I LOVE SUMMER

Laughing with my spice in Cottonwood, Arizona!  (spice = more than one spouse)

 I'm already having so much fun this summer!!  I've been so busy that it is hard to keep up with in my journal.  Luckily, I have my camera to help me remember my wonderful adventures! This past weekend I took a trip to Cottonwood, AZ to visit Staci! Daniel and I drove up on Saturday and stayed until Monday night. We saw Styx, went on a couple BEEEEAUTIFUL hikes and enjoyed our time together as "spice" before we separate for the summer. I had an awesome time! Daniel and Staci are both absolutely hilarious. All of the above pictures are from my trip to Cottonwood.  :)

 The pictures below just show some more fun times! I'm having such an awesome time getting together with friends and creating great memories. I'm really lucky to have wonderful friends in my life.  They are all outstanding examples to me and I'm always impressed by their testimonies, happy spirits and hilarious sense of humor!

Great place with a great future missionary.

Just loving life.. :)

This past weekend my sister and I went to St. Johns, Arizona with one of our bestestestest friends Jon Burgoyne!! It was such an awesome trip and we had an INCREDIBLE time while we were there! While we were driving up, Jenn and I both read our journals out loud and Jon told us stories about himself just to make the drive that much more enjoyable! :) I really loved getting to know both of them better and re-reading what I had written in my journal throughout the school year. Something that I wrote often (normally as I was saying my goodbyes at the end of an entry) was along the lines of, "I'm so happy and I sincerely love my life!" This, my friends, is so incredibly true. I am SO blessed and I have every reason to love everyday that I am living. I love turning everyday into a great one and making it a lot of fun! When I'm not having a day that I want to write about and remember how great it was, I instantly know that it is time to do something exciting for someone else. Doing random acts of kindness is such a great yet selfish thing. I swear I have more fun doing it than it is for them to receive it!! My blog is always SO scatterbrained and I never know where it is going to go lol. Anywho, the school year suddenly over and it obviously flewwwwww! It has been the most fun year of my life. I met new people and learned new things that have changed and influenced me for the better. I'm really grateful for my ward at church (GO U3!) and the many friendships that were formed while we all grew together as a new ward.

I think I'll just do one of those lists where I spit out some of the randomness in my brain.. sound good? -good thing no one is forced to read this!

- I love being with friends that I don't have the opportunity to see very much. Today was the SMHS Class of 2011 graduation and I was so happy to see so many familiar (and extremely happy) faces! I could not stop smiling and saying, "TODAY IS SUCH A WONDERFUL DAY!! I LOVE THIS!!" Congratulations to those who graduated!! I'm so proud! :)
-Last night was really awesome. I have two super hilarious and awesome girlfriends named Heather Brooks & Kathryn Wagner and we got to catch up and laugh our buns off after not seeing each other in wayyyy toooo long! I love those two SO MUCH!!
-Jennifer Jones is officially going to be a full-time missionary for our church (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) and I could not be any more happy and excited for her!! I'll admit that thinking about her gone for a year and a half is extremely sad, but thinking about what she'll be doing for that year and a half makes it all better. She is my best friend and I will miss her. ISN'T IS SO AWESOME SHE IS GOING ON A MISSION THOUGH?!! like seriously, so kewl. No joke. I'm really jealous because I'm not old enough. BUT-now we'll be able to graduate together because she'll be a little behind in school. (I think that was her plan altogether. I like it.)
-I'm going to Cottonwood, Arizona this weekend to be with the one and only Staci Hewitson!! Staci and I became good friends throughout the school year and have had a TON of fun together this past semester. She is incredibly hilarious. I always catch myself saying, "Staci, you are SO funny!" and I really mean it each time. She is also smart (can you say valedictorian?!), very caring/thoughtful/nice/fun/energetic/optimistic and beeeautiful. She is outstanding person and friend!

Here are some pictures just for funzies! Enjoy :)

Jon took us shooting while in St. Johns and I wanted a really hardcore picture with one of the guns. Unfortunately, it is impossible for me to hold a straight face longer than .0736 seconds without cracking up laughing!

We stopped in Snowflake, AZ to see the temple on our drive up. :) I reeeally liked it! This would be the infamous Jon Burgoyne and I at the temple! So fun!

I'm not sure why we did the whole "let's link arms!" thing, but I think it's fun anyway! Jen and I at the Snowflake Temple!

Isn't she so cute?! Even butterflies love her.
(But not as much as I do)

STACI! Isn't she everything I said and more?! She is so great :)

Daniel Woolston. Staci Hewitson. Hilarious and amazing friends! If you look closely at Daniel's wonderfully painted picture, the three of us are married and have many children. It's going to happen. hahahaha! (dont take us too seriously please)

Marshall and I right after he grrrraduated!! Wooo hooo!

Natalie Rae and I at the graduation! Look at her beautiful face.. mmm I love me some Natalie. Seriously though, Natalie and I are so much alike and have fun no matter what we are doing. She is energetic and always soooo happy! It is contagious and she is so fun to be around!

Remarkably Grateful

Do you ever just think about how incredibly blessed you are? I have so much in my life to daily thank my Heavenly Father for but lately I realized that I have something no one else does. Jennifer Jones!! I absolutely love all of my siblings and family members but I can honestly say that I am such a better person because of the positive influence Jenn has on me every single day. I often forget that we have the same family and past because we're such good friends. Spending time with her strengthens my testimony, makes me more happy and always fills my life with excitement! She has hilarious one liners that make us both laugh until our eyes look Asian (sorry for being racist..) and yet at the same time she is the most thoughtful person and is friends with anyone who needs a friend. Jenn is dedicated to her goals and everything she puts her mind to. She looks at the glass half full, finds the good in everyone and is an amazing example of how to live life to its fullest! I'm just so grateful for everything she does for me and the example she sets as my big sister and best friend. I could expand for years on the subject but I'll keep it as simple as that. The end :)

Life is WONDERFUL! :)

Howdy!! Are you completely shocked I'm doing a blogpost?! ME TOO! I decided maybe it was about time. My life is honestly really exciting but it never crosses my mind to do a post. My sisters, Jenn and Alex, and my cousin, McKell, all have adorable blogs and I think I enjoy reading theirs more than actually doing my own. Anywhooo.. here goes an overview since November! October and November were full of weddings and lots of doing the Cupid Shuffle, Cha Cha slide and the whatnots of awesome wedding reception dances! I think Jenn and I are going to drop out of school and just make starting wedding reception dances

our career in life. All in all, I am happy as can be! I'm learning and growing more each day and am so grateful for the great experiences I have.

I'll attempt to go over my recent life...

My beautiful friend Kayla got married so it was great to be with some of my amazing girlfriends! We made some bets on the next weddings to come and I think I'm definitely going to dominate with my predictions. :)

My friend Andrew celebrated his 20th birthday in November and I had to put that on here because this kid is just AMAZING. We went to high school together and somehow never met. We met while working at Wet N' Wild last summer and we became good friends really quick! He is one of the most friendly and hilarious guys I have ever met and is an incredible example of being enthusiastic and optimistic about EVERYTHING!

Natalie Rae! Whenever I go home to Peoria, Natalie and I have fun no matter what we do. We have been good friends and neighbors since we were 8 & 10 years old! She is extremely friendly, loving, funny, athletic, energetic and I consider her one of my sisters. Did I mention she is absolutely BEAUTIFUL?! Together we are loud and very spontaneous! I LOVE NATALIE RAE!!

When there are weddings, I get to spend time with one of my best friends, Chelsea Hill! I love this woman so much! She goes to school at BYU-Idaho so I enjoy my Chelsea time that I get when she is down here in Arizona. I honestly wouldn't mind at all if she transferred to ASU tomorrow and lived much closer! Chelsea is such a go-getter and I really admire that about her. We had some good times together in November for the two weddings she came down for!

In November, my friend Isaac and I drove up to Flagstaff to visit our darling Kaitlin Rosser!! (the picture I just put up of Kaitlin and I disappeared.. sad. I'm terrible at this!! ) but Kaitlin and I have been good friends since she moved here in 8th grade and I love our consistent our friendship has always been. Sometimes friendships fade off and on but we have both made an effort to stay close throughout the years. She is up at NAU now so we have been taking turns of who visits who :) She is smart, talented, caring and an incredible friend to have. I loved staying a weekend with her in November! It was really cold, but really worth it.

My friendship with these two dorks definitely blossomed in November! We would have long talks about life and its many mysteries in the library and do random spontaneous activities! Definitely two great friends to have!

Jenn and I went to Utah for Thanksgiving to be with our dad and his family. It was FREEEEEZING and I officially decided that humans should not be allowed to live in the snow. It just isn't right!! Thanksgiving break was a ton of fun though. I love spending time with my wonderful family!!

Bobby moved back to Arizona from California!!

This is WAY EXCITING and I'm really proud of him for following through with this decision he made. I think it's going to benefit him in more ways than he'll see for a couple years. :)

Right: My dad & stepmom and 5 of their 6 kids!

Taylor Haws and I at the Institute Winter Dance in December. Definitely a fun night with a lot of great people!

BELOW:

Elder David Goss returns him from his mission in Texas!! TIME FLIES LADIES AND GENTLEMEN!! So fun to have this kiddo home! He is our favorite to make dance videos with ;)

The beautiful Kendra Battin. She sadly left me over Christmas Break to go to BYU Provo. Kendra is the best girlfriend I made during my first semester at ASU and definitely a friend I won't forget. We had so much fun in institute together and we were also in the same ward. We had some good walks, lunch dates and life talks. :) Feel free to move back! :)

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Elder Sam Jones!! He is serving a mission in Indiana right now and I love writing to him and hearing about his experiences! He has been gone for almost 9 months and we are still really close. He is another great friend to have! :)

Taylor Barton! He is serving in Bolivia right now and I miss this kid so much!! He sends the best letters and never forgets to bare his wonderful testimony to me. I can tell he has grown a ton already and I am so excited for him to continue to have wonderful experiences!

David Meeks! David is one of my very best friends and he will be serving a mission soon as well! He gets his call this week and I'm SO EXCITED for him!! We met at EFY in 2007 and have been good friends ever since. He is a sweetheart and has always been a great friend to me. He is ALSO at BYU-Idaho and should be down here at ASU!! Anywho, I'm really looking forward to sending him lots of letters while he is gone but I'll miss him greatly! We have the best skype dates EVER. He is awesome.