Thanks^24

Tonight, on my last night in the last hour of my being 24 years old, I thought I would start a new tradition. On the last day of the year, I'll post a number of things I am grateful for corresponding to how old I am. So without further adieu, and in no particular order:

1. Family & Friends who love and support me

2. Google Chat

3.Thank-you notes

4. Temples

5. Priesthood Blessings

6.Cranberry Juice (my favorite!)

7. Christmas Lights

8. Singing

9. Appreciation for musical talents shared with musical friends

10. Things that keep you warm. Like scarves. And moccasins.

11. Miracles: Big and Small.

12. Colors

13. The ability to create crafts

14. Cupcakes

15. The 3 P's: Popcorn, Potatoes, and Pasta. A college student's dream diet.

16. The Bus

17. Acts of Kindness

18. The Atonement of Jesus Christ

19. SUNSHINE!

20. Good deals while shopping

21. Learning to be Happy in the midst of Trials.

22. Good Memories to remember

23. Freedom & the Soldiers who fight for it

24. Vitamin D

24 has been a great year- I'm excited for 25. (Minus the Quarter-life crisis I'm currently experiencing.)  

For my quarter life crisis, I've decided to learn to play the Guitar (it's coming along) and for my midlife crisis, I'm going to learn to play the Cello. 

Wish me luck!

Pictures.

 Sooooooo about a month ago, I moved! Woot!

When I first moved in, I hated my room.

BUUUUUUUUT Thanks to my Mother's DIY training

and some creativity......

VOILA!

Now, I love it.

View from my Window! :)

 Why yes, that is packing paper and packaging tape...with a little bit of vintage scrapbook paper.

                 

 

 

The End.

Carpe Tarp

I told my mom that I would blog

the story of our Traveling to Utah...

It was quite comical.

First and foremost, 

My Grandparents are the Best. 

All 4 of them. 

I truly appreciate all of the effort they put into helping out!

THANK YOU SO MUCH!

Second and still very important-

My Mother is Magnificent.

I mean, 

who else would drive 12 hours one day, 

help unload the truck, 

sleep for a few hours,

get up crazy early and go to walmart,

and drive back 12 hours that day?

Only a Mom. 

I love her.

I made a split second decision to move back to Utah.

I honestly can't tell you why it happened.

But so far things have fallen into place-

Which is a huge blessing!

I am still looking for a job,

I have a few leads....

HOPEFULLY 

I can get one soon.

ANYWAY, 

Back to the story of our travels.

The day came very quickly, 

I was a little sleep deprived

 from packing for 3 nights straight after work...

but I was so proud of myself for getting rid of so much junk.

{I'm an aspiring hoarder.} 

When I woke up,

I got ready and started loading the truck.

I fit everything but the guitar...

which is pretty good considering 

the fact that I still had WAY too much stuff.

Drew and I folded a tarp

and put it over the back of the truck.  

We fastened it with some of those 

ratcheting straps...

Do I know what they are really called? 

Nope.

Drew even showed me how to work them

Just in case we got stopped by the Dam Police {ha.}

Mom & I stopped at sonic {for crack ice} and away we went! 

In the wrong direction... for an hour. Oops.

Want to tell me how we did that even with a GPS?

Yes. It's true. 

I am THE WORST driver in the world.

I'm a great navigator...but if I'm the one driving,

FORGET IT.

During that hour,

the tarp came loose, 

so we had to pull over and shove it 

under some of the things in the back.

We started in the right direction after that.

{Remember how we also lost an hour switching to daylight savings time?}

We jammed to some Broadway classics.

And when my CD ended, 

One of my Grandparents started...

{we borrowed Papa's Truck}

And I was like,

"I've never heard this song before."

I didn't realize that it had switched CD's.

We had a good laugh about that 

because it happened like 4 times.

By the last time I said, 

"Hey, this song sounds familiar..."

{Remember the sleep deprivation?}

We stopped and learned how to get diesel gas.

{You have to go to the pumps with the green hose.}

And we stopped to fix the tarp a few more times.

We also found out that the overpass by the 

Hoover Dam was done. 

So we took that.

And laughed really hard

when mom made a crack about 

no more Dam Construction.

{Gosh I love her!}

The best tarp story was when

we had to stop on the side of the freeway.

And we got out and literally almost got blown away.

There was TONS of dust. 

I've never been where the wind blows that strongly.

By this point we had pulled the ropes so tight 

that we couldn't get them undone without some major effort.

so we started pulling at the tarp to unfold one side 

to tuck it down even farther into the truck.

I think we pulled for 10 minutes. 

I had to climb up on top of the load to pull at the straps,

mom was pulling at the tarp...

All the while the wind was blowing our shirts up around our shoulders. 

hahaha!

We are trying to hold our shirts

AND 

Fix the tarp 

WHILE 

laughing 

Hysterically.

I finally tucked in the front corner of my shirt,

We thought we had the tarp situated,

and we started off again.

Two seconds later we had to stop and fix it again.

Same drill. 

And when we got back in the car,

Our hair was AMAZING.

I wish I had a picture.

So the next stop was a gas station to fill up

and buy some bungee chords to really hold that stupid tarp down!

Guess who walked into the gas station

with the front part of their shirt tucked in?

This goofball.

Between my hair and my shirt,

it. was. fabulous.

We also figured out at that stop

that the cooler had been leaking on

some really nice art that I brought.

Luckily the sheet it was wrapped in

soaked up most of the water and the art was ok.

From that point on, 

the tarp stayed put.

{HOORAY!}

We drove and drove and drove some more.

With an hour left on the drive, 

I started getting antsy.

So Mom drove.

We rolled into Provo at about 10:30{Really 11:30}

and started unloading

{Kelley, Tara, Me & Mom} 

And two boys, that none of us knew,

asked if we needed some help. 

What a blessing they were! 

They helped carry in the REALLY heavy boxes.

They probably saved us an hour of unloading.

And then just as quickly as they had showed up,

they were gone!

{We all hoped that they were rewarded for their awesomeness.}

After that, Mom went to bed.

Kelley, Tara & I stayed up late talking and catching up.

Mom & I got up early the next day 

and went shopping and 

then she took off. 

The last hour of the drive was hard for her too.

But she made it back home.

{so glad!}

I am really glad to be back!

I'll have to blog about more adventures soon!

{♥.}

Pearls

And jewelry of choice would be...

The sad thing is this isn't all of the pearl jewelry.

On the list to acquire next:

Real Pearl Earrings

{Nevermind the 8.5 pairs of  'turn your ears green' ones shown here}

What can I say? 

I LOVE them!

Thoughts from the girl with the Rootbeer Shake

Today I went to 5 & Diner for dinner.
{Please note that I went at 5 PM!}

It's across the street from work and I had never been.

As I walked up,

I saw huge red & white striped umbrellas

that were protecting the very distinguished 

Floridan looking guests from the sun & misters.

They looked like they had been going there since the 50's.

{So cute!}

The inside of the diner was also adorable;

red bar stools at the counter,

antiqued appliances,

jukeboxes,

wait staff in white,

and black & white checkered floor.

I felt like I had walked into a movie scene.

While drinking my delicious rootbeer shake,

I found myself looking at those old friends

and their muscle cars in an atmosphere that they were 

completely comfortable in,

and it brought me tremendous joy. 

{you sentimental sap}

I wonder if there will ever be 2012 themed restaurants?

{and if so, what would they look like?}

I decided that it 5 & diner would be a perfect place to 

go on a 50's themed date night.

Wouldn't that be a blast?!

Poodle Skirt & bobby socks.

Saddle shoes & Pin curls!

And of course,
 a handsome man
with oil-slicked hair,

dressed in a white t-shirt & jeans

with a comb in his back pocket.

{ ♥.}