Kids Kids Kids

I teach first grade now.  I love it!  I love these kids so much!  All 28 of them!  I wish I could post a million pictures of them and tell you all of their favorite things and how awesome they're all doing, but I can't (privacy laws).  I can tell you some funny things they've said though!  

Me: Hey Josh, are you following the instructions?

Josh: Yes, I'm following the destructions! 

While reading with a kid:

Book: Where did the piglets go? (The picture had little curly tails sticking out of the hay stacks)

Student: They made them into pork chops!!  

I was dying at this one!!  

While walking away from reading groups:

Student: Miss Teichert, you're a pretty good teacher.  

I just wish I could tell you these lines in person!  As I was typing them up I realized that their facial expressions add a lot to these quotes! Haha

Don't be fooled though by the up-beatness of this post.  First grade is hard too.  28 kids is a lot.  Five of them are pretty hard.  But that means that I have 23 that are pretty great!  And let me tell ya, when the stars align and one or two of those five boys have a great day, I am pumped!  So far they've made me smile more than they've made me scream :)  

Also, if you ever need a good confidence boost, teach first grade!  I get told at least 20 times a day that they love me, get about 40 hugs a day, and am constantly told how funny, smart, pretty, ect I am :)  Six and seven-year-olds are the best!

And, because I can't get enough of kids I went home to spend time with my nieces and nephews this weekend.  

Kids+a ski hill=GOLD!  

We had so much fun up Pine Creek!  It was a warm, beautiful day!  Few things make me happier than seeing kids learning to love skiing, and when it's my nieces and nephews it's even better!  

Moments

Today Harold Hatch spoke in our ward at church.  I really enjoyed his talk.  He read a quote from Elder Neal A. Maxwell that really got me thinking.  

"Moments are the molecules that make up eternity."  

I just loved it.  Then I got to thinking about all of the moments this week.  

Monday morning I went on a trail run with Taffy.  I just remember getting to the end of the trail and being there with my sister and just soaking in the beautiful view.  Great moment.

I made bread this week.  As I worked with the dough I knew it was going to be good.  I pulled it out of the oven and it was the most perfect bread I think I've ever made.  Great moment.  

My dad and I got to go and watch my nephews play soccer up in Afton on Wednesday.  Owen didn't see us before his game started.  As he was running down the field after he had scored a goal he noticed us cheering for him.  He yelled out, "Hi Livi!! Hi Grandpa!!"  Great moment. 

Friday I got home from a branding (thanks again Trev!) and there was a letter for me from Tessa.  I just dropped everything and read it.  She's doing so well and I'm just so happy for her.  Great moment.

Friday night I went with friends up to a roping in Afton.  They roped well and it was so fun for me to be there and watch.  When it was over I told them great job and they were like, "Thanks Liv!"  Just a reminder of how great of friends I have.  Great moment.  

At the roping I got to sit and talk with one of my little friends, Mason.  He reminded me again how wonderful kids are.  They're just so loving and honest and real.  We laughed all night!  Great moment.

Saturday morning I got to help my mom arrange all of her lovely flower pots in front of her greenhouse.  We set them up mixed in with all of the fun, old furniture and equipment that she has collected over the years.  After all the switching pots and moving them back and forth, we finally stepped back and decided we found the perfect balance.  I love doing this each year with my mom.  Great moment.  

Kalbie and I had to take one of our riding lawn mowers to Logan for repairs.  We loaded it, strapped it down, drove there, and unloaded it all by ourselves.  No men minds involved!  It was a good learning experience for both of us.  When we finally got that thing unloaded we both breathed a sigh of relief! haha  Great moment.  

On our way home from Logan we decided to stop and hike to the Wind Caves.  Neither of us had ever been.  We had the best conversations and I was repeatedly reminded about how thankful I am for her in my life.  The hike and the view were beautiful!  Great moment.  

My life is full of moments like these.  Moments that go undocumented.  Moments that get looked over.  Moments that seem unimportant.  BUT, these are the moments that make my life so happy.  Don't get me wrong--I love the big trips, the fun weekends, the picture worthy moments, but nothing quite beats these small, everyday, great moments.  

The Cemetery Girls

This post is LONG overdue, but I just needed to write a post about three of the most influential girls in my life.  They all have something in common--they were all my work partner up at the cemetery :)  When you spend about 30 hours together every week, just you and them, you get to know each other pretty well!  

Holly and I worked together the first two years.  Boy was it fun!  Neither of us had any clue what we were doing, but we had fun figuring it out together!  We were pretty good friends all growing up, but in those two summers she became one of my best friends!  I was lucky enough to get to watch her fall in love and marry Ryan.  Now she has a baby and lives in Germany?!  Where has the time gone?!  I can't go too long without a good chat with Holly.  Since she's moved to Germany we've had some good skype chats.  I just love her and her little family!  Holly has taught me to never give up--even when there seems no way out.  She taught me to laugh when you want to cry.  She inspired me with her diligent training for her half marathon.  She's a great friend to all, and I'm so glad I was able to spend so many hours with such a great girl!  

She came home for a little bit to bless her baby, and I was lucky enough to get to visit with her and snap this picture :)

After Holly decided she wouldn't be coming back, I was devastated.  I didn't think that I would ever be able to find someone that great to work with.  Then along came Sierra!  In high school Sierra and I referred to each other as "church friends" cause we were besties in our ward, but we both had different best friends.  Well, we became more than church friends that summer.  We did literally everything together!!  The summer started out pretty rough, but we got it turned around.  At the start of each week we would plan all of the fun things we wanted to do, and then we would plan our work schedule around it.  We did so many fun things!  From fishing to shopping, we did it all!  Sierra has such a deep love for our Savior.  She knows that He knows what's best for her, even if it doesn't make sense to us.  Many of our conversations revolved around the Gospel, and she was so good about sharing her testimony with me.  She taught me to love our little valley more than I ever thought was possible.  All summer long we would say we were the same person because we thought so much alike.  Most days we laughed until we cried.  This last month I was lucky enough to be one of her bridesmaids.  I was so excited for her to meet and fall in love with Trevor.  All the heartbreaks were worth it--he's great!  I felt so honored, and I absolutely LOVED getting to spend some extra time with her and her family preparing for, and enjoying the day.  She was a stunning bride, and had the happiest, best attitude the whole day!  What an awesome, inspiring girl!  

Her wedding day was seriously the best!  She didn't seems stressed at all and was smiling to the last minute!  

When Sierra wasn't coming back, I really thought I was in trouble.  I had already lucked out twice, and there was no way I was going to find a third girl that I would get along with that well.  Then along came Kalbie!  I cannot even begin to tell you how much this girl has impacted my life.  When we started work up there in May we had only talked to each other like 3 times.  We were practically strangers.  After the first day, I knew we were going to be great friends!  She is so happy and outgoing and fun!  You can't help but like Kalbie Harmon.  She has that same love for the outdoors as me, and we had fun doing a few adventures together.  We were always thinking about the next place we wanted to go hiking or running.  It's also convenient that she married one of my best friends from high school, cause now I get to see both of them often!  Kalbie taught me about how important it is to constantly be progressing.  She is always trying to become the best person she can be whether it is spiritually, physically, or improving her relationships with others.  She greets everyone with a big smile, and she just makes you feel so loved!  It wasn't unusual to see Kalbie and I talking for another hour after work, because we never seemed to run out of things to talk about.  I'm glad she lives in Cokeville and that I get to see her, but I also love a good phone chat with Kalbie.  She's just so great!

We actually do have a photo of us in nice clothes, but I just like this one better :)  

When I started working at the Cokeville Cemetery in 2012 I had no idea it would have this large of an impact on my life!  I'm forever grateful for these girls and the things I've learned from them.   

June 7th Already?!

I can't believe it's already June 7th.  Where has the first month of summer gone?!  It's been a busy month, but a great month!  

I started work up at the cemetery again for the 4th year in a row.  I guess it's safe to say I love that job.  I got a new work partner, Kalbie Harmon, and she's great!  We've had a good time working together.  The first three weeks were busy trying to get ready for Memorial Day.  We were up there lots of hours and we got wet lots of times.  I haven't been alive for a long time, but this was definitely the rainiest May I've ever experienced.  I just felt like I was always soggy... It was all worth it though, cause the cemetery ended up looking pretty great for Memorial Day, and I got to know Kalbie a TON better.  Very successful month at the cemetery.  

At the start of the summer, Tess decided our family needed to set some goals.  So, we had a family home evening activity where we each wrote down some goals we wanted to accomplish this summer.  My favorite one so far has been "a hike a week."  Because of some crazy schedules, I haven't been able to be as adventurous on the hikes as I've wanted to be, but we've gone on a hike each week none the less.  This next week's hike is going to be pretty legit, so stay posted :) 

Up Rocky Peak.  I love these three.  

What would I do with out this sis?  

Tyson and Candace came down for a few days here this last week and we had a fun time with them.  Sunday afternoon Dad, Tyson, Tess, and I went on a drive up to my Uncle Ron's summer range and Tess and I got to hear story after story of my dad and Tyson's days out cowboyin'.  It was a good afternoon! 

Ron's horses.  Everything was SO green!

One night we all met Tami, Casey, Tel, and Kimball up in Jackson at the Bar J.  It was so fun being together, eating good food, and listening to some great music and jokes.  Those guys are hilarious, and so talented!  

The five members of the Bar J Wranglers.

This past week I've been able to go docking.  I sure do love doing that, and the Child's are nice enough to keep letting me come back!  It's made for some long days, but it's been so worth it! It's so fun being out there with all of them.  They're the best!  Tyson and Candace came out for a few days so that was fun! Tess came out for a day as well.  It was fun introducing her to it, and now she understands why I like going so much :)  So, thanks Child's for yet another fun week out dockin!!

Cute little Mason and Katelyn with some lambs.

Finally, this weekend Tel got baptized.  I'm so proud of him and the choice he made to become a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  As I watched the baptism, I thought about the covenants I made at my baptism 14 years ago.  I covenanted to take Christ's name upon me, to always remember Him, keep His commandments, and serve Him til the end.  Since I was baptized, I've messed up plenty!  I've had moments when I didn't represent Christ well, when I didn't serve when I could have, and plenty of times when I didn't keep His commandments.  Luckily for me, each week I get to renew these covenants as I take the sacrament.  It's kind of like getting baptized again.  I get to repent of all of the things of screwed up on during the week, and resolve to try my best the next week.  I'm so thankful for the ordinance of the sacrament and the chance I have to renew those baptisimal covenants I made when I was eight, just like Tel.  

One of the most handsome 8-year-olds ya ever did see! 

So, as you can see, my summer is off to a great start!  It'll be fun to see what the next three months will bring :) 

The Cokeville Miracle

Last night I had the opportunity to go to a screening for The Cokeville Miracle at the LDS Film Festival.  

You guys.  It was so good.  I'm having a hard time putting into words the feelings I had last night as I watched the film, and the feelings I've had since, but I'll try.  

I've grown up hearing the story, and I've always believed it was a miracle that those kids and teachers survived that day.  I knew that the events of that day were very tramatic and very real.  Because of that, I was pretty nervous to see the film.  I didn't want to be more scared about the events of that day than I already was.  Well, the exact opposite happened.  I came away from the film knowing without a doubt that angels intervened that day.  Those children and teachers were being watched over.  My testimony of divine intervention, forgiveness, and repentance grew immensely in a short two hours.  I'm proud to say I know many of the survivors of the events of that May day in 1986 and I admire their courage not only that day, but all of the days that have followed.  

So please, spread the word about The Cokeville Miracle.  It comes out in theatres June 5th and I encourage all of you to go see it.   The filmmakers are true artists.  

God lives.  He loves us.  Miracles happen.   

So, I have this best friend...

Her name's Sierra Lyn Pope.  She has been an answer to my prayers this summer.  Remember my post about endings?  And how this summer was going to be super hard?  Well, the Lord was looking out for me, and sent Sierra.  We've been working at the cemetery together all summer long.  You may have heard of us as the #graveyardgirls.  Every day we worked together, and since that wasn't enough time side by side, we played together.  Our summer was full of fun!  

We went fishing, we went camping.  

Fires and s'mores with the boys.  

The road trip was worth it--the Daddy of 'em All did not disappoint. 

Lady Antebellum and Tim McGraw.  

Raspberry Days and that Famous Preston Night Rodeo.       

The rope swing at Kelly's pond.

Sleeping on the pro-pit.

Meals at your house, snacks at mine :)

Pizza and movie night.

Cookies, cookies, cookies.

Your zip line.

Rafting the Snake and boating at Bear Lake.  

This list doesn't include work where we spent hours mowing, trimming, weed whacking, raking, moving pipe, painting, hauling dirt, and other random outdoor work.  No matter the job, no matter the weather, we were talking and laughing the whole time!  It always amazed us how we never ran out of things to talk about.  

I was so lucky to work with Sierra this summer.  Just about everyday a topic of the gospel was brought up.  She always had the best insights.  She was never afraid to share what she believed with me and I loved hearing about all of the things she was thinking about as we were trying to figure out how to live this life the best we can and become the best we can.  My testimony was strengthened everyday because of this girl.  

If a summer never beats this one, I won't be surprised.  I won't be bummed either because this one is one for the books!  Thanks for all the good times girly!  See ya soon :)

My Dear Ol' Dad

It was just my dad and I for 10 days while my mom was in Alaska, and not only did we survive, we had a pretty dang good time!  Well at least I did.  While all I cooked was a frozen pizza, he was able to find enough food to get along just fine!  My favorite things we did were get wood with the ward for a service project, 

mountain biking, 

and building our hammock stand.  Dad and I have a unique relationship--full of sass (from me), complete bewilderment, and love.  He's never had a kid quite like me, but I know he loves me anyways :)  Thanks for the fun 10 days Dad!  Love you!

The days!

Lately I've just been blogging about big events that are happening, but let me tell ya, the days around here are the best!  They are definitely blog worthy.  I had a guy in town ask me the other day if I'm ever even here or always just on trips and doing fun things?!  While I've done tons of fun things this summer, the truth is most days I don't leave this beautiful little valley--and that's MORE than fine with me!  

Most days consist of some kind of exercise (except last week-I was a super slacker!) and then up to work by 7:30.  Work is awesome!  Sierra and I talk and laugh all day, and it's so great! (I'll have to do another post about work sometime soon!) Then I seem to always be doing something from the time I get home until dark or later.  I've got a couple of lawns that I mow that I tend to procrastinate until I'm about out of daylight.  If I'm not mowing lawns or working on something here with my parents I'm out with friends.  Let me tell ya, there's only a couple of us here in Cokeville this summer, but I wouldn't pick any different people.  They're probably about sick of me, but I have so much fun with them!  Most of the time we just do a fire and some s'mores, but I honestly wouldn't rather do anything else!  There's just something so mesmerizing about a fire and when you're with some of your favorite people it's hard to top.  

I'm seriously never bored here.  If there's nothing to be done at home, I head out on my bike for a good ride or on a run.  I just can't seem to get enough of the open spaces and the beautiful weather this summer.  Life just doesn't get much better!

Here's two pictures I took while up at Pope's at a fire with friends.  The sunset was breathtaking and just kept getting better!  And can you beat that view with the American flag?!  I really do love America.  

I got to go up and watch these two crazies play some baseball.  They did great!  Never a dull moment with nieces and nephews around…

And here's a picture from a hike Trev and I took today.  There's just so much beauty!  

My days are SO good.  My parents love me and I love them!  I don't know what I did to deserve them.  They spoil me.  They call me and ask what time to expect me for dinner.  I came home the other day and my mom had done my laundry.  They help me haul the lawnmower around, and so much more! Plus, they just put up with me every. single. day.  That's a lot!  They're a huge reason the days are so good.  I don't know what I did to deserve this life, but I'm sure thankful I have it.  

Dockin' Days

Throughout the last two weeks I've been the dirtiest I've ever been and probably the happiest I've ever been!  It's because I've been able to dock sheep a few days for the Child's.  Now let me tell ya, docking sheep isn't easy, it isn't glamourous, but it sure is fun!  

So, most of you reading this probably don't know what docking sheep is, so I'll just give you a watered down version of it.  First, we drive to a group of sheep around 200 ewes and all of their lambs.  We set up a corral and herd all of the sheep into the corral.  Then we sort out the ewes from the lambs and all of the lambs end up in the docking pen.  I was a holder, so I would grab a lamb and hold it while one of the men would castrate the boys, cut the tails off all of them, and then pine tar the tails so they won't get infection.  The lambs would also get a shot to help them avoid over eating.  Then I would flip the lamb over and they would clip the ears differently depending on their gender and markings on their wool.  Finally, they would get a paint brand and be let free to go and find their moms.  

As you can imagine, I didn't stay clean…at all.  I was filthy from head to toe--a combination of paint, pine tar, dust, and blood.  You might be wondering why a 21-year-old girl would enjoy this, (sometimes I wonder about that myself!) but there's just something I love about being dirty and working hard.  I can't really describe it, but it's great!  I came home everyday tired, dirty, and happy as can be :)

The best part of it all though, was the company.  The Child's are some of the hardest working, nicest people I know.  I can't say enough good about them. It was a privilege to get to work for them and along side them.  They recruited some good help as well, and I had a blast interacting with the other kids out there.  I loved all the little Child kids that would come along that were just so happy to be outside helping out!  Any job can be fun if you're doing it with the right people :)  

I didn't get too many pictures, but here's one of a lunchtime wrestling match (now that's some good entertainment!) 

and Kelly's souped-up truck :)

What a great way to kick off the summer! 

Family

The best part about being home is being able to spend time with my family.  It's been so fun seeing them all!  We all get along so great and if I could spend everyday with all of them, I would!  I've seen all of my family except Sulli, Michelle, and Austin since I came home ( I miss you guys dearly!!).  It's been fun to spend some quality time with each of them and spend time with their growing kids.  

Taffy, Tami, and Violet all came home one day and it was so fun to have all of the cousins together.  It was my first day of work, but I cut it a little short to come and play with all the little rag-a-muffins.  

Can you find all 8 kids?

  

We also had Dixon's baby blessing up at Tami and Casey's.  He is one cute, chunky kid!  

Oldest cousin and youngest cousin.

This boy is seriously a tank!

We also went up to Star Valley to celebrate Tel's birthday.  You couldn't ask for a nicer, more loving little boy.  He's one great kid!

Memorial Day Taffy and Tami and their families came back :)  We had a little cook out up Pine Creek and I got a good start on my consumption of hotdogs, Doritos, and s'mores for the summer.  The kids and I even got to go on a few hikes.   

This boy is so darn cute!  He's really good at saying my name now, and trust me, "Livi" has never sounded cuter! 

While we were planting the garden earlier in the day I said to my mom, "Today it finally feels like summer."  And I couldn't be happier!  I just love summer and all of the fun, family, and sunshine it brings :)

Little Skiers :)

I got to go home the weekend of the 22nd and teach my niece and two of my nephews how to ski.  We couldn't have asked for a more beautiful day, and they did so great!!  It was their first time ever, and we did six runs!  I was so proud of them!  They were so happy and so fun to be with.  Here's me and my little skiers :)

Not only was I able to be with these kids all day, but almost all of my family came home!  We had a fun ski day together

a sister's walk

a delicious lasagna dinner

celebrated Tillie's birthday with some Angel Food cake

and got to spend some time loving on this little cutie :)

Isn't he perfect?!

As you can see, it was a great weekend!  I love my family and I love the great relationships that we have with one another.  The whole weekend was full of laughter, hugs, food, and fun.  I feel so blessed to have the family that I do.  I thank my Heavenly Father for them every day.  

Livi's Logic #5

I love my parents.  The problem is that sometimes I take them for granted.  I saw this quote a couple of days ago and I decided I need to do a better job of making my time with my parents count.  

This weekend I was able to spend quite a bit of time with my parents.  I went to the state basketball tournament where my dad was coaching his high school girls' basketball team.  Tess and I stayed with my parents and had a grand ol' time!  His girls did so great and pulled out an upset in the semifinals to play in the championship game Saturday afternoon.  They played so well but ended up taking second.  I'm still so proud of them!  

Mom, Tessa, Violet, Sedona and I got to do some shopping and swimming and sit together at the games.   We had so much fun just being together and visiting about life.  It was so great!  My mom is just so loving.  I know she cares about me so much and I love being with her.  Nothing makes my day more perfect than a being with my mom.  She's the bookkeeper for the team, so she travels with them and my dad.  I thought it might end when Tess was graduated, but she still keeps going!  She loves going and watching the girls and supporting my dad.  

I had a lot of great moments this weekend, but my favorite one was with my dad.  It was pretty personal, so without going into too much detail, Dad basically told Tess and I how he knew we had worked so hard to be the best we could be and how bad he wanted us to accomplish our goals.  I almost cried.  My dad's not a one to dish out compliments or really tell us that he's proud of us.  I just always pretend he is :)  So, this moment had a big impact on me and I am so glad I was there to support him in his coaching.  He loves basketball, and he loves these girls.  They work hard and he was so proud of them this weekend. 

Summer's just around the corner, and I'm heading home!  I'm not going to lie, I'm a little nervous…  I feel like I'm heading into social Siberia.  I have great friends here and it seems like something is always going on!  When I head home there's going to be like no one my age!  I've been kinda bummed about this and wondering what I'm going to do.  Even Tessa is going to be gone!  I've never spent a summer home without at least 2 of my siblings home.  This week though, I decided it's going to be awesome!  I'm going to get some quality time with my parents.  I'm excited to spend some time with just us three.  Hopefully they don't get too sick of me bugging them about doing stuff with me…  I guess it'll keep 'em young :)  

Anyways, so all of you out there, love your parents.  They need us.  They need our friendship.  They need our love.  Just like we need theirs.  

Ashbee

Ashbee is fun, kind, smart, athletic, and gorgeous!  These are just a few of her traits.  Most of them I can't quite find words for.  Ashbee is one of my best friends!  I don't know what I would have done without her this last year at school!  It was so great to have her to talk to.  She knew about my life before college, and she could just relate with me so well!  

We've been friends since elementary school and Madi, Ashbee, Tessa, and I did SO much together!  We went school shopping together every year, had end of the school year sleepovers, and multiple sleepovers throughout the school year.  She was a great teammate, cheerleader, and friend.  I always knew I could count on Ashbee! 

When she came to BYU I was so excited!  I didn't know how much we'd see each other since we weren't living together, but we set a goal the first semester to go to the temple every week.  We set aside  Thursday afternoons to go to the temple and then lunch together.  It was so great!  This goal made sure we saw each other at least once a week, and I know those weekly visits to the temple and with Ashbee helped me out so much!  

Second semester we decided to work out together every morning.  We attended some super fun, super hard aerobics classes every morning at 6 am.  I always knew she'd be there.  We kept attending the temple every week as well.  We spent a lot of weekends and evenings together the second semester as well.  

This Friday, August 2nd, Ashbee married one of the best guys I know, Brady Thompson.  I am so excited for them!   It was a gorgeous day, and I was lucky enough to be a bridesmaid! 

It was so fun to watch them fall in love and to get the details from Ashbee along the way :)  I'm so excited for them, but I'm also a little sad for me...this means she's leaving BYU and heading to Laramie.  I'm pretty sure I'll cry when I finally come to grips with the situation. 

So Ashbee, thanks for being there for me.  You're a great friend, a hard worker, an awesome teammate,  reliable, honest, and you've got a good head on your shoulders.  The list could go on and on!  Most of all, thanks for always being willing to share your testimony when I needed it!  I love you girl!

Tetherball

Today Tess and I took Taffy and Tony's kids to the elementary school park.  They got new equipment (which is obviously WAY lamer than when we were in school!).  We were talking about this as we were walking down the sidewalk and when we got to the end, lo and behold there was a tetherball standard! Redemption for replacing our equipment!  We were pumped!  So, we set poor little Brady down in the grass (don't worry, he didn't cry!) and started to play.  Once upon a time we had a tetherball standard in our yard, and we both remember being pretty professional at it, so naturally we thought we were going to be awesome.  Boy were we wrong! I threw it over to start us out and, because I'm so great at tetherball :), Tess missed it.  So it was coming back at me and I got ready to hit it back to her, and I totally missed!  It came back around again, untouched, and once again, I missed.  By now, we were laughing our heads off!  Still, we thought we would get better, that our professional skills would return.  Needless to say, we went through 3 games of laughing our heads of at our lack of coordination. About halfway through game 2 I said to Tess, "I feel like mom playing basketball!"  So, while this post would be SO much better if there was a video of us playing, just remember watching my mom playing basketball...but worse!  Who knew being bad at something could be so funny?!  

Life

I was walking to move water at a lawn I take care of, and I looked up at the sunset.  It was perfect.  I love summer, I love sunsets, I love perfect days.  There's so much to be grateful for.  Today I have been reminded how precious life is.  Don't wait to be happy.  Treasure every moment.  Strengthen your relationships with people.  Live your life to the fullest.  Appreciate the little things, cause we only get one chance here. 

--Advice from a 20 year old...take it for what it's worth.    

Under the Stars

I slept under the stars with these two babes last night.

We went camping, just the three of us, up Pine Creek.  We had some delicious tin foil dinners, Doritos, and too many s'mores to count. I also slept better than I have in a long time, not waking up once during the night, and sleeping until after 8 am.  We just laid our sleeping bags down on a tarp and slept.  It was great!  I need to sleep under the stars more often! It was such a fun time!  I just love these two.  We decided this might need to be a regular happening, so if you want to join, let us know :)  

"My Heart Will Go On"

Last week some of my siblings and I watched this again for the umpteenth time, and we laughed our heads off--as usual.  These are the boys in my class, and oh how I miss them!  Hope you enjoy it as much as we do :)

Summer Life

Summer life is pretty dang crazy for this girl!  I'm really loving it though!  Because I've been so terrible at blogging, a list will have to work as a way to update all of ya.

*Gone every single Saturday

*Workin my buns off with Holly G

*A Wedding (Friend)

*A Baby (another friend...so crazy!  I'm getting old!)

*Violet and Sedona visiting

*Swinging on the swings

*Mission farewell in Vegas

*Volleyball tournament

*Exercising (not enough though...)

*Friday Night Lights

*Tin foil dinners

*Tessa's graduation

*A little shopping

*Trying to do my online class

*Trying to be a better person (not going so well either)

*Plant sale

*New iPhone

*Bike Rides

*Eating yummy food (my mom's the best cook!)

*Ironman 3 

That list will have to suffice for now.  And here's two memes that pretty much fit me perfectly these first 5 weeks of summer :)

This was found by Vi, and she thought it fit me perfectly, and she was so right!  

The sad part is, I tend to rock the homeless one the most frequently...

And this is what Holly G and I talk about often up at work.

Someday, I will have abs and a booty...preferably before I get married :)

Day 1

Today was the first day of my summer job, and can I just say that I am pretty dang excited for every day of summer.  I LOVE my job!  I worked it last year, and I was so excited to get to do it again this year.  I also get to do it with one of my favorite gals, Holly G.  She's so great!  Last summer we talked all day long, everyday and never ran out of things to talk about.  Now we have a whole nother school year worth of things to talk about!  It's going to be great!  Another great thing about this job is that it's outside.  I get to wear shorts and a t-shirt and soak up the sun!  Sunshine just makes my happy.  It really warms my soul :)  Our bosses (yes, multiple) are also very helpful.  They get us pretty much anything we want/need and pay us well.  I also get to learn a few things about tools and mechanics and fun outdoor fix-it stuff (We've decided we're never telling our husbands...).  I was amazed at how much I learned last summer!  

The first of many great days at work :)

4 days home and LOTS of blessings

I arrived in good ol' Cokeville Thursday afternoon, and let me tell ya, it's been an eventful time since then!  I've had some time to reflect on all my blessings in the last few days, and I am so blessed! 

Here are some of the things I'm thankful for in the last few days:

*One of my best friends got married in the temple

*I got to see 7 of my 9 nieces and nephews

*There are some really good people in this world

*I'm alive

*My family loves me

*Cokeville people are some of the BEST

*I ate my first tin-foil dinner of the year--yum!

*Saw all of my siblings but 1

*Caught up with old friends

*I have roommates for the fall :)

*My belly has been full...all the time

*I've seen miracles

This is just a short list, but I am feeling so blessed right now.  I have a purpose here on earth, and I have a Heavenly Father who loves me and is looking out for me.  My life is so great, and I'm SO glad I get to keep going on this wonderful journey :)