Cody and I are engaged!

Well, it finally happened. Cody and I are officially engaged now! For months I've been running this through in my head, imagining the whole scenario. It snuck up on Friday December 19th without me even expecting it.

Thursday Cody texted me while he was at work to ask if I wanted to go ice skating with our friends Hope and Brett up in Salt Lake the next night. Mm.. yeah we could do that I said. Secretly I didn't know how much I wanted to go because the last time I went ice skating turned into a disaster (I'm not too coordinated if you know what I mean). Anyway, Friday rolls around and Cody told me he was going to be able to get off at 5 o'clock from work. He doesn't end up getting home until after 7:00 and he's extremely stressed from getting home so late. The snow was terrible that night and it made me nervous to drive up to Salt Lake in the snow, so I text him while he's at work to ask if he thinks we should still go. I get a reply that he's up in Salt Lake and the weather is fine. I didn't feel good either so I was going to ask if we could just go another day, but I figured Cody really wanted to go because he was being so persistent. I also thought that since Hope had planned this whole date we should go because it's not that often that us girls plan a date.

We started the night off with dinner. We were originally supposed to go to cheesecake factory but I told Cody we should go to Tepanyaki. I was really surprised when it went over so easy. The dinner was great, once we finally got it. We were seated fast, but once seated we waited and waited for our cook to finally come. "Joe" finally came and he had us laughing the whole time. He asked if Cody and I were married but I responded with "No,we're just friends." Poor Cody, he had a look of shock on his face but good thing he knew I was kidding. When it came time for him to throw the shrimp into people's mouths I told him that I couldn't have any because I was allergic. Cody told him, "Yeah, I can't have any either because I wanna kiss her tonight." I then followed with, "Nah, it's ok.. give him some." Haha. For some reason Cody kept looking at his watch and saying how we needed to get going, I had no idea why he was so anxious. :)

We got up to the Salt Lake safely and it was a beautiful night. After such bad weather earlier in the day we couldn't believe that it actually wasn't that cold. (Maybe it's because I had two pairs of knee high socks on, a shirt, sweater, and coat on, gloves, beanie, and thermals under my jeans. Hey, I was prepared for cold weather!) Ice skating was so much fun. That is the first time I've actually been able to do it so I was rather impressed with myself. The whole night Cody had me laughing because he kept on trying to do twirls and race with me. I'm not THAT good of an ice skater though. Brett and Hope had a camera so I kept on having them take pictures of me and Cody. I just wanted one good picture. Brett seemed a little frustrated but I kept on begging for just one more picture. His camera ended up dying before we even finished ice skating... oops my bad! So Brett and Hope bought a disposible camera to take pics with because they knew Cody was going to propose. I kept on raving the whole night about how Hope planned such a good date and how fun it was. (Cody was kinda jealous, since he planned the whole thing I found out later).

Right After he proposed

Ice Skating with Hope and Brett

After we turned in our skates we went outside. Cody said we should go for a walk, but I asked if we should follow Hope and Brett who were ahead of us. He led me away from then and all of a sudden my heart skipped a beat. We continued walking, talking small talk. That's how I knew he was nervous. "Do you like the lights?" He asked. "Yeah I like them, do you like them?" Hahaha it was so funny. Then it started to snow a little bit and he said "That's cute." He pulled me to a bench and we sat down. Cody told me that he had an early Christmas present for me. He pulled out a little red box with a bow on it from his coat pocket and handed it to me. By this time he was on one knee. I just held the box for an awkward minute until he told me to open it. Inside there was a jewelry box and inside that a ring! He asked if I would marry him. I just hugged him and kissed him because I was so excited and happy it took a minute to give my reply that yes, I would marry him!

My Moral Obligation

School has started, and summer has finally started to roll to an end. For that I am grateful for one reason... You can't drive anywhere in the summer without seeing a kool-aid stand or candy stand that some little kids set up to make a few extra bucks. Heck, it doesn't have to be food. The neighborkids set up stands every year trying to sell anything they can get their hands on. Rocks, their brother or sister's toys, sugar cubes. This makes me laugh every time I drive by, but that's just the thing. I can't just drive by. I have a moral obligation to stop at any stand I see. It was not that long ago that I was a kid myself sitting behind that table, up to my elbows in sticky kool-aid and snow cone syrup. My best friend Cozette and I started out young, but each summer we branched out with our new "business" ideas. Kool-aid turned into snowcones, which we sold along with licorice, tootsie rolls, laffy taffy, and pretty much anything else you could think of. We sat there under our umbrella, just waiting for our usual customers. I remember counting the cash we made at the end of a long, hot, summer day... $75 later we were on top of the world. (It helps that we had Cozette's cute 'lil downsyndrome sister sitting out next to us... definately brings in the business.) The greatest day in a kid's life... which is what brings me to my moral obligation.

I was driving to my grandma's house one after this past summer. There was a little fold up table on the side of the road, sitting behind it a brother and sister. No juice, no cookies, no toys. Just paper. They had bee folding away, making a collection of paper airplanes to sell for 10 cents each. They were thrilled when I got out of my car and started walking towards them. They showed me all the different airplanes they had made. Their mom walked towards me, shaking her head apologetically, but I smiled and told her it was OK. I took the coolest-paper airplane-ever, leaving a few bucks in change that I scrambled out of my coin compartment in my car. They were thrilled. I walked away, shaking my head as I held the paper airplane between my fingers, remembering the greatest day of my childhood...

Parking at Wal-Mart during school-$157= A poor college student

Last Wednesday I woke up, got ready, and went on my way to school. That week I had been walking or getting a ride to school because I hadn't bought my parking sticker or got my bus pass yet; I planned on getting both that afternoon. I was running a little late, so I decided I would drive down a couple of blocks and park in the Wal-Mart parking lot as I ran across the street and went to my 50-minute Chemistry class. As I got out of my car at the end of the parking lot, my book bag in hand, a homeless man, holding a sign smirked at me and told me to have a good day. I tried not to think much of it, although it nagged at my brain for a minute as I walked across the street to UVU. Class was pretty much pointless that day so I was almost regretted going. I stopped at the bookstore and sold back one of my new books because I found a better deal somewhere else. I had just saved 60 bucks so I was gleaming as I walked across the street back to my car... which was not there. I remembered exactly where I had parked my car, right under... a security camera. I cannot describe the fury I felt. I knew it would be a lot of money to get my car back, but I was most distraught about having to walk up the huge hill to my apartment. One of the sole reasons I was so proud of myself for figuring out that I could park at Wal-Mart... to avoid that blasted hill. As I was almost to the top of the hill I decided to call Wal-Mart to see if they for sure had towed my car (because if that dang homeless man and stolen it... boy, I'm tellin ya...) I talked to a girl at Wal-Mart, she gave me a number for a towing company. I called the number and sure enough they didn't have my car. They said I got the wrong number because they didn't do business with Wal-Mart anymore. (The funny thing is I'd called that company before... but it was to tow someone else's car. Ha, I'll never do that again.. poor kid) So I called Wal-Mart back and got a different number, dispatch. Sure enough, they had towed my car. My friend drove me out to get it, which was an adventure because they gave me the wrong address the first time so I had to call back after we got lost. $157 later I had my car. As I got in my car I noticed that there were rocks under my front tires, but no one else's. The man didn't come over to help us move them and they were wedged under there so the only was to get them out was to drive over them (since the car behind me was only about 2" behind me). I drove over, well tried to... I didn't get enough "umph" and since my car is a stick-shift it tends to roll backwards... right into the car behind me. I got out in horror and me and my friend Rebekah stare at the two cars. The man working there came up and asked if everything was ok, and I proceeded to tell him what happened (implying that he-or whoever put the rocks under my tires was stupid) and he looked at the other car, said it looked fine. (It was an old car and you couldn't even tell I hit it) and then he looked at mine and he has the nerve to point out that my rear bumper was popping out- like I couldn't tell! Not only was I out $157, but now my bumper was popping out. (They did nothing about it). Don't worry, I learned my lesson. If you wake up late for school, DON'T MAKE THE EFFORT OF GOING! Ha. I'll show you Wal-Mart.

I'm finally sure...

I've lived most of my life feeling unsure. There is not necessarily one thing I haven't been sure about, but little things have accumulated through out the years. Finally for once in my life, I'm sure. I'm sure about the direction I'm going in my life. I'm sure about my chosen profession in nursing. This is definitely the field I want to work in for the rest of my life. I can't explain the connection there. I know I love people, I know I love helping them, I know I want to make a difference in this world. I'm sure about the church. Now that I have had the choice to choose, I know that I for sure want to be a part of it for the rest of my life. Without it I feel.. empty. I'm sure about my family. I've always loved them, but I don't think I've ever appreciated them as much as I do living away from home. I admit, even though I'm only 15 min away from home I still get home sick. I'm sure about Cody. I've never felt more sure about any other person in my life. He definitely makes me want to be a better person. He makes me laugh, he's there for me when I cry. Others only see our differences, which may seem like a lot. The insignificance of those differences is not noticed. We have different interests, but we are more than willing to compromise. Dating him definitely has made my life more of an adventure. I am more open to new ideas, trying new things, and so is he. I love doing things with him, spending quality time with him. It doesn't even matter what it is. What matters is getting to know him more and appreciate our commonalities, ones that are not often noticed from the outside. There you have it, my life in a nutshell. My life that I am very satisfied with at the moment.

What are you doing with your life?

Days after my high school graduation I was in the Macey's checkout line with my brother paying for my grocery's. There was a young family behind me, with two children, probably 4 and 3 sitting in the front of one of those car shopping cars. These little kids were bouncing off the walls, steering the wheel in all sorts of directions, animating it with their car noises. As I'm handing my money to the cashier, the little boy yelled "Move you old lady!" to me. The mom was flustered over this, but I couldn't help but laugh. Here I am, 18 years old, and I'm already an old lady.

A couple of days ago at work a male resident I work for, with a completely fine mentality asked me to marry him. Hmm... I thought. How to get out of this one. "Do you have lots of money?" I asked him. "Four dollars." He replied. I told him I had to marry a rich man. He tried even harder to persuade me. "I'm only 18!", "That's OK, I'm only 81. Just switch the numbers around and we're the same age." Oh brother.

These two experiences got me thinking. I'm in the state of mind that I'm so "little", but is that how the rest of the world sees me? I am 18 years old and what am I doing with my life? I wake up around 11 a.m., eat breakfast/lunch and get ready for work. I work from 2-10pm, and after work I talk to my boyfriend Cody on the phone for a little while before I go to bed. Then it starts over the next day. It is quite boring to be honest. I want to improve the quality of my life, so I've set a few goals. 1) To exercise every day. The physical aspect: This helps me feel feel better and to look better. 2) To read my scriptures and say my prayers daily. The spiritual aspect: I'm out of the habit of this, but I'm progressively trying to improve. 3) Read every day. The mental aspect. Since school has been out I feel like I haven't used my brain enough. I wish that I were a faster, most efficient reader. That is what I am going to work on.

These are my little goals for self-improvement. Everyone needs a little self-improvement. It's just a matter of finding out the area you need to improve, setting a realistic goal, and carrying it out. This will not only help you look better and feel better, but it will help you feel accomplished. Now it's your turn.

45 things I usually don't tell people... you should feel lucky

5 Things I was doing 10 years ago:

1. Playing truth or dare with some friends and daring a girl to rollerskate on the far edge of the driveway, resulting in a broken arm.

2. Playing with a yo-yo at recess

3. Getting baptized

4. I think this was the first year I was allowed to have sleepovers with my best friend Cozette

5. Going to Flordia with my family



5 Things on my to-do list today:

1. Register for school

2. Send out my thank-you cards for graduation

3. Pack for Vegas.

4. Get ready for the day (Maybe I should take that off the list seeing that it'll be time for bed in a couple of hours)

5. Get an oil change (That has been on my list for weeks now...)



5 snacks I enjoy:

1. Tomatoes with salt

2. Carrots with some Schmindemines dip (secret family recipe)

3. Ice Cream :D but heck, I'll eat that from breakfast, lunch, or dinner as well

4. String Cheese

5. Strawberries, Peaches, or Cherries

6. Celery and cheese (I had to add a #6)



5 things I would do if I were a billionaire:

1. Buy Kneaders

2. Go shopping. OK, c'mon that could get kind of exhausting. Maybe I'd settle for online shopping and overnight delivery.

3. Build a house for each of my siblings and parents in the same city, accommodating to their individual needs. (I'm sure Mica would need a huge display room/storage room for all of her products. Aubrie a huge kitchen. Matt tons of storage space for his movies. Ali a wheelchair accessible house. Of course I would need a HUGE closet for all of my clothes I just bought.)

4. Buy a beach house in Hawaii or Mexico, doesn't matter where as long as it's warm

5. Donate money to educate others on the elderly and disabled individuals in their community.


5 of my bad habits:

1. Leaving my stuff everywhere. (Just ask my family) I'm not as bad since I've moved out, my apartment is actually very clean and organized. But when I lived at home I'd kick off my shoes and put all of my stuff on the couch and it would just accumulate until my parents couldn't handle it anymore.

2. Correcting other people's grammar errors in texts.

3. Procrastinating, especially in my school work. My grades would always be bad until the very last week of the term.

4. Coming in at the middle of conversations. I usually don't focus entirely on a conversation until something sparks my interest, then I make them start over so I can hear the whole story.

5. Not putting away my clean laundry. I usually just leave my clothes in a basket and use them as needed. This is another thing that I have done less, if at all, since I've moved out.


5 things I will never wear again:

1. Skort. A weird mix between a skirt and shorts, don't ask.

2. EFY shirt. Nope, not even to bed. I see people wearing these to school, nope, not me.

3. Shirt that says "Princess"

4. Jellies- those weird plastic shoes that come in any color. Sorry Aubrie and Mica, I know you loved those.

5. Braces. I hated every minute of them.


5 places I have lived:

1. Our house in PG by my grandma's up until I was about one.

2. The house we have lived in for the past 17 years in PG.

3. I guess you could count the Ward's house, across the street and down 2 houses. I pretty much lived their each summer.

4. The condo I live in now with Cozette and Laurie lived with me for about a week.

5. Alpine Valley Care Center. (OK, so i didn't actually live there. I felt like it sometimes though...)


5 jobs I've had:

1. Mowing our lawn. OK... so maybe I wasn't very reliable.

2. Doing respite care for my little sister

3. Working at Albertson's as a courtesy clerk and then a bakery girl (best job ever!)

4. Working as a CNA at a care center taking care of elderly people

5. Just today I got hired at the Utah State Developemental Center


5 things people probably don't know about me:

1. I have an extra bone in my thumb. No wonder I hated my anatomy class, it didn't apply to me!

2. I eat in my sleep.

3. I have a really hard time adjusting to things. I crave change, but when it comes I stress out about it

4. I've had grey hairs

5. My head isn't on straight. REALLY! My chiropractor told me! And that is why my parents pay him the big bucks...

One day... When I get around to it...

I am a big "to do" person, the problem is I can't help but procrastinate the inevitable. I stress about getting them done, but usually don't do them until the last possible minute. It's a bad habit. It drives other people crazy, it drives me crazy. Here are the items on my "to do" list before I die (not to put a damper on things):

I want to...

• Learn to play my guitar. Yes, I have a guitar- Yes, I did attempt to learn once upon a time...
• Backpack around Europe for a few weeks, maybe a month. With who? I don't know yet, when the times comes I will. Maybe a friend, maybe a family member. While I'm there I want to spend a lot of time on my artwork and painting the scenery.
• Write a book. (Is it sad that I already have a name for it?) Cheeto Spit and Blood Sisters. There is a story behind it, but I guess you'll have to read the book to find out what it is.
• Run a 5K. I absolutely hate running, but I like to try things out of my comfort zone sometimes. (My Rec Basketball for example) So if anyone wants to run a 5K with me, let me know.
• Win something at random. I have the worst luck in the world, I don't know if I have ever won anything myself. My aunt won a VCR in my name once, Aubrie won a Star Wars backpack for me once... but the excitement is actually winning something at random!
• Travel to a third-world country on a humanitarian mission. This will most likely happen after I become a nurse so that I can know the skills to teach others in need.
• Learn a foreign language. Spanish would probably be the most useful, but I think French would be fun too.
• Win some type of eating contest. (i.e. Fudrucker's Challenge, Thanksgiving Point's Yellow Submarine Challenge, etc)
• Have a 24 marathon and watch a full season consecutively. (Is that bad to have as one of your life goals?)
• Kiss a black man. (I hope Mom isn't reading this... haha. Better yet, I hope Grandma isn't reading it!)
• Be in NYC on New Year's. (I stole that one from Cozette, but it just sounded like so much fun!)
• Have pizza parties with Cozette's kids and my kids one day, except her kids probably won't be able to eat pizza... but we'll have parties and help clean each others houses while our kids play. That'll be easy because we'll share backyards and a swimming pool.. haha.