Good news #1

I have had a hard couple of months, but recently I have received two major blessings in my life. This is the first one; I was promoted to be manager of the Downeast warehouse sale at the fashion place mall!

This picture is what my store looks like now that we have moved in. It works out perfectly because it is a temporary store (will probably be open no later than April). Its just long enough for me to learn a lot and put "manager" on my resume, but isn't so long that its over whelming for a college girl like me. I'm so grateful for this opportunity and I seriously LOVE MY JOB!!!!!!

Birthday dinner with the cousins

Alma 26: 26-27

27 Now when our hearts were depressed, and we were about to turn back, behold, the Lord comforted us, and said: Go amongst thy brethren, the Lamanites, and bear with patience thine afflictions, and I will give unto you success.

28 And now behold, we have come, and been forth amongst them; and we have been patient in our sufferings, and we have suffered every privation; yea, we have traveled from house to house, relying upon the mercies of the world—not upon the mercies of the world alone but upon the mercies of God.

Cutest Valentines date I ever had.

Defiling Cristina's body

Last night Cristina took her medication, but the problem was that the doseage was too high for her little body. her "drunkenness" was rather amusing until we could get a coke (her first caffeine fix in over a year! Sorry to defile you hun!) In her.

Texas roundhouse to celebrate Alex getting his MBA! Yumma!

Betrayal at the house on the hill

My favorite game with some of my favorite people. :-)

I guess I don't really have to tell you how bad at this blogging thing I have been lately. I feel like the last couple of blog posts have all started with how busy I am, and how terrible I am at keeping everyone up to date. I know. Terrible. I have a lot to catch you up on, so lets get this ball rolling.

Lets begin in December.

December- What a terrible month that was. It started out quite harmless. Just trying to finish up school and my job and get ready for the holidays and moving back with my family in Utah. On my last week up at school (The friday before finals week began) I got a phone call that changed my life. My uncle David had been in a terrible accident. At first we didn't know how bad it was, but it became clear quickly that he was not going to make it. A lot of people don't' have close relationships with their aunts and uncles, but I definitely do. Being the oldest grandchild I never had cousins to spend time with, and instead spent all my time with my two youngest uncles.

This picture was taken in April when my Uncle dave and his wife and kids came to visit me while I was working at Disney. I am so grateful we got that week to spend together in the Happiest Place on Earth. The week following Davids week was one of the most stressful, terrible, miserable, and overwhelming weeks of my life. It was also one of the most spiritual weeks of my life and I gained so much perspective on life, family, and what really matters.

After a terrible week, my family decided to go forward with the trip we were planning to Chile for Christmas. We were all a little hesitant to leave the rest of our family in the states and try to have a good time, but we knew that we all needed a vacation, and we had already spent the money for the plane tickets. I am really glad I went. It meant so much to my dad and his kids to see his extended family and the place that he grew up in. We all came home understanding so much more about my dads culture and we bonded so much as siblings. We were constantly laughing and making jokes and getting to know eachother. We hardly fought at all, and I am so grateful for the opportunity to get to know my siblings better.

January-

Since being home from Chile, I have moved in with my Aunt Cristina (My uncle Davids wife), Have started a "new" job at the Downeast here in Utah, went to a brad paisly/ scotty mccree/ the band perry concert and got a new fancy smart phone! I got a blogger app on my phone, so I am going to start blogging smaller, but more frequent posts on my phone about my everyday life and stop leaving out the little things in life that make me happy.

Happy Blogging everyone!

Life lately

Dear faithful blog readers,

Welcome back! It's been a while, I know I know, but I promise that I am REALLY going to try harder to update you all on my life. What can I say? All I have are the usual excuses:

"I'm really busy!"

"I'm a college student"

"I work two jobs!"

Wait.... Did you read that correctly? Did I just say I work two jobs? Well the good news is that you don't need to go to the eye doctor's any time soon because it's true! I do work two jobs! What a blessing and a curse, huh? Remember when I couldn't even get one job? ya....

So to answer your questions I am working at both Downeast Basics AND Claires accessories. Needless to say my life is filled with WAY too much estrogen. I live with women, I work with women and the only customers I have are women. The only man I see on a regular basis is my gay manager. Haha. It's great. Really. I know I am so lucky to have both of these jobs considering how many times a day we get asked at both stores if we are hiring. (Story of my life about 4 months ago...) I have fantastic co-workers who make my life so much better.

I work on average about 9-13 hours a day. With all that working you would think I was RICH.... hahah..... not so much. The fact I drive about an hour a day to work is not so easy on the checking account, but it's worth it. However, if I could get paid a dime for how many times a day I say "What can I help you find?" or "What occasion are you shopping for today?" then i KNOW I would be rich.

Because of my busy schedule, my blog, and my journals are SERIOUSLY lacking. But I am going to work on it. My camera is going to become my new best friend. I am determined to document my college life. I have done well in the before and I am going to relight the fire! Woo! Here are the most memorable pictures since I have been home from florida (Which if you think about it, is QUITE depressing!)

Me and my two best friends Erin (Second from the left,) and Kayle (In the middle huggin Chewy- Who some of you may recognize!) went to a nerd dance. It was quite silly. And also one of the only things I took of pictures of this last spring semester.

One week for Family home evening we had a cake decorating competition... This was ours. It was hideous. The other cake was a beauiful cake and frosting version of Da Vinci's Starry night. Don't believe me?.....

....Told you. You can see a real poster in the backround.

My co-workers at Downeast went to Red-Robin so say good-bye to "Emboy" before she goes away to college! We will miss her so much!

A couple of weeks ago my Roommate from Disney, Amberlie, married Erin's (our other roomate from Disney)'s brother Tyler! Quite fun!

Us waiting outside the temple waiting for them to come out! Look at me! Don't I look HOT? What can I say? I'm not very self-conscious. I consider this fact a blessing.


This is Erin's boy toy. He is about to go on a mission and personally I am worried about him going somewhere stateside because I am pretty sure girls will mob him thinking he is Taylor Laughtner from the Twilight movies. I think its super funny when he gets mad when people tell him he looks like T.L. When he got a drink out of a cup with Taylors face on it, I HAD to take a picture. I was too funny!

And.... Thats the end of my pictures for the last 4 months. I know- Pathetic. I will work on it! Leave comments, I like to see who is actually reading this silly thing!

Bountiful Baskets

Have you ever heard of bountiful baskets? If not this is your lucky day! Bountiful baskets are amazing! With bountiful baskets you get a ton of fresh produce. You get 50% fruit and 50% vegetable for 15 dollars! How amazing is that! The best part is you seriously get a bunch of food! Here are a few pics of what comes in a basket. You never get to pick whats in you basket but its all useful and delicious! Also, it sounds corny but it is sort of suspenseful and exciting wondering what your going to get!

You register online Monday and Tuesday, and you pick up two wonderful baskets full of fruits and veggies on Saturday morning at a very specific time at a specified location. It is that simple. The web site you go to log in is HERE.

You can order bountiful baskets in 13 states all in the mid-west or the west. When you go to pick up your basket this is what it looks like! There are tons of baskets! There will be volunteers to assist you in checking in, collecting you haul, and checking out. The process is simple and pain free!

There are a ton of fun things that come from bountiful baskets! The main one for me is learning how to cook new things and develop new recipes! It is a blast! Today for instance I made the “Nacho Libre Corn”. Its seen in the movie. I got corn in my basket and decided to try something new! It was amazing! It is super messy but it was so worth trying. I also got a root called jicama. It is kind of like a sweet potato. It is pretty yummy but I had to learn how to cook with that as well! If you are in an area where bountiful baskets are I urge you to try it out! You wont be disappointed… you will be addicted!

The “Nacho Libre Corn”

Grill the corn until all sides get a little brown.

Brush the corn generously with a half mayo half sour cream mixture.Roll in cotija cheese - kind of a mexican feta, you can sub for feta if you want.Season with chili powder.
Enjoy!

NewjobNewjobNewjobNewjob!

Well since I have been back at Disney and looking for a new job. It has been a horrible horrible experience because every single student at BYU-Idaho is looking for a job, or is taking up all of the potentiail jobs.

You could litterally go around town and in the windows of buisness's you will see a sign like this:

Needless to say, it hasn't been pretty. And considering how poor I am, I was pretty worried about how this semester was going to work out. But I FINALLY (and only because my Heavenly Father loves me) found a job at none other then......

Yes! Yes! I know I know! How did I get so lucky? Ya, I am asking myself the same thing.

I am so excited. So far I have just worked a couple hours for training and I am starting officially on MONDAY. Gah. I love it. My manager is really super cool and nice, and so far everyone I will be working with is really nice too.

So speaking of my new job, I get some sweet coupons for loved ones. So, if you are interested, click on the link and you can get 20% off at Any Down East Store (Basics, or home store) or online! But just so you know, the last day you can use the coupon is Sunday.

http://www.downeastbasicsblog.com/email/friends&family_email.htm

Photo Montage of my last little bit at Disney because I apparently suck at Blogging and am too lazy to type anything out.

New Years Resolution Follow up- PART I

Hey guys, Remember that time that I decided I was going to go an entire year with out sugar???? Well I thought I should let you know how that is going.

Overall, I must say, that I am EXTREMELY proud of myself. I will have to admit, I have fallin off the band wagon twice. Once- COMPLETELY on accident, and the second time- a little bit on purpose.

The first time was when me and my roommates and friends went to a fancier restraunt at Disney's Hollywood Studios. It was the 50's Prime time restraunt that I have mentioned in the blog post below. Now, before I go on, you need to know a little something about me. I loooove Vanilla Root Beer with all my heart. So naturally, when I saw that they offered Vanilla Rootbeer at this resteraunt, I ordered it- without even thinking about my "No sugar" year. I promise you, it was completely innocent. But, as innocent as it was, I still suffered the consequences. I downed two glasses and then started to shake and feel super sick. I was really bummed because I was having such a good time until I realized that the STUPID Root beer was PACKED full of sugar that I hadn't had in quite a while. I was glad I had that experience because it took a lot of my desire to even taste sugary things.

The second time- was a total lack of will. I'll admit it. I would rather tell the truth then lie to make myself feel better. In Epcot, there is this place called "Club Cool" where you can try all these tiny little cups of different soda's from around the world..... And I caved. I totally did. But the good news is that I only tried two small little shot glasses of these crazy soda's and then I was done. I didn't need any more. Literally the small cups are smaller then my thumb, But ya.... FAIL.

I have been pretty good about my sugar treats I have to say. I have learned to say no, which is a really good thing for me. I make sure that every sweet thing I try says the words "Sugar Free", "No sugar added", or some other form of these words. And yes, I realize that "No sugar added" means that there is still some sugar in there. But I figure, my "No sugar added chocolate muffin" from the mainstreet bakery is a lot better option for me then the "Rasberry swirl cheesecake" that I would have gobbled up in three seconds. Baby steps people! I am still learning and I figure I am doing a pretty good job.

So I guess it's about time

Dear loved ones,

I would like to apologize for my absence from this blog. Life has been CRAZY busy down here in Florida. I work about 6-8 hours a day which isn't too bad at all, but there are always fun parties to attend and grocery shopping to be done.

Here are some pictures from my life recently:

My "cute little" chef's costume that I wear to work EVERY SINGLE DAY!

Going on AEROSMITHS Rockin Rollercoaster in Universal Studios.

Roommates with matching ears. (We earned our ears)

Amberlie, Me, Erin

The castle at night. (with a giant crane)

Public transpiration BABY!

Amberlie, Jacob, Kayle, Erin, Isaac

My co-worker Kelsey with Pinnochio. We had a fun day at the parks.

BEST. STORM. TROOPER. EVER!

Epcot

LEGO WOODY

Me, Erin, Ariel, Isaac, Amberlie

We went to 50's Prime time Cafe at Hollywood Studios

Amberlie got in trouble for putting her elbows on the table

and had to put her nose on the wall while the whole room laughed.

SUCH A FUN RESTERAUNT

So, my question is, WHEN DO I START?

http://lds.org/ldsorg/v/index.jsp?vgnextoid=024644f8f206c010VgnVCM1000004d82620aRCRD&locale=0&sourceId=09ac18e7c379b010VgnVCM1000004d82620a____&hideNav=1

Once Upon a time........

BAGAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH. I am living in Florida. Right NOW- I am in Florida. I can't believe how lucky I am! Let me update you a little bit:

So on Saturday night (The night before I was supposed to fly out) I noticed that I hadn't received any word from Delta about my flight the following day. I thought this was strange, but since my dad is the one who booked it, I didn't worry to much, thinking he has received my itinerary etc...

So I told my dad, and he told me that he hadn't received any thing either, then proceeded to call Delta Airlines to figure out what was happening. Because of the storm that was hitting Atlanta Georgia (Where I had a small layover), my flight had been rescheduled for Monday. Well- Monday wasn't going to work out because Monday was the day I was supposed to CHECK INto Disney. I really didn't want to get stranded in an airport half way across the country or be late to my Disney program. Luckily we didn't have too many problems finding a different and easier flight. Instead of leaving Sunday night, I had to leave Sunday morning at 6 in the morning. I found a flight from Oakland California to Salt Lake, Then from Salt Lake to Orlando. (BLESSING NUMBER ONE)

Now, the following is a very lengthy and stressful scary story. If you don't want to hear it, then skip to the bottom of this next paragraph after it says Blessing number two

My flights went rather smoothly. We had no major problems and arrived on time. Because I made it to Orlando on Sunday night, and wasn't allowed to check into Disney until Monday, my dad help me book a hotel room for the night. After I got my baggage I called my hotel to have them send a shuttle to come and get me and they told me exactly when and where to meet them. I found the shuttle stop easily and without any problems and started to wait patiently. A lot of shuttles and taxi's were zooming in and out of the parking spaces whisking people away to their various destinations. I waited about 15 minutes (The estimated wait time for the shuttle), When a black shuttle/van drove up to the curb next to me, and the driver got out, and asked a lady near me if she was going to the Hyatt. She told him no, and then he turned to me and asked (In broken english) if I was supposed to go to the Hyatt (Which I was). So I told him yes and he helped me get my suitcases into the back of his car. In his van there were also two business men who I assumed were also going to my hotel. We started driving, but then we passed the Hyatt. That confused me, but I didn't worry because I recognized the name of the city we were going to as the city that I would be living in. I just thought that maybe it was a good thing because my hotel was closer to where I would have to check into in the morning. But slowly (and after about a 30 minute ride) we drove up to the Hyatt Resort which was big, beautiful and probably 5 stars. Well I KNEW that this wasn't the right place, And I was so confused! The two buisnessmen in the van with me got out, payed the driver and went inside. When they payed him, suddenly it hit me that his guy was a PRIVATE SERVICE. I started panicking because I wasn't at the right place, and this guy had sort of tricked me into coming this far. I explained to him that I had misunderstood when he said he was taking people to the Hyatt. I asked him if he would take me to the Hyatt Hotel. He said that he would but it would cost me $45 on top of the $25 I supposedly owed him for the ride to the resort. I almost started crying. I was freaking out because I didn't have a ton of money and I had totally been tricked into coming with this guy! So I payed him the $25 and I called my dad and explained the situation. He told me to get my stuff out of the shuttle and to take it inside the resort and ask the people at the resort if THEIR shuttle could take me to the hotel. As I started taking my stuff inside the resort, the guy told me that If i gave him the address to the hotel, then he would look it up in his GPS. While he was looking the address up, I called my dad again and he had me give him this guys licence plate number. Once he realized that the hotel was RIGHT BY the airport, he said that since he was going back there anyway he would just drop me off. So I got back INTO his car, and started driving toward the hotel. I don't know if I was because he could tell that I was on the verge of tears, or because he over heard me giving my dad the licence plate number, but he told me that "since it was a misunderstanding he would give me my money back". After he have my money back, I felt a lot better, but I was still stressing out. When we arrived at the hotel, the manager came out and as we taking my suitcase out of the back of this guys van she started lecturing this guy about how he had misrepresented himself and how he tricked me into coming with him. I was glad she was there because if he hadn't given my money back already, I am sure she would have bullied him until he had. It was so comforting to finally have someone looking out for me. As we went inside she told me that my dad had called her and explained what happened and gave her his licence plate number. She was really helpful and nice. I was so shaken up!!! (The fact that I arrived to my hotel safely= Blessing number two)

On Monday morning I (safely, and SMOOTHLY) took the ACTUAL shuttle from the hotel back to the airport, only to ride the shuttle from the airport to my apartment complex.

Once we got to the Apartments we checked in. We got our Disney Security ID's. and all this information about the next few days, as well as getting a housing assignment and key. I was getting really excited because everyone was so friendly and excited to meet new people!!!! After all that boring stuff (That I won't go into detail for your sakes) I got on ANOTHER bus to go to my ACTUAL apartment. I ended up sitting right behind my roommate and across the aisle from my other two roommates. I was glad I met them on the bus because we got a chance to chat and learn a little bit about ourselves before we arrived at the apartment, and we all got to see the apartment at the same time. A few hours later, we had to go to "Casting" Which was when I found out EXACTLY where I would be working. Which is:

(Dun dudda DON:)

Magic Kingdom

Fantasy Land

Pinocchio's Village Haus

How many of YOU get to work somewhere as adorable and Magical as this???? None- Probably.

I am located at Q

s

Destination A is where I live.

Destination B is where the Magic Kingdom is.

I have about a 30-60 Bus ride every day for work. (Awesome....)

Here is a brief Summary of the Week:

Tuesday- Just a housing meeting. NBD.

Wednesday- TRADITIONS!!! So fun! We got to learn a little bit about the history of disney, we got our NAMETAGS!!!! and we even got to see Cinderella, Repunzel, Flynn Ryder, minnie and of coarse- the big CHEESE himself- MICKEY! TWICE! aaah. I am going to like this job. I am so excited. I have already made so many friends. My roommates are so fun! I will try to update more often, but I am tired of typing and being on the computer so.......

.... To be continued....

New Years = New Beginnings

Guess what? It's 2011. Can You believe it? As every year passes on, I was think it's amazing how QUICKLY time fly's by. I remember this time last year I was thinking to myself "Wow. 2010 Will be a big year for me. I will graduate from high school and go off to college!" It was so weird to me! And now it's done! Amazing huh? I have seen so much, met so many amazing people, and literally my life has changed in more ways then one. I have learned so much in school, and learned so much from life that it's sort of crazy to look back and see how my year went. And when I look back at all that I have done, I think to myself, WHAT WILL 2011 BE LIKE???? AHH!

I have always been bad at making New Years resolutions. Always. In fact, I am fairly certain that in my 18+ years of living, not ONCE have I made a serious commitment at the bigging of the year with serious intentions to follow through. Usually my resolutions look like this:

1. Oh... You know... Lose weight. Magically.

2. Work out. When I feel like it.

3. Stop Smoking. Oh... wait. Done! That was easy.

But this year will be different.

No. Seriously. Seriously guys. For real-zee's.

So here is my idea:

I have this cousin. She is sorta an inspiration to me or something. A couple of years ago this FOURTEEN YEAR OLD GIRL went an entire year without candy. To me this was amazing. When she told us at the beginning of the year we all though "Oh ya ya.... We will believe it when we see it". But she totally did it. She was so diligent that this last year (2010) Her sister, and my brother told themselves that THEY were going to do it. So now in the space of 2 years, we have 3 teenagers going without candy. (Who knew teenagers had ANY sort of self restraint. Right?) Super impressive. So as our 2010 year came to a close and my brother got excited to eat his first candy for a YEAR, I thought to myself

"If my brother can do it, ANYONE can do it".

But I also realized that giving up candy for a year would not be a big deal. I rarely eat candy as it is. Maybe once or twice a month. So it's wouldn't be a big deal- and when the year was over I wouldn't be all that impressed with myself.

So I said "Okay, what could I REASONABLY do that would seriously make myself proud?" and I remembered an old Young Womens President I had who went over a year without ANY sugar. "I could do that. It would be hard at first, but HOW COOL would that be???" Seriously cool.

And everything I hear about keeping New Years resolutions tell me that I need to

a) Write it down (BLOOOOOOG)

b) TELL people so I don't cheat myself and I am accountable to people.

Here is my game plan:

-Obviously giving up ALL sugar is a little impossible considering fruits, vegetables, bread.. and well.. everything has SOME sugar in it. I am not going to eat REFINED sugar.

- No cake, candy, ice cream, cookies etc... unless they are SUGAR FREE.

- Diet drinks (And I mostly mean Diet Coke) are totally allowed. I don't care what your input on this is. IT IS MY RESOLUTION SO I CAN DO WHATEVER I WANT. If I was to say no soda on top of no sugar I would fail. I need something that is still a little sweet when I am craving sugar. Diet coke is a good option for me.

So ready or not, a Sugar free 2011 HERE I COME.