all I want for christmas is you

Me and my roommates love Christmas. Period. So we decided that we would get hot chocolate (a very wintery thing to do) and go see this house that is completely lit up--and the lights are synced to music on the radio. Very high-tech. So we got the hot chocolate with no problem.

We got a little excited to be doing something with a Christmas theme....this song gets me everytime. Who can listen to this and not sing/dance? I have yet to find such a person. Oh Mariah Carey.

                                             

The problem came when we tried to find the house with lights. It's in Lindon. We traveled all over the street that it was supposed to be on. We drove in circles. We got frustrated. There's only so many times you can hear the Amy Grant Christmas CD.  And then we found this sign:

The lights were okay. Entertaining. But I'm glad we didn't have to pay to see it. Good thing we found it. That would have been sad. And the best way to finish any day: guitar hero. Having it in the apartment is both amazing and extremely distracting. 

home for the weekend

Last week on September 23, my grandma passed away. And while this was and is still very sad to me, she was in a lot of pain at the end, and so her passing is a blessing as well. She was an amazing woman, and I'll miss her. My parents flew me home for the funeral, and I was in Gresham for nearly a week. It was a good weekend, I got to see my family, watch old home movies from when my mom was a kid, play card/domino games, and share memories of my grandma. While I was home, Kelsey and I decided to take Lucy to the zoo, and grandpa decided to go with us. It was a nice activity to get us out of the house and to get us thinking about something other than grandma. Lucy looooved it. She just turned 1 a few weeks ago, and so she was pointing at everything. (above: Lu and grandpa. It could not get cuter than that.)

You can't tell in this picture, but Lu was bouncing on that log thing, I had to hold on for dear life so she wouldn't fall into the pit.

Being underground was both fun and terrifying for Lu. She would switch between crying and laughing at regular intervals.

Kels and Lu. We couldn't get Lu to look at the camera, she was too preoccupied with the baboons. Probably because she is a baboon. Little monkey.

Kelsey was happy we got to see the baby elephant. I forget what its name is (Samudra? Sumudra?), but I do know its mom stepped on it.

In the bird sanctuary. Lu got pooped on.

a bunch of stuff in one post

Sooooo I haven't posted anything in quite some time. This is because I was home...and I was lazy...and I just didn't get around to it. But in the time that I wasn't blogging, I was out doing other things with my life. Worthwhile things, like watching TV. Or babysitting Rafe and Lulu. Or pretending to not hear my parents when they asked me to empty the dishwasher. Or moving. Etc etc etc. 

Rafe sporting a raspberry jam mustache. My nephew is the greatest. My mission for the three weeks I spent at home: make sure Rafe loves me, that he knows my name, and that he acknowledges I'm his favorite aunt. Mission accomplished. 

After I got back, me and some friends went to see a free show in Salt Lake. Broken Social Scene played. Even better than BSS: singing Backstreet Boys on the way home. They're so in right now. BSB>BSS

Amelia became Sister Largey, she's going to the Baltic Mission. We had a last girls night together and said goodbye. Very sad, but I'm really excited for her. She's the only one of my close friends that has decided to go on a mission. I miss her already.

the first video is of Rafe and Lucy playing.  This is the tail end of it, and you can't really tell how much fun they were having. Basically, they were screaming at each other, laughing about it, and then doing it again. They are so cute together.

Caitlin insisted I put the second video up. I had a hard time putting my comforter back in the cover. Enough said. I had no idea she was taping me, by the way. I thought she was taking a picture. 

life of the party

Caitlin and I babysat our nieces again yesterday (at the last minute I had to watch Lu while Kels and Tyler went out to dinner), and this time they loved each other. Lulu was extremely happy, and after the initial shock, Bella loved her and Lu loved Bella. Not as much poking this time. We blew some bubbles at them for a long time, and this is how much Lu loved it. Prepare to be in love with my niece; basically she's the cutest thing ever to have been born.

concerts, cars, and fireworks, oh my!

This weekend was awesome for many reasons. On Thursday night, Caitlin and I went to the Maria Taylor show in Salt Lake--she bought my ticket for my birthday. One of the best birthday presents ever. Maria Taylor rocks my world. The show was amazing, even though it started an hour and a half late, and she didn't come on until ten when she was supposed to start closer to nine. But it was worth it. She played my two favorite songs. 

On the 4th of July, Caitlin and I rode our bikes down to Sonic for a quick Coke run before we headed down to the Freedom Festival on Center Street. While we were at Sonic, two guys in an Audi asked us if they could ride our bikes, and being the nice girls we are, we let them. After they left, we saw that the windows in their car were down, so we got in. They had also left the keys in the ignition (smart one, guys), so we turned it on and blared some music. I can't believe that someone would leave their car unattended, completely unlocked, with the keys inside. How stupid can you get? So we took some pictures. We wanted to drive around to look for them, but they came back before we got the chance.

Caitlin showing off in their sweet ride.

I have no desire to go to the actual Stadium of Fire because I've heard that it gets so smokey that you can't see a thing. But I like the firework show that they put on, so me and a bunch of people from the ward went on the roof of the Riviera apartments, which gave us a perfect view of the stadium fireworks (that's the stadium right behind us).

I got a dope video of a particularly intense part of the show. It was practically right above us. Happy Freedom!

happy birthday to me

Yesterday was my 21st birthday, and what a birthday it was. The first thing I did to celebrate was start training for a new job. Oh the joys of working two jobs. If only the pay in Utah didn't suck so bad.  After work, me and some friends went to Trafalga to play miniature golf and ride go-karts. Here's a picture of some of the people who came.

Of course we had to get a picture with my future roommates. This fall, Jenny, Kaity, Caitlin, and I will be living together. I will still be in Chatham, but a different apartment and a different ward. Woot.

We waited for like 40 minutes to ride the go-karts, and right before we were going to go, it started raining (sprinkling, really) and they refused to let us go. Even when I told them it was my birthday they wouldn't let us. Needless to say, we were very disappointed. Stupid Trafalga.

To console ourselves, we played a round of miniature golf. We played in teams, and my team consisted of Spencer and me. Together we were team sweet-as. And we definitely were sweet-as.  We may not have gotten first place, but at least we weren't last. 

Hopefully 21 will be a good year full of gambling and drunkenness. And Trafalga.

can you say green?

This last weekend, my friend, Jessica Wu (simply called "Wu") got married in the Seattle temple. We've been friends since freshman year in the dorms, so I felt it appropriate to make the thirteen hour drive with some other freshman friends to support her and say goodbye (Wu and her husband are moving to Wisconsin. To me, Wisconsin's appeal can be summed up in one word: cheese. But seeing as Oregon has an abundance of delicious cheese, thanks to Tillamook, I can't say truthfully that Wisconsin is appealing at all to me. But to each his own). On the way to Seattle, we had to drive through part of Oregon, much to my pleasure. I greatly enjoyed seeing the color green; Utah is sadly lacking in trees and other greenery.

Being the good friends that we are, Nicole, Kaity, and I put together a wedding night package for Wu, complete with all the necessary items. Wu got a good kick out of it.

Wu and Justin looked so happy when they came out of the temple. Wu was absolutely gorgeous, and seeing her tear up almost made me cry, which is saying a lot. Yea for Jessica and Justin Yan!

This picture is of all the freshman friends, plus Jessica's other bridesmaid (on the far left), and her other friend Jen (to the right of Wu). I was so happy I could be there at her wedding to support her and see her start such an exciting chapter in her life.

And just in case you were worried that there wasn't a candy out there that involved the bathroom, now there is! Behold Sour Flush candy, complete with a candy plunger that can be dipped into sour dip in the toilet bowl. Life just doesn't get better than this. 

babies make good friends

I babysat Lulu last night so that Kelsey and Tyler could go on their weekly date. My Wednesdays usually go a little something like this: I call Kelsey sometime during work, and ask when she is going out with Tyler, when she's picking me up, and what she's making me for dinner. I let them think that I babysit so that I can spend time with Lulu, but really I just want to be fed. But really, who could resist this fatty? Not me is the answer.

This week was a little different, because Kelsey brought Lucy over to my place. We did this because Caitlin and I want our nieces to be friends. Bella (Caitlin's niece) is 11 months old, making her Lulu's senior by 2 months. But looking at the two of them, you would never guess it. Lulu could definitely take Bella out.

Sadly, Bella and Lulu didn't really know what to do with each other. Mostly Bella cried and poked Lulu while Lulu sat there taking Bella's stuff. I think we're off to a great start.

All in all, a great night with Aunt Amy.

BBQ + carnival = good times all around

We had a barbecue for the office I work at on Saturday, which meant free food, which meant that I definitely put it in my planner. I'm all for free food, especially when that free food includes hamburgers. As you can see, I work in an office dominated by girls. This makes for interesting conversations on days when there isn't very much work to do.

After the BBQ, I went to the Springville carnival that was, surprisingly enough, in Springville. I learned that at the old age of 20 (almost 21!), my body does not like being thrown and spun around on carnival rides. After going on three of them, my head was pounded and I felt nauseous. And yet I would still go on them again. There's stupidity for you. After we felt sick enough to throw up from going on carnival rides run by suspicious looking carnies that didn't seem to care about our safety on these rides, we went to Orem to watch the firework show. It was actually a good show, and we were so close to where they were setting them off that our eyes stung from the smoke afterwards. All in all, a good Saturday night.

How to have a great night

If you're ever bored, follow these simple steps for a sure way to have a great time:

1. Get out your eggs

2. Boil them if you want, or if you don't want a dozen hard-boiled eggs, leave them be

3. Get out your markers

4. Color eggs with said markers

5. Color as many as you want, until you have a plethora of colorful eggs

6. Drawing friends and relatives is always a sure way to enjoy the experience

7. Be amazed at your coloring skills! And look, by now I'm sure you've forgotten that you had nothing better to do than color all those eggs in your fridge. Consider it a success!

Always give in to peer pressure

Lately it seems like everyone in the world has a blog. My sister, sister-in-law, cousins, friends, etc all publish their day to day lives on the internet. And, being one to go with the crowd, I decided to join them. Why not? Actually, this is more for my mom, so she can keep an eye on me and enjoy the crazy things that I do and then forget to tell her about. Plus, I'm bored at the moment, and this is giving me something to do.