California, here we came.

I am almost certain that I can't even begin to describe how freaking amazing my friends are, but let me just say.....they're pretty freaking rad. 

Our California trip this year consisted of:

• swimming in one of the coolest pools ever constructed
• long, late night talks
• lots and lots of laughing
• hours at the beach
• lots of sunburns
• cuddling
• too many new inside jokes
• yachting on the ocean
• seeing dolphins
• lots of nap times
• and lots and lots of happiness

Still floating on Cloud 9 from this trip, and honestly, I don't plan on getting off anytime soon. 

My Happy List

A couple years ago I started keeping a "Happy List" in my phone of random day-to-day things that put a smile on my face. I figured I would share it with all of you.

1. Martinelli's apple juice bottles

2. Valentines Day

3. Elephant Love Medley

4. Breakfast at Tiffany's

5. Good morning texts

6. Winter grass

7. Vintage cars

8. Billy Joel songs

9. Adventures

10. Backward hugs

11. Surprises

12. Baby anything

13. Reminiscing

14. Cute old men

15. Best friends

16. Hugs that pick me up off the ground

17. Perfect weather

18. Cuddling

19. Hazelnut hot chocolate

20. Rain

21. Big cities

22. Awesome high-fives

23. Chivalrous men

24. Disney movies

25. Random compliments

Of course there are many more than just these, but we would be here for the next few months if I were to list everything that makes me happy.

Kid at heart.

No matter how old I get, I still get giddy walking down Main Street of Disneyland. It truly is the happiest place on earth! (well.....it's up there at least) My family was able to go with my dad's company "employee appreciation trip" and they did the V.I.P. Tour which meant that we got to have two tour guides take us around Disneyland and take us to the front of all the lines. Let me tell ya, that is the way to do Disneyland! 

Oh and did I mention how extremely happy I was that Colin came too?! Yeah.....pretty freaking happy. P)

We're adorable....so we've been told...

Went to lunch at Club 33!

We also went to the San Diego Zoo and did the Backstage pass there (highly recommend that...got to see animals up close, pet a zebra, a rhino, and some animal that looked like a mix between a raccoon and a bear..., and fed a rhino!) And I also got to spend Monday night with Colin watching the sunset on the beach (adorable?? you bet), getting frozen yogurt, seeing the city lights from on top of the hill, and watching Oceans 12. All in all, I must say it was a most spectacular weekend :)

Para Para PARADISE!

I wasn't the biggest Coldplay fan ever, but after going to their concert....how could I not be???

¡Europa!

At the beginning of the summer I had the chance to go to Europe with Stephanie and a couple of her friends......BEST VACATION EVER!!! It was so much fun trekkin around Europe with my sister and creating so many fun, new memories with her. I met them in Brussels, Belgium and we were there for a few days, then went to Paris for the rest of our trip. Here's a little taste of what we did: (I wish I could give you all an actual taste...because the food there was beyond delectable!!)

I Love Spontaneous Adventures!

Colin and I decided to go hiking Saturday morning, and it ended up turning into quite the adventure! We were planning on going to Island Parks (which is about 45 minutes from Rexburg) but about 10 minutes into the drive, Colin asks, "Wanna go to Yellowstone instead?!" So we did! We drove about an hour and a half through gorgeous, snowy forests to get to Yellowstone. The park actually ended up being closed, but there was an awesome snowmobile race going on in town and they had a bunch of old, vintage snowmobiles on display as well. The town was so cute! I loved just walking around and exploring the town. It was the first time I had ever been to Montana as well! I got to mark "taking a picture by a state sign" off my bucket list as well. :) It was quite the adventurous day! And an added plus...I got to spend it with this guy!

Wanderlust

To say I was only a wee bit excited would be a complete understatement.

Only 25 more days!!!

Dating 102

I don't know why I take so long to post these, but both of these stories happened about a month or so ago.

Me, Myself, and I:
    For my humanities class we had to get into groups of about 5 or 6 in order for us to go to different art events throughout the semester. My group decided that for our first even we would go to an event on campus called Celtic Nights (amazing performance! they sang and danced and brought a little piece of Ireland to good ole Rexburg). We had to buy tickets before hand and a kid in my grouped asked if I wanted him to just buy his ticket when he bought his then I could pay him back. Innocent me said, "Oh how nice!! Sure!" Silly silly me.....
    The next week I went up to him in class to give him the $6 for the ticket, and he goes, "Oh no keep it! It's a date!" WHAT?!?! Did you just try to force me to go on a date with you?? After multiple futile attempts to make him accept the money, I finally just agreed to let him pay for me.
    That Friday he picked me up early so we could go eat dinner before hand. (Side story: My sister drove up to Idaho with me from Arizona and helped me move in. I got a move in packet that included lots of coupons for local restaurants and such around town. One was for "The Deli". She told me, "Don't eat here! It is disgusting and you will get FAT!") Guess where we ate.....needless to say....my sister was correct.
    While this kid was really nice and stuff, all I remember hearing all night was:

"I am good at every sport that I try."

"I just joined a water polo team.....I've never  played before, but I'm sure I'll be good."

 and other such quotes. He talked about himself THE ENTIRE TIME. He was a complete and total me monster. It was ridiculous.

"I love you" -Patrick Star:

    It's true, girls like getting compliments. It's also true, girls can tell when you are trying to hard.

    I was waiting for Colin to get out of the testing center one Saturday and I was starving, so I decided to go to Teriyaki Express (yeah yeah yeah, I know....surprise surprise!) and there was only one other kid in there. After I ordered my food he started talking to me and he noticed my handerpants (not gonna lie...they're pretty awesome) and he went on for about 5 minutes about how they cool they were. I was pretty used to this. Every time I wear them I get a few reactions from people on campus. I mean how often do you see a girl walking around with underwear on her hands?! Then we continued talking and he brought up that he served a mission, where he was from, the usual small talk stuff. Then he was talking about how Illinois (where he is from) is famous for their corn, and how that was a perfect pick up line for girls and that it always worked. FALSE. 

    Then continued to compliment my pants....my shoes....my glasses.....etc.

Buddy....chill out! 

As I was getting ready to leave he asked for my number, and I am too nice to say no to anybody when they ask. (a.k.a I don't know how to reject them nicely yet) So I gave it to him. I got a text that night that said: "I hear that the chances of getting a date from a girl that you met at a restaurant is slim to none. ;)"

You would be correct.

Slacker...

I have been MAJORLY slacking on writing back all my missionary pals. But today I got caught up!! Elder Ward, Elder Kerr, Elder Andersen, Elder Schaub, and Elder Law can all be expecting a letter in the mail soon :) Sorry guys!

Home Sweet Home

For President's weekend I got to go home!!!! It was so nice to get away for a weekend and thaw out. I spent the weekend spending time with my family, hanging out with my friends, going to the We the King's concert, going off-roading, Jake got his mission call, and just soaking up that gorgeous Arizona sun.

Happy Valentine's Day!!

It was a most splendid day indeed :)

Dating 101

At  the beginning of the semester I had a couple "interesting" dating experiences, and they were just too good to not share. (They both happened simultaneously but I will tell them as separate stories)

Mr. Intensity:

(First off, it's never good if you get a nickname...)

    The first week of school my roommate dragged me to country dancing after an exhausting day of school, and it was honestly the last thing I wanted to do, but being the good roommate that I am, I went with her. I actually ended up having a pretty good time. Well for the second song this kid asked me to dance, and he was a big football player build, stereotypical me thought, "Great......my toes are going to be smashed after this." Then he asks if I know how to waltz -which I didn't- so he teaches me how.  Yep, he was pretty much a professional dancer. I felt dumb. 

    He was super nice and funny and we got along pretty well! He asked for my number so I gave it to him and we hung out a week or so later. (To save you from all the boring details, I'll shorten it up.) We ended up watching a movie. 

He tried holding my hand , I ignored it.

He tried again, I shut him down,

He tries to force me to hold his hand, yeah...not gonna happen buddy.

After relentlessly trying to hold my hand multiple times, I figured he got the hint that I wasn't interested....False.

 Tip #1: If a girl/ boy doesn't want to hold your hand and is giving you all the signs that they aren't interested, then that IS NOT code for "I actually want you to kiss me." FALSE. 

    Yes....he tried to kiss me. I quickly snapped my head away and shot up and said, "Welp, It's time for me to go! Bye!"

Needless to say we haven't hung out since.  

Creepy, Old Guy:

    So, the same night at country dancing this guy tapped on my shoulder and asked me to dance, I turned around to find a much older man standing in front of me. (Older as in 35+, still not sure of his actual age) I agreed to dance with him and although he was no Fred Astaire, he was nice.  Then, for the rest of the night he followed me around talking to me anytime I wasn't dancing. It wasn't too bad, he was nice and slightly awkward. Then he asked for my number and, not seeing the harm in it, gave it to him.  We kept talking and then his sister walked up and he introduced me to her. She was also nice. 

    Later, he finds me and is chatting up my ear when he says, 

"I know what's going to happen!" 

"What?"

"When I get home my sister is going to say 'Who was that girl you were talking to?' Then it will get to my parents and they'll say 'Who's your new girlfriend?!'"

WHOOOOAAAAA BUDDY!!! False, I'm not your girlfriend. 

Tip #2: Do not talk to a girl/ boy about talking to your parents about them 30 minutes after meeting them. That is not attractive or sweet, in fact, it's slightly creepy.

    Starting that night he texted me, a lot. These texts included little pet names like "smiley" and "sunshine". 

Tip #3: If you are not in a relationship, then you're not allowed to call them pet names! 

(Even if you are in a relationship, keep it to a minimum...)

    Every now and then I would get texts saying things like, "Oh I'm just sitting here thinking about what a wonderful girl you are. :)" No! You don't even know me! For all you know I could be a very horrible person that kicks babies. 

    After a while I eventually just stopped texting him, but that doesn't stop him. I still get the occasional text from him every now and then.....

Oh the joys of college dating in Idaho.....

SUPPLIES!!!!*

Once upon a time there was a boy......

and he decided to be the bestest mega best friend EVER and fly all the way to Idaho to visit his best friend.

She was THUPER DUPER surprised!!! It was the perfect way to end such an exhausting, stressful, busy week. 

They had lots of adventures! 

They:

went to the Idaho Falls temple

hung out with these cool cats 

Watched a water polo game

  explored Rexburg!

And tons of other things like cooking, baking, going to Teriyaki Express, G's Dairy, concert at Sammy's, and watching movies. All in all it was pretty much an amazing weekend. 

Such a very wonderful surprise!

*"He made a funny!"