hay

what is updawg?

2012-01-14T14:51:00.000-08:00

I really need to post about my life, because it's pretty awesome. I just don't blog anymore, it's not because I'm too busy, because I definitely am not. It is because we don't have the internet. We're too cheap to pay for it alone and too scared to go ask our neighbors to share with us. I've tried to think of how to knock and the door and say "give me the password" in a normal and nice way, but it's really tricky. We've lived there too long to go have a "meet and greet" and there's really no other reason for us to go over. Plus, every time we see them out in the 'parking area' it is way too awkward. The husband doesn't understand conversation cues and the I've never actually seen the wife's face. She can keep it hid extremely well somehow (kind of like Wilson from Home Improvement). Anyway, that is why I don't blog. Right now, I'm at the library pretending to be a student, and everyone is totally buying it.

Some things that we've been up to...

Nate finally found a job working at the car wash which is awesome because I have been supporting both of us on my fake job at the call center, so now we have 2 half/fake jobs which almost equals a real one. Why don't I use my college degree to get a real job, you ask? Well for one, I really like my job and for two, I hate learning new jobs, and I'm not crazy about the degree I settled on. But I'll use it, it's my new years resolution to get a big person job.

I entered into Ellen's 12 days of giveaway's and I was 100% sure that I would win every single day, and I didn't, which was really surprising for some reason. More surprising than if I had actually won something. Oh and I also have been such a good homemaker and have tried out a lot of new recipes, most have been really good. Sometimes I even put my ingredients in tiny little glass containers, so, I'll probably have my own cooking show someday.

And....you're all caught up. That's what we've been up to.

Being married is fun way less scary than I thought it'd be and so far, way less hard than everyone says it is. Yeah it's only been 3 months, but so far I haven't even had an emotional break down, which I hear is pretty routine during the first little while of marriage.

I don't have any pictures today, but maybe I will someday. And maybe I will muster up enough courage to go and talk to the neighbors.

loving this song lately

2011-12-10T12:28:00.001-08:00

click here and have a listen.

best time of the year

2011-11-20T15:54:00.001-08:00

the first month of marriage has been great. just look at these pictures and you'll believe me, or you should at least.

Carving pumpkins on Halloween. We carved the biggest pumpkin ever. It was fun and exhausting. Can you guess who is on our pumpkin?

Pumpkin Walk

Calvin and Hobbes, Corpse Bride and Angry Birds were my favorite displays this year. It was so fun.

That's all for now. Someday, I'll have enough time to do a better post. Have a Happy and Thankful Thanksgiving.

look who's back

2011-11-20T15:50:00.000-08:00

love this.

Marriage.

2011-11-02T19:40:00.000-07:00

I got married! I have been putting off blogging about it because in mind it needed to be the best post of my life, and that is a taunting task. Maybe it's because I'm lazy or maybe it's because if I tried to put that day into words, I would fail miserably. Sorry for any disappointment, but all I'm going to say is that it was perfect.

The reception was beautiful thanks to my mom's countless hours of preparation, the Brooks, and my mom's team of decorators. I'll post pictures of that someday.

Here are some I stole from my friends:

I sure do love that boy. We've had quite the journey, but he was worth the wait.

2011-09-25T09:59:00.000-07:00

some engagements.

engaged to be married.

2011-09-25T09:01:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the spoiler alert of a title. About a month ago (august 26)I was packing up all my stuff. It was Friday and I had to be all moved out of my house by Saturday. I didn't have anywhere to move to though. I found a really nice girl who was about to get married and told me I could live with her until her new husband moved in. It bought me a couple weeks to look around and find a place to live. In the middle of packing everything up, I decided I needed a break and I would go to crossfit. Not much of a break, but a nice change. As I was walked out my door I was surprised to see Nate standing on my front lawn. He was supposed to be in Highland, or at least that's what he told me. I asked him what he was doing there and he said he had to come up because we had reservations at Gia's. (Gia's is a fancy Italian restaurant that we love). I went and changed and we were on our way to dinner. After dinner, he surprised me yet again by saying we were going on a canoeing. We went out west to the marsh lands of Logan and it was beautiful. It was sunset just when we got in and the water was completely still.

Please don't mind my terrible posture. Just look at that view. Perfect.

After canoeing for a while, we made our way to the middle of the canoe. Nate got out a present and told me to open it. I opened and inside were a million plastic rings. I think he said something like, "choose which ever one you want!". I dug through the rings, hoping I could find the biggest ring with the pinkest diamond. In my search I found a ring box in the very bottom. I opened and inside was a beautiful ring. Nate asked me to marry him and I think I said yes or something. It was such a weird feeling and I couldn't stop looking at the ring, which made it very difficult to row back to the dock.

We are engaged! And there is a mosquito on Nate's face. Nate brought a bottle of "Off" and we sprayed it almost the whole time. The mosquitoes were relentless so we headed for land pretty quick after the proposal.

Then we went to McDonald's and got a mcflurry. I don't think that is typical post-proposal protocol, but we wanted one. We didn't tell anyone for a day or so, which is also abnormal. We just wanted to enjoy the excitement before we were bombarded. I'm glad we had that time, it's been non-stop wedding since then.

We are getting married October 20. See ya there.

done with college.

2011-08-03T18:45:00.000-07:00

Just took my last quiz of college. Now I'm a real college grad. It feels the same as being a fake college grad.

a trip of comedians

2011-07-06T19:21:00.000-07:00

Such a great weekend of fun and freedom! Everyone on the trip was hilarious and I never stopped laughing. Nate Rob was in rare form and I could not stop laughing and egging him on. We went on an extreme rafting trip where we nearly lost some girls in 3-ordeal (a rapid that you should never take, and that tipped two out of 4 rafts and dumped about 18 people out into the rapids). The raft I was on perfection. We didn't tip, no one fell out and we got to the boat port perfectly. It was a good raft full of strong paddlers. The water was really high and the river was raging the whole time. It was one of the most thrilling things to see the huge rapids ahead and have our guide yelling "PADDLE!! Don't stop paddling!". Nate Rob was making me laugh so hard it was hard to paddle. I want to get back on that river so bad!

After the rafting ordeal we went back, cleaned up and had a BBQ and went to Idaho Falls Fireworks. They were the best I have ever seen in my life. It was like a finale the whole time and they lasted longer than any other fireworks I have ever been to. It was incredible. It was a perfect 4th and I wish it didn't have to end so soon. Here are some pictures I stole from Mckay, who also blogged about the exp erience:

And here are some really great quotes and/or memories from the trip:

"Everything I touch gets pregnant"

-The movie line game (Beethoven, Titanic, Ninja Turtles)

-Nate Rob's mom "Busted! Call me!"

-"Specifically"

-The ridiculous questions during stargazing. No one could form a coherent question, especially Nate Rob. "What is the definition of the moon?"

-"No....it's not a newt"

-"OMG!! They have 'Meet Joe Black'!

-"They're listening to weird music in that car"

-Nate Rob talking to the rapids, "Not now, not like this!"

-"RAPIDS!!"

-"I'm gonna hit you up at 3AM"

-"That movie is off the market"

-"I still haven't decided if I'm going to go"

-Syd's F bomb

-"You look like two different races. I mean species"

Summer is cool.

2011-06-27T17:59:00.000-07:00

Summer has been way cool so far. And I can prove it.

Brandi Carlile concert. It was such a great concert. Juje was so crazy, crying and getting so mad about how great Brandi was. She really did rock it, I loved her.

Mothers Day pedicures. I look like an idiot. It was fun to be with the girls and get my first pedicure ever. It was nice, but it tickled a lot and I think they gave me ingrown toenails.

Summerfest! I love Logan when Summerfest is happening. Those Navajo tacos were so good. I won a CD because I knew some music trivia and it really boosted my self esteem.

These pics are from Deer Valley. Lols and Dar Dar took the kids on a little adventure to Deer Valley and it was so beautiful. The pictures suck, because boys suck at taking pictures and just snap away without counting or warning you.

We took George out on the town one night and he had a good time. Juje also had a trampoline in her backyard for a while and it was awesome, until her neighbors became indian givers and went back on their word. Now they put their tramp on the other side of their yard so we can't use it. But that didn't stop Riana from jumping on it topless (or so she says).

Now Juje is gone forever and I am keeping so busy with the weirdest things. I have been making friends with strangers at the pool. I've been working hard to find a boat friend, and I think I just may have done it. Also, I became obsessed with Xmen this weekend after I saw the new one. I watched the first three again and I will be watching Wolverine tonight. I can't get enough. I have three white hairs in my bangs and I am crossing my fingers that I will turn into Rogue.

I'm talking about weird things, so see ya.

Gnome Quotes

2011-06-27T17:44:00.000-07:00

Moving out of the gnome home was quite the task. It was fun at first to go through everything that everyone left, but by the end I was throwing away everything in sight. Some of my favorite things I came across while I was still in a happy, sentimental mood was the black paint that chel and nat used to make themselves black people for halloween. Such a funny costume. All the greenware that we bought together at DI that made Sunday dinners so special. The awesome awards that Riana would hand out randomly. And probably my favorite thing I found, all our most famous quotes. I hadn't read them for a while and they got me laughing really good. You probably won't understand most of these unless you were lucky enough to be there when they were said. Just keep in mind that they're a lot funnier and a lot less inappropriate when you know understand the context they were said in. Here goes:
"I'm glad I'm not a real person" Mckay

"It smells like poison" Juje

"Can anyone spare a sip" Riana

"This water is boiling so you guys BETTER watch out" Riana

"She's a little round, borderline 'you need to go run'. Mckay

"Let me make myself nervous real quick. Get nervous!" Riana

"Do we have milk now? Don't answer that! Don't answer that!" Mckay

"I'll find a wild she-male" Willy

"That deserves a million dollars" Riana

"Guys, I can go pretty far before intentions come into play" Mckay

"You're great live" Collin-fiance

"Wouldn't you rather keep your clothes on and touch a little bit?" Natalie

"That is a big secret for a gnome to keep!" Mckay

"Being a slave wouldn't be so bad" Hayley

"... and I like Brett" Colin-FHE

"If someone cries, I'll cry" Juje

"Do you not want me to go? Is this a romantic thing?" Riana

"The next time I catch your mouth in my mouth, you're a gonner" Juje

"I brought 500 days of summer...the movie" Juje

"I'm going to wax my legs, drink a pepsi and love my life" Mara

"This pizza is crisps" Riana

"Honk at that shiz!" Riana

Good times. They all have such great stories behind them, we were so funny.

family olympics

2011-05-30T09:54:00.001-07:00

This weekend was a crazy time. The LaCognata's had their reunion at a nice little cabin in Brianhead. The cabin was nice, but a little bossy. There were notes all over telling us what we could and should do, and suggestions for how to use things. Some of my favorite notes were "don't touch the TV until you read this." I liked it because none of us read it and the TV was on for most of the time entertaining children. My of other favorite note was, "don't move, touch or look at anything in this closet." Really? Don't even look at it? Needless to say I opened it up, expecting to find a pile of dead bodies, but it was just some boring cords.

Brianhead got 10 feet of snow the day before we came, according to the cabin owner, and the trip almost didn't happen. Luckily, she came clean and said the snow was taken care of and now there just a lot of mud. There was still a lot of snow though. Enough for Averi and Mike to go sledding every day, it was funny and ridiculous to watch.

The theme was "family olympics". It was a good time, with some funny events. All the events that I would have won a gold on got eliminated because of the snow and mud, so I only came out with 2 bronze medals. The babies even got to compete, but none of them really wanted to. The baby events included a stair climb, ball throw, golf putting. And the adult events included golf putting, ping pong, and pool.

Opening Ceremonies. That bag of popcorn was the torch.

Troy loved eating his medals. And linz and I fought it out in ping pong, she was a good competitor, but I came out on top.

An awesome sunset. And baby golf.

So many babies in the shower. I kept wishing someone would turn on the water.

Family pictures. And I don't know why Averi was spanking Kim.

Closing ceremonies/Rave dance party.

I love that my dad gets us matching shirts, I'm getting a great collection. It was so much fun to be with the family. 4 one-year olds is way too many though, it was pretty chaotic. And no one got much sleep.

Some of the best quotes:
"Baxter is like a man. Except he likes kid shows" -Averi
"I'm Tom Linge's daughter" -Mom
"Why are there two tiny little babies out here by themselves?" -Kim, post trip, but still
"Whenever it's their turn you put on your A-game!" Mike

"somebody should bomb this place"

2011-05-30T09:22:00.000-07:00

Last week I went the to U2 concert with Jo and my boss and his wife, along with a lot of other people I didn't know. It was a funny/weird combo, but I loved every minute. My boss is way cooler than I thought and I finally understand why he always has people in his office laughing it up, he is quite funny.

Before the concert we had a hard time finding a park, but none of us cared about missing the Fray. We all agreed they only had one song we knew, until we were walking toward the stadium and recognized every song they played. We were a little sorry we missed it. The concert was CRAZY. I'm not the biggest fan of U2, and I only knew maybe half of the songs they played. But when I did know a song, it was awesome. I can't imagine if I would have known all of them. The stage was the most incredible thing I've ever seen, and I often found myself hypnotized by the lights and completely in a trance. When I wasn't in a trance from the lights I was thinking about how old the band was. They are so old. Way too old to be rocking out like they did. Aside from that, there was way too much propaganda. And I feel like there was a lot of subliminal messages, but I can't figure out what they were yet. Here are some pics of the show:

That last picture is during "with or without you", I really do love that song. I just wish I could listen to it without thinking of lauren and dave. That was their song in high school and it makes me so mad that I remember that.

The encore of the concert got really weird. On the screen there was these weird little aliens that were talking. I was convinced the claw stage was going to close up and grasp Bono's head and then take off into the sky, my boss was convinced that we would finally experience the rapture, and no one else really knew what was going on. It was a weird time.

One last thing that really bothered me, why does "the edge" get such a cool name and the other band members just have to use their regular name? It doesn't seem fair. That's all.

Gradge.

2011-05-22T12:07:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago I graduated. Kinda. I am finishing up one more class during the summer, but I pretended to graduate with everyone and it felt very real to me. So real, in fact, that I have completely neglected my summer class and I am already failing. Gradge (as peg likes to call it) was pretty great. It was super short, there was only one speaker and she spoke for like 1 minute. There was an African king there too, and his royal family. They were in awesome, colorful robes and I watched them the whole time. They were there to support their son. I'm gonna try to get him to marry me and then I can have a royal wedding of my own. One girl in the row in front of me was literally a basket case, crying almost the whole time. I don't understand why she was so sad to be done with college. The lady that announced my name actually managed to mispronounce my first name, not just my last name. My mom didn't recognize the name so she didn't get a picture of me walking across the stage, but she did get this one. Juje came and watched me graduate and even sat with parents. She helped them find the royal family and me. We are best friends in this picture.

Photo shoot on the quad. Good times USA, and USU.

I'll post some pictures of my new house sometime soon. I have a real room now, with a window and everything.

It is my birthday.

2011-04-29T14:11:00.000-07:00

It is my birthday. I love my birthday! I have gotten so many birthday wishes from so many people, including a couple people I have never met. There's at least two people that I don't know that said happy birthday to me on facebook, and possibly more. Is that a normal thing to do? When I see it's someone's birthday I usually don't say anything unless I know them and have talked to them in the past year or so. Maybe these people just add a bunch of strangers and wish them happy birthday because they're nice, or maybe I really do know them and just don't remember them (that is unlikely, because I have a really good memory when it comes to people, it's so good that it makes me seem like a creep sometimes). Or perhaps they are the creeps. Either way, I guess it makes me look more popular, which isn't so bad.

Today I am 22. I got a card from Mara with a $2 bill (I always complained to her that my grandparents never did the $2 bill thing, so she felt bad for me and now she sends me one every year. She is such a good grandma). I also got cards from Lish and my parents. I love getting mail, it makes me way too happy!

Besides the gay blizzard that just ripped through Logan, it has been a great day. I am all done with classes forever! Now I'm off to cross fit, dinner with Nat and Juje, and then USU is throwing a huge birthday party for me. I hope Sean Kingston sings "happy birthday" to me so bad.

p.s. crossfit is awesome and scary and hard. Mon-Wed I was pretty immobile due to the soreness, but my body feels great now and I am starting to crave crossfit.

life and some shout outs

2011-04-22T09:23:00.000-07:00

Geez, that last post was depressing. Too bad it was up so long. Don't worry, I'm much better now. I have had a busy but great couple of weeks. I got rid of that rash which was probably the best part. I also had my last dance concert of my life. It was so much fun. I felt really good after it and I didn't have any huge mess ups. My mom and grandma and all my aunts came to watch and they sat on the second row. It's always weird to spot people you know while you're dancing. Even though I know they will be there, I don't like seeing people I know, for some reason it freaks me out. Juje and brother came, it was fun/weird that he came. I loved it and I will miss dancing so much.

The gnomes went to support Nat at her second marathon and she did so great. It accidentally made me want to start running hard core again. Dang it. I am signing up for two half marathons this summer and possibly a marathon...I haven't decided if I want to go through the torture again or not. But I can't believe it's almost been two years since my last one.

I am pretty much done with school, I only have one more final. But I finished all my assignments and homework last week. Without homework and dance I have had a lot of extra time. So Juje has stepped right in and filled those holes up with fun. We have been so busy with all kinds of things. Tennis, italian ice, going to the movies, bbq's & s'mores, and weird campus activities. Last night we went and listened to the real life "Hitch". He is the guy the movie was based off and he was pretty entertaining. He gave us all some good dating advice and told us why we were single. At the end he said, "good luck out there". I like to picture everyone on campus today asking people out and "putting themselves out there". Too bad I'm at the high school today, I can't and shouldn't implement any of the new tips I learned.

I went and watched Natalie teach yesterday and she was the bomb. I loved her class so much, I want to go back every day. It was like a party, I looked around and almost every student was laughing and engaged during her lesson. At first I thought, "this is probably too fun for the students to be learning anything". So, I tried to think of what I had learned and I remembered everything! I think those students are accidentally learning a lot about history. I know I did. I didn't even try, but I know so much more about the Civil right's movement now. Her students are great too, I was laughing the whole time at them. Some kid was talking about how we were going to be hit by a tornado, some girl wanted to learn more about slave internships. They all love her. Good job, Mrs. Innes, keep it up. Now I just gotta go see Juje teach. Someday soon.

I'm starting cross fit on Monday. I'm so excited/scared. But I can't wait to be fit. I bet I'll be able to run so fast once I get some muscle on me.

I have such bad senioritis. I can't wait to be done with school right now.

Wednesday’s are the worst

2011-04-06T18:21:00.000-07:00

My day today:
6:30am-1:15 pm Work
1:30-2:30 Class
3-5 Dance
5-10:30 Class (two different classes, but still)

And on top of it all this week I have to dress up like a boy for a presentation I have at 8. I am breaking out in hives thanks to the amoxicillin I have been on for over a week. Thanks dr. for letting me pay you $35 and for letting me wait for over an hour so you could come in and pretend to listen to me for a minute and a half. Thanks for your mis-diagnosis and for the antibiotic that is now reacting to my viral infection. Doc knows best.

I can’t stop itching, it's all I can think about, itchy itchy itchy. And now the rash is creeping up my neck. So, now I’m going to look like I’m super nervous for this presentation, and I get rashes when I have to be in front of people. I can’t wait until I don’t have to dread Wednesday’s anymore.

I wish I were a snake and I could shed my skin.

Weird Post

2011-04-01T09:37:00.000-07:00

I received a text from Nate on the morning of April Fool's that read, "I'm not talking to you today." Rude. I wasn't even planning on tricking him because he hates it so bad. I issued him a fake parking ticket from the USU police, but there was a very nice note inside, so he wouldn't be mad. He spent the whole day trying to make me hate April Fool's, but he was unsuccessful. I still love that stupid holiday. I love that Google pulls elaborate pranks on the whole world. I gotta get in with them and start pranking on a global level.

In other news, my house is "drama little mama" right now. One of my roommates who I will now refer to as home-wrecker, did just that. Came in, and home-wrecked. I don't want to give too many details on the world wide web, but if you want some weird, dramatic stories, let me know, I have plenty now.

I am one month away from fake-graduation and it feels so real! I will have to take one online class in the summer, but other than that I will be a real college grad. I picked up my cap and gown and I am ready to walk across that stage again. College has been great, but I'm so done with it for now.

I wish I knew what I was doing next in life, but I just don't. If anyone has any offers or awesome ideas with what I should do for the summer, let me know. I am up for just about anything.

My birthday is coming up (April 29). I am not afraid to announce it, your birthday is so much better when people know about it. I will miss the infamous gnome bashes, but I hope it'll still be an okay day. I am going to be 22! That is pretty old. Hopefully I will get a camera for my birthday and my posts will stop being so boring. Sorry folks.

Week of Winter Fun

2011-02-28T13:47:00.001-08:00

This last week was a winter wonderland and I probably would've hated it if I didn't participate in so many winter activities. Monday I went snowboarding with Juje and Nate and it was so much fun. We were all so tired and we were perfect for each other. There was a lot of fresh snow, but not too much. Juje and I discovered this awesome little path in between the trees that made me respect the Beav a little bit more. Tuesday I went ice skating with Nate and his whole stake. It was awesome because it was free and we didn't feel bad for leaving after only an hour. Usually I stay until my feet are so sore that I'm miserable, all because I feel like I have to "get my money's worth".

But the best part of the week was Saturday. Juje,Nate and I got free rentals from the ORC for going to Banff. We used those rentals for some cross country skis, but I totally would have paid for them. It was awesome. The night before it snowed probably 2 feet and it was powder-licious. I pictured it being really hard and not that fun, but it turned out to be really fun and not that hard...Well, not that hard, as in strenuous. It was however, surprisingly hard to stay upright. I fell over more times than I can count. Nate was leading us and it seemed like every time he looked back me or Juje were tangled in skis and poles. I got good and tangled one time and I had to lay there and wait for Nate to come help me while people passed and looked down on me. It was a pitiful sight I'm sure.

We picked a perfect trail up green canyon. It was a clear day and after removing a million layers it was a great temperature. I loved every second, even when we got stuck in a powder trap and couldn't escape, and when our knees got wrenched, and when we almost got chased by a moose. I am ready to invest in some cross-country ski's of my own.

Blackjack, Cookies and Love.

2011-02-17T13:04:00.000-08:00

So much to blog about, but so little all at the same time. I had a fun weekend and Valentines. On Saturday I got to dance at Mardi Gras all night. Mardi Gras is the second biggest party at USU, and it's pretty fun. They set up a whole casino and have tarot card readers, freak shows, and a mentalist. I played blackjack for a while and I was so good at it. Everyone was way impressed. I have Mckay to thank for that, she taught me well. If I didn't have to dance, I could've won so many chips/money.

We were dressed quite indecently, in corsets and fish nets. It was really fun, until you saw someone you knew, or kind of knew. It's not the way you want to see someone from a class or your ward. They got the completely wrong idea about me. I only have one (real) picture from that night. And you actually can't even see it, because facebook will no longer allow us to steal each others pictures. Lame.

Valentines was a real good time. Juje and I made and decorated a million cookies. We ate all the cookies that turned out ugly, which was way too many. It was fun and a little gross. We thought we were pretty funny that day.

On Valentines, Nate told me to come over and he had made a huge delicious steak dinner(he knows how to get to my heart) with sparkling cider and candlelight. Romance. No, I'm not engaged. I don't know why so many people asked me that. Nate knows me so much better than they do. Valentines day engagement doesn't really seem like my thing. After that we watched Cinderella Man, which has sentimental meaning to us. I love that movie, I forgot how great it is. Anyway, it was a great night. I really like the idea of Valentines. It's so great, even if you don't have a significant other to share it with, it's fun to just spread some love to friends and family.

Some day I'll get a camera so my blog isn't so boring and wordy. Words without pictures are not very fun, sorry.

cars are the worst.

2011-02-03T16:38:00.000-08:00

I have really bad luck with cars. In the past 3 or 4 months my car has "been in the shop" 4 times, I think. It's really absurd. And the worst part is that it's not just quick little fixes, they are long, expensive things to fix. I won't go into the boring details of what exactly is happening to it, but just know that I know. I know so much more than I ever wanted to know about cars. Anyway, the point is, my car is broken again. It smokes/steams out the hood and smells when I drive it. Sometimes when I have my heat on my car fills with smoke and it scares me just a little, but instead of turning the heat off or stopping the car, I just switch it over to the circulate air from within the car option. Fixed.

So my car has a lot of annoying, huge problems. So far, I've dealt with them pretty alright. But today, something else broke. My right turn signal now blinks twice as fast. You would not believe how angry I have been getting today. I turned right today and I thought, "what is that horrible noise?" I looked down and my blinker was going nuts. I was so mad. I thought maybe if, I turned off my car it would go away, so I pulled over. (kinda funny that I won't stop for a smoke in my car, but a haywire blinker nearly got me outta the car) I restarted my car and it still blinks like crazy. I have stopped using it now, and I just hope people will know that I'm turning right.

Kylee and I used to talk about how bad we hated the hyper blinkers that blinked so fast you could barely tell it was blinking. I remember thinking that there was something wrong with the people who had those cars, and now I'm one of them. I feel bad for judging them. Maybe theirs was an accident too.

It's crazy how many times I've thought, "I should have bought Nat's maxima, but I really should have. Nice leather seats, and normal paced blinkers. Plus, I bet it would not have required so much service.

Can't wait to sell that sucker and start riding my bike again. Cars just aren't for me.

Things are getting weird...

2011-01-29T12:08:00.000-08:00

Things have gotten weird since the last of my roommates moved out. i.e. one of my roommates who is very short (shorter than Natalie!) plays DDR by herself. Is it just me or does that seem like a game you usually play with a group of friends? Maybe it's not that weird. But something that definitely is, is that she also pins up her sheet wall at night. Why? I will never know. But then it forces basement club to watch her sleep. It's not just like leaving her door open, (which my other new roommate does, and it's almost as awkward. For some reason she leaves her door open and then acts like I'm intruding on her when I walk by. Sorry I have to walk past your room, maybe just close your door?) Anyway...it's not like leaving a door open, it's like removing an entire wall from your room and the rest of us can see everything. She also watches anime movies regularly and is enrolled in karate. Don't get me wrong, they are very nice girls, it's definitely an adjustment though.

Now that I'm thinking about it, they probably think I'm a real freak too. I'm hardly ever there and the few things they know about me aren't making the best impression. I'm the roommate who decorated the house with a million little gnomes that they are probably afraid of, I leave psychotic threatening notes about doing your own dishes or I'm going to punch a baby, and I live in a weird coal shoot room. When I am there I always talk about really weird things for some reason (I'm used to talking Juje, we'd have great conversations about weird stuff and neither one of us would think it was weird.) So I guess we're all a little strange. It's crazy to think that it's the same house that me and my besto's used to live in.

These days I am pretty much booked solid from 7 am until 6 pm, unless it's a Monday or Wednesday in which case I am gone from 7am until 10:30 pm, those are not fun days. I have 2 classes on Wednesday nights that start at 5 and go until 10:30, it's pretty rough (especially when I don't have any food). Sorry for all the parentheses and commas, this is not very readable, but it's the best I can do at the moment. Anyway, that is my life in a nutshell. Now you know why I haven't been blogging, not because I'm too busy, but because my life is so boring that it takes one paragraph to sum up every waking second for the past few weeks. If anyone is still reading at this point, you probably kept hoping it would get better or more exciting, but it just doesn't. I'll blog again when I have something worth reading about.

Texting

2011-01-19T18:45:00.001-08:00

I have so many better things to be doing and so many better things to blog about right now, but this website is kinda funny, most of them are dumb, but some got me real good.

These ones got me laughing real good.

MOM:

What did you do with your sisters contacts, she can’t find them

ME:

I didn’t touch her contacts, maybe she deleted them

MOM:

From her eyes?

Me:	Hey, check out whenparentstext.com
Mom:	funny they should also make a website for “when eight year olds use google”
Mom:	some of Sammy’s latest googles include “are mermaids evil” and “how to make a real baby dinosaur”

Tribute to the Gnome Home

2010-12-31T10:58:00.000-08:00

2010 was a pretty alright year, it was definitely no 2009, but it was alright. The biggest accomplishment of the year was finally going on a plane. One of the best things that happened was Cruise, it was so weird and miserable at times, but I still look back on it with such fond memories. The worst thing that happened in 2010 was the Gnome Home being dissolved, losing 3 of the main gnomes really hurt us bad, but Juje and I and sometimes Mara were able to keep it going pretty good. Now, Juje and Mara are leaving, and the wondrous times of the gnome home are no more.

These are some of my most favorite times: (I don't know why it's weird spacing)
The Dinner topics of conversations
Nose goes for the prayer
Spotlights
Late night conversations
Collin-fiance
Kimmie

Bird funerals (RIP dexter/daxter)
Debates about man thighs and skull crushing abilities
The countdown to Britney
Book of Mormon read-a-thon
Juje moving in

Candice
Havasupai meeting (minutes)
Sleepy cowboys
BBQ's
Willy serenading us
Summer of the blondes
the love sac

Dance parties
Meter solutions
Felicity
Fight Night Friday
Mara's wild party
Juje and Riana's dedication to the garden
Tanning on the roof
Neighbor Helen

Canadian Thanksgiving’s
Trash time after ward prayer
Tetris
Fires

The gnome-napping

Spice Girls music video
Sorcery Night

Scaring each other with George

Lots of Good times below

And these were times that just happened in the house, don't even get me started on gnomes on location!

RIP Gnome Home.

Snowy Things

2010-12-15T07:39:00.000-08:00

This morning I woke up to a lot of snow, I had a final at 7:30 and I wasn't even mad about it. The snow was such a great surprise for some reason. It was beautiful, there weren't many people awake by that time so it hadn't been tampered with yet. It was just a huge white blanket over all of Logan, and walking through campus has been wonderful.

Things have been way cool lately. The gnomes and I went to Cabin last weekend and it was just what I needed. I loved being with old friends, eating rubbish and watching movies in the cozy cabin. Rummikub is so much better than I remember, and snowball fights are so much more tiring than I ever remember, even when you are in a 5 foot radius of all your opponents. I love playing in the snow, I need to do it more, it's always more fun than I think it will be.

Stole this from Ky. Something weird happens to me in the snow and I look like a boy. The snow was the most packable snow I've ever experienced and I could make stands in the blink of an eye. Other great things that happened this weekend were: driving with kylee, golf balls with faces on them, nuts, me and nat rocking sequence, game juje, sledding, shawshank, listening to weird-o music, and lots of laughing. My only regret is not making Riana get on the rafters again.

La Cognata Time

2010-11-23T11:38:00.001-08:00

JSYK you might get bored reading this unless your last name is LaCognata.

We made a quick trip to California this weekend to go to my Grandma's funeral. It was an insane trip and reminded of the good ole' days of road trips with the LaCognata's. Even though we're all grown up now, it was no different. Thankfully, we flew to California and avoided our inevitable break down, that happens no matter what car we take.

Those trips were so miserable at the time and I do not know what Peg and John were thinking taking four kids and dog in a sketchy van to California. I'm real glad they did though, because the memories are the best. If we weren't broken down, Lindsay was puking, or I was smearing candy all over my face. One year, on our way to Bear Lake, our misfortune started real early. We were pulling out of Vista Drive and realized that the back of the van did not get closed tightly. All our stuff (that took us hours of strategic packing to fit everything) was the road. The sleeping bags were rolling down the street and almost made it down the hill. We pulled over and all scrambled in between cars to get our stuff, and after that bad omen, we thought it was still a good idea to go. About a half hour later, in Centerville, Lindsay was already car sick. That's right, nothing but freeway, but she couldn't take it and threw up all over. It was usually about a four hour drive to Bear Lake. Perhaps, this is why we can relate so well to the Griswold's. But anyway...

The LaCognata's were airborne for the first time, and it was so great. Peg and John had to take an early flight on the way there, and it's a good thing because they were able to prepare us for everything. John called us multiple times to make sure that we were going to make the flight. The second time he called I pretended we were just waking up and he did not think it was very funny. He made a call to tell us that there was snow on the way to airport and to leave earlier than we had planned. This gave us two and half hours to kill instead of just two. We roamed around and made fun of people, we saw the McAllister's running to catch their plane and wished them luck, we ate an early lunch, and accepted a magazine from a lady during the announcement that said not to accept anything from strangers. We are so bad at "airporting". John then called us to tell us that they landed, and to warn us about the "low-key" airport at Long Beach. "It's not like SL or LAX, I just wanted to warn you. You walk right off the plane onto the tarmac." I told him we'd be ready, and we were.

Once we got to California, and reunited with some long lost family members, me, mike and linz concluded that we are doomed to craziness. It just comes with the name.

It was a fun little trip with a million inside jokes. I always knew we had a lot of inside jokes as a family, but I didn't realize how fast we can accumulate them. We got some good ones this trip that will probably last for a long time.

I love my family, they are so great. It was good to hang out without kids for a little while and re-get to know each other.

This is us at the funeral.
I'm so grateful for my Grandma LaCognata. She had an awesome name that I used to brag about in Elementary and made my friends memorize: Donna-Zetta Gibson Fox Lawver LaCognata. She gave me the name LaCognata. She raised my dad, she gave him his tendency to worry, but also his capacity to love and quirky sense of humor. I'm so excited for her and that she can finally be reunited with her husband after living for over 40 years without him.

I can't wait for Thanksgiving to see everyone and play with a million babies.

Brag City

2010-11-19T10:13:00.001-08:00

I have been on top of the world this week. Watch out, I may be a bragger-blogger for a minute. I have written 20 total pages of papers this week. I was thinking the quality was probably horrible, I did not have time to go back and revise and/or edit so I had no idea what I was even writing most the time. I was just cranking papers out. Today I got one of them back (I love when teachers are fast at grading) and my teacher said you get the gold star, this was probably the best paper in the bunch. He is a great teacher and because he expects so much it makes me write better. I felt ten feet tall. It was a great ending to such a busy week. I realize that everyone is probably thinking, she had the best paper in the bunch, who are the chumps in her class? But I promise I write like a scholar in the real world. When I blog, I pretty much just barf up all my weird thoughts onto the computer screen.

I have also been so good at work. Yesterday I won $25 because I am awesome at making people pay back their loans. In the work meeting, I had so much to say and my boss kept talking about how great all my feedback was. He came back to my desk after the meeting and asked my opinion on a bunch of new policies and kept saying, "yeah, that's what I thought too". May not sound like a big deal to you, but just take my word for it, it really is.

I don't know what happened to me this week but I really love the way I feel. I think this must have been how it felt to be chosen to work in the ALL store at Highland Elementary.

phoens, i mean phones

2010-11-02T11:32:00.000-07:00

For some reason, I have an issue with phones. Every one I touch gets ruined. Currently my phone is having a lot of issues. They're just little problems, nothing way essential, just annoying that they don't work. For example, it can't make noise. I found that out the hard way when my alarm was silent and it tried waking me up with just a lit up phone-strangely enough it woke me up. Also, the down arrow doesn't work so I have to go up to get to everything, it's really hard to get to some things. I can't hear anyone when they call, so it's all one sided conversations. And the last and probably most annoying feature is that the delete key doesn't work, so texts can get really confusing. Here are a few real life examples: "Just let me know when its i mean you are dyn i mean done." and "Thanks sipter, i mean sipter, i mean sister." I think it's really funny to say "i mean" more than twice in a text and they've been getting me laughing pretty good, mostly because the recipients must be so confused. It's harder than it seems, you try not deleting ever. One good thing is that my texting accuracy is really improving though.

If you know of a very durable long lasting phone, let me know. I think it's time for my next victim.

2 posts in one DAY!!

2010-10-29T22:37:00.000-07:00

Being a skeleton was more fun than I thought it would be. Juje and I were the life of the party, Juje is actually still being the life of the party, I had to leave because my I was much too tired.

Halfy Halloween

2010-10-29T09:52:00.000-07:00

Half Birthday today. I love this day. I love it when people humor me and say things like "Halfy Birthday!" That got me real good.

Yesterday Kylee and I discussed Halloween costumes over text.

ky: I think I'll be bob marley

me: how are you going to make that slutty?

ky: good point, maybe i'll be boob marley

me: your mom will love that

I can't wait to see that costume.

I've already watched this weeks Modern Family three times and I can't get enough. I love it.

Also, the gnomes and I carved pumpkins last night and it was so much fun. We watched Nightmare before Christmas and sung the ridiculous songs. It made me miss Mckay and her insane carving skills. She'd stay up all night and we'd find her in the morning covered in pumpkin guts and newspaper sleeping, and a perfect pumpkin next to her.

I love Halloween. It's going to be a good weekend. Juje and I are going to a black light dance party tonight and being the skelton's off of this awesome video. I think we'll be a big hit.

Midterms and Creeps

2010-10-22T09:32:00.001-07:00

Everyone always freaks out around midterms, there's so many projects and insane tests. I've never understood it. I just thought people were overreacting-which they were, but still I didn't see how the week of midterms was any different from any other week. I've never had a real "midterm" experience...until this week. I've been stressed to the max, and I feel bad for people who have always had real midterms. It was a crazy week, but I just finished my last midterm for the week and it feels great.

It's also homecoming this week, which means a lot of dance. We performed in the Mr USU pageant. I had to be a bi and a zombie all in one night, it was rough. I'm not sure what it means when I'm better at being a creep than a bi, but I'm fine with it.

Here's the whole group. I think most of us like being creeps better.

I can't wait for the Howl, I love scaring sluts.

Thankful Season.

2010-10-12T08:56:00.000-07:00

I love Canadian thanksgiving, it reminds me to be thankful before the real Thanksgiving, so I can really make it count for American Thanksgiving.

I am so grateful for my friends, and the crazy Orton's who all act like it's not a big deal to come to Willard to pick up some friends. I'm also grateful for Juje's yams, best I've ever had, and for cottage cheese/Jello mixtures, and most of all for Willy's wonderful serenading. I'm also glad my car was at least able to make it back to Logan yesterday, now I can take good care of her.

And I'm also very thankful for this song lately.

That's all.

Party, Karamu, Fiesta, Forever

2010-10-05T11:12:00.000-07:00

Fall is the best. It's finally October, I wait for this month all year and I love every single day of it. Corn mazes, haunted stuff, pumpkin cookies/pancakes, scary movies, caramel apples, carving pumpkins, fall hikes, running in the leaves, crisp air, jacket weather, Halloween. I love that crazy holiday, and I love people who get so into it. I can't wait to see the Orton sisters try and outdo each other, and watch Riana run 13 miles in a peacock costume, and the Cogs become the full cast of Aladdin (I really hope John will consider being Jafar).

I've been too busy and/or lazy to blog about the happenings in t

he last month. But it was a really good month. Natalie got married and left me to be the only original gnome still residing in the gnome home. That makes me feel like a real loser, but not enough to make me leave...yet.

Her wedding was wonderful, the Woodbury's really pulled it off. It was not only beautiful, but very entertaining. We all performed a brilliantly choreographed dance to "I Like It" by Enrique, and I haven't been able to get the song out of my head ever since. The dance was so good that we were encore-ed back on to the dance floor at the end of the night. It was such a party, the night ended with a miniature dance party with some of the elect of the wedding party, we danced to Miley, and Lady Gaga. Mckay is intense when she dances Gaga style, and a lot of the grandparents and Matt's family seemed rather disturbed. I can't wait to go to the sophisticated wedding in Matt-land.

Besides the wedding, Hurricane was great. It was the first time I didn't get sick

from the fall out, it was nice to be there and be healthy. The Gifford's were a real treat, Janna helped Juje prepare for any circumstance or distractions she could have at the wedding, and Lols said she was trying to come down with something.

We stayed in a house with maximum security, time frames, and cupped cockroaches-sorry we missed the fumigation! We almost got pulled over by a sign, and harassed some locals at the D. It was such a great weekend, I loved reconnecting with the gnomes. No one will ever appreciate me the way they do, and vice versa. I can't wait to be lifelong friends with them and go on boating/cabin trips with the Innes's(that a hard last name to make plural), and have girl getaway weekends sponsored by our rich husbands.

HAGS (had a great summer)

2010-08-24T16:59:00.000-07:00

I've been thinking about quitting this whole blogging thing, I'm really not cut out for it. But then I went back through a bunch of old posts and it reminded me why I did it in the first place, I'm really glad to have all those good times documented. So, for now, I will continue on in the madness.

Summer happened and it was pretty cool. Not as cool as '09 :Live Summer, but nothing will ever compare to that. School has been starting up all over Logan, and I feel so bad for the little suckers in their cute new school clothes. Then I realized that I start next week, and I don't even have new school clothes, so really, I'm the sucker. I miss school clothes and the "back to school" Fashion Show we used to have at Kylee's house. We'd eat popcorn and judge everyone's outfits and it was so much fun. I usually only lasted the first couple rounds (1st and 2nd day of school) before I ran out, but I still loved it. I miss that.

Anyway, some cool things that I don't want to forget about this summer will now be listed...
-New roommate, Anneleise and her antics
-Working the pools with Riana
-Taco Tuesday-so much better during the summer
-Floating Cutler (a not-so-fast moving stream that is most enjoyable at night)
-Anneleise almost losing her car in Cutler
-Biathlon with Brandon
-California
-Highland Fling
-Sports days at the LaCognata's
-Baby photo shoots and family ties
-Weird get togethers at the Orton's
-Tennis Tournament (1st place, nbd)
-Picking raspberries at the Malouf's
-Getting way good at Volleyball
That's all I can think of right now...and in case you don't believe me, here's some proof.

Funnel Cake in Long Beach at a messed up place.

4th of July, it was 2 degrees. Nate wanted to be the flag, and he got pretty close.

Fireworks in a sketchy town where we almost got r-ed.

Biathlon with Brandon, we were very excited to finish.

Willy was really on one.

He's wondering where his twin is

Photo shoots with 4 babies and Averi, not the best idea, but I do love this picture.

Cousin reunion '10. Still missing like 42 cousins in this picture.

See ya Summer.

no one told me

2010-07-02T19:50:00.000-07:00

I went on my first plane ride this week. Unfortunately I got there with plenty of time to spare and didn't get to reenact Home Alone. Next time, I guess.

But as for the plane ride itself, it was majestic. No one told me how beautiful it is to be above the clouds. All I heard was that the planes aren't as smooth riding as they look on the movies and that it's really loud and that you always have to sit next to fat people. But no one told me about the clouds! I was all smiles staring out my window. No one told me that planes go so fast that you go through time warps, I was honestly only on the plane for 20 minutes, max. My ipod can prove it, I only got through a few of the songs on my aviation play list. I love flying. For some reason I couldn't stop thinking of the Wright Bros while I was flying, I know they were watching me and were proud to see someone so appreciative of their genius invention.

Then I hopped off the plane at LAX and got lost in a matter of seconds. I followed some people down to where I thought my uncle would be waiting for me, but he wasn't there. There at the bottom of the escalator was Nate, cutie pie holding a sign that read "LaCognata". It was precious and made me smile like an idiot the whole way down the escalator.

California is great and my cousins are way too smart for their own good. I've learned so many new words already. They must think I'm a real idiot, today Connor asked me, "do you know who the Lakers are?" Just because I don't know how to use fancy words in every day conversation doesn't mean I can't watch basketball.

I've let them play way too many video games and I feel like I'm ruining their genius little brains and destroying any potential they have. And if the video games don't do it, the sunburn I gave 'em today will give em skin cancer for sure. I'm going to be a horrible mother.

Powell Pals

2010-06-28T18:13:00.000-07:00

It's been far too long since I went to Lake Powell. I was worried I would never go again and that I definitely would never has as much fun as I did with the good ole' Rovigs and company. We had some good times down there. I often dream about going again and would go with almost anyone who invited me, probably even if it was Wanda Barzee. (kya, 2010)

But thankfully the Utley family invited me instead. They are very welcoming and had no problem bringing a couple of strangers to their family reunion. I felt like a part of the family almost instantly, after the initial hateful judging looks we got as we rolled up. We were all best friends by the end. As soon as we got out of our denimstuff and into our swimsuits the fun literally never stopped.

We ate way too many punch bags.

We formed a weird club, weird because Riana was the president. We all just followed her around and did whatever she wanted.

We had book club that lasted about 3 minutes before we were all either hot, asleep or bored.

And Riana and I kayaked to some cliffs and got real good and sore. Later we became bioracers and kayaked bodies across the lake, Cary and I won. I am such a good bioracer.

We played a lot of scrabble and used way too many fake 2-letter words. And watched an anti-climatic lunar eclipse. Thanks to Pat and the fam. It's risky to go on trips with strangers, but I learned that strangers aren't as bad as my parents used to tell me. Strangers don't always mean danger.

I live a good life

2010-06-07T16:21:00.000-07:00

Summer is flying by, and all this good time off school is being wasted on rainy days. It will not stop raining, but when it does, we sure make it count. So far, we've been to Summerfest (a fun townsy thing) we went to farmers market, played so much volleyball, and tennis and started swim lessons. We went to porcupine for a dutch oven cookout and later a good camp session.

I forgot how beautiful it is there, but I never will forget again thanks to Juje's constant reminders as we drove there. Thanks to our friend Andy and his handy hookups we got to canoe across and camp on the other side. The ride was exhilarating and so beautiful. I also found out that due to an accident last year, I now have a phobia of tipping canoes. It was a good time with some weird company.

A couple weeks ago I became a real bi athlete. I participated in my first multi-sport race. It was weird and fun. I had a sorry excuse for a bike and hope to get a real bike someday so the other competitors will take me seriously. Brandon and I did it together, and he beat me by about 10 minutes. I blame it on the bike, but it probably has more to do with the fact that I only did one bike training session before the race. I'll be more ready next time. I have

pictures, but am sick of waiting for them, so just take my word for it.

We recently made a trip up to Bear Lake to participate in the annual Bear Lake Marathon, 1/2 and 10k. This year we went the wussy route and just did the 10k, but it ended up being a good decision because everyone who ran the 1/2 and marathon got very dirty and looked les miserables. Here are some pictures I stole

The night before the race we stayed at Dusty's cabin. It's a cute little cabin with so much character. I loved it there and want to live there for a little while.

We all finished in pretty good time despite some issues we were experiencing. Janelle did great for her first race and I hope she becomes our new race buddy for life.

That's about all I can cover right now. See ya in a month!

Bittersweet Beginning to Summer

2010-05-16T20:15:00.000-07:00

Cruise 2010. So many things happened, it's hard to know where to begin. First, there were a lot of scares about me not being able to board the ship. Everyone kept starting rumors to scare me away, but it didn't work, I boarded that boat without a fight. The first day was a little rough, because it was storm city, and apparently I am prone to sea-sickness. Once I threw up and got thrashed in my bed all night due to the storm, I finally grew accustomed to it. I was too blind to see it at the time, but getting sick was a real blessing because it eliminated one whole day of eating. I did my best to make up for it by eating 10 course meals every night.

We did other things besides eating though.

We rode on a bus in Mexico and saw some crazy militia men with automatics ready to shoot, swarming the streets. And got really annoyed with some drunk old women who thought they were hilarious. They asked our tour guide questions that were completely irrelevant to the tour, or Mexico for that matter. She did her best to tell them what tequila was made out of.

We got fancy and got pictures taken of ourselves. I'm pretty sure the main reason we let the photographers take our pictures was so that we could have something to do later while killing time in between meals. Looking at the millions of pictures on the promenade kept us busy for at least 20 minutes.
And Juje got the worst sunburn she's ever had, as seen above.

We made some fake friends and took pictures with them, and no one knows why. We also made real friends with an incredibly independent little girl who took really good care of us, a drunk Asian, a French Tahitian, and a little comedian boy who was born and raised on the ship.

We gallivanted around Catalina and played sisterhood of the traveling pants.

And rented these bikes from the most ornery man who turned away an old crippled man.

And we were served some of the best food we've ever tasted by these gentle waiters. When they were gone, we would speculate about their life stories and whether they were faithful to the wives back in their home countries.

Some of the best quotes of the trip:
"This guy will not stop following us, he's like spy"
"Why would you ever fast on a road trip"
"My shoulder is busted"
"When we sink..."

All I know is that cruises need to lighten up and start showing Titanic as one of the feature films.

After the cruise I hung out in Vegas with the family. Today was Weston and Troy's baby blessings. They are cute little twins and I am so happy for Ty and Lachelle.
Baxter and I also became bestos this weekend and he finally cracked a smile for Grandpa.

My family is really funny. Scratchy Mcscratcherson, Peg flooding the bathroom with her shower, and Lachelle getting scared when we walked into church were just a few of the hilarious moments we spent together.

The last thing I did this week was saying goodbye to this man for the summer. According to Owl City, hating goodbyes makes you weird, so I guess I'm a real weirdo. He stopped in Vegas on his way to California to say goodbye. He'll be installing security systems and making the big bucks in the O.C. I hope he doesn't meet Marissa or Summer and fall in love with them while he's there because I'm very fond of him. Goodbye State Champ.

i like april

2010-05-01T13:33:00.000-07:00

April has been so good to me. The weather was great, with the exception of the last week. I went on runs, bike rides and "hikes" and missed work and institute a few too many times to play. It's probably best it decided to snow and rain this last week, otherwise I would be failing my classes and be fired by now.

This month I had a dance concert. It was so fun to perform again and dance my heart out. It has been way too long since I did that last. My favorite part of performances is going out after the show to see all my supporters, they are always so nice and tell me lies about how good i did, and they are usually way pumped up for some reason. My roommates and family are so supportive. Such a good quality to have. I don't think any of them know how much it meant to me to have them there. Later that month, my birthday happened. It was probably the happiest I've been in a long time. Party because of him...(.he wonders where he got the nickname: Nate, cutie pie)
He filled my room with balloons, took me to a fancy authentic Italian restaurant and a movie, with a cute gift, and made a birthday mix to listen to while we drove around Logan. Perhaps the biggest surprise of the night was when he dropped me off early to go party with these freaks...

(I don't know if you can see it Riana, but George is saying, "We're celebration your birthday sweetheart" just for you)

Any time one of us turns 21, our house becomes the hottest night club, and we become posers. It was a night full of sultry music, strange English accents, virgin daiquiri's, cruella de vil, sass, red lips, high stakes poker, and martinelli shots. After we had trashed our house, and we were trashed we laid around until we woke up with hang overs and a big mess. Our parties are ridiculous, but sadly no one but us will ever know it, because no one but us is ever invited.
I really loved being 20, but I'm ready to start doing 21 year old things. First on the list, cruise, t-minus one week til we leave to brave the Pacific. Then, I'm going to White Owl. And I think that's really all I've been missing out on.

April Fools!

2010-04-01T10:49:00.000-07:00

I love April Fools way too much. Such a stupid holiday to love, and I honestly wish I could refrain from pulling ridiculous pranks on the people I love, but as hard as I try, I just can't. And there's nothing I hate more than someone that can't take a joke. Seriously, lighten up. my freshman year me and Mara stole all our roommates mattresses and hid them in other peoples apartments and gave them clues to find them, and they were ticked. They wouldn't play our little game. So lame. Only one day a year you have to put up with that. You should expect to be pranked at all times on this one day. And once it's over, then you can be legitimately mad if you do happen to get punked.

I used to tell my mom every April Fools that I wet the bed and ask her to change it for me while I was at school and she believed me every year and was so disappointed that her daughter that was about to graduate high school was still wetting the bed.

I feel bad for Nate because I always want to prank him. When he was on his mission I "dear john-ed" him. Which I realized the second that I dropped the envelope in the mailbox that it was the most cruel and insensitive thing I could have done, but he got me back and I respect him for that. I respect anyone who can cleverly pull off a good prank. This year, his car is on ksl, it's a great deal too. So far his is the "favorite" of 8 people, and has been viewed by 260 people. I received a text in class that said he was turning of his phone because he was getting too many calls. You'd call too though, look at the ad:

2003 - Mitsubishi Lancer

$1500 OBO. Interesting Trades Considered. 2003 Mitsubishi Lancer. 100k miles. Power everything. Great Gas Mileage. In perfect condition. Runs smooth, has been my favorite car ever! Only asking $1500, though she is worth much more!! I can meet you anywhere, must be sold TODAY! Contact Nate @ 801-722-8235

Thanks for your help Riana and Nat.

california knows how to party

2010-03-19T09:51:00.000-07:00

Torrance, jump on it! Spring Break with Aunt Laura never disappoints. She was yet again the best host ever. Gift bags, fresh towels every day, homemade cookies, and the best sandwiches. This is why we utilized almost every mode of transportation to get to her house. We came by car, train, bus, and plane. And it's true what they say, they really do got more bounce in California.

giant pineapple

most awkward we've ever been

best parts of the trip:
-claim jumper. "they just put two words together that don't make sense at all"
-"lets just skip the ocean"
-"can i just park my own car?" "no, valet only!"
-LAX
-sepulveda
-pacific coast highway
-fighting about being lost
-reading every sign we ever passed
-"going" to church
-sun baby
-juje's weird song for showing our path along the map
-realizing we're slaves to our candy addictions
-lighthouse
-awesome beach game
-boogie boardin

Hallelujah!

2010-03-04T21:45:00.000-08:00

I am overcome by love for Juje. She is serenading me. Her voice is incredible, and the quiet strumming of her guitar strings is perfect. She has more passion than anyone I know. It is filling me up with joy. I am bobsessed with her. I wish I had that power over people. I am under her spell. I have chills all over. Juje, please never go so long without playing your guitar again. While we're on the topic of Juje...I feel I should pay tribute to her other perhaps equally as awesome talents. She is a wonderful cook, I wish I could whip things up like her. She has the best bad attitude. She's got so much heart. She is such a good listener. She makes everything so much more fun. She is very scholastic. She is beautiful and doesn't even know it. She is hilarious, and has some of the best quotes. She is a great lil' lady. That's all.
See what her singing does to me. Makes me all sappy and creepily in love with her.
I really need to learn how to sing and play guitar.

We can see you!

2010-03-03T15:54:00.000-08:00

I hate people that stare at themselves in window reflections. Why don't they realize that there are people on the other side. We can see you and you look like an idiot. And most of us hate you.

Banff.

2010-02-22T19:13:00.001-08:00

Nothing cool happens in the winter, except Banff. I love Banff. I mostly feel like a poser when I go, but I don't even care. It's great to see all the crazy cool outdoorsy people come out of hiding and watch all these films about even crazier people. People are insane. I don't understand the things that people make their bodies do. I usually leave way pumped and inspired to take up some extreme hobby, and this year was no exception. I want to be a climber. Climbers get to see the world from a different point of view than anyone else in the world, plus they have way hot bods. This guy is a free climber and made me so nervous. It was the only film that literally made my palms sweat. He could die so easily at any time, but it hardly phases him.

But really, I'd be fine being extreme at anything, with the exception of maybe unicycling. That is just silly. Unfortunately, I am as average as they come. I'm average height, weight, grades (maybe slightly above, but still), average ability in everything I try. The Olympics aren't helping either. They are definitely contributing to my decreasing self esteem, that was once at average levels.
Maybe someday I'll be above average at something, anything.

Enough of that, Lachelle is having her twins tomorrow! I can't stop thinking about it. Good Luck Lish!

famiglia!

2010-01-26T17:34:00.000-08:00

I am way too proud of my Italian heritage, it's honestly annoying. But I am working on a project for my culture diversity class where I get to learn about my heritage and culture and then write a paper on it. This may be the first time where I can't stop myself from researching long enough to write the actual paper. I am completely captivated. It has always been a secret goal of mine to go live in Sicily for a couple months and do family history and just be engulfed in that culture. Today I found out that my ancestors were more specifically from Ragusa, Italy. I started looking at pictures of this place and it convinced me to go. I have ta.

I have to go now. I am going to start saving and hopefully I'll be able to make it there soon. I would love to spend my summer there, but that is not too realistic.
I am so proud to be a LaCognata and I secretly want to make my husband take my name because I do not want to part with it. Perhaps, that's the underlying reason why I keep putting off getting married. I am going to Sicily. And I will ride on the back of a scooter with a handsome Italian man just like Lizzy McGuire.

Right on Target.

2010-01-08T10:19:00.000-08:00

I miss '09 a lot already. But 2010 looks cool so I'm gonna give it a chance. I accomplished a lot this last year. I looked at my goals from 2009 and my laziness while making the goals really paid off, because I was able to complete every single goal on the list. Some of them were: -Don't miss too much class -Read your textbooks more -Don't be as mean and -Run a marathon. I remember thinking they were the worst goals ever while I was making them but that still didn't stop me. They were vague, with no time limit, and really no way to measure the success of them, and the one about the marathon was completely unrealistic. It's sad because my father really did teach me better, he is a goal fiend.
But, maybe it's better to make horrible goals because I am seriously proud of myself for some sick reason. I didn't miss TOO much class, and I think I really was not AS mean as before. So, success. It's by a miracle alone that I ran that marathon, and most the time I have to convince that it really happened.
I haven't made any definite goals for this year yet, except one: go on a plane ride. preferably with natalie.
Another goal is to get a car, that one is already accomplished though. After two and half years of riding my bike and bumming rides off of everyone I know, it was time. I can't wait to be a real person, and finally be takin' seriously.

It's on!

2009-12-26T11:12:00.000-08:00

Gingerbread contest '09

Mike and Kim working on their beach house for Santa's after Christmas getaway.

Hay and Nate-ivity.

Linz and Brandon didn't take the contest very seriously this year, they mostly just goofed off as depicted in this shot. And then they wonder why they lost the competition.
Mostly everyone said it was a tie between the nativity and beach house, but if you think about the real reason for the season, you'll know who the real winners are.

Cabin Fever

2009-12-20T10:08:00.000-08:00

CABIN 2009!
I already miss 2009.

I love when the gnomes are on location. It was such a great little getaway.
The weekend was full of snow, good food, laughter, snow, conversation, and more snow. It was the perfect way to end finals week.
some of my favorite quotes from the weekend, that are still gettin me:
"this pizza is crisps"
"it's kinda yeasty"
"i would rather wrench both my knees" (juje explaining why she isn't a skier)
"you have your eye something?!"
"you'll wake me up, won't you remote?"
other unforgettable moments:
-riana playing taboo
-juje playing anything
-the rafters
-sardines and finding out mckay is scared of the dark
-hiking to church
-locking ourselves out of the cabin
-riana calling her dad to tell him we locked ourselves out of the cabin
-home alone
-mckay bustin' up during mrs. doubtfire
-nat and i sucking it up at pool
-the land line
-mara playing nuts
-juje answering to her raging sisters
-the moment at sunday dinner when nat and i realized the same thing at the same time
-truman actually making an appearance
-colin letting us boss him around from the rafters
-dale always looking out for us
Can't believe it was a whole year ago the gnomes were on location in Hurricane. That year went way too fast!

True Blooded Aggie

2009-12-04T09:58:00.000-08:00

My favorite day of the year is when we go pick out a tree and then walk it home. People loved us this year, we had a jolly black man on a bike yell, "Merry, Merry Christmas!" and a family in a truck that stopped and asked us where we live and if they could help us home with it, luckily we were smart enough to know it was just a trick to steal the tree from us.

We got home, decorated the tree while listening to Christmas music on the record player. Then we cozy-ed up to a roarin fire and watched the lights bounce around on the glass ornaments. Our house has a strong scent of pine that engulfs you when you walk in the room. The new arrangement is intimate and encourages meaningful conversation.

The second best thing to happen this week was the huge basketball game on Wednesday. BYU vs. USU. This year the cougars finally mustered enough courage to show their sorry A's at the infamous Spectrum, and chances are it'll be years before they return again. They got destroyed. The line outside the Spectrum started days before the game, people were camping out in tents and when the big day finally came the line grew and grew all day long. We got there about two hours early and by that time we would've had no chance of getting in, but we found some nice people close to the front of line. It was so cold, but so worth it. We ran some laps to stay warm and played stupid games to pass the time. The good news is that we made it! We got in. There were thousands that weren't as fortunate but we fought our way in. The energy in the Spectrum was insane! Since everyone in there had to fight to get, they had to be dedicated fans, thus there was no one sitting or "too cool" for the Scotsman or the demoralizing cheers. It was epic. I love Aggie Basketball. I love the Spectrum and the cleverly bad sportsmanship. I'm so proud to be an Aggie.

Joys of Aunthood

2009-11-29T14:12:00.000-08:00

My family makes it very hard to forget the fact that I am single. I don't mind being single that much, I actually rather enjoy it, although I do miss out on all the married club benefits like getting matching pants, sleeping in a bed, and having a partner for competitions and such. That is why this Thanksgiving I am so grateful to have my niece/best friend Averi. It's just been me and her for quite some time now, and we have grown to be bff's forever.
Now I have a new niece and nephew and they are both s'cute despite the fact that they are newborns. I love being the cool aunt. I love the children. This weekend was Baxter and Sienna's baby blessing and it was really neat to have everyone there and watch the babes get blessed. Averi is my girl. I had been looking forward to playing with her for a long time now. Due to an unfortunate series of events the one night I could have played with her all night I was trapped in Provo watching video games. I was so bummed. The guilt trips from family coming in via text message didn't help much. It is a little ridiculous how upset I was that I couldn't play with her, but that just illustrates the strong bond we have. Just when I thought I could not get any more sad, my brother told me how sad Averi was. She drew a picture of a girl with a frown that said something like "please come", and later that night when she was saying her prayers she prayed that she could "be good enough to play with hayley tomorrow". Then she ripped up the picture she drew.
Rip my heart out! I felt like such a failure. I love this rambunctious little girl, we have so much fun together. And I hope I never let her down again.

we have sleepovers

Howl-o-ween

2009-11-17T14:19:00.000-08:00

Logan is getting so cold. It's going to be a long sad winter and I am not prepared. For some reason I keep telling myself that it can't be too cold yet because it's November, and technically its still Fall. This stupid reasoning has been getting me in a lot trouble lately, cold trouble. Thinking about that always remind me of Nate, Mara's Nate. Shout out to Nate; he believes you have to dress according to the seasonal equinoxes, meaning you can't wear a coat until Dec. 21, and you have to wear it until March 20, and then just a jacket until June 20. I love that reasoning. I love Mara's Nate, I can't wait to meet him soon.

I really wanted to remember this Halloween, because it was the weirdest I've ever had. I had to perform at the Howl aka naked nasty fest, and it was much more fun than expected. We did a messed up version of Alice in Wonderland. When we weren't dancing we were supposed to go throughout the line and scare/creep out the anxious party-ers. Anyone who knows me, also knows that it takes almost nothing to make me laugh and it's even worse when I am supposed to be serious, so that simple task proved to be much more challenging. By the end of the night I was an expert though, those sluts were so scared. I even started creeping myself out. A lot of funny things happened that night, like this freak on the company who was so into her character (mad hatter) that she damaged a lot of university property. Watching her trip over chairs, fall into people's laps and break the ticket table were the highlights of the night. It was a fun Halloween, but I did miss being with my friends. Next year I really want to have a group themed costume..i.e. gnomes.

This is the whole group

We were rabbits, and were supposed to look that miserable.

The end of the semester is coming quick and I cannot wait for a break. My little brain is all tuckered out. I can't wait to go home and play with my family, it's been too long since we were all together.

Mountains and Magic

2009-10-22T12:26:00.001-07:00

Logan is the most beautiful I've ever seen it right now, at least since last year. The bike rides are magical, weaving in and out of the leaves covering the road, speeding down the hill and looking out over the whole valley that is painted a million different colors. I went for a run yesterday, it was maybe the best run of my life. I ran up the canyon, and found this awesome trail with tons of trees covering it and had leaves falling all around me. I turned off the music and soaked up all motha nature had to give to me. There were lots of fellow runners and as we passed each other we exchanged huge smiles, everyone up there was so in love with their lives at that point in time.

When I got home we got ready to be witches for the evening. After watching Hocus Pocus the night before, I was ready. It was so fun to be with all the Relief Society sisters dressed as witches, drinking brew, making pies, and cackling.
It was a treat to have Riana's mom there to teach us how to make pies and answer Mckay's important questions.
Mckay: "And what if you don't have one of those?"
Riana's Mom: "Well, then I guess you get one."
She wasn't trying to be a smart A, but Nat and I got a big kick out of it. A funny answer for a stupid question. Thankfully, she didn't stop with the ridiculous questions throughout the whole demonstration.

In other news, I finally have a nephew! I can't wait to tease him to death and to be his favorite aunt. Welcome to the world Baxter!

Bear Lake.

2009-09-27T18:30:00.000-07:00

One of the best boating days yet. The pictures say it all.

Top of Utah

2009-09-25T17:51:00.000-07:00

It happened. I ran a marathon. It's okay if it's hard to believe, because I still don't really believe it. Nat and I have been training for months now. We've sacrificed alot of blood, tears, sweat, and barf (just natalie). We woke up every Saturday morning at about 5:30, sometimes earlier, to run. We walked like fools every Sunday, limping and gimping about, our poor feeble legs begging us to stop the madness. We suffered through injuries, muscle spasms, and stiffness and soreness beyond measure. But it wasn't all bad, and in fact I would probably do it all over again. I loved feeling energized and healthy. I loved driving the course with Natalie on Saturday mornings when it was still dark out and she would drive so illegal, on the wrong side of the road. I think she was unconsciously trying to kill us so that we wouldn't have to do the long run. We would laugh so hard, partly because it was way too early, partly because we were scared to death for what we were about to do and mostly because we really are that funny. I loved coming home and laying on the good carpet while drinking protein shakes and gatorade, and doing some weak stretches. I loved the feeling of accomplishment after a run that you thought you could never do. I loved Riana giving us massages the day after. I loved when Nat would make me eggs and toast just like my mother.Running into the finish line.

I loved being a part of the elite hard core running community and using cool terminology. Those life long runners are out of their minds! I loved the spiritual aspect of running and how I couldn't have done any of it without praying incessantly, sometimes aloud, the entire run. I loved running around this beautiful town, the canyon is so wonderful and it's cool to know it so well now. I especially love the bond between fellow runners, I feel closer to Nat and her sisters and all other "marathon runners". There's something about running that far and training that long that you can never understand until you do it.These are my wonderful supporters. It meant so much to have almost my whole family there cheering me on and running beside me as long as they could. My gnomes came and held posters, I could not ask for better roommates and best friends. I said I wanted signs that said homegirl on it, because it's my favorite thing to be called and they really pulled through. Riana and Natalie even ran with me for a few miles and kept me distracted during the hardest part mentally for me. Turns out the distance run was actually 26.7, a highway patrol man said there was an extra half mile added because they weren't able to close down the highways like was previously planned, so I took 5 minutes off my time to compensate. I finished in 4hrs 40min, it's a little upsetting that Oprah did her marathon ten minutes faster, but I just blame it on the fact that black people do everything better, so I don't feel too bad about it.

I am so glad it's over, it's always been on my bucket list and I can't believe I already accomplished it. I know I'm not done running yet and hopefully I can get involved with triathlons and relay runs so it's a little easier on my body.

Next week Natalie and her sisters run the St. George Marathon. I'm so excited to go watch and support them! Good luck Kaelee, Melissa and Nat! Finish before Oprah or else.

Welcome Gnome!

2009-09-14T17:15:00.000-07:00

It started out as a heinous prank, as the weeks passed it became more apparent that this was no joke, but rather a vicious hate crime.

All the Gnomes were taken from our home.

The room once filled with friendly, adorable and perfectly innocent gnomes laid empty. We began the candlelight vigils. People started getting cutsy/clever/annoying and calling us the gnomeless home. We threatened, we raided houses and cars, we cried, we got serious, we offered rewards, but nothing. The unimaginative bandits played no games and got nothing out of it, except the loss of our friendship and gnomes' trust.

After what felt like an eternity, the Gnomes were finally returned. None of them had a scratch on them, but they were pretty shaken up when we found them. From the looks of it they had spent the whole duration of their captivity crammed into boxes. The note that accompanied them was offensive and unappreciated, and most of all confusing. The captors were mad at us. They were mad at us because they stole our gnomes. I don't get it.
The important thing is that it they are back.
We took turns cradling each of them and welcoming them back.Candice is right where he belongs.

Despite what the gnome-nappers were trying to teach us, the only thing we learned is that we definitely need more gnomes.

In the zone.

2009-09-06T12:40:00.000-07:00

Yesterday marked my last "long run" before the marathon. It was the most confusing run of my life. Nat and I drove up the to the same place the marathon will take place. We clocked the 20 miles we had to run leaving water bottles at 3 mile increments to keep hydrated and also help us keep track of our mileage. Something strange happened on that run that I still don't quite understand. According to the clock, and our bodies we had only about 3 miles, but the water bottle station told us otherwise, apparently we were really at 5. We should not have been there that fast, and we should not have felt that good. It got weirder as the run went on, when we reached the 11 mile marker, it felt like we'd only gone 8, and the amount of time it took us to get there was just not realistic. We would have had to have been hauling, but it felt like we were taking it pretty easy... we got home, and I felt good. I knew there was no possible way that it was 20 and something had to have been wrong with the 'mileage counter' in her car. But we went back up in a fancy car, fan-cy ca-ar and we were completely shocked to find out that we did indeed run 20. We were in twilight zone. It was great because it was so distracting, and I spent the majority of the run doing equations in my head trying to figure it out. I hope at the real marathon they post the wrong mile numbers so I can be confused and not think about running.

2 weeks and counting, I'm getting so excited to defeat it, and be done with it. I'm excited for running to stop running my life.

Back to Schoo

2009-08-28T11:07:00.000-07:00

School is now in session. It's off to a great start. I think I'm already behind, but it was bound to happen sometime, I guess it's good I got it done with. This week has been enhanced about 10times due to Mckay's continuous speeches about how wonderful school is, it reminds me how lucky I am to be enrolled in this blessed University.

One reason this week was so great was the foam dance. In the background you can see a glimpse of the insanity of the students. Something about showering suds onto college kids makes them act like heathens and trample fellow students. It was such a scary feeling being in there, no one could see you, you couldn't breath and it was almost impossible to escape because of the hundreds of people pushing you further in. Once the officials found out those little tidbits of information, they shut the foam right off. Luckily we got in there before any safety measures were taken. Kinetic X was the mix master, and he was a master. It was a success. I love this school rich with tradition, and I love the friendly hippie students. It's gonna be a good year.

Touch My Body

2009-08-10T14:08:00.000-07:00

There's way too much to cover within the last month of my life, but the moral of the story is that my life is bliss.

Gettin' swimmer's itch at Sand Hollow Lake
A couple weeks ago we got in the car and drove for what felt like 20 hours straight to get to Havasupai.
Havasupai is a magical place in AZ. It looks so different from last year, and despite the flood f'in it up, it was actually still quite beautiful.

The group of people was a miracle. They were a mess to assemble, but turned out to be thoroughly enjoyable. I love miserable people, and they all turned out to be very susceptible to misery. One of my favorite moments was waking up the first morning on the trail to find out that we had all been sleeping in a pile of crap. Collectively we probably got two hours of sleep that night. Everyone got eaten alive by crazy blood thirsty bugs and woke up swollen, with paws instead of hands, armpits that were convex instead of concave, and dinosaur neck.

Losing all that blood tuckered us right out and we slept most of the next day. Basically anytime we had a couple minutes or rather hours to kill we collapsed into comas.

And when we weren't sleeping we were accomplishing great feats such as riding spider style on the rope swing. It took Nat and I a while to figure out how to go about it, but I am proud to announce that we were victorious despite the skepticism of our so-called friends. This is when Nat was just ready to mount me, Riana and Juje stepped in to catch my sorry A. Literally.
And before we knew it we were off and clinging to each other for dear life. We then vowed to become extreme spider style riders and plan on taking this sport to a competive level.
The car ride home was the most hilarious and miserable experience. Our car overheated at about 2 or 3 pm in the middle of the dam highway, Hoover Dam highway, where the speed limit is about 5 miles an hour. We were so hot and thankfully I had just filled up my nalgene with ice cold water and I was able to douse my fellow passengers whether they wanted it or not.

I learned some valuable lessons this trip:
- Indians are more trustworthy than I thought
- Dairy treats are a good surprise when camping
- Timmy will never survive in that current
- Mariah Carey is always a welcome trip mate
- What exactly a bidet was

America the Beautiful.

2009-07-07T15:17:00.000-07:00

We went to the infamous ranch not too long ago. It turned out to be a complete disaster.
Exhausted after we played "Michael's tag"
Possibly the hardest I've ever laughed, on the back of a four wheeler at least. Nat-lie and I struggled to hold on, thankfully Dale was wearing the perfect shirt that came equipped with handles fastened with a sturdy button. He was also very helpful preparing us for what was to come by yelling things like "brace!" and when there was any kind foliage coming up and we needed to duck, he yelled "folage!", it's purposely misspelled, that extra syllable would have taken too much time and it would've been too late to get out of the way.
Natalie is so great in this picture.

Some other things we've been up to:
Rafting Oneida. Juje just about died, it was funny, but sad and a close call.

Bridge jumpin

True friends watch fireworks in a circle.

The Fourth of July was great as always. I'm pretty sure that it is my favorite holiday, it never disappoints. This year I got to camp out in my back yard in the Taj Ma-Cog with my favorite brother and niece. Then we ate a nice American breakfast and headed home to Logan. I got home at the most perfect time due to an Independence Day miracle, and we headed to Idaho for an epic rope swing swarming with white trash and bad mouths. The people there were great, a few of them I never want to forget, like the poor slave boy who lives there and risks his life daily to throw the rope back to every jumper, and the girl in the cheetah bikini who swore right before she hit the water and right when she came out every single time.
When we came back we headed to the cruise-in, AKA the best thing to ever happen to Logan. I didn't know Logan had it in it to throw such a party. The streets were lined with people until about 2a.m. and every truck in the valley was draggin' main with people oozing out of the truck bed. We decided to go on a late night ride and see what kind of trouble we could get in. We ended up gettin' 10 hollas, 2 high fives, 7 honks, 3 nips, 1 crack, and 1 "best woman in the world" award. Mooch's has made Mckay quite the celebrity among the white trash of this city, it's funny that everyone knows her as the "gas station" girl.

In other news, I have started physical therapy. It's great, I feel like I'm some hard core athlete. It's real painful and hard, but a good kind of hard. My hip will be back in commission in no time.

I'm Paralyzed!

2009-06-13T21:45:00.000-07:00

The gnomes and I have been training and gearing up for quite some time now. And today it all paid off. We spent the night in Bear Lake so we could be ready to run at the crack of dawn. We were able to stay in a palace of cabins with an incredible view of the lake and all kinds of toys. We went out rode four wheelers while the affordable cleaners finished their job. It was so fun to be on the back of Riana's four wheeler, I trusted her so bad, and we looked good together.

Helmeted. Just enjoying the view, and critiquing Mckay's running form.
It was such a funny day. I wish Mckay only got 4 hours of sleep every day, and I think I'll start taking puffs albuterol more often, it made me feel way weird and made me laugh way too much.
This is the girls' quarters. 3 bunk beds with pink comforters. There is a boys' room opposite this one, with 3 bunks with blue comforters. It's adorable. As cute as it was, I hope I never have to sleep there again, it was the roughest night ever. Almost none of us slept, just tossed and turned.
At about 2:00 am:
Me: (big sigh), "kill me" in a whisper
Nat: "Oh good, I thought I was the only one not sleeping"
Juje: "I can't either."
And then we were back at it, fightin' to fall asleep.
I finally remembered how to fall asleep at about 3am, and at 5:01, just two hours later the alarm went off, and then it was time.

Nat and I left at 6am to catch the "last busses" to the beginning of the course. We were scoping the competition and choosing all the people we planned on beating. As we exited the bus the bus driver said, "Good luck, and don't break a leg!" Simple, but good advice. Then we got to wait for an hour and half in the freezing cold rain until everyone got their sorry A's up to the starting line. Finally it was time to begin and after just .10 miles, a sign read 13 more miles! It was a little overwhelming, but slowly it worked it's way down and before I knew I was passing the finish line with my supportive roommates yelling and screaming SO loud! Right before I came into the finish line, a guy in a wheelchair passed me, using only his arms to travel all those miles, it was so inspiring. I just about started crying, partly because of his dedication, and partly because my legs were in so much pain and beggin me to stop the insanity.
My other favorite fellow runner on the course was this old guy, probably in his upper 70's. I chose him as the person I would beat, which makes it sound like I'm not being a very ambitious goal-setter, but you should've seen this guy. I'm pretty sure he chose me as the person he would beat too because we were neck and neck the majority of the race. He was so cute, and he ended up beating me, not by too much, but he did. I blame it on the fact that he's been doing it alot longer, and on my bum hip.

Here we are! Riana, Juje and Mckay all did the 10k and did so great! It was so fun to be there all together and to accomplish such a feat with all of them.
This picture is great for three reasons: 1. Riana and her sweat bib and amish outfit, 2. Juje's face. 3. Riana's hand cupping my neck. We are all now suffering severe paralysis, we are a pathetic sight.

Injuries and Demotions

2009-06-07T17:06:00.000-07:00

We are down to just one week til the race. I am so excited about it, and I love that all the gnomes will be participating. I am looking for someone to do some hip replacement surgery, but the recovery period needs to be about 3 days, if you know anyone please let me know. I got diagnosed, and by that I mean that I diagnosed myself with the help of 'Yahoo! Answers' with a strained left hip flexor. It hurts real good and my left leg goes numb after a while of running. It doesn't seem like the best idea for me to run the half this Saturday, but I've worked too hard not to. I will probably walk the whole time and be bawling by the end, half from shame, half from pain, and half from feeling like a failure. That's 3/2, improper fraction, oops.

Yesterday we all played tennis for a good two hours, it was a joyous occasion. You wouldn't know from looking at me, but I really did thoroughly enjoy it. Nat and Riana are naturals and will soon bypass me in my skills, but that's alright.

Good news and bad news: my place of employment is going under. I got a message from my boss a couple days ago that said don't worry about coming into work the next couple of days. It was nice not to work, but not very nice knowing that soon I won't have job to look forward to missing. The future of the company looks optimistic, but people are getting "reassigned positions" aka demoted, all over the place.
So there you have it.
Pray for my recovery, and please embrace the limp bizkit I am and will be for the rest of the summer.

what you see is what you get

2009-05-23T20:26:00.000-07:00

I have never been ashamed of the moles on my face. On occasion, I even take pride in them. Probably because no one has ever commented on them, or thought that I just had something on my face, or tried to get it off. Not until today at least. Three people told me I had something on my face and Brooke even licked her thumb and began rubbing away at it, but that mole wasn't going anywhere, and isn't going anywhere. It's here, get used to it.

Summer is also here and I am loving it. I'm really excited about all the goals the gnomes and I have set, some of them include:
-Marathon '09
-10 pull ups by the end of summa
-Getting good/better at sand volleyball
-Reading lots of books
-Cartwheel on the slackline
-Improving our tennis games
Juje and I started playing tennis together this week and we had some really great times. Both were filled with rage, the only difference was that on the first outing we were able to harness the anger into playing good. Why were we so mad? Because a group of puke lil 13-14 yr. olds in sickening gym clothes were yelling obscenities at us. "Get off the court, bi's!" over and over again. Didn't their mothers teach them to respect women? I was fuming. It was one of the times I wish that I flipped people off, or mooned them, or beat the crap out of strangers for no real reason besides they made me mad. But I don't, and never have and it seems like a waste to start now. So I just listened to the little pieces yell and got all riled up on the inside. Then we found a court away from the snots and played like champs. Second outing, not so good. Anger and rage, yes. But ability to play was completely lost. We threw several tantrums and yelled so loud we scared the children and worried the mothers at a park nearby. It felt so good to let it out, screaming and punching the whole way home was therapeutic. I may never play tennis again after the experience, but it was hilarious and memorable.

Some of the goals already accomplished:
-Getting ready for the day more often
-Meeting new friends
-BBQ's
-Wizardry/Warlock night
-Garden/grass (in progress)
-Training
Training is going great. Ran 10 today, without my trustee partner to pace me, but my pace was still pretty good. I have some fatty blisters, but I don't blame my shoes. Bananas are changing my life, they are a miracle fruit, whether it's placebo effect or not, I can't be sure, but it doesn't really matter. All I know is that I feel invincible when I eat them and my muscles love them. Riptide rush is one of the best things ever, and today proved to be motivation enough to keep me running-turns out it doesn't take a lot.

And then there were none...

2009-05-23T19:17:00.000-07:00

Today Madie got hitched marking yet another one of my best friends marriages. It was a great day and she looked beautiful as usual.

Another one bites the dust

Another one bites the dust
And another one gone, and another one gone
Another one bites the dust
Hey, I'm gonna get you too
Another one bites the dust

I had never related this song to marriage until today. But it's pretty perfect for it. People are getting married like it's going out of style, all the single ladies are droppin' like flies. I really need to go easy on the cliches/metaphors, but it's so easy to do when talking about such a subject matter. "hey, I'm gonna get you too" is taunting in this context. Marriage is on the prowl for everyone of us, and it will get us too.
Watch out.

Bridesmaids.
It was weird to not be a bridesmaid, it seems like I always get appointed, but not this time. I tell myself it's because Madie knows I would be unwilling to wear pink (one of her colors), but only because I don't want to face the possibility that maybe I just wasn't cutting it as a best friend.
The wedding was a blast from the past, without Brendan Frasier. I saw way too many people that I thought I was done with, and had given 'em up for . I don't know if it's just me being selfish or what, but when I don't see people I just figure they aren't living anymore. The worst part is how surprised I am when I find out that they are.
In addition to that profound lesson, I also learned that napkins with dye on them only make mess worse, people don't change-Limbeck was right, and I love Highland 11th more than anything. Seeing the ward members always makes my heart so happy, it's truly like family. I love the generation below me, they are all way cool, but not the kind where they know it. Just the genuine kind. I fear the day when there will be no more cool kids to carry on this great legend.

when i get older, i will be stronger

2009-05-06T18:49:00.000-07:00

Life is so good these days. Finals are over and Logan is a ghost town. I secretly love when everyone leaves for the summer, it means only the really cool and hard core people are left, and all the brainiac nerds that are there for school are gone! Riana put it so well when we drove past some people packing up and leaving, "good riddance!!"

Riana is gone to D.C. and it's bittersweet. Bitter because she's gone and less entertainment, but sweet because of the textual updates about what she's doing, seeing Obama in his pajamas, the crazy itinerary the fam is following, and the people on her plane.

I just celebrated my 20th birthday. That's right, I'm no longer a teenager. The birthday was so much better than expected. It all started with possibly the best gift I've ever been received. Drumroll please.... a SNUGGIE! It was so thoughtful. I never thought I would own one, though I have fantacized about having one since I first saw them. It was from Collin and Traci. They had us over for a mexican themed dinner and dessert and some "AI". Natalie broke some dishes-typical. The gnomes all shared in my enthusiasm when I opened it, it was like it was all of our birthdays. It looks great on, and fortunately one size fits all. It's so whimsical and warlock-looking-I can't wait until wizardry night!
I especially love that one of the uses is for cuddling, holding babies can get SO cold!
Riana got me a cute lil cactus plant which really brightens up the rape room and a motha cinnamon roll for breakfast. Nat and Juje got me a henna kit so we can tatt it up this summer. Brech got me such a good and thougtful present, he didn't say there was a theme, but I'm pretty sure if there was one it would've been "everything hayley is obsessed with": planet earth, gnome books, chapstick, steak, and funfetti cake! Brooke sent me some goodies, and Kya sent me a golden, knocking cat, it was such a good surprise.
I didn't mean this to turn into an inventory of birthday gifts, but it did so deal with it.

I'm now a full time working lady and surprisingly I don't even hate it. Co-workers are great, customers are funny and it's always exciting wondering what our new company name will be, it changes every two weeks.

K'naan, Wavin' Flag is the last little magic in my life. I can't get enough of this song, it is getting me. Especially this line, "Cause we just move forward like Buffalo Soldiers"
That line got me through work today, I just kept moving on like a Buffalo Soldier.

My Time to Shine.

2009-04-24T20:45:00.000-07:00

It happened. I lost my voice.

Those who know me know that this is quite possibly the biggest feat of my life. Despite my many attempts, the closest I have ever gotten is a borderline rasp. Ever since I can remember I have been trying to lose my voice but have never been successful. Erica and I would scream in a raspy tone for hours and hours and nothing, I made Madie cough on me when she got sick and lost her voice, but still no results.

I heard once that Celine Dion can't even talk on the days that she has a concert or else she'll lose her voice. She has to whisper or sign the whole day. Oh, to have such fragile vocal cords. Maybe it's because she pounds on her chest so hard when she sings, I'll have to start incorporating that.

My voice box is too strong. I bet it would take way more than 15 pounds of pressure to crush that little tin box in my throat.

On April 20, 2009 I got the closest I have ever been. My voice began shorting out, and it was high and airy and barely comprehensible. My fifteen minutes of fame only lasted about 10 minutes and then my super human voice box strengthened itself back up and restored the damaged vocalization.

And before I could whisper good-bye, my voice was back.

-One more really good memory that has to do with voices:
Kylee cried when we watched this movie.

To the Arts

2009-04-15T09:16:00.000-07:00

This semester I enrolled in a class devoted to "culturing" students. Though the class is not quite over, I am proud to report that I am now oozing with culture. I have seen it all. Through this journey I discovered Black Violin, they are wonderful! It's the perfect study music, stimulating but not boring enough to put you to sleep. Just listen and embrace.
Thank you, Arts Symposium. Cheers.

Baby Animal Day

2009-04-10T22:42:00.000-07:00

Three words: Baby Animal Day. I cannot think of a better way to celebrate the Easter season than going around and petting and holding baby animals. Animals are great and all, but I'm mostly fine admiring them from a distance, but put a "baby " in front of it and I want in. Pigs. They're alright. Baby pigs, cutest things in America. (Someone told me today that pigs are the new dogs, what? They said that pigs will soon replace the dog as 'man's best friend'! Who are these people? And have they ever seen Babe? Pigs are not loyal, and Babe ruined anything they had goin' for them.)

Anyway, lots of babies all over the place! Some other wonderful highlights of this blessed event included: watching a sheep be sheared, Riana almost stealing a baby goat, the crying little girl who had to tell Riana to step away from the goat, crazy Indian man that was holding a leather pouch with a human shaped baby inside, pony rides, the 1917 house and the man who used the same one-liner on every guest, and probably my favorite thing was that we ally sneaked in. We fully intended on paying the outrageous $8 it cost, but somehow we didn't see the one hundred signs that said "tickets" until after we had already stolen a whole lot of fun. We bought some neat hair barrettes from the Indians though, so we feel like we're even.
Stealing fun is the best thing to steal, because even if you get caught, they can't make you return it, they can't take your memory (not yet at least...steal as much as you can.)
I do find it just a little ironic that we snuck into an Easter-like celebration, a little counterproductive.
NOT a baby.
Baby lambs are my favorite
kind of baby, besides the humans.

2009-04-04T22:27:00.000-07:00

A couple nights ago I attended the art lecture by Frank Warren on his project called PostSecret. I got there just as it was starting and the place was packed. I sat in between two fanatics of this man and his project. I didn't know much about it going in and by the end I was a fanatic too.

Frank is a collector of secrets. He's got a mighty good collection too. The simple concept of the project was that completely anonymous people decorate a postcard and portray a secret that they had never previously revealed. There are only a couple of conditions that must be followed:that it must be completely truthful and must never have been spoken before. Entries range from admissions of criminal activity and confessions of secret desires, embarrassing habits, hopes and dreams.

After his little sh peal about his project, he let it be open mic for anyone who cared to share any secrets. I was appalled. People got up and shared things that they had never told anyone, and for good reason. I couldn't believe the things people were willing to share with this huge room of strangers, I suddenly wished I had a big secret, but the truth is...I don't really. There's no one that knows everything about me, but collectively I bet I have told everything there is to tell. I have been digging deep to find some, and I found a few, but nothing real good yet, I'm still working on it. I realize it's not a very noble cause, but you would want secrets if you heard this man speak too! The irony of it is that one of his goals to help people escape from their secrets and to share them, but it just inspired me to create some and then keep them.

These are just a few, but this is the blog that posts new ones periodically...

Spring Break '09

2009-03-23T09:06:00.000-07:00

There is way too much to cover in this one week of my life, but there are some things that cannot be forgotten:
-Grandma Jeppeson's sweet extractions machine (this got to me, it is at the top of the list for a reason, it made that big of an impact)
-Riana conducting the voting for which movie to watch, beginning in nooch, and then a thumbs up or down
-Being les miserables, sick the whole time, but pretending like I'm not
-Going on a run and getting lung disease from the fall out
-Witnessing a home-made meteor shower in the coolest cave
-Watching Juje get stuck in the cave and trying to hurl herself over the ledge and nearly kicking me in the face
-Cody getting be-tacked by dizziness
-The grandpa that almost died on Angel's Landing and the bi he had for a granddaughter
-Jenny almost buying her wedding ring
-Boy McKay
-Running into Josh at a random gas station in Beaver
-Feeding wildlife at the top of the hike
-Making cakes in orange peels and tin foil dinners
-Singing "America, America" in a round in a dark cave
-Bear Claw (also known as Bear Paw) and the $15 pancake
-All the morbid conversations we had. Planning our suicides and each other's deaths the whole time, not very healthy.
-Zion. Taking naps on cliffsides, making fun of people, driving in the sketchy van that made strange noises when speeds reached 60+ mph, the miralce of Riana bringing salted chips to cure Cody.
-The boys and girls car. Boy McKay was the first to make the trip co-ed, and I'm pretty sure it wasn't until day 3.
-Swimming at the rec center made for children, waiting in anticipation as the bucket filled and got ready to dump on us, having contests in the waterslide
Some pictures...

Descent to the unknown

Jacket Sistas

Bless her heart.

Top of Angels Landing Where the mountain nearly claimed Cody

Where the mountain nearly claimed Cody.We did it! So glad this lady was able to find enough time to snap this picture, it was worth making her late.

Call me Steve.

2009-03-21T18:37:00.000-07:00

Scuba diving isn't as hard as it looks, but it is scarier. All the equipment and crazy looking things you have to wear is necessary, I guess... but I still think it is mostly just used for intimidation purposes.

I got to take a 4 hour scuba class this week and it was such a treat. It started with an informational film about scuba diving. I was expecting to be overwhelmed and overstimulated by all the information, but surprisingly it was pretty much common sense. There was a segment that included all the hand signals to use under water, but the good news is that they mean the same thing above the water.

You probably wouldn't guess it, but this man is trying to say that he is cold.

Can you guess what this one means? It's the signal you make if you are doing okay. Other signals include pointing up which tells the other people that you are going to ascend to the surface, and just by pointing down you can tell them that you are going to descend.

After the movie, we got all our equipment and everything ready to go. I got to wear a hot pink wet suit, probably the most flattering color they could make wet suits. Just as I was putting on the tighter than skin wet suit and admiring the way it complimented my fat, some old man with long hair came over and grabbed the suit right under my butt, at first I thought he was just gettin' fresh, but then he started violently hoisting me into the suit. Not only was it painful, but rather embarrassing.

Finally we got in the water and learned how to breath under water. We had to learn a bunch of skills that made me way nervous. We had to bail from our air tank and then refind it and start breathin all by ourselves, and then fill up our masks with water and then blow it all out. It was useful, but scary. I liked it a lot.

I think I'll get certified and do it more. I loved the way I looked in that wet suit too much to not make it a regular hobby.

Sleep sleeves

2009-03-09T16:13:00.000-07:00

Last night I slept like a crazy person, and as a result I had some insane sleep lines on my arm. I looked down at my arm and for the first time in my life, a tattoo actually seemed appealing. My sleep lines looked sweet. I'm gettin' sleeves.

HAMMER TIME!

2009-03-02T20:14:00.000-08:00

I had the rare opportunity to attend the Vanilla Ice/MC Hammer concert on Friday night. There is really no way to explain this concert, and anyone that attended understands why. The closest words I have come up with are: ridiculous and hilarious. Vanilla Ice was... strange. He came out and performed most of his new stuff, aka hard core rap. He is pretty sure that he's a bad A, and he would love for everyone to believe the same, but don't let the tatt sleeves fool you, he's really not. He's the same little white kid that stole that clever tune that made him so famous. The only real change is his voice, he sounds much more manly and raspy-probably due to the years of smoking and screaming obscenities. His stage set up was much scarier than he was, it was like a haunted house with blow up Halloween lawn decor. The best part was the mad assclown running around the stage throwing water into the audience. Vanilla emptied probably about 30 bottles of water onto the audience by the end of his performance and there is no way of knowing how many clown boy went through. Wasteful, maybe. But so worth it.
Then came MC. He had quite the entourage with him. Before the show we were informed that there would be 42 dancers and a choir, there were about 12 dancers and no choir, but nonetheless it was impressive. He's still got moves, he's still only singing songs with 4 words over and over, and he is still sportin' the infamous hammer pants.

The show was the first time the two had done a concert together in 18 years. It was long overdue. One of the best parts of the concert were the array of people it brought in. There were not limits to the types of people in attendance-punks, jocks, emo's, old people, children, a few babies (during the show the mc (not the hammer, but the master of ceremonies) told the audience to sccot back and calm down because there were some babies being crushed towards the front...What! First of all who brings a baby? Secondly, why are they at the front, and thirdly is MC Hammer really that cool that people will crush babies to get a little closer?) there were hippies, some really old people, gypsies, all races and countries were very well represented, some red necks, and some divas. Needless to say, it was a prime time for "people-watching".

Thanks for being born!

2009-02-26T11:33:00.001-08:00

Happy Birthday Peg!

Unknown Precipitation

2009-02-23T08:56:00.000-08:00

I am currently in the basement computer lab of the Library a.k.a. the best kept secret of USU. I cannot for the life of me figure out why I am the only female in here.
A quick head count--there are about 20 men in here and I can feel the testosterone oozing from all of them. I feel like I accidentally stumbled upon some secret men-only fight club or something.
In my not-so discreet head count, I caught eye contact with a lot of them and their eyes told me to "get out!" I am a little scared but I am not backing down.

This morning the sidewalks up to school were treacherous. There was some kind of precipitation falling from the sky, I couldn't decide if it was snow or rain. All I know is that it made everything an ice fest-must've been freezing rain eh? I finally made it to school and got on the USU website, the one with a little blip about weather. (I don't check the weather, I don't understand people that do. Just because you know how cold it will be, or because there is a chance of rain doesn't change the fact that it will come. I prefer to just take it as it comes. Plus, since the weather is never right, it only leaves room for disappointment.) Anyway... the website classified the weather as "unknown precipitation". Oh! that's what it was, thanks a lot. At that moment I was so grateful that I don't check the weather before I leave the house. That would have scared the crap outta me. "Something will be falling from the sky, we are not exactly sure what it will be, but just be ready for anything." I probably would've left with a helmet on and then just ended up being way embarrassed all day...

Two more boys have walked in since I have been writing, and one of them was huge and most likely the president of the club. I gotta get out before I get roughed up.

SKI THE BEAV

2009-02-19T09:10:00.000-08:00

Riana and I went snowboarding on Tuesday. It was my second time this season which is pretty pathetic, but it was a wonderful day. It all started with picking up a mystery hitchhiker snowboarder who had strayed a hundred miles from the resort. He was pretty cool, but the poor thing didn't have a name, or at least didn't remember it, or maybe he just didn't want us to know it, either way he never did answer out question about that. We came to find out a lot of tips about hitchhikers after we got home. Natalie's tip: don't pick up strangers. Juje's tip: if you HAVE to pick them up then they always sit in the passenger seat, he has an advantage if he is sitting behind you because that way he can strangle you both simultaneously. All I have to say about that is it the man that kills me has the ability to strangle two people at the same time he is probably Jason Bourne and I am completely fine being killed by him, plus I can't think of another person I would rather die with than Riana. Moral of the story is that he didn't even try to kill us. We got to the slopes safe and sound. It was our first day exploring all of what the BEAV had to offer and it was...interesting. Our first run was bad news. It was mogul mcgee and probably two feet of new powder, with almost no grooming. It sounds like a dream come true, and we thought so too, but it proved much more challenging. I don't think I have ever fallen so much in one run, or liked it so much, it was like falling into a cloud. I discovered that Riana cursing is one of my favorite things. It just doesn't seem natural coming out of her mouth and it is so funny to me. It was a complete white out while we were there and probably snowed fity feet just while we were there. Gentle ben and Rav were so good to us.

Banff

2009-02-14T17:20:00.000-08:00

Banff Mountain Film Festival was yet another success. I always leave thinking I am invincible and that I am way more capable of extreme sports than I really am. I really enjoyed hearing about some crazy base jumper's theories on fear. I left with a burning desire to slackline, rock climb and snowboard. It was a good festival, a little better than last years, and I look forward to yet another celebration of extreme outdoor activities next year.

Sir James

2009-02-06T09:12:00.000-08:00

Once again, Joshua James graced Logan with his presence. It was another wonderful show. However, there were a few things that I could have done without. Number one all the people talking in the back corner. Two- getting the benches taken away right from under us. D. the fact that the max. occupancy is 49, really? not one more body can fit in there, let's just make it an even 50. 4- the part where they enforced the occupancy level and started kicking people out. 5. having to line up against the wall and being counted off a million times, watching my friends get kicked out into the cold, it was like the concentration camps all over again, it's no wonder Brett the Jew didn't make the cut. And the worst part was when Riana and I got rejected by J.J.
"Excuse me, Sir James? Do you think we could get a picture with you?" he looked up from plugging some cords in, "Uh...how about in a little while?" Ah! "oh...k." awkward. Needless to say we never got the picture. But we did get this one, we were pretty shaken up from our experience.

Her Morning Elegance

2009-02-06T09:07:00.001-08:00

I cannot stop watching this. Thanks to McKay for showing me.

global warming is a hoax.

2009-01-28T09:19:00.001-08:00

It's too cold for it to be true. That's all.

Show me a true blooded AGGIE!

2009-01-16T09:05:00.000-08:00

The basketball game last night was wonderful! It was way intense, plus the half time show was a Utah State favorite-the Golden Girls, a group of about 40-50 ladies aged 70 or older that come out and do some awesome dance moves...from a kick line, to a shimmy, to the robot! And every year the finale includes this 92 year old lady that has more oomph than most 20 yr olds, and she just dances her heart and that's right folks, she can still do the splits, after the splits Big Blue scoops her up and carries her out. It is adorable. I love it so bad! Last night the infamous "Scotsman" (this is a sneak peek, however it is so much better in person!) was better than ever, surges of school spirit rushed through me! I love my ags!

When a Stranger Calls

2009-01-13T10:57:00.001-08:00

Most people don't answer their phones if they don't know the number that's calling them. Not me. I have to. I am obsessed to find out who the mystery person is and I will go out of my way to answer it. Funny stuff usually happens when you are talking to a stranger. Last night I missed one of these calls, and they left a sketchy voice mail with shuffling noises. I thought it was probably the wrong number, but the curiosity was killing me, so I called them back...one ring, "this number has been disconnected or is no longer in service" What! That is not normal, someone called me from that number like 10 minutes before. I don't know what that means, but based on all the horror films these days, it probably means I am about to be disconnected, aka killed.

'09. Live.

2009-01-04T22:40:00.000-08:00

What a week. First we road tripped down to Hurricane. Just me, Riana, and Nella. Riana provided most or all of the conversations-which is best, because no one really wants to listen to anyone but her anyway. She warned us that she does crazy stuff on road trips-crazy stuff like buying really stupid stuff that she always regrets buying. She made sure we didn't miss the cheese factory, or the belly dancing temple, we passed a roadkill carcass factory, and found out that Luke moved-who knew? The most disappointing part of the the whole trip was Riana didn't regret buying anything! Once in H-town we played jumbling tower with a hefty Irish-looking hick. And then to Nat's to distribute gnome pins and talk all night long.
Morning brought a little intervention and we did some role playing...and it was all for nothing in the end. (thanks chel) We ate at bear paw, went to a weird store and walked the streets of St. George. Met the grandparents-grams showed us a million beanie babies and gramps tried convincing us to get in a fight.After that we went shopping and we were quite the tuckered out sheep. We would rest wherever possible, in the aisles, on shelfs, etc. The unenthusiastic target representative wasn't too thrilled about us sitting in the middle of the aisle, but something tells me he's never been too thrilled about anything... We stopped off at Sand Hollow, and ended up taking a million pics, these are just a few..
The New Years celebration was off the hook. This picture say it all! Except the part when the creepy Navajo was all up in our grill.

Next we were on our way back to the other H-town for the weddin. Friday morning we all got back in the car and headed to SLC to see the happy couple come outta the temple. They were so happy the heel-clicked out!The luncheon was the best! Good food, good table, good company. We had the honor to sit with the mother and father of the bride and Shultz was such a treat. Besides the suicidal heels, everything else was wonderful... We took way too many pictures of ourselves.

And since the photo shoot at the reception wasn't enough, we headed over to Nate's studio for another dose.
The night ended with a crazy ole' time with the Ortons. Poker, twinkies on a platter, running charades, and two brothers on a hotel bed..

Besto's

2009-01-03T12:41:00.000-08:00

Ky got hitched yesterday! I wanted to give a toast at the luncheon, but every time I hit my glass everyone started kissing, some tradition or something. But I just wanted to thank Ky for the most adventurous 19 years of my life! We've had way too much fun and some of my best memories are with this girl. Now she is married, so basically all adventures and fun has to end... At least until I get married. I can't wait til that day when the high adventure can resume! Congrats Ky!

We spent so much time together, one day we literally turned into twins.

Ky and I coined the phrase "bestos". Anyone who says otherwise is lying so bad.
Not only did we make up the term, we embodied it.

Forgot about this gem.

2008-12-30T13:53:00.000-08:00

I love this so bad.
Euro's know how to kick it.

Love means nothing in Tennis

2008-12-30T09:59:00.000-08:00

John and I played in a tennis tournament last night. We entered in as a mixed doubles team. Before the match started I was informed of a few things:
1. The male on the doubles team we'll be playing is ranked #1 in the league.
2. The team we'll be playing has only lost once this year. (keep in mind it's December)
(This one while I was getting dressed). 3. Hayley, you can't wear your usually attire, it looks like you are homeless. You are playing at a prestigious tennis club you need to look nice. (Would have been nice to know before I got home so I could've packed my nicest dress) I had to wear a little tennis skirt and pretty much a dress shirt before I could make Peg happy. Once I got there I realized that skanky=classy and prestigious.
4. If you don't get your first serve in 75% of the time then you can kiss the match goodbye.
5. Some of the teams in this league use a strategy where their only technique is to hit it as hard as they can at the female. (this one was revealed as we were walking into the club. oh, good. notice it's not "to" the female, but "at" the female. perfect. I was suddenly hoping that I hadn't dressed so girly for my mom and that I had worn my homeless clothes, maybe they wouldn't be able to tell which one was the female?)
6. After all the haunting facts, and once I was substantially nervous my dad says, "no pressure though. I just want this to be fun for us." No pressure for him! He isn't a female, plus he is pretty close to professional.

You don't need to know how the match went, all you need to know is Peg's comments at the end. "You guys played horrible, it was not your best tennis!" Thanks mom. I already knew I didn't play my best. Usually, when its all over is when you just lie and say "you did great!" even though you both know it's a lie, for some sick reason it makes you feel just a little better. Fortunately, Nate was there to lie to me. Thanks for the support.

I would post a picture of the dynamic duo, but after the match Peg said, "you don't want a picture after that do you?!" So if nothing else, I learned a valuable lesson... you only get your picture taken when win.
A few lucky winners. I chose this one because there were some crazy good Asians playing on the court next to us.

the pez collector.

2008-12-28T16:37:00.000-08:00

I collect Pez dispensers. I usually get one for Christmas or my birthday, but this year I got 3. My mom laughed so hard as I kept opening one after another. She has this problem where she forgets everything she wraps up, so she is just as surprised as the person opening the gift. It's hilarious. So she was busting up, and said she didn't remember buying so many! I decided it was time to get out the whole collection and play with them. Yes, you can play with Pez dispensers, you just have to get creative. So I lined 'em all up and sorted them into different categories.

Here's the the whole crew. They are all such beauts.
An interesting fact about Pez: The name PEZ was derived from the German word for peppermint, Pfefferminz, the first PEZ flavour. PEZ was originally introduced in Austria, later exported, notably to the U.S., and eventually became available worldwide.

"This is my house, and I have to defend it"

2008-12-22T11:42:00.000-08:00

My mom and I love watching Home Alone together every year, last night we watched Home Alone 2 because we both had secretly watched the first one without each other and didn't have the heart to confess it, so we put in the 2nd one because we "hadn't seen it in a while" and during it we confessed during it that we had both betrayed the code. I love Home Alone, it could be my favorite holiday movies.
Reasons I love Home Alone:
1. Kevin is a stud
2. My mom laughs so hard during it
3. Marv has some of the best lines in history
4. The wet/sticky bandits have a hundred lives
5. Bird lady is SO scary
6. BUZZ
7. Buzz's friend
8. The soundtrack
9. The dialogue in "Angels with filthy souls" will almost always work in real life conversations.
10. Macaulay Culkin
11. Little Moe with the gimpy leg
12. Uncle Frank is such a dufus.
13. Fuller's bed wetting
14. The only weapon or tool the bandits bring is a crowbar
15. Peter McCallister is such a good name
16. Plain cheese pizza has never looked so good
17. Every single person that drives to the house knocks down that bronze statue.
18. When he sleds down his stairs.
19. Lastly, the thing that I love the most about it is the part that Peg thinks is the most unrealistic. Keep in mind how much the bandits go through and how many times they should be unconscious, paralyzed and . Now remember at the very end of the movie when the whole family is reunited and everyone is so happy, and the mom says that they need to go to the store to get some milk, and then Kevin says that he went to the store the day before and he got some. Out of all the bogus events in the movie, Peg can't believe this. She says and I quote, "when Kevin went to the store he only got a 1/2 gallon of milk, then he used some for his mac and cheese and had a whole glass out for Santa, that only leaves maybe 1/4 a gallon, there is no way a family of that size would only be satisfied with that much milk! HA! That is the part she can't believe! Oh peg! Love that.

Kilimanjaro

2008-12-22T11:20:00.000-08:00

After a 5 hour drive from Logan on Saturday, I came home to have an ultimate snow day with Averi and Mike. We built our usually stair slope, and sledded down trying to break the record of who could go the furthest, and Averi won-how? we have no idea, she has the smallest mass but yet flew clear across the street. The best part was watching Averi trying to get back up the stairs to sled again, she always chose the most difficult way and would be face down in the snow every time trying to climb the huge mounds.
We tried really hard to make a snowman, and by "we", I mean "I", and by "tried really hard", I mean I brought a squirt bottle out to try and moisten the snow so it would form a more cohesive bond. I worked at it for a good half hour and the snowball was still pathetically small. After we'd had enough we came in to some delicious hot chocolate with real life marshmellows. It was perfect.

Indians, Liquor, and Creed.

2008-12-12T12:32:00.000-08:00

This was easily the best week of finals I have ever experienced. Two of my finals were optional, so I only had to take three, because we all know I'm no over-achiever-bare minimum usually gets me through just fine. I finished my last final on Tuesday, I never finish so early in the week. It was good and bad, because since then I've been pretty worthless and unproductive, but it's felt wonderful. We've been staying up way too late, for no other reason besides that we can, because we don't have schoo in the a.m. Besides finals, work is so great. It's absurd that I get paid to do what I do. Some of the highlights of work yesterday included some guy bringing in an ab roller and all the boys had macho contests with it-they had to prove their strength to all the ladies, we found out that our boss just sold our company to an Indian Tribe in South Dakota and so now we are run by a sovereign nation and no longer have to abide by any state or federal laws! Blasphemy. I decided we'd all have to take on an Indian name alias, I will now be known as Wildflower. Also I may have accidentally had some liquor at work, they passed around these weird things-I heard "Italian"--- that's all I needed and I started chowing, after I was completely done and satisfied, someone has the heart to tell me that it may have been soaked in liquor. Last night was the work Christmas Party. And was it ever a party! Door prizes, gift cards, a live band, catered meal, and SANTA showed up. He did the drawing for the "big" prizes, and do I ever win anything? no. But was my name called? yes. A Christmas Miracle. I can't wait to spend my spoils. Then I came home to a roaring fire (shout out to Brett) and my beautiful roommates gathered around the Christmas Tree, talking and laughing. After a few family pictures, people flocked to our home. The billows of smoke piling out of our chimney beckoned to every single person we know (literally though) and they all came within ten minutes. Millions of conversations going on at a time. And to end the perfect night, we spotlighted Riana. One word: Creed.

Thank ye.

2008-12-01T10:28:00.001-08:00

So much to be grateful for lately...
1 my family, they are completely out of control all the time, and I almost never stop laughing when I am with them.
2 Pinatas, thank you Mckay for being born.
3 Gingerbread Contests. Every year my family has a gingerbread house making contest and it gets intense! from stained glassed windows to full functioning chimneys the contest is heated, everyone is paired with their significant other, the thing is-is that i don't have one, so i usually get teamed up with Averi which is fine, we just never win, unless Grandpa is judging. This year we had the genius idea to combine forces and to make a mansion, that's right we put 4 houses together into one and with the help of the hot glue gun and tons of braces, we accomplished this incredible feat.
4 My gnomies. I love my roommates more than life itself sometimes and our reunion last night was wonderful. Natalie and I shared more secrets and both decided to go after our dreams, I am so inspired and pumped up right now, nothing can stop me.
5 Dancing. I miss dancing so much. Not like dance party dancing. But real life, full on dancing. I used to do it for at least 2 hours every day, and usually it was longer than that. I am going through serious withdrawals and I really need to dance soon and release all the emotion that has been building up inside of me for months now! As cliche as that sounds, dance really is my outlet and I am dying to do it again, for real.
6 Tennis. My fatha and I went and played over the break and I loved it. I feel like I have gotten a lot better, and it makes me so happy when I surprise my fatha because he is a tennis maniac.
7 Old friends. I got to reunite with tons of old friends over the break and it was so great! We are all so bonded and have known each other forever and it was so fun to get together and just start laughing. I love that no "warming up" is ever required, we all just know and love each other.
8 Logan. I love this little town that is oozing with hippies.
9 Scary Stories. I told my family the stories of my childhood and adolescence, I have no idea why they had never heard them before, but they were terrified and we all established a few things: we will never let our children babysit, and the grici own the gulley and could be behind many of the conspiracies that went on down there.
10 My religion. Live it and love it.

Meet me in the club, it's going down!

2008-11-21T10:53:00.000-08:00

What happens at Logan's only club on a Wednesday night? Mass pandemonium. You do your duty and shake your booty. Club NY, DJ Juan, Womanizer, Raffle Drawings, Mist stuff, and all to support African children. Doesn't get much better than that. We all won prizes, I got a free pita, and me and chel won VIP passes to the club, so clubbin life here we come! I would consider this night among one of my favorite dancing experiences. We owned that place. And now comes the dance hangover, and severe paralysis.

Also one more huge event of the night.. me and natalie had our first fight.

Today in History

2008-11-19T11:10:00.000-08:00

Once upon a time i was a history buff. Like obsessed, borderline fanatical about history, history buff. Today I looked at the date and realized that today was the day that President Abraham Lincoln dedicated the military cemetery at Gettysburg and delivered one of the most memorable speeches in history.

Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal. Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle-field of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.

That's right, straight from memory. It's not the whole address I realize, but I never memorized past this because people usually cut me off right here and don't allow me to continue on. Shout out to Abe, Lindsay, and Mayor Quimby. Recitations will be occurring all day. All are invited to share in this tribute to history.

Summer Fling

2008-11-14T10:29:00.001-08:00

Summer does something to people. The sunshine releases endorphins and makes people happy and giddy to the max, perfect conditions for a short, intense love connection. Maybe it was the heat of the sun, or maybe it was meant to be, but this summer I found myself more in love than I have ever been. This summer I gave my heart to Trooper(or also known by his pet name, Troop) Who is Trooper? The most beautiful shiny red beach cruiser you'll ever see. Trooper actually belongs to my besto, Kya, but she allowed me to use him the whole summer and into the school year to cart my sorry A around. Troop and I spent every day together, and got to know each other real quick. We went everywhere together, and went through all the lows and highs of life (or just bumps in the street) Troop took better care of me than any other fling I've ever had, we had a rocky start due to a few loose screws but after a little tune up, we were able to move on and never look back. Now as the freezing rains and snows begin, Troop has been retired to the garage. Sometimes when I come home I look into the garage and there he is, almost pouting in the dark, cold and all alone. A wise friend once told me, "absence makes the heart grow fonder". How true that is, you really don't realize how much you loved, until it's taken away and then there you are, left feeling completely stupid for taking it for granted. Break ups are the worst, but they have to come, we went into it knowing it would have to end someday, but I just didn't know how sad I would be when it finally did. Now it's just up to me and the ole' legs to get me around. Thanks to Troop for always being there when I needed him, for getting me to school, work, the bank, the store, and for all the relaxing cruises down main, and also for the new found muscle definition in the quads. Today Troop and I will take (most likely) our last ride this afternoon. I already miss him.

2008-11-09T09:03:00.000-08:00

It must be the holidays! You always know its Christmas time when the LaCognata house has been turned into Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory. Peg makes homemade, hand dipped chocolates every year at Christmas. It's what we give away as the neighborhood gift, the size of the box you get depends on how much we like the family. When I walked into the kitchen this weekend there was chocolate strewn throughout the whole place-bowls and big blocks of white, dark and milk chocolate everywhere. There were candy thermometers, marble blocks, candy cups, and all kinds of tools to make sure everything is done to perfection. I think most people would be surprised by how much of science candy making really is. If the chocolate is not the exact temperature the chocolate will turn "white" as they call and the batch is ruined. Believe me, you don't wanna be around when a batch goes wrong, or be the one responsible for changing the temperature in the room, by keeping a door open or what have you.
Since it is such an art, my mom usually only lets us kids help with stuff that is really hard to mess up. Like dipping pretzels, or dipping and rolling toffee in nuts, as seen in this wonderful picture of us forever ago. (this isn't posed, we really are that happy to helping) Chocolate making is a tradition in the family, my grandma still makes chocolates every single year, and now my mom (despite her promising every single year that she will never make them again, she always does.) , and I hope to continue this tradition in my own family.
These are just some of the chocolates she has made thus far.. Hopefully you've been good enough to us this year to at least make it on the "small box" list, if not, there's not much you can do now... now you just have to wait to find out what we really think of you!

Whats up, Brazil, Whats up?!

2008-11-05T21:03:00.001-08:00

What's up, Brazil, What's up! Chelsea jump on it, jump on it!

Sister Chelsea Anne Beecher has been called to the Porto Allegre South Brazil!

Celebrations included dancing to the song entitled "Brazil" by Vengaboys.

Chel practicing for the many pointing pictures taken at the MTC.

2008-11-02T21:57:00.000-08:00

As the coldness approaches we've been trying to fit in as much outdoors as we can. This has included several slacklining excursions. I love it, expecially(just for nat and collin) in the fall with leaves blowing all around.

Three lines of different heights and tensions =jungle gym (oops, broke my equation rule!)

Saving Daylight.

2008-11-02T21:40:00.000-08:00

It all started at midnight. Midnight mayhem, we called it. We were out to celebrate the and cherish daylight saving(s) while we still have it. Rumor has it that the whole concept of daylight savings is being phased out slowly..our children will probably never know what the term even means. Another rumor says that the clocks technically do not turn until 2 a.m., but we celebrated a little early, from midnight to well..midnight. That hour almost didn't even count, so we figured we could do whatever we wanted and it wouldn't even count. All you need to know is that it was mayhem. I am going to miss daylight saving so bad!

Blog + Hayley = Nonsense

2008-10-29T10:57:00.000-07:00

If you would have told me a week ago that I'd be starting a blog, I would've told you you were crazy and to get out of my house..(supposing you were in my house of course) but lately the idea of having a blog has become more and more appealing, so here I am. Take me as I am, because what you see is what you get.
In other news..today is my half birthday. Feel free to get me half of something cool, or just a whole of something lame. 1/2 cool= whole lame. The goal for today is to everything half-ly. I only slept on half my bed, I only did half the homework I usually do, which is 0, because 0 divided into half is still 0. I have used a lot of equations in this post, if you are afraid to continue reading other posts because you think I'm math mcgee-I can assure you that you need not worry, because this is the extent to my equation use.