Jessie's Birthday

Thursday was Jessie's 23rd birthday. (I am a few days late in posting.) Megan and I had the responsibility to make the day fabulous for her. (It was a self-appointed responsibility.) That morning Meg and I went to the store and bought decorations. We then came home and while she was in the shower we decorated our apartment with Fiesta decorations. (The funny thing is our apartment was already decorated for halloween and instead of taking down those decorations, we just added the fiesta decorations to them.)

For lunch, we got a small group of people together and went to California Pizza Kitchen. It was Jessie, me, Litto, Megan and Emily. We had such a fun time just catching up and hanging out. We then made Emily take Jessie to run a few errands while Megan and I went to the store and bought some more decorations! =D

That afternoon we just hung out at our apartment. We listened to music, danced around our apartment, ate chips and homemade avocado salsa (so good!) and just hung out. We also started to prepare dinner because that evening we had all of our friends over to our apartment for a Fiesta!! We had tacos (that I made) and had a great time eating and talking and just hanging out with Jessie.

We also had a pinata. When Megan and I were at the party store we just couldn't resist that purchase. We also bought candy and stuffed the pinata full. It was so fun! For most of the day the pinata was a decoration but we did end up hitting it. We let Meriam go first because she's the youngest and because Jessie didn't want a turn. It was so fun and we ended up with lots of treats! =D

And then to top off the whole night, we went to the Haunted Forest and Psycho Manor in American Fork. It was so fun. We were split into about 3 small groups to go through the forest. Jessie, Nicole, Kevin, Brad, Katie and I were in the middle group. About half way through the forest the people in the first group (namely Abderrahim and Cody) started telling the "bad guys" that it was her birthday and when the next group came by to talk to Jessie. It was so funny! We were just walking through and this monster all of a sudden says "Is one of you named Jessie?" and then ran after her with a chainsaw. It was hilarious! Every single monster said it. And the best part was near the end a security guard guy said to us "Is there a Jessie in your group?" Jessie said it was her and asked if there was a problem and the security guy said "I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you to leave." We were all kind of standing there not knowing what to do, so Brad stepped up to the plate and asked why. The security guard guy said "Because I hear that your a big whimp!" HAHA!! It was so funny. We had such a good time and I hope Jessie had the best birthday ever. Megan and I tried to make it fabulous!

This is the picture of Meriam getting ready to hit the pinata. We had the blindfold and everything. Nothing but the best, right? =D
Her Meriam is getting ready to hit the pinata. The funny thing is, I just noticed that someone is laying on the ground in the background. It looks like they're getting ready to do a situp...
And here they are collecting their goods. Actually, we just picked up all the candy and put it in our halloween bucket in our apartment. Pinatas are much more fun when you're a kid!

Here is the decorated apartment. I really do love the halloween/birthday/fiesta mix of decorations. I think it gives it character!
Here is the whole birthday group...almost. I am the picture taker, Nicole is still at clinicals, Cody is running late, Litto was sick and went home and Cordell was still at school and Emily was at work. So this many people plus the 6 not pictured all helped celebrate with Jessie. Such good friends and such a fun day!
Jessie doesn't like regular cake so we bought cheesecake. Then, we forgot to do the candles until we had already dished up a few pieces so there was some cake missing for the birthday song, but it's the thought that counts!
Jessie and the fabulous birthday sign. Doesn't she look so cute? She LOVES birthdays and I hope we were able to make this one great!

Here she is with her sombrero. We bought it especially for her and made her wear it during the Fiesta. She was such a good sport and went along with everything!
We were just getting ready to enter the Psyco Manor. It was so fun! Nicole, Brad, Megan and Jamie were here too, but I'm not quite sure why they're not in the picture. We had such a blast!
Jessie and Litto at lunch. We had such a fun time and our waiter even brought Jessie a free ice cream sundae for her birthday. It was so delicious and she was so nice to share with the whole table!

And last but not least, here is the birthday girl in all her glory. Doesn't she look so cute? I love this picture and I love Jessie and I'm glad we were able to throw her a birthday bash. I hope it was fabulous and I hope she knows how much we love her! Happy Birthday Jessie!!

Mom's Birthday

Sunday October 12th was my mom's birthday. Her and dad were gone this weekend (he took her away for her birthday) and they got back Sunday afternoon. Jessie and I went out on Sunday afternoon and made lasagna for dinner. It was such a fun afternoon. We made dinner, played games, just caught up with eachother and of course opened presents.

Presents are funny to me, they are much different when you're older than when you're young. I got my mom a giftcard to Coldstone. I told her she should take my dad and then take me! =D Jessie gave her a little spa package and then also wrote her a poem and wrote the 10 reasons why she loves my mom. My dad gave her the weekend away and then also bought her this cute little candle set that he let her pick out at Gardner Village. She seemed to really have a good day and it was so fun just hanging out with my family! I have been so busy lately that the only person I see regularly is Jessie and that's only because I live with her. It was fun to just spend the day with my whole family!

I think this is a cute picture. My little (bigger than me) baby brother and our dog. Russell is so funny. He just got a job as a transport officer with Provo PD and is half way done with the police academy. He is such a good kid!

Russell and I got a little silly and decided to take some funny face pictures. I know, they're scary, right? I still think they're great though!

We finally (seriously after like 5 pictures) decided to take a serious picture. I think this picture is kind of funny, but I still like it.

And then we were right back to our crazy faces. I was in a very weird mood on Sunday. I really don't know why, but it was totally fun!

My dad was sick on Sunday, and I wasn't feeling well on Sunday, so our picture was not as jovial as it could have been. But I love my dad and I love any picture of me and him together.

Here is Jessie and Mom. We actually got her to take a "serious" picture, but not totally serious. Can't you see the sarcasm? I still think they're cute though. =D

And yet another picture with Jessie not making a very serious face, but it's the best one we had. I think this is a cute picture! I have the best family ever!

And here is a random picture of our dog Muffins. We have had her for so long and she is such a good dog. I really do miss not having her around the house (no pets in the apartment). Muffins totally loves me. She would always sleep on my bed and right outside my door. She is such a little protector!

And another picture of just Russell. I don't think he was too happy about having his picture taken but the good sport he is let me take it anyways.

Disease

For the past 2 weeks I have not felt very well. I have had a headache, a sore throat, I've been so tired, I've had a weird rash on my arms, I've ran a fever off-and-on. It's not been very fun, and it's not been going away. Today I finally was pushed to the limit and decided to go see the doctor. I called and made an appointment and went in this afternoon. I was thinking the doctor was going to say I had strep throat...not too bad, right? Well, the doctor did say I had strep throat...and MONO! :( I can't believe it. I had mono (mononucleosis) twice before, back when I was in high school, but I didn't even think that's what it could be. It makes sense now about why I've been so tired. Can't I ever just not be sick or have a normal person sickness?

The doctor gave me some antibiotics for the strep and told me to rest whenever I can to help with the mono. Oh, and to drink lots of fluids and wait for it to pass. So annoying!! So that's what I'll be doing the next few weeks...resting. Who has time for that?!?

Photo tag

A place I would like to visit:
I would really love to go back to Disneyland. I went with some great friends in April of this year and I have been so busy lately that I just want a break. And every time I think about taking a break, I think about going back to Disneyland. It really is the "Happiest Place On Earth"!

My Closet:
Don't be alarmed by how dirty it is. I have had to completley cram my closet full of stuff. One of the down sides to living in student housing is that there is NOT alot of space. I have a ton of stuff crammed into just a dresser and a closet. It's rough!

My Favorite Room:

I love my family/living room. Right when you walk into our apartment this is what you see. It is so comfy and just makes our house feel like a home. We spend ALOT of time in this room.

I also LOVE my bedroom. I spend a ton of time in here too. I just love having my own little quiet place, and in our apartment this is that space. It's mine and I love it. Don't be worried about the lack of stuff on my walls. I promise that if I took a picture from a different view you would see lots of stuff decorating my walls. =D

Self Portrait:

This was taken on my moms birthday. I don't really think I'm a huge fan of it, but I also tried not take 20 either. I figured I would take 1 and regardless of what it looked like I would still post it.

My Kitchen Sink:

This is actually pretty clean for our sink. We have a dishwasher that we finally got fixed and use quite a bit, but we are all so busy that we sometimes let our sink get pretty full before we load/unload our dishwasher.

My Laundry Room:

This is our apartment laundry room. This is the view of our dryers. At first I hated a shared laundry room, and even though it's still not my favorite, it is growing on me. I really do like being able to do all my loads of laundry at one time!

Here is another shot...this time of our washers. It really is a huge room! I still have yet to figure out how with all of these machines the people always seem to need the one my laundry is in. Just today I went in 10 minutes after my washers stopped to find 2 of my loads of clothes had been put on top of the washers. Grrr!

My "Master" Bathroom:

This is actually the bathroom I share with Megan. Jessie and Nicole share the one on the other side of our apartment. I like our little bathroom. The best part is that our sink/vanity/mirror is in our own room. It's much nicer getting ready in my room by myself and not having to fight for sink/mirror with Megan.

My Fridge:

Our fridge is NEVER this full! We are in desperate need of cleaning out our fridge. We do keep it pretty stocked though. With 4 of us with such different schedules we need our food, and at random times of the day/night. So we always keep something on hand!

My Freezer:
I figured nothing is interesting inside our freezer. We have ALOT of popsicles. So instead of the inside shot I took a picture of the outside. I decorated our apartment the other day for Halloween and had extra "Caution" tape left over, so naturally I put it on our freezer.My Favorite Shoes:
I just barely bought this pair of shoes and I LOVE them! I think they are so cute. I know, I know, they're kind of grandma-ish, but they're so comfy and so easy. I'm in love!
And just in case you didn't get enough of my shoes in the first picture, here is a second picture. Really, aren't they so cute? =D

"Eights" Tag

Since I'm at work right now (and so bored) I thought I would catch up on blogging. I read Carrie's blog and she had been tagged with the "eights" tag. Since I've read all the updated blogs and I'm still bored I figured I would put it on my blog and tag anyone who wants to do it or needs something to post! =D

8 SHOWS I LOVE TO WATCH

* Law & Order: SVU
* Grey's Anatomy
* KSL News (I'm a nerd, I know)
* Gilmore Girls
* The Mole (don't judge)
* America's Next Top Model
* Extreme Makeover: Home Edition
* Friends

8 PLACES I LOVE TO EAT AT

* Zupas
* Cafe Rio
* Kneaders
* Subway
* Costa Vida
* Taco Amigo
* Mi Ranchito
* The Pizza Factory

8 THINGS THAT HAPPENED YESTERDAY

* I went to a baby shower
* I had my blood drawn
* I went to lunch with Nicole
* I decorated our apartment for Halloween
* I cleaned our apartment (kind of)
* I ordered pizza
* I read a whole chapter in my book (finally)
* I took a fabulous mid-afternoon guilt-free nap =D

8 THINGS I'M LOOKING FORWARD TO

* Jessie's birthday bash
* Reading General Conference in the Ensign
* Snow on the ground (but not on my car)
* Thanksgiving
* Halloween (even though it's my least favorite holiday)
* My non-weekend day shifts in Nov/Dec
* A date...with a certain guy... =D (yes, I have one in mind!)
* Christmas

8 THINGS I LOVE ABOUT THE FALL

* Wearing sweaters
* Scarves and jackets
* Hot chocolate
* Soup
* The beautiful colors
* Cool crisp air
* Leaves on the ground
* Football games

8 THINGS ON MY WISHLIST

* A new camera (Nikon D40)
* A gun (Glock 23)
* A job as a Police Officer (with Orem)
* Dating the perfect guy (perfect for me not perfect in general)
* To have my loans (school, car, etc.) all paid off
* To be a better friend/roommate/sister
* To go back to Disneyland
* To not have to worry about money

My Conference Weekend

My General Conference weekend contained absolutely zero conference. I had to work day shifts the whole weekend and was stuck at work from 6am-4pm. I would have liked to have been able to watch conference, but I will enjoy reading it in the Ensign just as much! I even had an offer to go to a session of conference at the Conference Center but just couldn't swing it.

Saturday night when I got off work I went to my moms house. Jessie and Mari (my sis-in-law) were also there and we had pizza and played games during General Conference. I then came home and "watched" (slept through) a movie with Nicole. It was fun and just a relaxing evening.

The next day I was "lucky" enough to make dinner for everyone who got to go to the Conference session. Jessie asked me if I could make dinner for 12 people (myself included) and have it ready when they got home. My poor grandma got roped into helping too. Abderrahim helped my grandma get the roast all made Sunday morning and also helped her get the rolls ready to rise. After work that day I went to my grandmas house and her and Aunt Elaine helped me peal and cut the potatoes, make gravy, get the roast cut and ready and load it all into my car. I came home and cooked the rolls and potatoes, cooked veggies, kept everything warm, cut up fruit, cleaned the apartment and set out all the stuff needed for dinner and had it all ready when they got home. It was alot of work but they really appreciated it and I was glad I was able to help!

The next night was FHE and we had a great time. We went and shared our thoughts on Conference (which I had nothing to share...) and then we went and played Olympic Spoons. It was so much fun and I love our FHE family. We then came to my apartment for rootbeer floats and then we went to Chilis for dinner. It was such a fabulous night. Here is a picture we took while having rootbeer floats that night. Aaron is under the pillows which Marc, then Megan and then Cordell are all sitting on. It was pretty funny.

So even though my Conference weekend wasn't what it could have been, it still wasn't bad. I'm still grateful that we have General Conference and I'm gald that we have a Prophet and other General Authorities who lead us. I'm grateful they share their testimonies with us and I'm anxiously awaiting being able to read all that I missed.

Another Quote

I love quotes! (In case you haven't noticed) =D I think there are so many things you can learn from such a simple quote. The one today I found on Abderrahim's facebook. He had put this quote as his status and I loved it right away so I copied it. Here it is:

"Though no one can go back and make a brand new start, anyone can start from now and make a brand new ending."

I just love this quote. I love knowing that it's never too late. I love knowing that no matter what has happened, you can always change the outcome. I love knowing that things don't always have to stay the way they are right now. It's so inspiring to know that we are in control of our own lives and that we have the opportunity to make our life whatever we want it to be!

So don't give up. Don't quit. Don't get discouraged. Choose to change and life can get better!

Busy Month

We had a very busy month around our apartment! We had some good times!
First, Nicole and Abderrahim cuddled on our couch! =D Ok, not really, but they did take a pretty cute picture!

Jessie decided to dye her hair brown. Here is the final result. She decided a few days later that she wanted it darker so she went through the whole process again and went a few shades darker. It turned out really good!
Megan had a formal night for her work party. She had to get all dressed up and they had dinner and played some games and danced. It sounded like an amazing night! Jessie and I helped her get ready (more Jessie than me...) but she looked beautiful! Here is the hair-do. Jessie did this and it looked incredible!
I love this picture of Megan. After she was all dressed up we went outside and did a photo-shoot. The pictures turned out amazing!
Here's another picture of her in her gown. She looked so cute and when her date showed up in his tux they looked fabulous together!
And last but not least, here is Meriam in her shooting goggles. She went shooting with us and it was so fun. We told her she had to wear the goggles, and even though she really didn't have to, she didn't take them off. It was so fun!

Am I Nuts??

I think the answer to that question is Yes! Why am I nuts? I am starting a second (and then a third) job. Crazy, I know! Right now I work 40 hours a week at Orem. I'm on day shifts so I work 4 10 hour shifts a week. Not too bad...it's pretty manageable. I am starting a second job 2 nights a week that will add 16 hours a week to that. I am going to work them both on nights that I already work at Orem though so as to not take me away 2 more nights each week. Yes, I'll be a little tired at work at Orem 2 days a week, but it's a sacrifice I'm willing to take. Then, in November I'm going to start substitute teaching for Alpine School District. Since my 3 days off at Orem are weekdays, I'll spend those days substituting. So I'll be working every day of the week and also 2 nights a week. AM I NUTS?

Now I'm sure you're asking "Why are you doing this"? My friends have asked me the same thing. I decided not to take classes at school this semester, but I feel like I need to be doing something productive with my time, so why not earn as much money as I can while I'm not in school? I'm also trying to save up $$ to put an automatic start in my car (so I don't have to scrape my windows at 5:30 in the morning in the middle of winter), I want to buy a new camera (mine is not the highest quality) and I want to buy a gun (against the protests of at least one of my roommates...another story for another time). And, Jessie wasnts me to go on a trip to Indiana with her to see the Colts play live (which sounds super exciting but requires time off work and more money).

So call me crazy, but I will never under-appreciate the value of a dollar. It's definately something I've learned to work for. And I don't mind the work I do. I like being able to help people!

New Favorite Quote

I have a new favorite quote. I like it so much I added it to the sidebar on my blog. But I want to share it again with anyone who will hear it!

"Be whoever you want to be and don't let anyone make you feel bad about it!"

I don't know who said this, but I love it. Don't change your dreams because someone else doesn't think you can accomplish them. Do whatever you want to do and become whoever you want to be and don't feel bad about it. Be proud of yourself and everything you've done to become that person.

**Tagged** You Can't Hurry Love

1. Put your iTunes, Windows Media Player, MP3 player, etc. on shuffle.
2. For each question, press the next button to get your answer.
3. You must write that song name down no matter how silly it makes you look.
4. Title this blog what the answer to your last question is.
5. Take luck and have fun!

*If someone says "Are you okay?" you say what?* IF YOU BELIEVE
*How would you describe yourself?* ALL BY MYSELF
*What do you like in a guy/girl?* MAKING MEMORIES OF US
*How do you feel today?* SOME SAY LOVE
*What is your life's purpose?* I'M LOOKIN' FOR SOMETHING
*What do your friends think of you?* I COULD NOT ASK FOR MORE
*What do your parents think of you?* SHED SOME LIGHT
*What do you often think about?* IF YOU'RE NOT THE ONE
*What do you think of the person you like?* STRANGERS LIKE ME
*What do you want to be when you grown up?* AFTERNOON DELIGHT
*What do you think when you see the person you like?* INSIDE YOUR HEAVEN
*What will you dance to at your wedding?* THAT'S THE WAY IT IS
*What will they play at your funeral?* I LOVED HER FIRST
*What is your biggest fear?* WE NEVER CHANGE
*What is your biggest secret?* SOMETHING LIKE THAT
*What do you think of your friends?* SOMEBODY LIKE YOU
*What are you going to name this blog?* YOU CAN'T HURRY LOVE

**TAG 5 PEOPLE*** Jessie, Tasha, Maleen, Shauna, Julie Ann

Autumn Time

I love autumn time! I love the cool weather, I love the changing leaves, I love pumpkins and cider, I love wearing sweaters. I think autumn is my favorite time of the year. So in honor of my favorite time of year I changed my background...again. I love this background and it's totally helping add to my love of autumn!