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Nov 22, 2008

And if you're ever in town, I pray that you'll come to my door.

So the past few weeks have been so busy for me! If I'm not in class, I'm either doing homework, working at Smart Cookie, or sleeping. Oh and I eat while I do those things.
Next week is Thanksgiving break! Yay! I only have class on Monday.. well I don't have class on Tuesdays anyways, so only 1 day of school next week! woohoo! My dad is leaving to Arizona tomorrow, he's got some business things going on down there. My mom and I are flying out on monday after my classes to go down there. We'll probably visit the Hamblins. My dad was missionary companions with Brent Hamblin in Australia. They live in Chandler, AZ and are way awesome! So I'll tell about those adventures later... My mom and I are also going to go shopping for Christmas things. You see, my mom has no idea of what to get me and lately her style has been totally different from mine, so I need to pick out the clothes and such so that she can buy them, wrap them up, and put a nice little bow on them for Christmas. Oh yeah, she needs to ship it to Santa so that he can squeeze down our chimney, break the glass (because we don't have an old-fashioned fireplace, it's gas), and put all my nice little gifts out on the couch. I hope he likes the cookies this year...
That's pretty much my life right now! Oh and I totally love the scriptures... of course! By the way, Patriarchal blessings are such a great thing to have, they are a blessing to our lives! Read yours often if you have received it!

Oh and sorry I don't have any pictures on this post; this new computer doesn't have any on it.

Shaylee

Jul 16, 2008

What if we switch up the roles, and I could be that.

NEW YORK was so much fun!
Our hotel was right in the middle of Times Square!
Janell and I at Wicked
Glinda and I whispering to Elphaba
I love dogs! Especially when they are red and blue. Mmm hmm. :)
The American Girl Doll store was ginormous!
Anyways.. New York was such a fun trip! I had so much fun getting to know Nell, Rach, and my aunt Carol better.
We've been having parties after institute and fhe. After fhe on Sundays the party is at my house; and after institute the party is usually at Brittany Peay's house. So if you attend either one of those, or if you are in my ward, come to the parties! We have so much fun! Except there won't be a party this Thursday because the ward will be in Lake Powell, which (by the way) I'm so excited for.
I started a new book. For those of you who know me, you know that I dispise reading (except the scriptures of course.) Story: I went to the book cabnet with plans to pick up Twilight so I could re-read the series. Then I saw another book that I was deeply drawn to. It's plain scarlet spine outlined with gold twill drew me in. I can't say how or why I was so enticed by this book. It's big, I don't know much about it, and I hate reading. So why this book? I read the inside cover to get a peep of what I might be in for. Was this attracting to me? No. But I continued to carry the book downstairs where I found a towel, went outside, set myself up to get some sun, and opened the book. Suddenly I'm reading, and I'm on page 10. (Keep in note that I hate reading so when I read 10 pages in one sitting, it's got to be good.) The book is about a woman, Margaret Lea, who is asked by a famous, world known writer, Vida Winter, to write a the one and only true biography about her. The book is called The Thirteenth Tale. What drew me in so much was the letter that was sent to Margaret about how a boy insisted Miss Winter tell the truth. Tell me the truth. So there you go. The book is intriguing to me.
Well I need to go get ready. And I leave for Lake Powell tomorrow morning at 6 am. YAY!!
Oh ps, I got a 4 on my AP Psychology test!! So tight!

Jun 27, 2008

Just go with the seasons

Okay, I wrote this on Wednesday when I was on the plane.
Today has been like 3 days in one. Sunday night I hung out with Matt, Ryan, and Andrew. They are so fun to be around!
Anyways… Monday I slept in pretty late, then just did some things around the house. McLean called me that night because he was having a really rough time. So I told him I would meet him at the Blue Park (I think it has been re-named Liberty Park; it’s the one next to the police station in Alpine). The whole time while Mac was explaining things to me I was praying that whatever I said might be able to help him. It was so cool because some things I would say, I didn’t know really why I was saying them, but he said it helped, so yay!
Then Tuesday… What did I do Tuesday? … Oh yeah! I was going to wake up at 6:45 and go play tennis with my mom, but after my alarm went off the next thing I remember is waking up again at 9… Oh yes, yesterday was a big day. I had a hair appointment at 2 – just a little trim – and then had a doctor’s appointment at 3. After that appt I went to Paul and Mitch’s place. They had an awesome idea of setting booby traps in Kara’s apartment. Kara, I hope you find those before you read this; and I really wish I could see your reactions as you run into the traps! -I love ya!- So Mitch, Paul, and I went over there, Kara wasn’t there, luckily, but Tiffany was. So Mitch and I distracted her (not hard) while Paul set the traps. Oh I so wish I could see the reactions of the girls as they open a cupboard and a popper shoots out at them. You know, the poppers with the string that when you pull the string confetti comes flying out of the barrel after a loud “POW!” Sweet sauce.
So this morning I woke up at… just kidding, I never fell asleep. I went to work Tuesday night at 6, Matt and Bryan came in as we were closing, then after work I went over to Matt’s place, got home at 2, ate, packed, got myself somewhat presentable (yet I still looked wretched), and left for the airport. We (my mom, aunt Carol, and her daughters [my cousins] Rachel and Janelle) flew from SLC to the overly green “wherever there isn’t a building there’s a tree” land called Atlanta. And from Atlanta we flew to New York. Cool beans! I’m so excited for this trip.You know the area where you sit that is underneath the overhead luggage bins? Yeah I can stand under there if I tilt my head. Shortie is my name and cheerin is my game, I got... yeah I'll stop there.
Alright. That's what I wrote Wednesday.

Here's today:
There is so much to do in New York. You know how they say Vegas never sleeps? I think New York could carry that title so much better. Honestly.
So we went to see Wicked last night. WOW it was soooooo amazing! I absolutely LOVED it! And I totally recommend it for anyone to see.
Today we walked around a ton. Like.. wow. I think walking this much gives me a little exercise. And I'm also getting really used to the streets. I would do okay here, I mean if I lived here. But no way Jose would I live here.
Anyways.. I need to scidadle.

Peace, love, chicken grease.

Jun 10, 2008

We should get jersey's 'cause we'd make a good team.

Friday night I went to Provo to hang out with Kara and some of her guy friends. It was a blast. First, Kara took me to get some yummy Italian ice cream ish delights called Jalato, I think. Then Paul and Mitch met us there. After that we went back to the boys' apartment where they made me do a pull up contest, which I was glad to do because what little bit of beef my arms have, I like to show haha! I now hold the record for the girls contest with 2 1/2 pull ups. I want to try it again this week and try to top myself.

We then decided to play Croquet across the street at the Provo Library. So Kara and I were going to fetch my jacket out of my car, but on the way we stopped to talk to Brett. He is a very fun guy. Very fun to talk to. **Background information necessary to the following story: Paul and Mitch live upstairs next to a staircase that, at the bottom, is a 3ft space followed by 2 doors that close together (meaning there's no bar in between the doors)** While we were talking to Brett, my attention was caught when I heard Mitch say to Paul, "Try kicking both doors open with one foot." I looked over to see a foot slam into the crack between the doors and they both fly open. Kind of like suspenseful parts of a movie when all of the sudden the doors swing open showing a black abyss to be entered by the naive hero or heroess. So I giggled, and turned my attention back to Kara's and Brett's intense conversation. Suddenly my attention got interrupted by, "I'm want to try sliding down the railing and kicking the doors open." So I look up as Paul is sliding down the railing, overtaken by fear, and falls to the stair side of the railing. He was anticipating flying through the air into the doors to swing them wide open and landing on his feet as the doors swing shut. Paul, God gave man many talents to have, one of them was not flying.

Then we played Croquet...

After we played Croquet twice (Paul lost, Kara came in third, I came in 1st the first time, and Mitch came in 1st the second time) we had a beer bonging contest. Only we used lemonade, mountain dew, and Sunny D instead. Apparently Kara doesn't know how to swallow. Kara, I don't know how to explain this skill to you other than: take the substance, either food or drink, to the back of your mouth, and gulp! Paul basically just put the drink in his stomach, it went down so fast. Brett is pretty good at downing it really fast too.

Saturday I wheeled Caitlin Anderson around the mall. Then I worked with Tori and Sephra. Kara, Whitney, and Paul made my night when they came to visit me. Then, right before we closed, we had a dancing party. We're all pretty decent at hip hop, so we pretty much just rock out. I took home some cookies to take to the Peay's (Branton's family) the next night. Sunday night there was a fireside for my single's ward. I went alone, but it was way fun because I found Brittany Peay (Branton's sister) and sat with her and her friend Whitney. Then I took the cookies over to the Peay's house (Brittany wasn't there because she was on clean up crew). I ended up staying and talking with Dan (Branton's dad) and Cami (his mom) for a half hour! It was so fun to just chat with them. Tova (their 2 year old) is soooooo cute. She brought me her pink poodle, ran over to her dad, then came back over to me where I gave her back the dog and she chucked it in the air. I love Tova! Actually, I just love the whole family.

Anyways...

Last night I worked with Tori again, which was so fun! We basically just play the whole time. But when customers come, they are our first priority.

This morning I went over to Tori's house and we made breakfast for the family because her sister Megan, brother-in-law .. I just forgot his name.. and her cute niece Lily came back from Hawaii for a family get-together. The breakfast was soooo good! I made Banana Macadamia-Nut Pancakes topped with Coconut Syrup, whipped cream, and macadamia-nut shavings. Tori made muffins and Orange Julius. I was so full after because the breakfast was SO good!

Well, all in all, this week has gone great! I love being with Kara, the Peay's, Caitlin, and Tori!

May 12, 2008

I'd rather sleep my whole life away than have you keep me from dreaming.

This will be a long blog because it will be covering a one week time period. Here it goes! Enjoy.
Tuesday, the 6th, I went to a soccer game at Lone Peak, we won!
This is my cousin Brian Hale. He's the keeper.
Then I went swimming at Brandon's house with him and Derek. It was fun; Brandon's pool is really sweet. My dad also left for St. George on Tuesday to a UTA (Utah Truckers' Association) convention - he spoke at it.
Wednesday, the 7th, I had seminary - best class ever. I took a funny picture of Brother Christiansen; he looks a little bit like Cristiano Pesci in this picture.
Then I went out to lunch with my mom at the Brick Oven. It was so delightful! She left to St. George after we had lunch.
Then I went to a Lacrosse game against Lehi. Lone Peak totally slaughtered them.
My mom needed me to go to Nordstrom that night for customer appreciation night. I took my friend Scott with me so I wouldn't have to go alone.


This is his dog. I took a picture of her when I picked up Scott.


T'was very nice of him to join me. On the way to the mall Scott took about 20 pictures on my camera (he's a bit camera crazy). I got my mom some shoes from Nordstrom for Mother's Day that she has been wanting.
My parents got home on Friday, the 9th.
I hung out with Kara and her friends Kasey, Spencer, Phil, and Dave that night. I also brought along my friends Caitlin Yeck and Caitlin Anderson.


This is Kara and me.


This is the Caitlins.


We went to Chadders, then to the movie Iron Man. That movie was so good! I thought it was going to be totally cheesy because, in the previews, this guy in an iron suit is flying with jets in the sky. Well the movie was sweet.
Saturday, the 10th, was fun! Tori and I got take out from Cafe Rio. We took it to the wooden park in PG and ate, like a picnic! Then we went to Partyland in Lehi and got balloons to make balloon hats. So on the way of taking Tori home, her mom told her that she couldn't hang out that night (which was weird because she let Tori come get lunch). So I went home, called Lindsay, and we made balloon hats. I took mine to Tori because I thought she might like it. T'was fun.

This is the balloon hat, balloon arm band, and balloon bracelet.


That night I went bowling with Derek, Justin, Brandon, Jeff, and Becca. I lost. But I would either get a gutter ball, spare, or strike. I rarely got anything between. So I did well depending on how many gutter balls I didn't get.

This is Derek and me.


This is Jeff.


This is Brandon.


This is me after I got a spare.


I GOT TO TALK TO SKYLER ON SUNDAY!!! Because it was Mother's Day on Sunday, my brother got to call. So I got to talk to my best friend.He is doing awesome in England.

Tuesday, the 13th, I went to the Lone Peak soccer game. We lost in overtime (first to score wins). There was no score the entire game until overtime when Weber got lucky. It was the most competitive and sad game I have ever seen from LP soccer. These boys are still awesome, they rock.
LP is in the white. Weber in the red.
Yesterday, the 14th, I took a long nap and had a really weird dream having to do with Batman coming back, only he was magical. Then I went to a Lone Peak Lacrosse game at Mountain View. We beat Sky View 12 to 7. The refs kept making the worste calls. It was ridiculous. T'was. We still won though. That just shows how amazing these boys are.
I went to my Grandma's house after because she lives next door to MV. We chatted and watched the Jazz-Lakers game. Which, by the way, does anyone know the final score of that? I was only able to see the first quarter.
So today... I just got back from seminary like 5 minutes ago. Brother Christiansen is one of the very best teachers.
Here's my top seminary teachers list:
  1. Gillings & Christiansen
  2. Twitty
  3. Permann
  4. VanDyke
  5. Fillmore

Seminary has pretty much been my favorite class ever. Speaking of, seminary graduation is this Sunday at 6. I'm speaking at it. Exciting, eh? Well I'm excited to speak at it.

May 4, 2008

Shout it out

Last night was Prom. It was so much fun! I went with Blake Barney.Way cool. There were 16 people in our group, 8 couples. Blake and I were the oldest ones in the group, the rest were juniors, but the group was so fun! Blake picked me up at 6 in his dad's beautiful turbo Pontiac Solstice, oh my gosh it was beautiful.

We met the Excursion Limo in Draper

Then we were driven to The Five Alls in Salt Lake for dinner. Delicious.

Went to the dance in the capital building in Salt Lake.

Then we went home.


The whole night was such a blast!

I saw my cousin Kara today! I now remember how much she has influenced me throughout my life. I would like to give the greatest shout out to her today. Here's a small list of a few things she has done for me, not in order:

  1. Got me loving Johnny Depp
  2. Little Women
  3. Backstreet boys (back in the 90's)
  4. She taught me bass clef for piano which I have grown so much in
  5. Taught me that "Asphault" is another word for "butt crack"
  6. Got me into Moulin Rouge with Ewen McGregor and Nicole Kidman
  7. Taught me the word "Fart" when I was like 2.. or 3
  8. Helped me understand that speaking your mind and being bluntly honest is best
  9. Taking your siblings (or in my case: cousins) out is cool and fun
  10. The best style out there is your own style

I love you, Kara!

Savages, savages, barely even human

... Oh gosh, Kara is funny.

May 2, 2008

When it's time to party, we will party hard

Today was a very relaxed day. First I worked on a half time for the sophomore cheerleaders, then went to the beach, got ready for the day, packed, walked around and saw a sea turtle (neat), got a Strawberry Daiquiri, and came back to the room. We leave tonight. I'll be flying first class baby, sweet.


At the beach it was very, very hot. The sun was hot. The weather was just perfect! About 80*F. But the sun was roasting my body like a hot dog about to be eaten by angry savages. The back of my hands got burned. They seriously kill. Okay, not seriously.

Last night I met this cute guy. He's 51 weeks exactly younger than me. Lame-man's terms: he turned 17 one week before I turned 18. I didn't calculate the 51 by the way. There's 52 weeks in 1 year, minus 1 week and you get 51 weeks. Simple math really. ANYWAYS.. I thought he was quite fun to talk to. He's a good listener and a good talker, both very good qualities for a guy. I put my number under his hotel room door. He hasn't text or anything yet though, so I don't know if he has got it yet or not. I want to talk to him again just because he was super nice to talk to!



Men/women: be a good listener and a good talker. If the girl/guy starts to say something, shutup. If you need to say something while she/he was talking, don't interrupt rudely; instead say something to the effect of 'hold that thought for 2 seconds' do what you need, then ask her/him to continue with the conversation by reminding her/him of where she/he was by saying the last couple words she/he had said, or by asking 'now, where were we?' Stay on subject; if you have to change the subject say something like 'this is completely random, but..' or by having a conversation conjunction. A conversation conjunction is something that will connect 2 different subjects for a conversation (i.e. Hey, so, anyways, [saying person's name], etc.) Understood? Good. If you have any questions, please ask me.



Last night Jeff asked me what I have waiting back home for me. I had to think about this for a few minutes. I don't have much waiting for me at home. My brother is in England, my friends don't need me back for anything, my wonderful dog Tyke died a year and 1/2 ago, and cheer is over so the squad doesn't need to count on me anymore. I really don't have much back home. But I do have my cousins Lindsay and Kayla.

My bed and pillows have been calling my name all trip.

I have a seminary class that I have missed seeing.

And I miss my home.

Home really is where peace, heart, and love is.

I need to go to the airport now. I'm coming home!

May 1, 2008

The greatest thing you'll ever learn is just to love and be loved in return.

Yesterday afternoon until now has been a bit of an adventure. Yesterday, Sarah and I were on the beach trying to spot out some cute guys for a little island hook up (we wouldn't do anything bad of course.. duh) and we saw this surfer guy, named surfer boy. He looked over with this weird sort of stare. Almost creepy. Sarah wanted to put our numbers by his stuff. While she was writing the numbers down, we spotted a couple other cute guys, named hat boy and long hair boy. Both were very attractive. Very. So I was trying to convince her to not put the numbers by the surfer boy's things, and instead hold off so we could chat with hat boy and long hair boy. But she still wanted to put the number down. So she made me put the lid to a gum box holding the precious digits in his shoe. Turns out that sufer boy's name is Mike. I've had bad experiences with mikes, so I call him Michael. Michael is 25. 7 YEARS OLDER THAN US. Still, Sarah continues to talk to him. He wanted to hang out with us, but .. no way. HA! Michael isn't as cute as hat boy or long hair boy. Oh my gosh were they attractive... (Please compare story with Sarah's.)

Today. Today, today, today. We woke up around 5:30 am because that would be 9:30 am Utah time. We (meaning me and my wonderful parents) went for a walk on the beach and took pictures of our feet. (My mom has a foot fettish and likes pictures of feet. Don't ask why.) The walk was very nice. I got to write my name in the sand with a flower by it. T'was fun. Although there weren't any seals out today like on Monday. Bummer.

So now I'm sitting outside of our room on the lovely little porch facing the pools and beach. Awesomeness. Plans tonight: play on beach, eat, play on beach, shop in little gift place, play on beach, sleep.

Tonight was quite interesting. There was this boy that I guess wanted to talk to me and Sarah, but he was too shy to approach us on his own. So his cousin did for him. The kid (the one that wanted to meet us) is named Jeff. He lives in California near 6 flags - like I know where that is! He was really fun to talk to, I actually wish he would've asked for my number just so I could talk to him. He would be a good friend. NOTHING more haha. He gave me a half-hug goodbye. It was weird. He's really nice though.

Well I come home tomorrow night and get back Saturday around 10 am. So I will get to see all of my beloved friends again! I miss them.

Apr 30, 2008

What is real, just a dream

So I've been in Po'ipu, Kaua'i, Hawai'i for ... about 5 days now with my parents and my best friend Sarah. We got here around 5 pm on Saturday. It's been a blast.

Sunday we went to church (missed Sacrament meeting because we were searching for the building) and a couple of California boys spoke. One read the entire song of "Cats in the Cradle" or something like that. It was really weird. After church we just hung out on the beach all day.







The birds here are extremely friendly. They aren't scared of people at all. This is my mom feeding the bird a potato chip.




There are chickens, roosters, and cute little chicks everywhere.

This is me feeding the rooster. When I stopped, it started to crow at me.

Monday we did this thing called the Zodiac. It's a little tiny boat. Like white water rafting only going upstream with 2 motors. SO FUN!!! They took us around the opposite side of the island into caves, around secluded beaches, and to a little spot where we snorkled, ate, and went on a little 10 minute walk. Then came back. We got so wet! Salt water hurts when it gets in your eyes. And has quite the disgusting taste.


Yesterday was my birthday. Happy 18 to me! We did this awesome zip line ropes course that lasted about 2 hours.

Me on the first zip line-

One of our instructors, Sean, joined us for a picture-


Me on the happy bridge-


Then I climbed a 60 ft tall rock wall that moved. It was awesome.


We went out to dinner that night with my aunt Kaye, uncle Jim, and cousins Whitney, Kara, Skyler, and Cierra (aka The Girl). That was a lot of fun.

Today our plans are to 1. eat breakfast (we are 4 hours behind here so it's noon at home and 8 am in Hawai'i) 2. beach 3. play 4. beach 5. meet cute guys 6. beach 7. flirt with cute guys 8. beach. You get the idea.

Apr 24, 2008

At last, my arm is complete again!

So today has been quite the boring day. I went to school, an A day meaning "A very, very long school day for one with senioritis." Though I did get to talk to Jared and Derek. They are cool guys.
Speaking of Jared and Derek, we got our Spring Fling pictures back. They rock. We played Leap Frog for the pics. Sweet sauce.
Anyways.. I was supposed to get my hair cut today at 3 and go to a soccer game at 7, resulting in an almost productive day. BUT! the lady that was going to cut my hair got sick so the hair cut has been moved to tomorrow. And Utah isn't done with winter and decided to snow ruining the want to go to the soccer game.
So instead of having an almost productive day, I sat and watched some TV (the newest episodes of Scrubs and Smallville), then fell asleep until 7:30. It felt nice waking up to a delicious dinner made by my wonderful mom.
I then painted my nails while watching Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader? and the Jazz game with my dad.
A very anti-climactic day.