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!

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.

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!

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.

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.