From my Professor....

To wish me get well...



HAHAHHAHHA

I got it...

Lucky me... I got the swine flu and I have been curled up in my bed for the past 4 days.
This is UNBELIEVABLE!!!! I never had any idea that the human body could feel so wretched from just the flu!!!!!!!!! HOLY MOLEY!



Something pretty rad was that my parents got a letter from their Stake President saying that it's okay to give priesthood blessings over the phone. So as I laid suffering from chills in my bed, my Daddy gave me a blessing over the phone. It was pretty awesome. I'm slowly on the mend now.

What I've Been Up Too....

So I know it's been a while...it just has felt like, since everybody has Facebook now the blog is a little lower on my list of things to do...

As usual my life consists of school, exams and class readings. I started off the semester to a rocky start for some reason. I did not do very well on exams, which is very unusual for me! But have no fear... I recovered:

I made up for it on my Sociology of Gender midterm...


And my 12pg paper News Research paper for my Criminology class:


I also got a little baby kitten.... she is growing so freaking fast and I asked my roommate who is a vet assistant if she could please look into finding some kind of pill to stunt her growth so that she will stop growing. I named her GussGuss (like the little mouse for Cinderella) and YES I am fully aware that GussGuss is boys name but it suits her PERFECTLY. She is INSANE. Literally. As I type this she is attacking imaginary spots on my bed. However, when I pop in an episode of Glimore Girls, she stops everything and watches:


And then finally... Taya (friend who lives upstairs) heard about this salon to get your haircut at and how great it is and how she SWEARS by this salon. SOoo we go in... I told the lady that I wanted side bangs and TONS of layers. TWO HOURS LATER... !!!TWO!!! I look no different except for the side bangs. I'm pretty sure she took "Tons of layers" as "Wash my hair and don't do anything else." Unbelievable




Alrighty kids thats the latest and greatest.

I know it's been forever a year ...

Happy Halloween

Go check out a video that my friend Taya made with me and my other friends in it doing the monster mash!

http://sendables.jibjab.com/view/7ECODQfU0h8k5tP7

Good Things

I found two great notepads online that I would LOVE to buy and I feel as if I could get a lot of use out of... how great would it be to "ticket" people with these, haha. From knockknock.biz!

Lazy Sundays

this is how general conference plus going going to utah state university makes you feel after a long weekend




this is how i watch general conference... coloring in a poster size coloring sheet of monsters inc.

GRADUATION!

Kinda turned into a photoshop junkie... BUT... GRADUATION IS HAPPENING!!!!

Krebs...

Shane Krebs is my Online Journalism professor... this guy is HILARIOUS. He keeps in touch with everybody in the class via Facebook... just super sarcastic, young and funny teacher.

Anyways, we're doing a lot of work with Photoshop right now... so feel free to jump over to my class blog... I personally love my blog address...

krebsrocksmysocks.blogspot.com!!!

Spring Break

Most people go to some place exotic and fun to relieve themselves for a week, I fly home. It has been the best relaxation I've had in a really long time. Being around my family, regardless of David's bursts of excitement, being around Mummy and Papa Bell is the greatest. One of the best parts, my BESTFRIEND Bonnie is home from her mission and this has been our first time seeing each other since she came home...

We went shopping at got caught up in a random hail storm!



One of my favorite things about the Northwest is the amount of green trees EVERYWHERE!!!



And of course, had to visit my favorite spot, Snoqualmie Falls!




I love my cell phone, all these pictures were taken with my cell phone camera! :o)

More pictures to post after more adventures!

Lost Generation

Note to self: Don't write a blog when drugged on morphine!!!! My goodness my last blog post was surely depressing... I promise you all that my life is not THAT bad. I am still having loads of fun to the best of my ability every single day. So I figured I'd share some pretty awesome PR thing my professor showed me.

The cheapest and easiest form of PR that anybody can do is to utilize the web. That is why in 2007 AARP asked people ages 18 to 30 to submit videos on YouTube with their answer to the question: "Where do you see yourself in 50 years." The winning prize was $5,000.
Taking the challenge, students at Columbia University responded with their video answer titled, THE LOST GENERATION. Even though this video placed 2nd, I was so moved by it that I felt like I had to share it... watch the video, if you would like a copy of the poem, it is posted below the video. It is based on the Argentinian Political Advertisement "The Truth" ...

PLEASE SHARE YOUR THOUGHTS!



Lost Generation
By Jonathan Reed

I am part of a lost generation
And I refuse to believe I can change the world.

I realize this may be a shock but
“Happiness comes from within”
is a lie, and
“Money will make me happy”
So in 30 years I will tell my children
They are not the most important thing in my life.
My employer will know that
I have my priorities straight because
work
Is more important than
family
I tell you this
Once upon a time
Families stayed together
But this will not be true in my era
This is a quick fix society.
Experts tell me
30 years from now I will be celebrating the 10th anniversary of my divorce
I do not concede that
I will live in a country of my own making
In the future
Environmental destruction will be the norm
No longer can it be said that
My peers and I care about this earth
It will be evident that
My generation is apathetic and lethargic
It is foolish to presume that
There is hope.

And all of this will come true unless we choose to REVERSE it.

There is hope.
It is foolish to presume that
My generation is apathetic and lethargic
It will be evident that
My peers and I care about this earth
No longer can it be said that
Environmental destruction will be the norm
In the future
I will live in a country of my own making
I do not concede that
30 years from now I will be celebrating the 10th anniversary of my divorce
Experts tell me
This is a quick fix society.
But this will not be true in my era
Families stayed together
Once upon a time
I tell you this
family
Is more important than
work
I have my priorities straight because
My employer will know that
They are not the most important thing in my life.
So in 30 years I will tell my children
“Money will make me happy”
is a lie, and
“Happiness comes from within”
I realize this may be a shock but

I can change the world and I refuse to believe that
I am part of a lost generation.

it's been a while...

Oh my what a LONG time it has been since I updated my blog.

I am continuously battling my pain still from my car accident. I am trying so hard to manage my day to day tasks and responsibilities. I really have the most amazing parents who keep me motivated and encouraged, even with all the miles and miles away that they are.

My Mom, she is simply incredible. I will call her crying because of the pain, and she is so quick to make me start talking about other things, and get me focused on something other than the pain. She's incredible, and I love her and I miss her terribly.


My Dad, man what a trooper. Every time he talks to me, he is so excited to hear from me. He helps me get through those hard days when everything just isn't working out. I love him, so much, and I don't think he comprehends how much he does, not just for me, but for every single person. I am truly so so so thankful for my father. He is amazing, and my Mom, she is so patient and so loving.


This accident, has tested me in every single way possible. When I have the hardest time getting up and out of my bed because the pain is so strong and I don't want to go class... I know that if I don't turn to the Lord, I'm going to continue laying in bed all day long.

I just called as a Relief Society teacher. The lesson I just gave was about finding your strength during your trials. Funny one for me, huh? :o) Well, I never knew that Joseph Smith got up the very next day after being tarred and feathered to go out and do what he did. I find myself drawing a lot of strength from this. I know, that we all are going through hard things. I know that we are all struggling a lot with different things... but, we can't forget where we can draw our strength from. We are SO lucky to know that we can draw upon the strength and love of the Lord to get us through.

I would give ANYTHING for this stupid pain to go away... but at the same time, I'm thankful for it. For how strong it is making me.

My doctor has exhausted all her options, and I'm meeting this week with a new neurologists and spine specialist. I hate new doctors, but I have hope that some of my pain will go away. So keep me in your prayers, and hopefully I will have good news. Until then, this what my world revolves around:


I got this brilliant idea of the letters on top of the bottles from Kerri when I went home over Christmas! It's the 1st letter of each pill. Sure does beat digging around. I have been really blessed with very understanding professors who are great at understanding everything. So my pharmacy and I, we're always on the go...

OBAMA!

I just watched the inauguration and speech in the student center here on campus. Empowering! Amazing! Hopeful! WOW! I'm so excited for this change. I think it's what America needs and I'm so grateful that I live in America!


www.whitehouse.gov

A Northwest Thanksgiving

I've been up all night writing my Social Research Method final paper and I need to write my Media Law Final Project paper before 1:30pm! Finals are next week and lucky me I have 2 finals on Monday and my last final on Tuesday. Then I'm done until January 5th, 2009! I see Tuesday as my light at the end of the tunnel. Whew! Soooo with it being 5:12am I decided to quickly throw up my pictures from when I went home for Thanksgiving...I really am procrastinating my Media Law paper, can you tell?

Still being on disability since my accident I was able to fly home for FIVE(!) days.
I have not been home for that amount of time in over TWO years!


The Girls:


3 Musketeers:


We're Extremely Normal:



Amanda and I:


A SNEAK PEAK At The Family Christmas Picture:


David Is SO Excited To See Me:


He Enjoyed This, He Secretly Knows It:


We ADORE Our Brother, And LOOK He Even ALMOST Smiled:
(My Momma is one hot momma!)


My Bestfriends, My Support, My Cheerleaders... My Family:


Sometimes You Just Don't Question Robin
I LOVE Dilberts Face, Haha:


Had To Take A Quick Trip To Snoqualmie Falls:


Beautiful:


So--I learned the hard way not to hit the FORMAT option on my camera... I lost several pictures. I paid $30 to download a program that restores the pictures. I was able to recover a majority of them but some of them have weird gray bars in them. Oh what a tragedy. This sadly was one of them.... click on it and view it big... it's amazing:


Besides the Seattle downtown Nordstroms(!), this is my favorite spot in the Northwest:


______________________________________
______________________________________
The day after Thanksgiving we went to Fall City to Crown Tree Farm where we have gone for years to cut down our Christmas Tree! The pictures that follow are from our adventure...

Robin certainly does look completely sane here:

Just a sweet mother-daughter boding moment:


Amanda and I... and my fake glasses to make me look smart (haha):


Sometimes it's best to just walk away and leave Amanda alone:


Amanda having a saw fight with her imaginary friend Kelly:


Daddy Bell and Me:
(every picture I'd take with him he'd look at it and go "oh please that doesn't look like me Amelia! I look like I'm heavy" Oh Daddy-O you're so silly sometimes.)


My 2 bestfriends:


Daddy-O surrounded by the 4 reasons for all his gray hairs on his head:


Amanda making the family decide over which tree:


In record time for our family, without any fighting we picked a tree in under 30 minutes! Usually we end up getting the tree that Dad likes the most and none of us are happy. This time we actually all agreed on a tree!

Robin bewildered by the fact that we actually chose a tree:


Robin and her cute little 1/2 marathon runner booty-bum:


Family friends (I spaced on their names) that came with:


The little girl picked each of us a little yellow flower:


She's dang cute huh:


Daddy loves his girls:


Robin and I:


We're big kids now:


The whole fam-bam:


Amanda gave up fighting with her imaginary friend:


The best part about cutting down the tree, going inside and getting warm in the Christmas shop and drinking hot cider and eating cookies:


1 Robin-Wreath: priceless, she looks so cute, I love this picture:


1 Amelia-Wreath: priceless! some things money can't buy:



Tah-dah! Alright 5:59am and I've written .... 2 sentences on my paper while I uploaded those photos... BlogSpot has really gotta work on finding a better way to upload several pictures at once because this is dang ridiculous! You know you're couldn't agree with me any more on that.

Love you all!
Amelia

I met a guy in the library... and took him home & shaved his legs.

So last night I went to a study session in the library for a test that I have tomorrow. This pretty cute guy came in and sat down next to me. I think we have spoken to each other once very briefly walking out of class... well we ended up talkin quite a bit through the study session (whoops).

He showed me a text message that he had just received from a friend that asked him if he would want to be a fitness equipment model at ICON the following day and they would pay him $500 but he needed to shave his legs and arms for it. I laughed because this guy wears shorts and flip flops year round. I said "I will TOTALLY help you shave your legs! That would be awesome" he looks at me and said "For real? Most girls wouldn't...I mean are you sure??" After the study session we hopped in my car, ran to the store bought some pink razors and shaving cream and had a good laugh as we shaved his legs in my bathtub... while buying razors we introduced ourselves to each other!!!!

We first used a beard trimmer to trim down the hair...you could already see a difference!


1 leg down... 1 more to go

- He has got some good lookin' legs!

-We determined this was turning out to be quite a chore...

-Onto the arms...

-"HI MOM"

-Introducing Johnny Smooth Legs...


I called my Mom and said "So I went to a study session tonight and took home this really cute guy and shaved his legs." =)

As he was standing there hold up his shorts as I am shaving the back of his thigh he said, "wow I really think this is the best bonding moment I've ever had with somebody since my mission!"

Photo's!

I ask and also BEG you to please go look at my photo's from tonight. I honestly and truly want to tell you all that I have never had so much fun in my whole entire life, than tonight...

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2026686&l=3e897&id=122802517

It is Homecoming Week and tonight we had a "Paint Dance" on the practice football field. HUGE 10 gallon buckets of paint were dispensed into cups, hands... anything that would substitute as a container and were splashed, smeared, wiped and thrown at one another. It was the most fun I have ever had. There was a DJ from a local night club playing music. Then on one of the main streets on campus we got to paint the road! Oh my heavens. PLEASE go check out the pictures.

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2026686&l=3e897&id=122802517

Facebook is much easier and faster to upload them. Here is a preivew:

Momma Bell & Halloween

Sorry I am not very good at updating anymore. I feel as if I live in the library while attempting to have a social life. I spend quite a bit of my time in the USU Health and Wellness building since that is where my doctor and physical therapist both are. I just got approved for Pain Management Massage Therapy... sounds pretty nice huh? I start that on Tuesday and I'm very excited.

I was able to see my Mom while she was in town for a minute. And by a minute, that's really what it felt like, a minute. We were able to have lunch together with a few of my Aunts that live up here in Logan...

along with my Grandma Savage. She has Alzheimer's but she is still adorable. She's so cute!


We also got the Savage side of the family together and had dessert at Grandma Savages assisted living home in Logan, last Sunday... I saw Grandma eying my cousin's son across the room as he was playing with the other kids. I grabbed my camera hoping to get a cute picture of them together... I think that the pictures speak for themselves...

I have not seen my Grandma Savage smile in a VERY, very, very long time. So to be able to capture that and see her smile so big, oh seriously, was just such a golden nugget! It was so sweet and I was able to see the Grandma that I once remembered.

. . .

Saturday night my roommate Mckenna and I walked across the parking lot to a friends house and we carved pumpkins! I love being a little kid. I got this retarded pumpkin that wouldn't stand up, he was kinda flat bummed and had to lay on his back... his eyes are meant to be cross eyed with a big goofy smile... however my pumpkin carving skills need some work...



I got this wicked cool new Canon PowerShot SD 790 IS at BestBuy... remember how my camera had an accident with my Powerade bottle? BestBuy wasn't able to save it and told me to come in and pick out a new camera since I had the accident warranty on it! This camera is kinda fun cause I can choose which colors I want to show up while the rest stays in black and white... I am no Darren Clark but hey hey hey look at my awesomely rad picture!



I sometimes wonder if I should have gone into Elementry Education as my degree but then I knew that the kids would be smarter than me and on a daily basis I would feel dumb... but at least I know my classroom would look awesome during the holidays... I decorate our apartment for every holiday under the sun... like I said, I would have been a perfect elementry teacher...













I hope to see you guys all really soon when my back and neck will allow me to drive further than Brigham City without tightening up!

Demotivator

My roommate, McKenna found this and said she thought of me... it made me laugh because with how slow my recovery is going through this sums up how I feel some days!!!

Elder Henry B. Eyring

Many of you may have heard or read this before but it was presented at FHE last night and I fell in love with it and this is going to be my motto from now on!

I am part of the fellowship of the unashamed.
The dye has been cast.
I have stepped over the line.
The decision has been made.
I am a disciple of Jesus Christ.
I wont look back, let up, slow down, or be still.
My past is redeemed, my present makes sense, and my future is secure.
I'm finished and done with low living, small planning, smooth knees, colourless dreams, tamed visions, worldly talking, cheap giving and dwarfed goals.
I no longer need pre-eminence, position, promotions, plaudits or popularity.
I don't have to be right, first, recognized,praised, regarded or rewarded.
I now live by faith, lean on His presence, walk with patience, am uplifted by prayer and labor with power.
My face is set, my gait is fast, my goal is heaven.
My road is narrow, my way is rough, my companions are few, my guide is reliable, my mission is clear.
I cannot be bought, compromised, detoured, lured away,d ivided or delayed.
I will not flinch in the face of sacrifice, hesitate in the presence of the adversary, negotiate at the table of the enemy, ponder at the pool of popularity or meander in the maze of mediocrity.
I wont give up, shut up, or let up, until I have stayed up, stored up, and paid up for the cause of Christ.
I must go till He comes, give till I drop, preach till all know, and work till He stops me.
And when He returns for his own, He will have no problem recognizing me.
Because...
My Banner will be clear.

Chocolate

Oh snap son... my hair is dark dark dark dark dark brown, except this time it did not take 3 boxes of hair dye...
mommy wow, I'm a big kid now!
I'm pretty dang proud of myself.

P.S. - Those cortisone shots did WONDERS for me!

Setbacks & Yearbooks

I took a turn for the worse in recovery. I've had several bad days over the past week which landed me in the seat of the waiting room at the doctors office for an emergency appointment. Grrr.... regardless of the medication I take and the amount of physical therapy I complete, the pain level has been increasing hourly.

This morning, Thursday the 25th, at 9a.m. I had 4 shots of cortisone inserted into the occipital bone, which is pretty much at the base of your skull...



And then two shots inserted into the trapezius muscles...


Pretty much where the physical therapists fists are, is where my shots were... and that needle was seriously forever long,
I was NOT a fan of it.

YES it hurt.

So I needed something to make me laugh after all this bad news when I found this website that you upload a picture of yourself and then put your face in photographs from yearbooks ranging from 1920's to today. Here are a few of my outcomes...

1950:



1954:



1956:


1958:


1966:


1968:


1972:


1974:


1976:


1978:


1984:


1986:


1988:


1990:


1994:


1996:


1998:


2000:



Hope you got a good chuckle...I certainly did!

Homeward Bound

Brother Lefrandt

June 4, 1962- September 14, 2008

http://www.thelefrandtfamily.blogspot.com

This is the most incredible man with an amazing family that I have been privledged to know. Herald Lefrandt centered his life around Christ, and lead by example for his children to follow. I am so thankful to know the children of this amazing man who was a spiritual giant and will be INCREDIBLY missed. His wife Diane is an incredible "pillar of strength" as many have put it. I love you all, and I have been praying every day for months... and I will continue to do so...

For those of you who do not know Herald Lefrandt, I just ask you to please pray for their family!
Herald fought a tough fight with brain tumors and remained positive through the whole thing.

http://www.thelefrandtfamily.blogspot.com/

The Weekend Wrap Up

This is going to be a REALLY quick update between classes!

* Still on disabilty from work, doctors won't release me yet.
* Physical Therapy down to 2 days a week now, whoop! whoop!
* I have 3 exams next week and I live in the library every night until 10pm

My roommate McKenna and I have decided that when you study sometimes it really is necessary to just make your hair look as crazy as you feel... it really helps retaining the knowledge!



Also Friday night was "White Trash" party and I think the guys downstairs, Matt and Scott totally dressed the part...








(yes... that would be Scott's bedsheets that he is wearing... what weirdo.

And then Saturday night we went bowling... as we were walking out the door somebody jumped behind Matt and pretended they were Matt's hands... kinda weird I know for those who were not there, but for those who were there, you'll remember how funny this was...



Pretty much bowling was fantastic and I think that Holly and ChrisAwesome are the cutest brother and sister duo I have ever seen...



Sunday was Pancake Party in the guys apartment downstairs... no pictures taken.... my camera and my favorite purse ended up being victim to an open container of Gatorade ... ugghhh... my camera is currently somewhere in Texas getting fixed according to the BestBuy dude. *Sniffle* But hey, you could never tell that all these pictures in this blog post came from my cell phone camera... pretty great right?

Okay time to run. Toodles.

Art of Bargaining!

So the other day I struck up the most incredible deal with Dave (if you need a refresher of who Dave is, have no fear... this is Dave, the amazing BBQ cooker from my birthday bash...)

Dave and I were hanging out when I mentioned I needed to wash my car, but have not had the time to do it.

He mentioned he needed to do his laundry but hates having to pay to do it. I started to tell him how great is to have a SPACIOUS laundry room in the apartment...



Okay so maybe it's not THAT spacious... it's really just crammed into this little closet.

However, Dave really got his wheels turnin' in his head when he said "How about I detail your car every week, and in return you let me do laundry!? Fair trade, yeah??!"

Not a moment too soon did him and his roommates go at it on my car! Did I mention that Dave used to have a car detailing business in California for a while?


His roommates are pretty much bomb awesome in my book! They both came over and helped clean my car.



That is one fantastic bargain we struck up!

Just sooo happy!

Have you ever wondered how incredible my friends are???

Here's a sweet little example...



So for my birthday I woke up to my sidewalk and the stairs leading out of my apartment decked out in sidewalk chalk ... it just so happened that my birthday was the day that everybody was moving in for the start of the semester. So let's just say... everybody knew it was my birthday!!!



They even decorated the stall that my NEW CAR is parked in!!! Yes, I bought a new car and I love it. My Dad's reaction when he saw it was, "What are you a pimp?" Needless to say they were not too thrilled when they saw it but I'm sure they'll love it in time... for me, it was love at 1st sight.



Not to mention my pretty freakin' sweet front door... we have decided, why take it down!? It adds color to the very white hallway! Yay for birthdays.




My super incredible friend, Tennile made me a birthday cake, however she made it with olive oil instead of vegetable oil like the box said... it was pretty much gag worthy!



Tennile and my friend Jani planned a HUGE BBQ Birthday Party. It was so freaking awesome!!!
About 50+ people showed up... what was so fun about it was that we had it in the parking lot of my apartment complex, and everybody just came out of the wood work because it was pretty much the last big party before the semester starts tomorrow, Monday the 26th.



Dave was just about the coolest guy ever in the world and he BBQ'd for 4 hours straight in the 90* heat!!! He cracks me up...



So many people showed up! I was totally blown away... Facebook really got the word around and I am pretty positive that every single person who I have ever run into showed up!



I seriously was a happy little monkey!!! (Anthony was laying down and most likely asleep, that kid can sleep anywhere!!!)





I could not have asked for a better friend than Tennile... she just went all out for my birthday...


We are so incredibly cool everybody wants to hang out with us... I think it's cause we look so gosh darn good...



Jani got me the bestest present ever... .


... however I found out we have little men in the walls of our apartment because for the 5th time since living here, the nail falls INTO the wall!!!! Like it got hungry and ate the nail. Seriously! I had this present for about a grand total of 2 hours when I went to hang it up and the nail vanished and the plates... BROKE. I would like to say however that I have some MAD supergluing skills... I'm deciding whether or not I wanna go pro with my super glue skills... we'll see.

Jani made this incredibly awesome RAINBOW CHIP CAKE WITH RAINBOW CHIP FROSTING!!!!!



Yes I know what you're thinking, "Luuuckkyyy!!!" I pretty much felt like the raddest kid on the block cause that cake is the bomb.com!!!!



And check out the candles... they are purses and shoes... incredible, i know right!?!?

My birthday was soooo much fun, the head pain that followed, not so much fun! But hey your birthday comes once a year, so I just sucked it up and smiled and had a blast! I laid low for the most part on Saturday but we went to a bonfire across the street. Tennile couldn't get enough smores she was shoving them in!!!




At the bonfire we found out that one of our neighbors was stuck down in Salt Lake and so at 10:30pm we decided we'd go for an adventure and cram into my car, the Batmobile:::




:::and head down to downtown Salt Lake and pick up our friend! This picture allows me to also introduce to you my fellow bloggers, my NEW roommate McKenna!!! Isn't she so freaking cute!? The guy on the right is Matt my neighbor, and my new best friend... he's as crazy as I am!!!!



I think the best part was watching Matt, a grown adult try to wiggle his way out of the back seat of my new car. It's a 2 door Mitsubishi Eclipse, and it's a little snug with so many adults!!



Now once down in Salt Lake we added another person into the mix of the backseat and it ended up being... well.... a little tight??!





By the time we got back to Logan it was 1:30am and called it a day.... we are all now really good friends with the guys downstairs after this little road trip. I can honestly say it is going to be the BEST year because this weekend by far has already trumped everything so far!!! One of the BEST birthday presents I got was this coloring book that the pages you pulled out and were BIGGER than a poster!!!!! Oh my gosh it was so much coloring goodness fun all wrapped up!! They took up 1/2 the wall!!!!! They were such a hit that the guys across the hall and the guys that live downstairs were all crammed around the coffee table in my living room today after church... COLORING!!!



As for my health --- still working on the physical therapy however it's just taking longer than I even want. I'm getting really irritated with the constant head throbbing that never goes away!!! Yikes Spikes!!!!

I just want you to all know that I am so incredibly lucky and blessed!!!! The Lord really sure does love me. I love you all as well!!!!

Happy Birthday Me!!!

That Mrs. Donald Duck hat hanging above my head from Disneyworld was AWESOME. I wish I still had it.

Yikes, Spikes.

Unfortunately my post about Kasey left a few people upset and I just would like to say that for the record I asked Kasey if it was okay if I made a blog about her pregnancy and she "go for it!". She saw the blog before I posted it for every one to see. I'm sorry that it upset quite a few people, that was not my intentions.

Regardless of what's been said, I am happy that she
is happy. I am her cousin and always will be, we're family.
With that said, congratulations Kasey.

Goal Dates

Things are going really well, still in pain, but it's manageable!

I have the best physical therapist, Brian Larsen, who is one of the sports medicine doctors at USU Physical Therapy. I am working with Brian 3x's a week, which is helping a lot with the head pain.

Though I still experience some pain my other doctor, Linda Roberts, has really done a lot in helping me get on the right prescriptions to be able to be comfortable.


Dr. Linda and I are hoping that by my birthday, August 22nd, I will no longer need medication for the pain!

Brian and I are currently shooting for August 25th for my return back to work. Which also happens to be the day that Fall Semester begins.

I'm very excited to have goal dates to work towards!!!

Tennile and Jani know how down I have been with being confined to my apartment. They came by and used the opportunity to get me out and take me to Kings. I think the goal was to get me to laugh again...

Tennile found me a new ride...


And since the E.R. cut my clothes off, Tennile found me a new bra...


And Jani found me some new shades to look uber cool ridin' my new bike Tennile found...



I love these two girls, they take such good care of me! Jani brings me lunch and dinner EVERY day. I am so thankful beyond words for her friendship. They do such an excellent job and keeping me entertained.

Rainstorms

Last week we had a major thunder and lightening storm with heavy rain. Tennile and my friend Jani came over and got me out of the apartment for a few minutes and enjoy the rain storm.



I'm so glad they came over cause I was about to lose it. It was fun to be around them, but it didn't take my head and neck long to let me know when the fun was over. I am so grateful with the relief that the physical therapy is allowing me. I still am crazy though...




I am so thankful for the friends that I have made from this accident. There are so many simple little blessings that have come forth. I am so blessed that I wasn't in a more serious condition. I am grateful that the Lord was watching out for me that morning. Something that I thank the Lord every day/night in my prayers for.

Goodbye...

So I just got out of the hospital.


My car is totaled.






I was stopped waiting for traffic to break to make a left hand turn.



I got hit from behind and from the force, I was pushed into the other lane of traffic and got hit again.

I was taken by ambulance to the E.R. had several CT scans done of my head and abdomen.
Everything looked good except for some minor swelling in my brain.

I was very lucky I walked out with nothing major.

I had some pretty nasty whiplash. It's going to be a couple weeks of physical therapy before I can head back to work.

My Dad flew down from Seattle to take care of me. He was wonderful.




Goodbye my Jetta.

Well it looks like a no-go for getting my position back. I'll just have to accept it and move on.
Still working graveyards but I'm working quite a few doubles so I am making good money!

Sorry I have not updated just working and sleeping is ALL I have been doing this WHOLE entire summer.

Prayers are Needed

I was so ecstatic about that new position at work, in Yogurt.
Can you tell!?


Well first you had to pass training in order to get the position, let's just say that they guy who was training me, well.... I'm just not on the top of his Christmas Card list. He wasn't a huge fan of me, and he failed me for the position.

What really stunk was that I actually LOVED my job for the 1st time ever. Sure I worked 75 hours a week BUT I didn't realize it, because it was fun.



The reason for failing me was that I was not taking the job seriously (this man refuses to even crack a smile so me liking the job was a big no-no) and I wasn't learning fast enough. Apparently somebody made a comment to this man that was training me that I run the machine better than him, and next thing you know, he fails me. I also think he can't stand my bestfriend Johanna and I working together because every few seconds we erupt in laughter!



I-kah-rum-bah!

I went in and spoke to H.R. about the whole thing telling them i KNOW I can do this and all the other people who do the same job as me back in Yogurt have come to my defense as well saying that I'm more than ready for this position. I explained to H.R. I have a ADHD and I will up my med's, I will do ANYTHING to get that job back.

SOOO --- now I am asking for all of you to please pray for me. Please please PLEASE pray that Paul (my supervisor) changes his mind and brings me back to the best place ever in the plant. Please just stop what you're doing right now, ok wait... finish reading this first and THEN ask the Lord that if it be his will, to let me have my position back.


oh...
Other than that, I'm alive and well!!!

My Night At Work

It can only be summed up in a picture:

ME: Matt is the flavor pump turned off?
MATT: Ohhh yeah!
ME: Matt? Are you sure, because if I break this line and I get covered in cherry flavoring with the pump speed at 100, I will be REALLY pissed off at you all night long.
MATT: I'm positive, it's turned off.
ME: Matt, check the computer...
MATT: Yup, I'm looking at it, it's turned off

Well Matt was looking at the computer screen for a machine we were not even working on. It took quite some time but I eventually scrubbed the yogurt die and gosh awful cherry flavoring off my face.

That sums up my night at work.
Excuse me while I go take a shower...

I should major in shopping...

So yesterday was graduation for Utah State University. My bestest friend Shasta graduated from college. I got her all ready for graduation doin' her hair and makeup... I even tried on her cap and gown and secretly wanted to ruin it just because it wasn't me that was graduating... *sigh* cute face huh? haha



Before graduation we went to this store called Hobby Lobby. It just opened up here in Logan and Shasta & I had to explore. We spent over 2 hours in there!!! We ended up needed 2 shopping carts and zig zagged our way through the store. I have to say... it's lOVE! That store is awesome.



Here are my findings~

The swirly cast iron wall decor... it was only $20... everything was 50% off!


(Oh we got new coffee tables and side tables, the apartment upstairs got new furniture in December, so when the girls moved out upstairs we ran up and grabbed them, our landlord only said "Well they look a lot cuter in your aparment, she refers to our apartment as the TajMahal of Notthingham Apartments cause it's decorated so cute.)




This sign is above the pantry door in our kitchen, when I found it yesterday I was laughing so hard!


THESE are my FAVORITE things I bought. It is a HUGE metal fork and spoon and the sign in the middle "Keep it Simple." They too were 50% off and were only like $10 each! It's in the wall of the kitchen!





This I got for a shelf in my bedroom... again 50% off. I thought how cool it would be when my roommates move back into the apartment in August to get each our letters of our name and hang them in the living room.


This past school year was the best ever that I have had with roommates. It was really hard to see Jennifer, Kira and Brandi leave. We really had a lot of fun this school year. I currently have NO roommates living in the apartment. Two will be moving in for the summer but they are both in Europe for different things right now so it's a BIT lonely when I'm awake... :o(

A quick update on work and other things:

Work: I love love LOVE graveyard. Nothing suites me better than this, and well when I HAD roommate it was perfect cause I got to see them so much more. The new position is pretty much an 8 hour workout which is good for my fat pah-toot!

Xavier: He is still having a lot of tests done weekly down in Salt Lake City but hasn't had any seizures since that weekend. So that's good news. They think he might have epilepsy but we'll see... thanks for your prayers.

Spring Semester: I sure did NOT do as well I hoped. This semester was more a personal growing semester than it was grade wise! I need to pay a fee I forgot to pay in order to get my grades, those tricky bookkeepers at USU, they sure do know how to get you to pay up!

What the war in Iraq is really like

taken from Kelsey Konen's blog

“I should not be alive. There is not a God forsaken reason,” Jordan Taylor, who returned from Iraq in September, said.

Taylor recalls his hardest and longest mission while in Iraq. It was in Kharma, rated by Times magazine as the most dangerous place to live in the whole world. It’s just north of Fallujah, which was the hot spot at the time Taylor left in September 2006. The mission lasted 32 hours.

Taylor was the gunner in the Cougar navigating for the lead vehicle referred to as a RG31. It’s a tan, large, jeep looking vehicle with what looks like a small satellite dish on top. Usually 15 to 20 members of a 30 or so man platoon would go out on a mission or sometimes multiple missions in one day. Several vehicles would travel out together. For this mission, the vehicles were lined up RG31, two vehicles referred to as Huskies that appear like a large tractor vehicle, another large jeep-looking vehicle with long razored arms off the front called a Buffalo, EOD (Explosive Ordinance Disposal) Cougar, and Gun Cougar (both the largest and furthest vehicles from the ground), RG31, followed by four Marine Corps Humvees. Husky vehicles have mechanical wings to detect the metal in bombs and are one man vehicles. The buffalo’s also have a mechanical arm and hold up to six men. Taylor usually rode in the lead car, the RG31, but for this mission rode in the Cougar.

“It was the Cadillac of military cars,” Taylor said of the Cougar.

Taylor’s platoon operated out of Fallujah. He lived there in a tent the entire year.

Taylor’s assignment every day was to look for IEDs (Improvised Explosive Devices). Often soldiers would go out on missions for up to eight hours or more and find nothing, not one bomb.

Taylor’s platoon, the 2^nd Platoon, Alpha Company, Task Force Pathfinder found 300 bombs during their time in Iraq.

The 32 hour mission they covered was a route no larger than a regular 10 minute drive. For them, it lasted 32 hours. They averaged 15 bombs in 15 hour periods. It was the most bombs found in one day their entire time in Iraq. Driving at five miles an hour, they would search for pot-holes and cracks in the ground. Discolored dirt or anything that seemed out of the ordinary such as garbage on the side of the road would “make your hair stand on end.” It was life everyday, 24 hours a day.

Taylor remembers that mission vividly. A bomb went off under the RG31, the lead car, causing it to flip and creating a massive hole in the ground. While Taylor and his comrades were recovering the RG31, a rocket grenade was shot at them. The grenade missed by far and then the shooting started.

Taylor was able to discover the direction of the shooter, coming from a house nearby. He remembers how odd it was that a family having a picnic, at what looked like a reunion, was just two houses away. Gun fire was going off everywhere.

“It was pretty scary knowing that bullets are flying all around you and you don’t have much cover,” Taylor said of the experience.

Things calmed down and several men continued to recover the lead vehicle. They never found the shooter, but did discover his weapon. They resumed looking for bombs. Now the Husky vehicle was in front controlled by Sergeant Kelly Chartier. It wasn’t long before a bomb blew up behind it. The vehicle, though sustaining damage, continued but less than a tire turn away then another bomb went off shooting the vehicle into the air. This bomb took out the entire back side of the vehicle. The sole man in the Husky, Chartier, had had his last mission. He survived, but hurt his back severely and was sent to work in the offices.

“He was pretty beat up,” Taylor said.

Taylor recounts recovering him when he saw two, what he referred to as “trigger men” start to run. Taylor starting to ask permission from his sergeant to shoot from inside his vehicle, he waited while his superior stuttered and finally gave him the go ahead. Taylor began to trace them and shoot when a truck came by and picked them up. Only one of them made it inside, these were the two that had set the bombs off. The survivor was able to hobble to safety. Taylor’s platoon called for air back up and a helicopter was able to take out the truck later.

Now, still daylight, Taylor recalled being out of the turret in his vehicle, much too high, exposed from the waist up to scan for other trigger men. He knew he shouldn’t have been so out in the open. While the group waited for the recovery vehicle, Taylor continued to scan. Just then, he heard the thud of a rifle grenade.

He turned to see it coming straight at him.

“I saw a rifle grenade … coming right at my face. I could see in the background the two guys that shot it,” Taylor said. “People talk about your life flashing before your eyes, it really does. At the last minute, it just came to my mind, duck. So I did. I could feel the heat strip for four hours afterwards. It blew up on the other side of the vehicle.”

Taylor ducked back inside just in time and remembers yelling, “Incoming, incoming!”

At this point they had to call for more support and they waited for five or six hours for another recovery vehicle. The support team they had called for chose to take a new route, not following Taylor’s group. As they were coming in, they too got hit, their lead vehicle, a Humvee, had its tires taken out. Taylor said they were really lucky.

“We yelled at them over the radio and said, don’t move we’ll come to you,” Taylor said. Taylor’s group sent their buffalo out scanning and found three more bombs in between, just about a football field, or 100 yards away. Hours later they were able to recover and all go home. During this mission they had discovered 20 bombs and got in about five different gun fights.

Taylor suffered nine different concussions while serving in Iraq. Regulation allowed three. It got to the point where the “next concussion could kill ya,” Taylor said.

“It got to a point where I felt like I was committing suicide every time I got in a vehicle.”

Taylor spent the last three months in Iraq working in the office. He feels that this allowed for him to recover from the fear before returning.

“Fire crackers scare the shit out of me,” Taylor said. He remembers fearing a pop can opening at first also.

Still, Taylor says the hardest part is easy to identify.

“People forget about it, and that’s what sucks.”

Taylor was raised in Smithfield, Utah. He returned this year and served as Alumni Relations for Sigma Chi. He has been elected to serve as Sigma Chi president next year.

“Transitioning was pretty easy for me actually because I got hit so many times I was forced into an office. I wasn’t allowed to go on missions anymore,” Taylor said. He was able to partially recover in Iraq.

Dave Petersen, a friend of Taylor’s for over 20 years now, recalls the changes in Taylor when he came back.

“I don’t think you can ever fully recover from an experience like that,” Petersen said. “But, Jordan was definitely a different person when he came back. He seemed more like a real man than he ever had, took things very seriously and acted so much more responsibly. You can tell those experiences have really made him recognize the seriousness of life, especially after seeing war.”

Taylor has risks of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, but still claims the hardest part about coming home and the hardest part of being there is ignorance.

“The war doesn’t affect people here,” Taylor said. “If you don’t have a brother or a sister or a family member that’s involved in the war, it doesn’t affect you, it doesn’t.”

“I hate it so bad, in World War II, when we were at war, women were in the factory, and it affected everybody. Every day you go to school and you drive you car. People forget about it. That’s what sucks,” Taylor said.

Taylor doesn’t agree with America pulling out of Iraq. He sees Iraq as “the greatest foothold in all the world. It’s the center of the world, it really is,” he said. “America needs to realize that it never was going to take a short amount of time. We have to stay there.”

America can’t leave while insurgents are there Taylor said.

“We shouldn’t bitch about it. We should support each other,” Taylor said.

Taylor said the war affected him most because life is different now. It makes you appreciate life and take advantage of it.

“I don’t have nine lives. I don’t have ten, he said. “I should not be alive. There is not a God forsaken reason. I guess I do have ten, because I have one more chance.”

time to UPgrade!

I got a promotion tonight at work!

Goodbye to the smelly days of working in shred making your glorious Great Value and Western Family shredded cheese! I am off to bigger and better things!

Jamba Juice filler position here I come! Those delicious drinkable yogurts and Jamba Juice smoothies will now be filled by yours truly! Anytime you eat any Yoplait Yogurt or Digestive YoPlus Yoplait yogurt you can think of me and all the love I put into every cup and bottle! Now I will smell like strawberries, peaches, pina colda, blueberry --- anything is better than the smell of moldy cheese that stinks like vomit!

I will be working 10pm - 6am. With me being the raging insomniac that I am, nothing will suit me BETTER than this job! The big fat pay raise DOES help those hours a bit I must say! From now on this is what I will walk out of work to see every morning!

What a weekend!

My bestfriend Johanna has two kids, Vanessa (5) and Xavier (1).



Johanna is the GREATEST friend that anybody could ask for. I've never met somebody better than her as a friend. If it were not for her I would of died this semester dealing with all the drama and stress!



Pretty much I freaking LOVE her kids to death. I will let Vanessa do my hair even if she pulls out huge chunks of my hair in the process! She has the most grown-up attitude that I have ever seen/heard from a 5-year-old. And this girl, GORGEOUS.



My future hubby, Xavier gave all of us a huge scare. Saturday night he fell to the ground and had a seizure. To make a long story short he was life flighted to Salt Lake to Primary Children's Hospital in Salt Lake City. Johanna had me go get Vanessa and stay with her the night. I was in tears, this little man is hilarious. He was released Sunday afternoon and that night he had another seizure. He has to have several tests done and will hopefully find out what's going on. But in the mean time please, PLEASE pray for Xavier Torres.



They are so freaking cute...

The Pope in America

This puts Batman's batmobile to shame, the Associated Press called this car the "popemobile" ... I know what you're thinking, you want one.



Pope Benedict XVI waves from the popemobile as he drives in front of the White House in Washington, April 16, 2008

Jamba Juice!

We just started production of Jamba Juice's bottled smoothies... they are SOOOOO good!
It'll be about 6 months before their available to the public but let me tell you... I got the hook up.



Pretty much stole 3 bottles off the line and stuffed them in my pockets!
hahaha!



It talks to me ... it says "Drink me all up cause I love you!"

Boyfriend

Gotta new man...

He's been in my life for over 3 years, been there for me, let me cry hard into him when I'm sad, is always there, never leaves my side when I need him. He never talks back, he never is rude, he is always soft and ALWAYS wants to cuddle.

His name is Rupert... my teddy bear that William gave me when we were dating, haha.

Illusion?

I was reading about how American Airlines has returned flights back to normal and this picture was attached to the article. Does anybody else find this picture kinda weird??? Is this girl incredibly short or is the luggage incredibly BIG?

Manasvi Tyagi, 4, of Delhi, India holds on to a bag by the American Airlines ticket counter at O'Hare International Airport in Chicago, Friday, April 11, 2008. American Airlines has canceled 595 more flights, bringing this week's total to nearly 3,100 as inspections continue on the wiring of its MD-80 jets.

(AP Photo/Paul Beaty)





I'm totally confused!

.my luck.

My luck and cell phones... those two things just DON'T go together well. While updating my blog at 12:30am I pulled my computer closer to me and didn't realize my power cord was wrapped around a burning candle. As I pulled it the candle went flying off the table and spilled the hot wax all over none other than my 2 month old cell phone...

I'll be calling AT&T the minute their call centers open!
Thank GOODNESS I signed up for the $5/month Equipment Insurance PREMIUM Plan!


Wireless Phone Insurance protects against:
Loss or theft
Accidental physical or liquid damage*
Mechanical and electrical failure

*Includes power surge, physical or liquid damage

SURE DO HOPE HOT WAX CONSTITUTES AS "LIQUID"!
FU-LA-LA-LA-LA!!!

my previous layout... oh it was so very cute however too many headaches... i changed it, and I'll be fixing this one up shortly. I KNOW you're excited.

General Conference

This General Conference was awesome... I can't stop laughing at President Monson's talk about his wife!

"Don't let your Dad touch the microwave (COMMA!), dishwasher, dryer ....."

So I splurged and went all out on food for everybody and we had a hearty breakfast/snack/lunch for Conference. It was fun we had an open door and people came in with blankets and pillows and watched conference with Jeni (my roommate) and I.

For the morning session we had a HUGE plate of sausages, almond poppyseed muffins, blueberry muffins, bacon, hard boiled eggs, banana's, oranges's, white powdered donuts, orange juice... oh it was scrumptious!



My Mom would be SO proud of me...



The Second session of conference we had pizza and Nerds and Gobstoppers, white cheddar popcorn, Ande's mint brownies (YUM), banana's and oranges. Oh it was good stuff....



This is Melissa and Jen **ATTEMPTING** to be reverent. Look you'd think Melissa was pay attention with her little notebook, how deceiving!



Kaylon will show up for a 4th, maybe 5th home teaching lesson for the month if he knows we have food ready... he ALWAYS has 100% on his home teaching...



Jared here... ah I love him. Walks in, picks up the plates of brownies and a fork and starts eating them in his sexy mexican poncho... he's in the process of growing a handle bar mustache, he is running a marathon in a couple months from Logan to Park City.... YES he is crazy.



This is Melissa and Jen spying on our neighbor who just got engaged. The poor girl was out in the parking lot with her finace. Melissa is going on a mission to Albania and is currently living her dating life vicariously through other people.... so she gawks at them out the window. And Jen... well she just needed to "live in the moment" as one of the speakers said in conference today.

YOPlus Digestive

So tonight at work I worked in yogurt (shred is down currently... no orders).
In August we picked up Yoplait and Dannon as customers and just got a brand new addition to the plant with state of the art machines. Well we are the only place in the world making the new Yoplait YoPlus Digestive. It's yogurt with extra fiber in it to yah know... make you poop! Well yogurt you can't exactly rework if the package is bad so we just throw it away. Well, every bad yogurt I was so excited to eat because it was the new blackberry pomegranate flavor! Let's just say, it's probablly not a WISE idea eating, oh say 20 cups during an 8-hour shift!

I have never driven home so fast before from work... I was DYING!
Pretty sure I'm going to be "regular" for QUITE a while!

OHHH... we just started making these a couple days ago... Dannon Frusion's. It's pretty much a smoothie in a bottle that is UNREAL yummy!!!!

LOOK FOR THEM AND TRY PINA COLDA BLEND

Everybody needs a little humor...

Please click to view larger...

Expectations and Accomplishments

So I have been meeting the past month with an awesome counselor named Tricia through LDS Family Services. The past school year has been a LITTLE too much to handle! Not only with school but with all aspects of life. Kinda like whoa!

Anyways! Tricia told me to write down my expectations I have for myself. Well I thought, "Yeah no problem piece of cake!" HA that was until I actually started to write them down. HAVE YOU EVER DONE THIS! My expectations I have of myself, and how I was living ... well you would of thought they were polar opposites. Tricia told me how amazed every single person is who does this. THEN... every night before you go to sleep, grab a sticky note and write down your expectations for the day tomorrow. Even if it's your to-do list, write them down too! It's been a major change for me, I get so so so so so much more done in my day.

An example of mine are...

• I expect myself to get up and shower and get dressed by 8am on M,W,F
  (I don't have class until 1:30pm.... yet I NEVER get any homework done on M,W,F... my pillow and I FIGHT till around 11am when it wins...haha)
  
  
• I expect myself to read my scriptures before I leave for work today.
  

It's kind of funny how through out the day all I can think about is my expectations of myself. Then at night after I finish writing my expectations, I write what I'm proud of....

• I'm so proud that you have been reading your scriptures every single day.

• I'm so proud of you that you got out of your PJ's by 8am today!

I know it sounds totally childish, but it's helping!! I'm not as stressed*!
(*ok the stress part's maybe a little bit of a stretch. I still feel stressed but I feel like I can handle it more now!)

Just entertain me and do it tonight. List out your expectations -- and tomorrow keep it in your wallet so every time you use your credit/debit card you see your expectations. Let me know if it helped you at all.... I'm curious if it's just me!

Easter Dinner

If you were lucky enough to be my roommate, you would of woken up to sugar loaded packed easter basket! From yours truly... ME!


Complete with a chicken pooping easter egg gum balls dispenser... jealous? Yeah I know.






Come on over ... we're having a Out of State Easter Dinner for people who are not from Utah and are one of the 9 people it feels like, left in Logan for Easter.

5pm in my apartment, Nottingham #4.

Sara's making garlic rosemary mashed taters and apple crisp with vanilla ice cream... I'm cooking a ham and making a salad. I'll have some really good Crumb Brothers bread. Kels is bringing Sparking Cider... it's gonna be grub.

And yes... you better believe we'll be dyin easter eggs tonight...

Ok Sam I get it... I need to come down and visit!!!!

I will! I just don't know when. School and work get really jealous of each other and so they like to spend AS much time as possible with me not allowing to really get away. You think kids are needy, school and work... daaaaang, they are just about the same minus the diapers that come with kids! Both keep you up all night, stress you out durin the day, and consume every ounce of your time, and make you poorer than before!

I gotta write a paper real fast and it's 1am then it's bedtime!

ohhhh I LOVE my life.

(and yes Sam my reaction to that picture was totally all about you... SOOOOO cute! HAHA)

spring break...

Alki Beach, WA

(click to enlarge, it's gorgeous bigger!)

I went home to Seattle for a whole week. I can't remember the last time I went home for that long. It was so incredible fabulous. I had a weeks paid vacation so I used it for Spring Break.

I will post pic's and everything more after work.

It was the vacation that was LONG overdue. I had a blast!

Dark dark brown!

I'll keep it short let's just say it took 3 boxes of hair dye later to get my hair from orange to what our original goal was... dark brown.

Here I got starting in on Shasta's highlights...



Oh boy I actually trusted Shasta at this point in time...



This is a hot look for 2008, I think I'm gonna try and make it last... hahah



After forever and ever we finally got a our hair colors fabulously perfect! We're the same color!



In the mean time, we decorated my other roommate's room, Kira! You couldn't even walk in there.



The final outcome...



Oh... and Shasta picked out a new purse for me... hahha