quick thoughts.

12 days? yep its been a while.
but the last 21 days or so have been crazy!
i've been all over..
st. george > midwest > road trip from SD to UT > st. george > zions national park > st. george > current residence in orem, ut.
i've rekindled friendships at home,
remembered why i love family reunions so much.. and my family,
got sick and had to have my mom pack up my life,
moved up north,
started working a new, temporary job,
tried to hold in my extreme excitement for my sophomore year at BYU.

yes, i love life.
lately pinterest is my thing.
i spend waaay too much time on it and i have added a new "craft ideas" folder to my bookmarks.
today i will be tackling
this one.

i am seeing how i like the end product and hoping to use it in my uncle jared's wedding reception photo booth i am in charge of.
if anyone has any cute ideas for a diy photo booth please holla!
however, i have lots of ideas coming from all over stuck in my head and hopefully soon i'll be doing something with them.

lata skata.

no, your family can't be this awesome.

improv ping pong ball dodgeball, in the middle of a very organized and planned minute to win it game?
alright.

ps i'm at the faldmo family reunion in zions national park for the week. represent.

what i really did with my paycheck

..no toms :( i've decided to prioritize.
lake powell is next week..
did i tell you abbie huber's coming?!
SO EXCITED. plus the fam and ben cork, of course.
anyways, in honor of lake powell i decided i needed a swimsuit instead.
i ended up getting this one.

it came today! it was speedy delivery, so if you are looking for modest swimsuits i would definitely suggest shabby apple.
BUT jcrew has a deal going on right now.. 20% off swim + free shipping.
and i think i'm going to splurge. in honor of last weekend and the anniversary sale being done.
i'm not going to get the one shoulder i was drooling over a month or two ago, i need something a little cheaper. here are my options.

oh yeah. and these shorts are cheap. and i think i might add them in there :)

thoughts?

update.

florida's warm and sunny, just in case you were wondering.

so raise your glass.

life as i know love it. 

things i'm dreading:
my accounting final
my accounting grade post final
writing two essays for my polisci final (i'm SO over papers! especially polisci papers)
packing up my room
saying good bye to my floor/ward
my last sunday with the best freshmen ward i could ask for
ending this year
saying goodbye to my first missionary friend, seokhee (i've never done this before!)

things i'm looking forward to:
getting finals over with
seeing my grandma, who is coming to help me pack up
seeing my family
..seeing my family in FLORIDA
being tan 
being back in st.george
earning MONEY!
summer
lake powell
weddings

i'm trying to see the glass and half full, but i have to admit i get choked up just thinking about the goodbyes that are coming in a matter of days. 
i'll keep you posted. 


ps just a little word to my lovers- byu is awesome. 
i'm totally converted/brainwashed/whatever you want to call it. i used to be a hater, but i don't think much can beat the year i've had.
anyone who wants a wholesome college experience that consists of:
one of the cheapest private universities, the best people you'll ever meet,
a spirit that is so unique in itself,
a school you can totally pride yourself in saying you attend,
and education that isn't all about your final grade (though you have to work dang hard for a good one)
..byu is the place for you.
i know i won't have the college experience 95% of my friends from home are having, but i don't want that.
i needed this more than i could of ever have known. to sum up my thoughts on byu post freshmen year - refreshing and rewarding.
gosh i'm a freakin' commercial, i should get paid. oh well, i'm a proud cougar :)

where does the time go?

there are three weekends left in my freshmen year at byu. thus ther have been a lot of deeps thoughts.
and. um. this post is going to be all over the place.
first of all, last week we had our last ward activity. i love my ward. so much. everyone.
i loved it, but i still can't believe these last weeks are it. here are some highlights from the dinner/dance.

  these are my girlllls. :) 

 

shoes made the outfits. 

i get down. ..or something. 

 

even bishop miner got down. woooot wooot!

my boys.

now concerning boys. this is kinda weird. but can i say how much i love them?

not to discredit my friends in sd, but i'm so grateful i'm at byu so i can know what its like to be around kids like these. they're great examples. and in less than six months all of the boys are going to begin dedicating two years of their life serving the Lord. and they take their priesthood duties seriously now. how cool is that? how can you not fall in love with all of them? they already have so much figured out. anyways. they're awesome. i'm so grateful to have met them, and i'll miss them. i've gotten so comfortable with a lot of the guys in my ward, and am just so proud :)

my family is going to florida finals week. and they want me to come. and i want to go- SO BAD. i'm going to do everything i can to get my finals done by tuesday so i can join them. i'm just going to cross my fingers, pray, and hope for the best.

oh.. and it wouldn't hurt if i could save up to get one of these suits from jcrew.. i'll leave you to drool over their cuteness. 

my review of las vegas.

for most of my life las vegas was just the place that got me to grandma and grandpa's.
we flew into vegas, i saw cinderella's castle as we left (the excalibur), and we had the occasional stop and inn and out as we left.
the lights were pretty, and i could say i'd been there, but i didn't really think it was that cool.
sometime during middle school we went as a family and stayed at mandalay bay, it was fun, and to be honest i don't think we left the hotel.
anyways. now everyone thinks vegas in a big deal.
i'm not quite convinced.
i've been to vegas twice this year

here is my conclusion, if you even care to hear it. 

vegas can be cool. there are neat things that you should do.

go to the vegas sign, watch the bellagio fountains, m&m world, do the tastes from around the world at the coke factory, see the lions at the mgm ..anything cool you've heard of or know is cool. 

but other than that, for a group of byu kids there for a weekend, there's not much to do. 

we were able to spend or time easily because we had the game, but in the end las vegas is a one time thing. 

it's not really that cool. it's dirty. and that makes it kinda awkward, especially when you're with righteous, mission prepping boys. it just kinda makes you disguisted with the world. 

but. there is one thing i found refreshing this trip. 

the bellagio. 

if i was rich, i would stay there. 

it is just classy. 

i was so impressed by the crowd that gathered to watch teh founations, especially when its like one of the cleanest forms of entertainment in vegas. 

inside is this sweet ceiling. 

then there's a really pretty garden. 

there's also a chocolate fountation that's hugggge.

its just nice. and all of it is way amazing and good for all ages.

and its not dirty like the rest of the city. 

so anyways. not that i know anything, but. i suggest hitting up the bellagio.

official annoucement.

i will be spending my saturday here!

while we're on our way there/back we will stop here!

YAY for fabulous las vegas birthday weekend!

we being me and eight others, and my dad, sister abby, and brother isaac will also be in vegas so i'll get to see them! can't wait to tell you more

positive thoughts

this is how my weekend started. holding these corny posters..

to support the corny boys. i mean cute boys. my bad.
after we decided to make cakes! and make the cakes into a contest, boys vs. girls. (boys insisted)

 here are our supplies. all from byu's own creamery :)

the boys theme was an island, with animals and trees, and fish, and sea creatures. i guess they were more creative.

we did a beach :) sand, surf, and floaties :) 

so that was exciting right. positive fun yayyyyy. 

i need to be a little more positive like this little guy we made :)


hopefully this makes up for my negative post.
ps still haven't found my wallet :(

to do.

maybe if i write down what i need to do on here, i'll actually do it.

-clean my room before cleaning checks
     *vacuum
     *defrost fridge
     *clean vanity   
-work out
-shower
-finish laundry
-work on my rhetorical analysis
-mentally prepare for warm weather and hopefully no rain in st. george this weekend
-get new ideas on ways to get back the boys
-find a hotel in vegas for the weekend after my birfday.

love.
oh yeah. yesterday was v day. or "single awareness day"
whatevs. i spent it watching the bach with these girls.

maybe that's why we didn't have a special someone...


peacee.

the year of 'perfect ten' in review- day two.

the most important ten of 2010 #2

i turned eighteen, and fell in love.. with a city.

on the day of my eighteenth birthday my parents flew me away to washington dc. the hours leading up to my birthday and most of my birthday day was miserable. i got ditched at a dance within thirty minutes and watched as that dance that i planned was abandoned for parties/alcohol. needless to say i was ready to leave all about march 5 (friends, south dakota, immaturity, high school) and move on to march 6 (my eighteenth birthday!).
well, i was exhausted and fell asleep right when i got on the plane, but when i woke up we were still at the airport at our gate. i called my parents to ask what was going on, and eventually got the answer (they were closer to the front of the plane) that a tray table wouldn't go up properly, so we had to wait for it be fixed. well. they couldn't fix it, so they duct taped it, after hours. then of course we (my parents were with me) missed our connecting flight and i was stuck in the airport for my connecting flight that was supposed to be in dc. so. we ate at an overpriced chili's and had some ice cream. finally late late we got to dc and got settled into our hotel.
dc was amazing! we toured the sights with my aunt suzanne and cousin tenny and my friend brynley joined us as well. everything in dc felt important and historical and blew me away.

we even met my senator- senator thune at the end of our tour of the capitol. along the way we also saw john mccain, and many other senators. we even saw a senate vote :)

i loved dc and hope that some time soon (like 2012) i can do an internship there, possibly with senator thune :)
after a great time in dc, my parents flew home and brynley and i took the train with suz and tennyson and met my uncle jeremy in new york where he had to work for a couple days. we stayed right across the street from ground zero! the weather was horrible, rainy and windy, but we tried to make the best of it. we saw wicked which was amazzzzing, walked through way too expensive stores, got ice cream at trump tower, were on tv as one of the crazy people at the today show, and learned to navigate the subways.

famfam.

half the time i'm his favorite cousin.. the other half he's screaming, "ashley! i don't like you!"

lyndon and i.. can you see the resemblance? 

e man. 

lovin' them, life, montana, memories, lake time, etc. 

raddd.

whitewater rafting- these pictures have yet to get old. :)

most of the pictures show my face of fear.. but i seriously wasn't that scared-- i just didn't want to get wet  because the water was FREEZING! 

grandma may or may not have got distracted.. forgot about keeping afloat.. and lost her paddle. 

this is my favorite :) 

it was a great time :) i love my family