food and the other things that occupy my mind.

#1 FOOD

I love food! I absolutely love it. I have eaten so badly this week. It's quite horrible. Here is a list of the junk I have eaten just this week:

Funnel Cake
Costco pizza
Coldstone ice cream (sweet cream ice cream w/ pecans, peanut butter, fudge, and brownies - stop drooling)
Taco Bell nachos
Taco Bell bean burrito
McDonalds smoothie
About 10 homemade banana chocolate chip muffins
McDonalds BBQ snack wrap w/ fries and a sprite

yeah its all pretty great stuff! I should probably start to fight this addiction.

#2 MUSIC

I am pretty much obsessed with Francesca Battistelli and Kerrie Roberts. They are both Christian artists which I am falling deeper and deeper in love with. But honestly, their music is so original, beautiful, soulful, and deep. I can't get enough of it! I love almost every song I find by them, especially Francesca. (You see I know her well enough now that we are on a first name basis! lol.) anyways, to any of you who might be reading this, please go listen to these two fine artists.
Also I found another "band" I guess you could call them. Their name is HelenaMaria. They are two Greek twin sisters that do covers of popular songs. If you are interested search "HelenaMaria Love the way you lie" on youtube and click the first result. It is incredible. They are talented girls.

#3 COLLEGE

This along with dating, marriage, and future family plans are the only things people like to talk to me about. I guess you could say it gets tedious and annoying, but it shows they care about me and my life right??? Well anyways, whether or not they care, I have to face the fact that these are the things that my life will revolve around for basically forever. (Don't get me wrong these are all important and wonderful things I just don't like the rush.) The countdown till I leave is currently at 12 days. Holy moly! Where did all my time go?? It's so nerve racking and yet strangely exhilirating. I think I am more excited than nervous now but that changes on a daily basis. I still have not reached the realization that I leave in 12 days. Wow! It's gonna be great. We had our back to school father's blessing this week. I think this was an important mark as since then I have been more anxious and happy. I have been hesitant about my roomates. The ones I have met seem very sweet but I still haven't met 2 and I just want to have a good relationship unlike one of my friends who just never went to her apartment except to sleep. But in the blessing my dad said something to the affect of "put your mind at ease. the roomates you have, have been chosen for you at this time" whew! A complete sense of relief came over me and ever since I have been looking forward to this new experience and all the opportunites that accompany it. (: yay!

#4 ZUMBA

Sooo...with all the food I've been eating I've been trying to work out...you know try and balance it out a bit. haha. anyways, a couple months ago Jay and I were walking the track at the Rec Center. His mom and sister were in a studio doing Zumba. We could see in the windows and would tease Ana by mimicking dance moves. We thought it was all fun and games but when they finished it turned out she had thought we were being quite cruel. So we were dared to come do a Zumba class before I left for college and before he left on his mission. So on Monday we went to do the Zumba class. It was amazingly fun. For those of you who do not know, Zumba is a cardio workout that is based on latin dance. It is intense and I love it. I have since been back for two classes and I'm looking into doing it at BYU-I. You should all try it out.

#5 DATE

So my brother Jonathon turned 16 on Wednesday (his first day of school). So I am going on a double date with him. It should be really fun. We are going bowling. I will update on what happens tomorrow (:

PEACE OUT (:

first impressions and friends

So this title may sound a bit decieving because I am talking about each of these subjects seperately.

First off, first impressions. They are pretty important. With the stage of life I'm at, first impressions are going to be very critical. In less than a month I will be meeting my roomates, ward, FHE group, etc. I am trying to not base my opinions on the first impression. I want to give everyone the benefit of the doubt. Not too much of the benefit so I make concessions or stupid choices of friends but I don't want to start out with a bad opinion of anyone.

Second, friends. I have me some pretty great ones. I've enjoyed going to singles ward and strengthening and gaining friendships. There are lots of good people in the world. I've noticed that many times friends come and go. You change, they change, circumstances change...but some stay the same.

I met Marisol in seventh grade. We became really good friends in Mrs. Butkus's advisory in eighth grade. We always made each other laugh and could share all of our secrets. She's one heck of a girl. Well we've been off and on best friends I guess you could say. For the first three years of High School we had barely any classes together so we didn't see each other much. Then she moved into my ward. Senior year we ended up having half of our classes together. It was great. We've been able to do so much together. She is leaving for UofI on thursday. I'm nervous and excited for her. I'm so proud of her. I want to wish her the best in whatever life brings her. I know she is going to be amazingly successful. She is so sweet, strong, and talented.

My other really good friend is Jay. I met Jay the second semester of my freshman year of high school. I got into the top choir at Skyview so I had to switch my seminary class. I met him there, but we never talked much. The next year we were in the same seminary class and had similar friends so we ended up seeing each other a lot. We were even in a singing group together. The rest is kind of history. We've been friends for over 3 years now. He's great! He's currently preparing to serve a mission. I know he'll be great. It always makes me happy to see my good friends go on missions. I know they will bless the lives of many people with the gospel. I would also like to wish him the best in life.

I have been so blessed to have met so many great people throughout my life. I have an incredible parents, super siblings, and fantastic friends. I know there are too many people to name that have been to sent to influence my life for the better. Thanks to all of my friends and family (extended included). I wish I could write a paragraph describing why I love you each so much. Thanks for everyone who has been there for me. I am simply grateful.

thank you.
(:

i feel successful.

So I feel I have been quite successful that last little while. First off, yesterday I found out that I currently have 46 credits at BYU-I. Let me repeat that again...46 CREDITS!!!! That is basically three semesters worth of credits. High School wasn't a complete waste of time! YAY! I don't have to take 3 math classes, american history, english 101, humanities 101, and more! yipee! I'm one happy girl. I feel like I have already done something with my life. It feels unbelievably good.

In addition, I have also always dreamed about the summer before college and getting all the cool stuff for college. Most importan (for girls) is the comforter. I've been looking EVERYWHERE for one that is me. No luck. I even decided I would make one but when pricing what I wanted it was over $60...no thanks. So I just decided I would stick with the old one I have. BUT then I was at Walmart and found one for $16. It's plain black. My creative brain starting swimming with ideas at the store. So I bought it. I also bought some green sheets. Then I had fabric at home to make cute pillows. Anyways long story short, I now have a super cute dorm theme. I made a lamp and comforter set for approx. $35. That includes fabric, lamp, lamp shade, ribbon, buttons, stuffing, sheets, pillow cases, light bulb, etc! I'm stoked. AND...the best part is that I made it. I mean I had some help from my mom which was great, but I did it. I can look at it everyday and feel good because it is mine and it was cheap. So, I know I sound pretty girly right now, but I guess I better face the facts, I am a girl. (:

Here are some pics:

little brothers and allergies.

Good afternoon! It's been a slightly adventurous week here in Nampa, ID. I've been getting a lot of stuff done for college. I recently cleaned out my ENTIRE closet and ended up packing a large suitcase and tote full of warm clothes for BYU-I. I'm pretty excited. I have gotten some pretty good deals on everything that I have needed to get. I still have to find a laptop, backpack, comforter, books, and cooking stuff. I still have quite a bit of time, almost a month, till I leave so I've still got plenty of time.

So I had a couple funny things I was going to share. They have to deal with my little brother Logan. Logan is an amazing little guy. He always knows when to hug you when you are sad and how to make you laugh. He is such a hunk. Well anyways, the other day I was talking about going away to college. When I told him I would be living all the way in Rexburg he started crying. He was quite upset and told me that was too far away. I told him it was going to be ok because I would come back to visit him often. Then he asked "Will you bring your kids with you?" Oh man, how did we go from a college to kids. I guess it is all connected in the 6 year old brain. Then he proceeds to tell me I have to find someone I love so I can get married and have kids. Then he leaves the room. He come back in with a pile of money. This pile contained over $15 so I knew it wasn't his money. I asked him where he found it and he just said "Oh, around the house." I knew it was his older brothers' room so my mom called them in and they saw the money and tried to grab it back (since it was theirs). Then Logan started freaking out and crying again as he said, "No guys! I'm saving that money for Melissa's wedding." I tried so hard not to laugh. He turned to me and said, "Wouldn't it be horrible if you had to pay for your own wedding? You would have to save for a long time!" Oh Logan. He cracks me up.

So this week I have developed some allergies. I had mild ones last year but it's totally hitting me this year. At first it wasn't too bad scratchy throat and a little congestion on Sunday/Monday. But now I am congested, have a sore throat, watery eyes, headaches and an ear ache. Grr. It's not much fun. I have had to cancel two voice lessons and maybe three. I really need to have those so I can rock my audition at BYU-I. Well hopefully they just go away because all the medicine I have tried is not working.

Anyways this week will be awesome. My dad, parker, and nate are going off to scout camp. It will be nice for them to get away. Nate has been gone for the past two weeks to other camping adventures but he likes getting out of the house so its good for him. Hopefully with less people I will be able to get even more done for college.

Well that's about it for now. Adios!