to the beach on Christmas Eve and even saw a black Santa! 

New Years Eve ended up not being to big of a celebration for me this year. The girls stayed at home for most of the evening enjoying a little bit of time together before we left the island.  We brought in the New Year toasting with sparkeling cider and watching the fireworks from our balcony.  After that Meagan and I met up with the Coasties at Shipwreck.  It was fun to spend one last night with some of these people and to just go and have fun with them.

Thanksgiving

I know I am months late in this post, but better late then never!  For Thanksgiving this year we had people who were away from their families over to our house.  It was definately different then any Thanksgiving I have ever had before.  Working on Thanksgiving is something I never, EVER want to do again.  There were 2 or 3 cruise ships in port so the store had to be open but luckily our manager was really nice and let us close at 2 in the afternoon.  We then spent the remainder of the afternoon cooking, cleaning, taking a quick nap, and making sure our house was festive!  The people who were there were us four Del Sol girls, Anthony, Joss, Manuel, Issac his roommate and his other friend that I can't remember his name!  It turned out great and I am actually kind of glad we were able to just chill and not have to worry about traveling or anything that way!

St. John

In December the 4 girls made sure we had one final day off together so that we could go to St. John for the day.  It was such a fun day!  We took the car ferry over (which was an experience all by itself!) then had fun driving around the island. 

When we were trying to find our way around we happened upon a few donkeys just standing on the road.  We had to stop and it was so fun to pet them and feed them and to just enjoy them! 

After that we went to Salt Bay for a little while and the best part of that was on the drive over we actually saw waves!  (Because there are so many islands in the Carribean you never really see full blown waves the way you do in California or elsewhere.)  After our hike (just over a mile) to and from Salt Bay we did a little shopping on the island. 

After that we headed over to the other side of the island to hit up Cinnamon Bay.  This is the prettiest beach I have ever been too!  We were able to go to little Cinnamon once before with Kacey and Gabe, but this time we were on the bigger stretch of beach.  Cinnamon bay is so pretty and if you ever go to the Virgin Islands you have to go there! 

After Cinnamon we stopped and took a few pictures of Trunk Bay then headed over to Hawks Nest.  It was so fun to just be with the other girls on a day that was all about doing whatever we wanted and having a fun day of playing tourist!  On the ferry ride back to St. Thomas the sunset was amazing and it hit me just how much I would miss this place.