Painting! Finished!

I decided to paint my apartment as a surprise for my roommates. Let's just say it was a task, but it is finally finished. (And Branda if you are reading this.....SURPRISE!)

After moving the couch, this is what I found, a crumbling wall. We were not allowed to paint this wall, because it is so damaged. This is just the base board, but the entire wall is all crumbly. So when I informed maintenance, they told me oh its fine, no big deal, just put the couch in front of it and no one will notice! I am still trying to get it properly repaired. So far just some spackle to cover the big holes, no paint, no replacement of dry wall or anything. I will keep you updated.

Okay so a confession. I came up with the entire design and concept of this room. I however did little of the painting. Only about 5%. My friend painted the rest. He carried out my vision. Thank you!

Full room shot. I decided on the color scheme of gray, white, and red to match the black leather couches. Looks pretty good.

This wall has stripes, red border, and red flowers. I painted the border. :)

Wall, all gray and border, with metal flowers in the center.

Window with curtain.

This wall is filled with black and white photos that I took.

Frames:$20. Photos:$4. A semester of looking at something other than a white wall: priceless.

More stripes. And border.

Bridal Veil Falls

I went to Bridal Veil Falls. It is one of the spots that reminds me of home. It is all green and there is a river that runs right by this water fall that looks and smells just like the American River.



My roommate Devin and my soon-to-be roommate Lindsey and I standing in front of the waterfall.

Devin Comes to Visit and Salt Lake City The 2nd time

Well my dearest room mate Devin from California decided to come visit me last weekend. It was great. She brought her friend Lindsey who just got baptized 5 days before they came. She has never even been to Utah, so we took her to Salt Lake City, you know to show her the sights and history and all. Needless to say, I am a lifetime member of the LDS church and I learned quite a bit on this day. The church is phenomenal and ever growing and always updating and changing. Well here are some of the highlights.

Okay so I have never been to temple square on a weekday. We went on a Friday and little did you know the church office building was open and you can go up to the top on this observation deck (about 30 stories up) and look down on the city. It was the prettiest day and the greatest things ever. It was one of those "cross this off of my life list" type of things, and for the rest of the day, I could not stop smiling.

On the left is the top of the conference center with its gardens.

Looking out into the west. If you squint really hard you can see California. ;)

The Salt Lake Temple with all its beauty. We counted 5 brides that were on the grounds that day.

A straight down shot, it was kind of scary.

Looking out into the East. Notice the grid of the city.

Here is the capital building.

A different angle of the temple.

Blue skies.

I love how the buildings in temple square all have revolving doors. This is in the Joseph Smith Building just after lunch. I can hardly contain myself.

They make me feel important. Like I am in New York City or something.

Here we are. Looking just like tourists. Devin is on the left. Lindsey in the middle. Me on the right. I can't wait for them to both come live with me in the fall. Just 7 more weeks (not that I'm counting or anything).

Salt Lake City The 1st Time

Well I went on an adventure with a few friends. The purpose of the trip was to pick up my friend's brother from the airport, but then we ended up staying in salt lake for 8 hours. We drove around the University of Utah, went to the church history museum, temple grounds, tabernacle, ate at the Lion House Restaurant, visited the capitol, memorial park, and I finally got to see the Joseph Smith that came out about 5 years ago. What a great movie. They are making a new movie about the Mormon Battalion to show in the San Diego Museum, a kid in my ward is in it. So hopefully one day we can go to the museum and watch it. Also the church just opened their Church History Library. We stumbled upon it and took a tour of the open house.. It was amazing. It holds all of these church artifacts and records. It took 4 years to build and 15 years of planning to complete. President Monson just dedicated it on the 20th. It was really neat. I got to go in an underground vault that is freezing, but the temperature helps things to not deteriorate. They had this little slide, that held the entire Bible on it. You could read it with a microscope. I went in a room that held all of the patriarchal blessings, and I was thinking to myself, hey my blessing is in here somewhere. It was a good experience.

Here are some photos from the trip.

So the first thing we did was go to memorial park, which is behind the capital building. It was a very beautiful day.

This is the sun setting on our way out of the city.

Memorial park from up high.

This is a river we found. It reminded me of home.

This is a buddhist chapel in the memorial park. Its kind of small but looks pretty cool.

A memorial plague in the shape of utah.

I like Pearl Harbor and all the history there, so I took a photo of this memorial plaque.

Another memorial stone. I am pretty sure that there was a memorial for all of the wars here. It was pretty cool.

Capital building. It is bigger than I remember, much bigger than the Sacramento Capital. Which is funny because California is bigger and has more people.

Fountains in front of the Arts Center in Salt Lake. It is where the Utah Symphony plays.

My favorite photo from that day. The temple is beautiful.

Unfortunately, half of the grounds are blocked off due to the construction.

So we didn't get to look at all of the sides.

Us in front of the reflection pond. This picture made me realize that I really am pretty small. Even my friend's 16 year old brother is bigger than me!

4th and Final Phase: The Giant Cupcake

My friend Susan wants to be a chef. She is an amazing cook and decided to create this great big cupcake just for me and my birthday. :)

Here it is in all its glory!

This is me holding it. It is as big as my head.

this is me playing with the skip it we bought together.

Here is Susan herself. Enjoying the delicious cake made from scratch.

This is Krista, Me, and Eddie. All people who enjoyed the cake.

Another day that I will never forget. :)

Phase 2: Miscellaneous Afternoon

So on the morning of my birthday there wasn't much to do.

So this is what happened.

I went to bowling class. I bowled an 89.(not my best). I bowled a strike one handed while I was talking to my mom on the phone. :)

Next I went for a ride in my friend Matt's mustang. We were just running some errands, nothing too thrilling.

Then finally that night, I saw this sign that said Jazz on it. My dad has always called me that, so I took a picture.

I miss you family. It was my first birthday away from you!

Phase 3:Taylor Swift Concert

I am a big Taylor Swift fan and what do you know she was coming to Salt Lake on my birthday. So I went. I had never been to a concert before. Let's just say it was spectacular.

This is me in front of her tour bus.

My friend Natalie came along for the ride, and boy did we have fun. We sat next to a little 4 year old girl who screamed louder than I did, and knew all the words to all of the songs.

Here we are afterwards in front of the equipment truck.

Taylor Swift pretending to be a band geek for the song "We Belong Together"

These are the only good photos I have. All of the others of her were blurry. Oh well I will always remember this night, whether I have pictures or not.

My Birthday Phase 1: Casino Party

So the first phase of my 21st birthday was a casino themed party. My friends wanted to take me to Las Vegas, but instead they brought Las Vegas to me. It was a great time. We played poker and roulette. We had all sorts of fake alcoholic drinks and a build your own sundae bar.

Here are just a few photos from that night.

My friend Stephanie from Sacramento just had a baby recently and she was able to come to the party. It was the first time that I had seen her.

These are some of the friends I have made here in Provo. We are all gathered around the poker table. Matt was the poker dealer all night long and taught us how to play.

These are my work buddies. We are friends on the job and off.

This is my friend Michelle. She was the Bartender at the party.

Here I am with my cake that is shaped like a poker chip.

Let's just say this evening was a very memorable one. I was able to spend time with new and old friends. Thanks for celebrating this day with me!

P-Town Boys Are Amazing!

This is a tribute to all you boys in Provo, Utah! (most who are not even from here)

For the past few days, I have been realizing what an amazing life I am living. And all of the amazing people that surround me. Ever since Spring Term began I have been completely out numbered by males. Its great and they are great to me. Just a small list of all of the things they do for me: pay for meals, give me rides (i don't have a car), visit me at work, visit me at school, open car doors, open business doors, sit next to me at church, sit next to me at institute, help with homework, play frisbee with me, hike with me, tell me to wear my seatbelt, let me ride in the front, watch chick flicks, turn off shows they know that I hate and watch something else instead, walk to school with me, and the list goes on and on. 

Thanks for your kind deeds and respect for me! You are wonderful!