Princess Tea Party

Allie being a true Cinderella - cleaning the house before the big party!



All of the princesses in attendance



Painting the royal nails...beautiful, darling!


Sisters! Belle and Cinderella


Little Miss Allie turned 8 years old on May 21st! We had a fun little tea party for her special day with lots of pretty princesses. I was lucky enough to be the 'guest of honor'... :) I dressed up like Belle from Beauty and the Beast. Golden ball gown and all. It was quite the exciting day. We had a lesson on proper table manners - how to drink your 'tea' (sprite/rootbeer) correctly, how to sit up properly, how to eat your meal dainty, and how to walk like a princess. We also painted the girls nails and did their makeup (just glitter dust...no worries!)

All in all we had a fun party - Allie said, "this was the best party of my whole life!" That was enough for me! hehe HAPPY BIRTHDAY baby sister! Love you!

CRATE PAPER SCRAPBOOKING SALE!!!!!

For all the scrapbookers out there, I wanted to let you know about this!! :) Pass it along to your friends, this is a great deal!!

Spring Break part Deux

Kenrik, Ash, and Dad before we began the hike up Angels Landing


ZION NATIONAL PARK

Yes, it's true - we went on TWO spring break vacations this year! :)

The second time around, we wised up and went to St. George! We went down with the Gibson family - and we rented out a gorgeous home down in "The Ledges" for 4 days and 3 nights.

Our vacation consisted of eating muddy buddies (thanks Allen), swimming, laying out, eating otter pops, more swimming, movie marathons, as well as a day trip to Zion National Park! Allen, Kendrik, dad, and I all hiked up to Angels landing - which was a lot of fun!

We enjoyed our trip and will look forward to making it back down there again in the near future!


The "staircase" up the mountain


Our lovely Southwest Adobe style home we stayed in!


Our fun hot tub/pool combo!

General Conference

I've gotta say, I love General Conference!
I was lucky enough to get to attend the Saturday afternoon session with Ashley and Andrew! We had a lot of fun making the journey up to Salt Lake City. We got to SLC early, so we had time to burn - PERFECT! We had fun walking around temple square, seeing all the many missionaries who were visiting, having fun watching the protestors, and then we made our way into the conference center!

General conference has a special place in my heart - the older I get, the more I appreciate it and value the topics presented.

I had a religion professor at BYU-Idaho who changed the way I treated conference. He challenged us to think of three questions or problems we were seeking guidance about, and pray to have our questions answered in conference. That way, when you watched conference, you went into it with a purpose. Well, ever since then, I have tried this, and everytime IT WORKS! :)

I hope everyone enjoyed Conference as much as I did!

Summer Bod

"To eat is a necessity, but to eat intelligently is an art."
- La Rochefoucauld

So about a month ago, I was feeling down about my outward appearance... and I was feeling really tired all the time, even if I would sleep for 8-10 hours a night. Finally, I went to my doctor and asked to get a blood-sugar test done...I have been diagnosed in the past with hyper-insulimia (my body produces an excess of insulin...weird, I know!)


Well what all this boils down to, is that I am really supposed to be controlling my condition with diet and exercise (whoopsie...) So about a month ago I went cold turkey from all of my favorite things to eat (ie: the entire CARBOHYDRATE family and SUGARS)

I have been working out a lot as well and really watching what I am putting into my tummy - and it's paid off! I've lost 10 pounds and lots of inches! I went to Buckle on Saturday to buy a new pair of jeans - they were much needed, trust me! And to my surprise and delight, I had to buy a pair of jeans that were two sizes down from my "normal" size.

Now, I do not claim to be a health guru, or even a personal trainer/dietician...but hey, if anyone wants a workout buddy, or has any healthy recipies they'd be willing to share, please let me know!!

Keep working hard towards your own personal fitness goals, and if you don't have any fitness goals, start today! Your body will thank you!

"The wise man should consider that health is the greatest of human blessings. Let food be your medicine." - Hippocrates

Update

Hey all!
Life has been pretty crazy this past month, and yet again I am making excuses for my lack of blogging...

This is my attempt at an update:

Dad - As some of you know, my dad lost his job about a month and a half ago. It's been fun to have him home 24/7, but I know he has been going stir crazy. Some happy news, my dad got a new job - and he gets to work from home. He is so excited about this new job and the opportunities it will bring him! :) Congrats dad! I am so happy for you!

Mom - Mom has been working a lot lately with Crate Paper (www.cratepaper.com) and has been taking care of the fam, as usual! She is such a good mother! I love you mom!


Allen - Mister Allen has been a busy bee! He has so much going on: working, school, and something exciting: Allen is filling out his MISSION PAPERS!! He will officially turn them in on May 21st, as that is his official 3 month mark prior to his birthday! I am so excited for him.

Andrew - Andrew is constantly busy! He has been really into Lego's and is building all kinds of creations! He is also busy with school, and is having fun with that!

Allie - My sweet baby sis and roommate! She is a go-getter (of course!) and is busy with school and all the learning she is doing! She is still on a princess high from the Disneyland trip we took last month!

As for myself, I am still going, going, going! I feel like time speeds up with the more I have to do. I wish there was more time in the day, but I guess I best make due with what time I have been given. :)
I am finishing up the semester strong! Lots of tests in the next few weeks, but I have enjoyed this semester. However, I will NOT miss my marathon days, ya know - the 4:00 AM - 3:00 PM days of working and school. I am so excited for SUMMER! I have a lot of plans and goals that I am so excited to get working on!

Wait for more to come... love you all!

D I S N E Y L A N D

Spring Break 2009

The fam and I ventured down to Anaheim, Cali for a few days of diSNeY mANiA! We had such a blast! We stayed at the luxurious Double Tree, who by the way have the most delicious beds I have ever slept on! We park hopped between Disneyland and California Adventure many times a day - amongst all our hoppin we also: ate several Mickey Mouse chocolate ice cream bars, rode the Tower of Terror, sang "Yo Ho, Yo Ho a Pirates Life for Me", met Mickey Mouse, ate hot dogs from the "Award Weiners Hot Dog Stand", got sunburnt, spent 80 bucks on LUNCH one day at some Mexican place in the park, stood in line for one hour to ride the flippin' Finding Nemo submarine ride, stood in line to go the bathroom, chased Allie/Andrew around the park while they were bursting with energy at 8 at night, ate McDonalds for breakfast every single day, rode the Tower of Terror at least ONCE every day we were there, obsessed over the NIGHTMARE store, bought stupid souvenirs we will never use again, ate multiple pineapple spears, churros, and drank COKE all day long, oh yeah, and I also celebrated my 21st birthday while we were down there.

It was a great trip over all! We all got some sun, lots of souvenirs, and I came back with Vertigo...not fun. Oh well...I plan to return to the happiest (and most EXPENSIVE) place on earth, very soon!

Summer Bucket List 2009

I've got a FEVER and the only prescription is SUMMER 2009! Yes folks, today I drove to campus with my windows rolled down and had "FOREVER" by Chris Brown blasting from the speakers. The time has come for shorts, flip flops, living by the pool, sunscreen, late nights, bonfires, etc.

Shippen and I have complied a list of things we're going to accomplish this summer...

- Run a 5K
- Hike Mt. Timpanogos
- Take a road trip
- Visit every temple in Utah (do baptisms)
- Go Fishing
- Visit the Zoo
- BBQ's, Bonfires up P-Canyon
- Hike Stewart Falls
- Take a photography class
- Visit Timpanogos Cave
- Take a cake decorating class
- Sew a skirt
- Learn a new craft
- Go Camping
This is quite a list, but I am sure we'll accomplish it ALL! If anybody has any fun ideas or things they enjoy doing in the summer, LET ME KNOW! I like to hear about other people's ideas of summer fun!

Be Thou an Example

"Be thou an example of the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity." (1 Timothy 4:12)

That scripture is the theme for EFY 2009.

I am happy to announce that I am going to be an EFY counselor this summer with this youth program. I turned in all my final paperwork yesterday - the next step is deciding how many weeks I want to work this summer. I hope to work at least one week a month during the summer (May-August) so we will see. :)

Rexburg, Ephraim, SLC, Logan, Provo, or Las Vegas...here I come!

busy busy busy

Well it's been almost one month since I have posted anything to my blog --- my sweet friends chastised me on Saturday for my lack of blogging updates. In my defense I must say that my life has been pretty busy.

I have priorities and they are as follows (in no particular order):

#1) Work
#2) School
#3) Family
#4) Working Out
#5) Church/Calling
#6) Friends
#7) Social Life
#8) Dating
#9) Reading
#10) MISC activities, events, last-minute things, etc.
#11) blogging...
I have been consumed with work, school, homework, working out, dating, friends, my calling in my ward, reading my scriptures, playing rockband, running, reading several books (The Holy Temple, BOM, Interiors, Breaking Dawn, Believing Christ), WORKING full time, etc, etc, etc. I know I am not the only busy person in the world - but I promise that I will be better at blogging. Promise. Maybe my life will get more interesting, and less busy? Joke. It's not going to.