The Start of Summer

Sunset

We made it to Cali this year, the whole fam damily!! There was a total of 12 of us! Can you believe that? What a full house! It was so much fun, we stayed at New Port Beach and laid out at the pool almost every day, went to Disneyland and a few slipped over to California Adventure. It was definitely a great trip. Kj was so good on the car ride, he never even cried. Just sat in the back with KT and I and just watched and slept.

Got the Skull Candy and a grape going on

I moved my things to St. George on our way to California, so on the way back, I would be dropped off and the rest would carry on without me. I will surely miss KJ! And he is leaving me soon, so that doesn't make it easier. It should be that I should be spending as much time with him as I can before he leaves, but life isn't fair. :(I am enjoying my summer so far. I spent Memorial Day with Tim and Kaysie and the kids. It was so much fun! We went swimming and had a bbq and I just took pictures all night long. It was great! The next day, Chase had a baseball game. It is so fun to watch him play. Now Kaysie can have some pretty good pictures of him playing. He had another one on Saturday and I believe one more. I am grateful for Tim and Kaysie and I love having them here with me. I went to dinner at their house on Sunday, I think I need to do that every Sunday. Not only for a free meal, but since I must keep up with my life as a college student, I hope to I don't too busy, but it will be a for sure thing to see them at least once a week. They are great college parents! Love you guys!

Jaxon and I chillin on the hammock on Memorial Day

As far as school goes, I came down to get my associates. Well, I talked to a counselor, got all my graduation papers filled out and turns out I don't have to drop a load on tuition for 2 lousy credits. I never transferred my BYUH credit because I did not think they would take it because SLCC did not. But they assured me it would count. So that covers my 2 credits that I need. So now I am just looking for a job and will graduate in July! 3 colleges in 2 years has really paid off.

St. George Temple

Now for the good part. I have been hanging out a lot with one of my old friends Adaiza. I met her when I was first down here, and we live in the same apartment complex, which is nice. She has introduced me to lots of new people. She is a sweet girl. I attended my ward for the first time on Sunday, and it was great! It looks like a fun ward! For FHE last night, we had a speedy festia. We ate some great food and then after wards did some speed dating. There were more guys than girls, that's surprise. So I usually had about 2 or 3 guys at one time. During one of them, I found out a kid served his mission in Hawaii and just got back in December, when I got back. So we talked after it was over, his name is Paul. He is from St. George, 21, as stated before an RM. Well any way, he got my number and a few of us went and played murder in the dark. It was pretty fun. Paul and I talked till around 2 in the morning. He is so cute, not just in looks but the things he says. We are going to see each other today, not sure what we are going to do, but I can't wait. He is a stud. I actually saw him at church on Sunday and thought he was cute from the get go and then sat next to him and his friends at the Fireside on Sunday, but didn't talk to him.
Guess ya'll have to wait prob another month to find out what happens with this Paul kid. :)

Count Down...& KJ

The count down begins....2 days left of work...5-6 days until I move to St. George...8 days until I leave for California....11 days until my birthday....18 days until school starts...ooh life is just coming at me so fast! I don't know how I pull this off as well as my weight. Spring...well I am still waiting for the day that it comes. But once I am in St George, I guess my waiting will have come to an end. Praise the Heavens! I need some sun, I am starting to look like Kyle! I haven't been able to really go bike riding and put my bike and legs of mine to use! Soon enough.
School ended, I was one of the only 3 in my class to receive an A, I got a 46/50 on my final test, the 2nd highest grade on it. I don't know what everyone else's problem was, I zipped through that test so fast, I pretended like I wasn't done until someone else finally finished. It has been really nice to finally get some days to sleep in before I have to go into work.As for the nephew...well we have been training him quit well. He loves Rockstars, such a Mikkelson thing. He is getting so BIG! Takes after me. I love to photograph him, but sometimes it can be a little bit difficult, when I need the light, so I cant have a faster shutter speed, and so then he moves and makes the pictures blurry. He shall learn very quickly if its up to me. If no can tell...this picture below is such a kyle look. :) ...do you think I Love cute little KJ????

Always Been A Rebel

I always wanted to go back to St. George, I just didn't know how it would happen. With my new job on hand, how could I just up and leave. After my photography class at SLCC, I had no idea what I was going to do. My thoughts were consumed by this very decision making everyday. School ends on Monday, what was I to do next. I knew I needed to finish my Associates Degree, so that was my first step. I went and talked to a SLCC counselor to see what classes were left for me to take in order to graduate by the end of the summer. I was told I needed to take 12 credits, one of them an elective, a humanities, history, and some other boring subject. School would start May 17th, a few days before I left for California and end August 3rd. I was also informed that there were either 8 week classes or 11 week classes. With the load that I would need to take, it would be better to take the 11 week course, or else it would feel like I was taking 8 classes. That does not sound like a fun summer! I took humanities and history down at Dixie, but because I did not pass them with a C or above, they were not transferred to SLCC. What a bummer because I hated those classes with a passion! I wasn't very happy after I left the counselors office. Not what I wanted to hear. On my way home, I was putting the brain of mine to great use. I remembered I still had my counselors number from Dixie, and I just wanted to know what classes I had left if I decided to graduate from there. I received an email the next stating that I currently had 55 credits. I would need to transfer my photography credit over, which would give me 58 credits, and I then would need TWO (2) credits to graduate to make 60 credits total. I did a little research, and turned out school starts June 1st, a day after I return home from California, and ends July 23rd. That was it, my decision was made. I have it all figured out. I am taking a gym glass, in which all I have to do is clock in whenever I work out and a yoga class, 2x a week. NO stress, NO homework. I still get a summer! I quickly contacted a few friends to find a place to live. I am still waiting to hear back from a friend that lives in these nice apartments with 2 pools and a gym. I contacted another friend to hook me up with a job at the fitness center. It would do for now, until I found a better job. I am moving in two weeks! I am so excited and can't wait to be living on my own once more. To get a social life and be back in the place where I became a REBEL!

More BABY KJ

As you can tell, I love taking pictures of KJ, how could you not? He is just so stinkin cute! That pretty much sums up my life. Except for I finally found a bike, and now that it is getting warm outside, I like to go on bike rides. Work is still work and I only have 3 more classes of my photography class and then its SUMMER! (sort of) We are officially moved into the house, which is so great. I finally have my bed back. And somewhere other than the hallway to put my clothes.
Still working around 32 hours a week.....not exactly a life.
I know this is probably the mother's job, but since I have all the pictures on my computer and she doesn't seem to be doing it, I will! (not like anyone looks at my blog)

S~P~R~I~N~G and stil snow :(

BABY KJ!



Counting down the school days begins...1 Month, 4 weeks, 9 classes. It really isn't as bad as I make it sound, photography is fun and I like learning new things that will help me out in my future in photography. Last week we got to learn how to develop pictures in the dark room. It is pretty interesting if you ask me. I have however, been slacking a little bit in that class with my homework.
Other than school, my life is a bliss. I love my little KJ to death, he is my favoritist nephew! And I love capturing pictures of him, for you never know what kinds of faces and expressions he is going to pull. He does however tend to throw up on my from time to time. I swear its like i have this piece of paper stapled to my face saying: Keith, I like when you throw up all over me, its not a big deal. My clothes don't matter. Please, I would prefer if you threw up on me today, it would really make my day. Or something similiar to that. But whatever that stupid sign says, I love him all the same.
Still not in the house yet, but it is coming along great! We have a couch!! Woo-hoo!! Something to sit on that I wont break or bend. This past weekend, Katie, mom, Jus, Jackson, and I had a sleepover on that massive couch. Surprisingly we all fit! Oh and Nilly too. On top of that, we got a huge screen T.V. that we were having a marathon of movies. Lots of fun!
About a week in a half ago, I started hanging out with this kid named Cody. He is my sisters brother-in laws wifes cousin. Try saying that 5 times. They brought him over to meet him, for I have known of him for about a year now, when he returned hom from his mission and she has been wanting to set me up with him ever since. In which I never declined, just never got around to it. Anyway, not the point. We have talked every day since and have hung out a few times in betweeen. He is a really sweat and nice kid. Only time will tell what happens next.
As for the other half of my life, work, it is fine. I am thinking of dropping down to 4 days a week, instead of the 5 that I am currently at right now. We'll see.
I am sick of this snow! So ready for S~P~R~I~N~G!!

Snow GO away! Spring COME this way!

Not much has happened in the last month. I work, I go to school, and I sleep. That pretty much sums up my life. This last week, I had spring break. It nice to sleep in a few days, but other than that, it was like any old week, I worked. I needed a break and since it was still my spring break, I headed off to St. George to relive the olden days of when I once lived there. It was a great weekend filled with fun and lots of eating and laughter with my thirty year old parents and their kids. I took lots of fun pictures of Chase at his first soccer game as well as the temple. I am getting better at taking pictures and am enjoying it so much!
I have come to the conclusion that I am going to continue working 33 hours a week until the end of the summer, get as much dough as I can, and then move back to St George, a small town that holds all of my secrets and memories, that is holding them on a fishing line until I catch on and get my butt down there.
It may be spring, but it sure doesn't look like it when their is snow on the ground, another advantage of St. George, great weather!
I was very very disappointed that my family had put all of their handprints in the cement while I was at work, and unaware of their doings. Just one more thing to add to make me feel left out and unwanted. So like the spoiled girl that I am(not as bad as Katie) I had my own little spot, with my dog Mercedes, and we put our paw prints on the drive way. I feel a little more important now.

Workaholic, Paparazzi, & Bookworm

I have been home from Hawaii for over a little 2 months now. Sure there are things I miss about it, but I am super glad that I am home. I got a job working at a Credit Union and have been there since the beginning of January. I work so much now, that I don't know what I did when I didn't have a job. I am also enrolled in a photography class at SLCC, and I absolutely love it! I am learning so much about photography as well as my camera. I love taking pictures of the ones I love as well as the scenery around me. It is so beautiful! One thing I wish I had my camera in Hawaii, so I could've captured beautiful scenes that were all around me. Guess I'll have to take a vacation soon! The fam, or most of them, went and visited Tim and Kaysie in St. George over Valentines Day and I want to move back. I don't know when and I don't know how, but sooner or later, I am going to move back. Tim and Kaysie, you better find me a sweet job, a sweet ride, and a sweet man.
I also have been reading a lot lately, which is not normal. I never read. It all started with 'Dear John' by Nicholas Sparks, and then it went down hill from there. Then I read 'The Last Song' by Nicholas, in which is becoming a movie with my one and only favorite, Miley Cyrus. So of course I read that. Then 'My Sister's Keeper,' and I am continuing to read the other books by Nicholas Sparks like the 'Notebook' and 'Message in A Bottle'. I am really enjoying reading now, especially books with a love story to it.

13 Days...

Time is not going by fast enough! I know 13 days does not seem like much, but to me, it is forever and a light year away! I am trying to enjoy Hawaii while it lasts, but I can not seem to get around that. And it gets worse everytime I talk to my family through skyping. My days do not go by fast. There is not enough to do to fill my time.
I miss the Christmas spirit. It does not feel like Christmas here when it is 80 degree weather. It looks funny when I see Christmas lights on houses. I just want to be home watching Christmas movies, listening to Christmas music, doing Christmas puzzles, cuddled up in a blanket, sweats, sweatshirt, long socks, on the couch, drinking hot chocolate.

No Place Like Home

Well 2 1/2 weeks left of Hawaii, and then I am out. However, it doesn't seem to come fast enough. I am sick of school, I have no desire or motivation to go anymore. Or even try for that matter of fact. I miss home, I miss my family, as odd as this is, I miss the cold. I've learned a lot being out here, not just in experiences, but of myself as well. I am grateful to have a break from school for Thanksgiving. However, Thanksgiving wont be the same, first Thanksgiving with my family. I thought living in Hawaii was supposed to be fun...so much for that. I will miss the sunrises, sunsets, and the beauty around me.
Last week, Justin and I took off on the bike. I went as far away from Laie as possible. Our first stop was Kailua Bay, one of the most beautiful beaches there is. We laid out for a good hour, however, it was a little windy that day, and it was like someone tried to bury us in the sand. After we brushed off a little bit, we were off. All the while driving along side of the beach. It was so beautiful and so many new sites to see. We stopped a few places, just to see the site and take in the beauty around us. Also for my butt to take a break and get some air. We were gone for a few good 6 hours or so.
Monday was Justin's birthday. I had a test that day, in which I would rather not mention how it went. But after that, we hopped on the bike and rode off into the cloudy weather. Headphones in, loud enough to block out the noise of the wind blowing past my ears. Our first stop: Waikiki Beach. Sun was out, and we fell asleep on the beach for about 2 hours. I was so tired, especially only getting 4 hours of sleep, attempting to study for my biology test. Since it was Justin's birthday, I was up to anything he wanted to do. So we stopped at a Walgreens, grabbed the usual 4 24 oz rockstars with some candy to go along with it for our movie: New Moon. It was a lot better then I expected. Then we enjoyed a smoothie at Jamba Juice. It was a beautiful night and a nice ride home. Thanks for treating Justin and I on his birthday mom!
Yesterday, I didn't go to school....what a surprise. Instead went out with some friends to Halewia where they surfed. There was not enough boards and I was okay with that, so I laid out and got some good sun! It was very peaceful and relaxing. After we ate some acai and watched the sunset. Once again, so beautiful.
Today was a little harder. No matter what kinds of things I do, for a temporary time, life is good. And then I am always brought back to wanting to come home. I am at the point to where I only want to hang out with a select few. I am not a very nice person. I just want to be a hermit crab and not talk to anyone. I am to the point to where I just want to shut my phone off, and then will have an excuse to why I didnt answer my phone, because I didnt know anyone called or texted me. I know this is not what I should be doing, especially if I have 19 days left, and I might not see these people for a long time, but at this point, I don't care. The only thing that is on my mind, is going home and my family. I miss the laughs, the memories, and just hanging out. I miss the christmas spirit. Because the weather is still like summer, it does not look right when I see christmas lights. It cant be christmas without cold weather and bundled up in front of the fire place, or hot showers, or wearing sweatshirts and sweats with socks up to my knees.
I am just wanting what I don't have. And right now, that is Utah, a place I like to call HOME!

Sunsets, Skydiving, Savvi, & Sexy Boys

It's been another long while since I have updated this, or even checked it for the matter of fact. I have now been in school for about a month in a half, and have a month in a half left! Also, I have almost been in Hawaii for 2 whole months. It was really hard at first to find a group of friends that I fit in with, or even to make friends. But now I feel like I am making them left and right. Once I found them though, there was no separating us! It all started when I got a job reffing intramurals with my brother. There I found my first best friend, Tefini. Our first adventure together was to Kaneohe. On our way home on the bus, there was a girl that looked familiar. Her name is Amber too. I asked her if I knew her and we started talking. She had to go to the bathroom so bad. Once we got off at our stop, we surrounded her so she could go to the bathroom. I was laughing really hard. Couple days later, I went to a movie with Amber. That night was the night I met my long lost cousin, Veronica. Veronica and I are now joined at the hip. She is the best cook I know, and I want to learn to cook like her for when I get married.
My roommate from last year at Dixie, Savvi, came out to visit. It was so much fun and we did a ton of stuff! We ate at all the good places such as Hukilua Cafe, Kava Roots, Teds Bakery, and Halewia Eats. Not only did we do that, we experience many great things! The first night that she was here, we climbed the Stairway to Heaven! Hardest hike I have ever been on. It is about an hour and ten minutes of just climbing stairs! Not only that, but comine the humidity of Hawaii and you are sweating just as if you were in a suana! Drenched to the core! Thank goodness we started at 4 in the morning. We also adventured to the Dole Plantation and got a pineapple sorbet, which was so delicious! And then the last day that she was here, got a little group together and went skydiving! So much freakin fun! I was sad to see her leave, for it seemed that she lived her. I am grateful she came!

As of the boy situation, there are 2 really nice and cute boys that have caught my attention. Ones name is Todd, he is in one of my classes, very tall, on the soccer team, an RM, and 23. He is from Conneticut, with brown shaggy hair. The other one, Kevin, I work with, he is a very tanned boy, from California, dark brown hair, 22, RM, however he is not all that tall. But still is way fun to hang out with. This past weekend, we stayed the night on a beach name Lanikia, and then the next morning went on a beautiful hike to Maunawili Falls.

Life is getting so much better here, I love it. However, that does not dismiss the fact that I still miss my family. I miss my sister getting fat and will be missing seeing my nephew to come. I miss all of the fat jokes that are said throughout the day. I miss my little nieces Makayla and Sierra. I miss my friends. I do not miss the cold however. And that is why I am way excited to come home in December!

My Vacation from a Vacation

Now I know what you are thinking....good thing it is called the Big Island, or how else would I be able to go there? The next thing you(Tim) are probably thinking is how did I get there? I will tell you. I jumped on plane with my new acquaintances; Ted and David. Whom I had only met a few days earlier. The purpose of this trip was to go to the Kona Temple and to see Lava from the Volcano. Both were accomplished. Getting to the point now.
The temple was great! Although, it took me an hour for baptisms, and my friends hadn't even started their session yet. So I had to wait for 2 more hours for them to be done. It was 9 o'clock and I hadn't eaten since 11 o'clock! I was starvin marvin! The next day, we ended up renting a car, which came to be of very good use, for the Island was huge, we had so much to accomplish and there was no way we would be able to do all we wanted to do with hitch hiking! We explored the black sand beach, which was pretty cool I might say. Then we headed off to a National Park and hiked for 2 hours in a big circle. We went through a rainforest and that was pretty cool! Then we went inside a cave, and it was really really dark! That's okay, it came in handy when I started kissing a boy. After our long hike, we just wanted to relax. So we found some swimming area which turned out to be really nasty. Their were a lot of homeless looking people who go there everyday, in other words, that is their bath tub! We were in and out very fast! The volcano was our next destination. We were very disappointed when we got there, for we thought we would be seeing lava...wrongo! This is what we could see, from about a mile or so away.
After being disappointed, we decided we would come back the next day to hike to the lava. That is just what we did. No one was there, but we still had to be sneaky about it. It was probably about a 30 minute hike. As we were getting closer, it was getting a little more intense, adrenaline rushing and everything. Helicopters were flying over us, doing their tours. Those losers paid hudreds of bucks to see the lava, when we paid nothing and saw it! We were really excited and can't believe that our brilliant plan had actually worked. Now it was all fun and games from there on out.
We went and saw a place called Rainbow Falls, thinking we would be able to swim, but that was a lost cause. Keep this in mind, we would have seen a lot more places, but because the Island is so big, we were in the car most of the time, or at least half of the time. We went and saw another waterfall place, that was really cool! And on our way back towards the airport, we went through the mountains, where the snow is located. It was freezing outside! You would never believe it to be cold in Hawaii, but there is actual snow on the Big Island. Who would've thunk? Not Timmy.
On the day of our departure, it was a sad day. For we knew that we would be starting school soon. We still wanted to adventure out.
It is amazing what 4 days can to do 3 acquaintances, (well technically 2 of them were already friends, I was the new one) after spending 24/7 with those boys, I know everything about them (literally) and we are now great friends and are a newly put together club called HCAC: Honolulu County Adventure Club.

ALOHA!!

Well, I finally it! After the one hell of a summer, an hour flight to Seattle, a 15 hour lay over, and another 6 hour flight. My cute new friends who have replaced my old college parents, (since they also replaced me too :( ) picked me up at the airport and stuffed me in their car. Since it was Sunday, they had church, while I chilled at their home. Later that night we ate at the cafe. Afterwards, I decided to go meet some kids. So I walked up to 2 boys and and told them I just moved here and if they were doing anything tonight. So I ended up just chilling with them all night long. They are about 6 of them who are way chill.
On Labor day, Erika, JJ, Bria, and I went to Sunset beach. It was a beautiful day outside! I got some sun! The water was fantastic! During all of this wonderful fun, I was in the process of finding a place. Well turns out, Erika's friend knew of someone who was not coming back and needed to sell her contract. So I jumped on it. It is a sick place on Laie Point, which means the Ocean is my backyard. It is called the A-Frame, in which I guess it is the place to be. (which I can tell why) I will be sharing a california king bed with someone, a nice big closet and bathroom. Their are about 5 other girls in this house. It makes me want to live here forever! The deck, is my favorite part! Just plop your bootch on a chair and listening to the waves crashing on the shore!
It is so gorgous! It is also about a ten minute walk from campus, which is the nice thing. Now I can work off all that fat. Tim, you should try it sometime. It's called exercise.
I am also coming to realize that I am not up to date with the time change. It's dark here at like 730ish, and I am totally thinking it's time to go to bed. It feels like 11 or so. I am about ready to go get ready for bed and just crash. My roommates would probably think I was crazy if I went to bed so early! My roommates are pretty chill, have only met two of them, but they look much much younger than they really are. They are 25 and 26. The other roommates are like 22, 24ish. And here I am, 19 year old innocent girl.

One Hell Of A SuMMer!

This summer, you might say, is not like the least in any way, like any summer I've had. To start off, my best friend went to a basic training camp until the end of August. Going from talking all night long, to not talking at all was a challenge itself. And then you can only imagine how much harder it got when I started having dreams that he came home! It was about 2 months into the summer when I received an unexpected phone call. It was my best friend! Now that he has his phone back, we get to talk every now and again!
I started my new job the beginning of June. I am watching a girl down the street from me, who is in a wheelchair, she can not walk. She is also blind and needs to relearn how to walk and talk again. She is very enjoyable to be around. So what I do is just watch her while her mom is at work, and walk her once or twice a day, go over her speech therapy, and do her muscle exercises with her. It has been nice to get to know her and even though she can not say much back to me, it's been nice to have someone there to talk to about my very exciting life!
About a month in half into my fantastic summer, I was sound asleep in my warm bed. It was about 4 in the morning, when I heard the smoke detectors go off. Now we have had many false alarms in our home, and so because of that, I was thinking this was just another one. So I grab nothing but the clothes on my back, and for some reason, not thinking I'm going to need it, I grab my 'life'. Aka my phone. I walk up the stairs just in time to see someone open the garage door, and that is where everything begins! Now you may be wondering what the heck did I see? I'll tell you what I saw: the reddest flames I've seen in my life that were about thirty feet in front of me. I grab a few dogs, take out that phone that for some reason I grabbed, and dial the number I was taught to never dial, unless it was an emergency. This was definitely an emergency. I try to be as calm as I can so that they can understand what is happening! My house is one fire! We run to the street, with no shoes on our feet, and watch the flames inside our garage grow bigger and bigger. Imagine to yourself one night you go to bed in your perfectly good house, and then sitting outside on the curb of your house, while it is going up in flames, all of your belongings inside, not knowing how much damage this fire is going to cause. Not something you never want to experience.
Now with all of that happening, there is a lot of things that must be replaced. Which means there is a lot of shopping to do. For any girl, that may be a dream come true, your next full time job: shopping. It may sound great, but it has it's drawbacks. Inventorying everything you have! I can barely even count all of the shoes I have, so how do you think I was going to remember everything in my room? So ever since June 17th, that has been my life; shopping and inventorying!
But that is only the beginning of my nightmares. One Sunday night, I go pick up my brother from the airport, as we drive home, he tells me all about his trip to New York. We get home, and seconds later, he is off on a ride on his baby: his motorcycle. About 5 minutes after he leaves, I receive a phone call I will never forget. It is my brother on the other line, trying to gasp for air, as he tells me he's been in an accident on his back. So I find out where he is, and run frantically downstairs to tell my older brother. We all jump in the car, leaving mom home and unaware, to drive to where he is. We know nothing, except for he hit a deer and he must be life flighted because they know something is wrong, for he is having a hard time breathing. As by now, my sister and her husband are at the house, informing my mother. We all meet at the U of U hospital where we have to wait about an hour to find out what's wrong and to see him. Talk about patience. At least we know he is alive, for now. The hour goes by so slowly as you can hear the ticking of every second pass. Finally we are able to see him and find out that he only cracked a few ribs and his big toe is broken. Hearing that news is such a relief, especially for the things that my family has been through. Just glad to know that he will be just fine!
Up until now, I have one month until I leave for Hawaii. With all of this happening over the summer, I was wishing every second that I was already there! Now that all the bad has been said, how about some good?
I went to Lake Powell with my family and it was great! It was very much needed for all of us! I also visited St. George a couple of times to get away and to hang out with my college friends! It was nice to get away and to remember what my first year of college was like and my wonderful friends! I also attended the Stadium of Fire with my dear friend, Hollie!
I have about 10 days left until I leave my family and head off to the beautiful islands of Laie! Where it will be time to settle down a little bit and get serious with school. It's going to be a tough semester, taking calculus, online biology, book of mormon, and a few leadership classes. But there is always plenty of room for fun! And especially for the beach! I can not wait!

Like Brother Like Sister
My Cute Roommates
Chase and Baby Ash
Nick, Michael, & Skylayr
My ROTC Buds