November...

This is us (minus me, I'm taking the picture, Kira who wasn't there yet, and a handful of others that couldn't make it) being somewhat cooperative for the camera.

This is us, being the crazies that we are. We are at Meg's house for our November get together. Her and Natalie decided to do theirs together and it was so much fun. The "theme" was a Donations/Edward party. Hahaha. I love my friends. What Meg and Natalie really wanted to do was to volunteer somewhere, but apparently November is the most popular month of the year for people to volunteer, and nowhere that Meg called had a spot for us. Which is a really good thing if you think about it. So I think our plan is to go volunteer in the middle of the year this time, when it's much slower. So instead, they had us bring canned food or clothing that they could take and donate. Then, since Natalie and Meg are probably the #1 and #2 fans of the Twilight series, they wanted to go ahead and throw that in as well. Which worked out perfectly for the rest of us, seeing as how 98% of us has read and loved them too.

Meg and Natalie. Please take a minute to adore her crushed velvet lime green couch. Classic.

Katie....... just being Katie.

Talisia on the matching lime green love seat. I literally ADORE Meg's place. It is so completely her, and it tells a story. There really is a story behind everything on her walls, her pictures, her books, her fridge, even her doors.

Which brings me to this little number. (Sorry it's such a dark picture) She usually has a bamboo sitting on her table. And one night her and her friend were looking at the shadow that it cast on her door. They thought it looked pretty cool. And then she painted it.

These are actual dragonflies that her cat caught and brought to her. They are perfectly intact, and they sit on her shelf next to other trinkets and memories.


Just a book that sits on her coffee table. But I liked it, and it's Meg to a T.

She has posters like this one all over. I wish I would have gotten more (good)pictures, but I was incredibly sick and therefor incredibly drugged up that night...it was kind of a blur...

But that's beside the point. Now on to Meg and Natalie....

.....

Natalie. It is true that I don't have quite as many memories with her as I do Meg. But it has been so fun reconnecting this past year. She is a seriously funny person. She has an adorable son Luke, who is just freakin awesome. He is the FUNNIEST kid I think I have ever met. He kills me. We play ninjas and vampires, and other various sorts of deadly creatures. Always a good time. I have some really random memories. Like, I remember going to Natalie's house in middle school and all gajillion of us would gather in her front room. I remember watching a projector movie or slide show in there one time. And don't ask me why, but Buttercup Park always reminds me of her. She is not a shy girl, and can pretty much make friends with anyone. I remember her always having a boyfriend. And she has these crazy double jointed fingers. Like, so double jointed they are triple jointed. She is always so much fun to talk to, and it seems like wherever she is, she is always smiling or laughing. She is my Twilight buddy. She is the one person I know that could never get sick of talking about the movie or the books. We have had many a nerd-exposing conversation about those darn books. She's my go-to girl on anything Twilight. Her and her sisters had this party and she made chess piece sugar cookies for Breaking Dawn. Clever. And hard. She made her own cookie cutters for it and everything. And for Sheena's baby shower, she made this purple tutu that made me want to have a girl JUST so I could have one. She's a crafty one. I'm so glad that I have been able to get to know her even better and catch up with her every month. It has been so fun! Love that girl.

.....

Meg. Oh dear. What do you say about this girl. She is truly one of the best people I know. I look up to her in so many ways. She has a heart bigger than anyone. Hence the theme she wanted to do for her party. It's so Meg, to want to go volunteer somewhere. She is my free spirit hippie chick. She is super intelligent and in high school was determined to be a Forensic Pathologist. She was an SBO in high school, which is really pretty fitting. She always got impeccable grades, worried about getting into trouble, and always respected her authority figures. She hates putting on dresses, and washing her hair. I'm not positive, but I think that the shoes she wore as a bridesmaid at my wedding might have been one of the first few heels ever to grace her feet. We used to color her hair in her bathroom with dye we got at Smith's. She often times cuts her own hair, and does a good job. She is known for wearing at least 4 shirts at a time, and then feeling as though she is suffocating in them. Her room growing up was plastered wall to wall with memorabilia and pictures. She is friends with EVERYONE. I have never known someone to not like her. She has been known to do dances wearing only black socks...she loves music and Bob Dylan. Out of all of my friends, I think she takes the cake for the best tattoos. She has survived being hit as a pedestrian by a truck, and now walks with a slight limp. She really had a miraculous recovery after shattering her hip, and when we visited her in the hospital, was only concerned with how WE were doing. Meg is all about peace and love, and I have learned a whole lot from her. She would give the shirt off her back to someone in need, and we would all be better off trying to be a little bit more like her.

Oldies and Goodies

I know, I know. I have other things I should be posting about right now, but I'm just not in the mood. That's obviously been a blogging problem for me lately (but check out my large and green letters, pretty crazy right?). I felt way more like digging up a total random and posting on that. Sometimes those are the funnest. Yep. FUNNEST. So here's random for ya. This is a picture of my second ever photoshoot I did. It's an oldie. I was in hair school and I asked my best friend and a co-worker to let me use thier goods for my benefit. :) I did the hair and makeup here, and please don't look too close, there are so many flaws. But hey, I was brand spank. I did however dig the green stitching along the mohawk, that was a fun detail. (Maybe someday I'll post pictures of my first shoot. I did 3 models to look like earth, fire, and water. Super fun). This is also my first time actually showing my scanner who's boss, even though they didn't all come out looking quite right contrast/brightness wise. Sorry 'bout that.

I die for this girls fro. DIE.

Some other shots that scanned all crazytown on me

And last but not least, the GOODIES. Unfortunately I cannot claim that I took these pictures....sadness. But I did take pictures of these pictures. Not sure how legal that is, but I figure if I give a shout out to the photographer no harm done? Sara Boulter my friends. She's the bomb DIG. And don't mind my crookedness when taking the last ones. I was trying to eat at the same time....just love me

This last one makes me want to CRY i love it so much. Are you DYING? I did.

Don't even worry, I posted twice today....

So I am obviously quite behind on posting. Two months behind actually. I have yet to post about the So You Think You Can Dance tour, our last get together at Dell's house (which is the post below this, so please scroll on down to see that), New York, my nephew's birthday party, my little brother and sister's birthday party, etc. Yeah. But at least I killed 2 birds with one stone by posting twice today! Woot! Anyways, this is us at Katie's house for our October party. All but 2 were able to make it!! We had so much fun, her theme was "Favorite Things" like Oprah does on her show. So we all had to bring a favorite thing and then got to go home with someone else's. SUCH a fun idea. She also made taco soup in "pumpkin" bread bowls, hot chocolate, cookies, candy, the works. We ate, swapped favorite things, and then because there are so many of us (and we all talk over each other and have side conversations) we never get to hear all about everyone's lives. So she had these questions in a bowl and each of us picked out 2 questions and then thats how we talked all night. It was SO fun. the questions were like "Whats the most in love you've ever been?", or "what was the most courageous thing you've ever done?", or "What is the best thing you've ever spent money on?". So we went around the circle and listened to everyone and talked specifically with them about their question. I LOVED IT.

This is Katie giving away her favorite thing, which happen to be wearing hoodies. So she gave the cutest hoodie (hello $$$ Katie, we were not suppoed to spend that much, you punk) to Brooke who drew her name.
Sheena and Hadlee Jo. She was wearing the cutest little outfit! Sheena said she was excited cuz she is now just starting to fit into actual baby clothes. I need to eat her one of these days.

This is Tori giving her favorite candle and sent. I think it was citrus flavored. What, you guys don't eat your candles?

The yummy pumpkin bowl taco soup number. Seriously tasty. Kira made mine for me cuz I couldn't cut make my bowl without mauling it. Thanks Kir.

Hi Weight Watchers cookies that tasted like heaven. Thanks for being so delicious to my tummy, AND being low cal. Super nice of you.

Haley being inventive with bread. Always a plus when you can double your hat as a snack.

Miss Meg. I'm not sure what happened but at some point in the night she got crap all over her shirt. Oops. I'm not sure how she's gonna get that out, I hear it stains.... Hehehehehe (I tease, I tease)

Dell showcasing Katie's awesome Halloween cups. Seriously, every detail was thought of. Katie went all out ya'll.

Sheena, Tori, and Dell. Hot sexy mamma's.

So, a tid bit about Katie. Where do you start with this girl? Honestly, she is one of the most fun people I know. She is crazy and daring, silly and sweet, hardworking and dedicated. I have never met anyone as determined as her to meet a goal she sets for herself. She is also one of the most thoughtful people I know. Katie is always doing nice things for people and in any gift she gives, or party she throws, or card she writes, her whole heart goes into it. You can always spot the gift Katie brought because it is always so put together and elaborate. She is an incredibly creative person, and is always putting that to use. This girls got guts and she's not afraid to get up infront of a crowd of people. She is able to laugh at herself, and not take life too seriously. I have so many memories with Katie, it's hard to know where to begin. Tube socks, highschool cheerleading, camps, going on "crime runs", the beetlejuice mask, spying(hehe), the leprechaun, her rap music always blaring in her car (juan was it?), her talking herself out of 8 speeding tickets in about one year (even going as far as getting out of the car to "throw up"), boys, dancing, her being mine and my highschool boyfriend's therapist, Lake Powell, senior trip, Mesquite, her to-die-for 6 pack, her getting in trouble with our guys friends in Vegas cuz they were worried she looked too sexy (she was wearing shorts, she just has THAT bangin of a body), her witch performance in the 9th grade play, her eating cereal 2 inches from her face, her albums and albums of pictures, going to spend a weekend with her at her sisters in Cali with Brooke, the pinky toe, silver toe nail polish, silver jewelry, laying out and her getting tan and me getting burned, living a summer in Hawaii with her and Brooke, skydiving, running for 3 hours in the rain (ok that was just you, we all stopped at like 45 minutes), eating plate fulls of $.25 pineapple and making our mouths raw, doing her hair for her wedding, and watching her be the cutest dang pregnant chick out there. Needless to say, I love this girl. Thanks for your friendship Katie, for being such an example to me, and for all the fun memories we've had and the next to come. Love you!!!

So You Think You Can Rock?

So I am an AWESOME rock star. Pretty sure in my next life I'm coming back as Rhianna post Disturbia....I mean, the "sleeve tattoo's" I rocked at this month's get together WERE purchased at Walmart for $4. But Still. I play a mean drum set, and even meaner guitar. September's get together was at Dell's house. She threw a "Rockstar Party" and we played Rock Band and had to come dressed the part. Hence the sleeve's. Although don't put it past me to just randomly sport them to places that have no need. Ok, I'm lying. Maybe. Anyways, Dell went ALL out for her party and it was so much fun! She even did HER OWN mohawk. It was seriously impressive. We rocked it out all night, ate pizza, drank Rockstars (naturally), took pictures, and chatted. My favorite thing of the night was that Haley went and bought a Hannah Montana shirt and microphone that lit up all different colors. Seriously, what's more rockstar than that? Absolutely nothing. Again, people keep coming up with themes and it makes it so fun. And we're super dorky, you won't find one of us denying it....This is Dell all sorts of rocked out. Doesn't she look hard core? And I cant get over the fact that she did her own hair...you should have seen it in person.

T and Sheena. We forgave Sheena for not coming in character, you know, since she just gave birth and all....
This is Haley giving it her all at the drums. She was ALMOST as good as me. Almost.

Kira and Haley. Please notice the black in Kira's hair and Haley's face tat. You're not a rocker unless you've got your face inked....So she's totally got it covered.

Please appreciate our rocker "I'm really hard core" faces.


(not sure why mines in black and white...)

(and Sheena....it's cute. You needed a rocker face)



Haley mid-performance. She doesn't mess around. She totally represented Hannah here, wouldn't you say? Or is this more Miley? I'm not sure....

So, my story of Dell. She's one of the most amazing people I've ever had the privilege of knowing in my life, and I'm not sure how to properly write her "shout out" and NOT write a novel. So I warn whoever is reading this that the rest of this post will in fact be very long, and probably seem somewhat dramatic. But I don't care. It's pretty much just for her anyway, and to tell people how cool I think she is :) Dellany and I have known each other since 2nd grade. We have been best friends since , and she is the first person I met and KNEW I had known before this life. She has lived enough life for 10 people, and then some. I don't know anyone that has conquered as much as she has. I have looked up to her and what she is capable of, for as long as I can remember. In fact, this is a journal entry I wrote about her when I was in junior high and it pretty much sums up how I feel about her (and definitely captures the emotional pre-teen in me...)

"My best friend in the entire world is and always will be Dellany Joy Carroll. She is the most amazing person I have ever been fortunate enough to know. She is more than words can express. There is no one on this entire earth that I love more than her. I can't explain her, she just isn't definable. There isn't a way I could begin to tell you how she does it, how she affects people so deeply. You are strangely changed once you know her. I have never met any one stronger, more honest and trustworthy, or as enjoyable as she is. When we are together, we can say absolutely nothing for as long as we choose, and have had an entire conversation. We will have known exactly what each other thought, and felt. All my best memories include her, they begin with her. Her contribution to my happiness and sanity in my life is enormous. she has never failed me, never let me down. She couldn't disappoint me if she tried. She is one of those people that when you are around her, you know she is different - that she is important in a greater sense. She affects people in a way that you could only dream YOU could. She has this magnetic force that draws people to her. You could be in a room and you would know when she comes in without even seeing her, the room suddenly shifts, and everyone knows of her presence. I know she has angels surrounding her wherever she goes. God knew of her importance, and the protection she would need, so He sent angels to guard her. Maybe that is why people feel changed, because her connection to Heaven is almost tangible..."

Yep. That's honestly how I still feel. There are so many memories that we have together, good and bad. So many places we've been, and things we've done, that it would be impossible to try to write them down. We went through silly things like braces, first boyfriends, Backstreet Boys mania, and Jenko jeans together. We tried out and made Cheer together. Our senior year, we got our schedules switched to have EVERY single class together but one: I had Drill and she had Art. We got detention together, and got thrown out of detention together (ha). We sluffed school and went on adventures everywhere. We ate goldfish and Mt. Dew. G-Squad! We loved school lunch, and shared a locker that was full of clothes from bottom to top. We spent our summers bare foot no matter where we went, even in gas stations (I know, trust me, I KNOW) We made up songs in my dad's suburban when the radio was broken, took naps together, and I had her come on every family vacation we took. She is the most hilarious person I know. She was there for me through my parents divorce, and I tried to be there for her the best I knew how through some of the hardest years she would face. I was there to see her beautiful baby girl Stella born. I watched her do the most selfless thing I have ever seen as she placed her child in the arms of another to raise her, and give her the best life she could possibly imagine. She has been so fortunate to be a part of Stella's life as she has grown up. I have watched Dellany dying, her organs shutting down one by one as she lay in a hospital bed, suffering from a bacterial infection. My dad drove me to the hospital with me thinking I was saying my final goodbye. I watched her family break down in the waiting room as they were told to prepare for the same. It wouldn't be the first time I had thought she was leaving me forever. She was rushed to emergency surgery, had a colostomy bag for months, and now has a 13 inch scar down her abdomen to prove it, which she wears proudly. Not a day has gone by that she has ever wasted time being self conscious about it. By nothing short of a miracle from God, Dellany lived. She has work to do here. Her will to fight on amazes me everyday. She is the most spiritual person I know. The most foul-mouthed spiritual person, but hey :) She has such a deep understanding of things. She has never been afraid to be who she is, and has never once been sorry for it. She's crazy, and fun, sensitive, and caring. She is one of those people that when you really know her, you feel blessed. I am incredibly lucky to have crossed paths with such a person as her. She has been tried more than any other person I know. She has been through literal hell and back, more than once. I admire her in every way. She is going to be the BEST mom ever. She is working every day to fight for that blessing. I am SO proud of her. Thanks for teaching me so many things, I am a better person because I know you. I love you Delly.

My Man is 28...

I have to give a little shout out to my hubster. He doesn't love a lot of blog time (especially pictures), but it was his birthday on Sunday so here are 28 reasons why I love his awesome self:
1. He's tall. Real tall.
2. He loves the Gieco lizard. Loves it. Tries to talk like it.
3. He loves his family SOOO much
4. He loves me even more (word)
5. He calls me everyday at work, sometimes more than once, just to see how I'm doing
6. He lets me watch Harry Potter every night while going to sleep (I seriously have no explanation for this one, except that I am weird)
7. He would do anything for the people he loves
8. He seems shy, but is secretly obnoxious and dorky. I wish more people, including his family, got to see this side of him more.
9. He loves to make me laugh. But I love HIS laugh. His full on, bust a gut, can't breathe laugh. It makes me happy.
10. He brings me dinner on my days I work at the salon. They are usually 14-16 hour days, so he takes care of me. (Double word)
11. He rubs my feet when I get home from the salon. He's pretty much my slave.
12. He is a football fanatic, and still has hopes and dreams of playing in the NFL one day. Cross your fingers for him...
13. He always encourages me to have hobbies, and do things I love. He loves when I paint and wants to hang the crazy things I come up with in the house. He bought me an awesome camera because I said I'd love to get into photography, and he lets me read, blog, and be creative at any opportunity. Muchos gracias for this, it makes me so happy
14. He cares more about me being happy than sometimes I do. He watches out for me when I don't watch out for me. He protects me when I don't protect myself.
15. He loves kids and can't wait to be a Daddy someday
16. He works so hard and has come so far in what he does. He is lucky to be in the position he is in right now, and I couldn't feel more blessed to have such a hardworking fella.
17. He is honest. In everything he does, he does it with integrity and honesty.
18. He does laundry (boo-yah)
19. If we have a boy someday, he wants to name him Rock. Like, for real he LOVES this name. It's cute because he thinks he will get his way on that one. Awe...
20. He caught me dancing like a dork by myself in the kitchen one day and laughed and said he wishes I would do that more often....sweetness. I've currently got a pretty impressive routine I'm working on...
21. He acts like he HAS to be tortured to sit through American Idol and SYTYCD with me. Loves it. LOVES it. I just know it.
22. Totally sings in the shower. It's quite the treat.
23. Thinks he's going to own about 10 cars some day. All at the same time.
24. He wears his watch with the face on the INSIDE of his wrist. So every time he looks at his watch, it's palms up.
25. He sends me flowers every Valentines Day even though I don't like flowers. He feels bad if every other girl got them and not me.
26. He loves taking drives and walks with me. Just the other day he said, "Ya know, we need to take more walks together". I smiled and thought, "We sure do."
27. He dutifully eats whatever I cook (on the days miracles decide to happen, and pots of gold are sitting at the ends of rainbows) and says it's yummy. I can tell when he's lying (almost always) but I love him for it.
28. And most importantly, I love him for loving me, and taking all the good with the bad that comes with me. He never tries to change who I am. He encourages me to become whatever I want to become and is there for me every step of the way. So when I quit my jobs to become a professional shopper, and then try out for Paris Hilton's new BFF reality show, just know I had his full support.

Love you babe!

Lake Mead!!!

We went and stayed in Mesquite to go boating a couple weekends ago with my in-laws. So much fun! I'm so lucky to have such great, fun in-laws. This is me and the dude hangin out on the boat. My little nephew Dylan is getting so big! He was my little bud. Him and his brothers, Brock and Kaden, are little fish. All they wanted to do was get out and swim with everyone. K, so I know this picture is dark, but I thought it was kinda cool that way. This is my man doing what he loves best, wakeboarding. The water was PERFECT at Mead. So perfect, even I got up. (I've been trying for like, 5 years is all) AND my mother-in-law. Kevin said it was the best wakeboarding he's ever done, but I was too slow on the trigger to get any pics with him getting any air. But him and his sis Beth got some awesome jumps in. I'm sad I didn't get the evidence, cuz it was pretty impressive. Or "frickin awesome" as Tyler would say.... :)
This is Lisa, Erik, and Kaden. It was good to see them cuz now that they live in St. George, we don't get to very often. Lisa got up on the wakeboard as well. WOO WOO! We're pretty much pro's now.
Dylan wearing my sunglasses trying to look tough. He kills me.

These my friends, are the wild donkeys we came across on the drive home. Who knew there were wild donkey families just roaming down south? I sure didn't. You would have thought we saw a pride of lions the way we stopped and took pictures in amazement, but seriously? Donkey's? They were so cute, and look how nice they were to stop and pose for me.

I'm sad I didn't get more pictures, but dont worry. I got a new scary camera for my birthday that I'm not sure how to use yet. I'm gonna take some lessons, so I think I have a new hobby. WOOT! (Don't worry, I won't pretend to be a professional for AT LEAST two weeks. Ha ha ha! No, this will strictly be a hobby thing for me. But I'm SO EXCITED!!!) Thank you to my in-laws for such a fun trip! It's always a good time with you guys and I can't wait till next year when Joleen, Lisa, and I show up all you "experienced" wakeboarders. Yeah, you heard.

Better late than never...

So I have been a big time slacker and not posted our get-together for the month of August. I am qiute obviously bad at taking the time to update my blog, and most of the time it only happens when we have these monthly shindigs. So I will try to get better not only at posting things on time, but mixing it up a little in between as well. So....

Cute little Britt had the month of August. Here are a few things I love about her:
We were on drill team together and she was so much fun! The memories I have from our senior year of drill together are too many to post. Drill was one of the best and most fun times for me, and I am so glad that I got to know Britt better by being on a team together. She was even her perky self at the 6 am practices we had every morning. She is such a good sport, and always has a good attitude about everything. She is a hardworker and always willing to help out with anything. She has always been so cute, but she is one of those people I love to hate because she just keeps getting cuter and cuter everytime you see her. I want to slap her because she was still so cute and little after having Treyvan. What a snotface. She is the sweetest mom and watching her with her son is so crazy to me. She is so adorable with him and he is just this little man. I love it. It's been so good to see you every month Britt, and I'm so glad that we can be friends!

She decided that since it was so close to Sheena's due date, that she would throw her a baby shower at her mom's house. It was so nice of her mom to let all us crazy girls come and invade her home for a couple of hours. It was kinda funny, because a lot of people forgot that her parents moved, so they showed up at Britt's old house she lived in when we went to highschool. Ha ha, what losers....So by the time everyone found the RIGHT house, she had some yummy food for us all to eat and we all gathered downstairs to chat and stuff our faces. A couple of the people who have kiddies brought them along (Natalie, Luke was very missed, that kid needs his own Nickelodeon show or something) and it was so fun taking pictures of all the little ones. This made me feel like a real adult, at a real grown up party lining up all the kids and the moms standing behind the cameras making fools out of themselves to get their kids to smile! It was pretty hilarious. Then we opened gifts and played some games. Even though we weren't as cooperative as Britt would have liked, I'm sure. :) The best thing of the whole night was the fact that Meg brought her gift in this huge bag that had an eagle on it. Who brings a gift to a little girl baby shower with a huge eagle flight scene on it? Meg.....Meg does. We were dying laughing. Oh, what would we do without you Meg? The night ended with us on her mom's living room floor and stairway just chattin away about life. It was such a fun night and I'm so glad to have these girls in my life. Thanks Britt!!