Finding a gem

You know how every week in Releif Society they stress that visiting teaching is SO important? Well, I, probably like you, take that with a grain of salt. Not that I don't love my visiting teachers, but sometimes I think they could probably care less what classes I'm taking and how life is. I'll admit I have felt that way when I am the one doing the visiting teaching.

Now here comes the big but.

BUT! (told ya)

Last night I had an experience that changed all of that. I was lucky to get one of the very sweetest girls in the ward as my visitng teaching companion. [For those of you who are in my ward and don't know Tabitha Brewer you should really get to know her.] Anyway, last night we went to visit one of our girls. Like many of you, we procrastinated till the end of the month. We ended up at her apartment at 11:00 p.m. Like the saint she is she let us in. We were only planning on being there for a few, brief minutes. That plan back fired. We ended up talking with her for an hour and a half.

Time seriously flew by. One second it was 11:35 and the next time I checked it was midnight. I never thought that I would become good friends with any of the girls I visit teach, but I can honestly say that this girl has become my friend and I love her! She is so funny and definitely one of those girls you'd like to keep around.

So for those of you who groan a little when you think about going visiting teaching keep it up. You never know what kind of person, or lifelong friend, you could find through your visits:)

A night on the Town

Tonight I got to hang out with some of my best friends from high school. It's always a blast when we get together. We reminisce about the funny times, we reflect on our struggles, but mostly we keep each other laughing. Today was Jordan's birthday-the big 19. So what did we do to celebrate?

We went bowling.

Now I know what some of you are probably thinking. Bowling really? Well you should know that anything with this group can be entertaining. Carolyn and Derek started out the evening by playing reverse roles.

We enjoyed McCade and Jordan's dance moves. Derek did crazy things when he threw a gutter ball.

Jordan and Derek were both so dang determined to win a prize from some money guzzling machines.

Are you starting to believe me that anything can be entertaining? I hope so! 

After everyone had bowled the first frame, Jordan suggested that we compete as teams and that the losing team had to buy ice cream. Well, it was only natural for Carolyn and Derek to team up and same with Jordan and Tavia, so that left me and McCade as a team. We dominated up until the last 2 or 3 frames. 

This was my I'm not happy with how this is going anymore face. 

Carolyn was the overall winner of the night. This is her I'm a winner face.

These two teams put up a good fight.

 Carolyn and Derek were the winners-Jordan and Tavia came in last.

 So that meant the birthday boy had to buy the ice cream!

And boy was it good!

These boys are some of my favorites. They've all done a lot for me. I'm proud of the awesome people that they are! It was really fun to get together and hang out with most of the gang before Derek leaves. 

All in all I would call this night a success:)

One of those missionary friends

So see this friend of mine?

His name is Derek and he leaves for his mission in 7 days. Boy, where has the time gone? I didn't think I'd really have any problem with him leaving, but as the time gets closer I'm starting to realize how different it will be with him gone. He's my best friend's boyfriend, so naturally I see a lot of him, and he is really good to her. Look how cute they are:)

I've been taking an excessive amount of pictures of them lately. Anyway, he is always so willing to do anything for Carolyn and any of her roommates. He keeps us laughing when he's around. The next few weeks are going to be a big adjustment. If you feel like bringing over a pan of brownies, ice cream, or some chocolate we will warmly welcome you in. This change is going to be rough at first, but I think we'll grow from it. We tease him that we can't wait for him to go so that we can have his parking spot, but really we will  miss him. I'm really excited for Derek and for this amazing opportunity that he has. I know he will be an awesome Missionary. Best of luck to you pal! We'll be prayin' for you. 

'Cause I'm a Freshman...

To all you Freshmen out there, have you ever thought of doing something impulsive and decided sure why not? Well I think this picture explains one night when my lovely roommate Stephanie and I had a similar train of thought.

We bought orange and blue pants. 

Then we matched a little too well.

Eh, why not? You're only a Freshman once:)

Food for thought

Tonight our ward had an amazing fireside. Our Bishop shared a quote with us that President Holland said in a meeting last week.

"The women in our lives are the Saviors of our souls"

This really hit me. Girls listen up! We have so much power to help the Young Men around us. We need to be careful with that power and make sure that we do all we can to be positive influences in their lives. WE have a great responsibility here. Be wise girls and you will be blessed for it. 

Everyone likes a good challenge

 Last night I went on a date that ended up being a blast! The girls in my apartment asked guys who didn't know each other, minus Ben and Aaron who are roommates. Let's introduce you to the group. 

Top left: Aaron and myself

Top right: JD and Stephanie 

Middle: Laurie and Ben 

Bottom left: Sarah and Evan 

Bottom right: Derek and Carolyn

Now that you know everyone, you can obviously tell the Frog team was the best one and they were bound to win from the beginning. 

The night started with some pizza from Pizza Factory. I would highly recommend their BBQ Chicken. Mmm mmm good! We had some lovely entertainment from Derek and I think JD and Stephanie's faces say it all.

Our battle began with round one. The Lego challenge. Unfortunately, our first and second place groups destroyed their masterpieces before I got a picture, but lucky for you here is the third place creation!

Yay for Laurie and Ben!

These two won. Mostly because they had a motorcycle in their bag.

Round two was probably the most epic of the entire night. We had to get 6 Swedish Fish out of a pie tin using only our faces. Let me tell ya flour plain is DISGUSTING! Naturally the girls went first. Congrats to Sarah for being the fastest!

We were a bit of a mess

Derek won this challenge across the board. He blew out almost all of his flour right at the beginning and had his fish out in less than 30 seconds. The kitchen was covered in flour. 

Flour was everywhere even on the camera lens.
 

Round three was a balloon challenge. Each couple had to tie their legs together three legged race style. Then each person tied a balloon to their outside the leg. The last team left with un-popped balloons won. We did this one twice. The first time it went fairly quickly, with me and Aaron taking the win, but the second round involved a lot of pushing and shoving to the point where we were concerned for Stephanie's safety. 

Again, Stephanie and JD won.

Their victory pose

The fourth and final challenge was cake eating. The boys had to feed a piece of chocolate cake to the girls blindfolded. I learned that I can eat cake pretty quickly; although, it is largely due to Aaron's ability to put cake on a spoon.

I am proud to say that Aaron and I won that challenge

Here are some random pictures from the evening.

The overall victors of the evening were...drum roll please.

Stephanie and JD!! I think they won because they brought so much sass to the table. 

All in all it was a fun evening, one that won't soon be forgotten. 

My poor heart

How much excitement can one heart take before it's too much?!?

It probably doesn't help that I get excited so easily. The littlest thing set me off. A nice note on my mirror, lunch and a long talk with a friend, facebook pictures, a friend who says they'll do a favor for you, a message, a letter, an email. The list goes on and on!

Sorry if I annoy you with my excitement. I hope more than anything you'll just jump on this train and we can all have a good time together!

Oh and MANY thanks to those of you who have been excited with me. You know who you are. :)