I make me laugh. :)

Once upon a time, there was a girl named Abi who attended the Burley Institute every Wednesday night.

This Wednesday seemed to be just like any other (besides the fact that Jason Alma was teaching a very awesome lesson) until something happened.

Abi decided to fix her hang-nail.

And it didn't work.

You know those ones you're trying to fix, and when you bite them to pull them off, it rips all the way along the side of your nail.  >Abi and everyone reading this cringes<

*shudder*

Yeah, one of those.

Needless to say, it hurt.  Bad.  But it quickly stopped bleeding profusely, and Abi and Kaleb were once again able to pay attention to the wonderful lesson Jason prepared.

The next morning...


This girl named Abi was getting ready to go to a long, hard day of making granite countertops, and in her preparations, she decided it would prolly be a good idea to bandage that nail.

Good idea, right?

So she did.

And she worked and worked and worked some more

And sometime (about 7 hours into her work), Abi decided that that bandage was a hindrance and that she didn't really need it at all.

So she took it off.

And lo and behold!  She had bandaged the wrong finger that morning.

The end. :)

Made. My. Day. :)

Sometimes doing granite work makes life a little interesting.

Like, I have scars, blood-blisters, and callouses on my hands.
Or I always come home covered in epoxy and mud.
OR sometimes I have very interesting conversations with customers.  :]

Hehe!  This is a good one. ;)

Background:  Dad and I are installing kitchen countertops for a small, sweet, white-haired, couple.  The wife is very sharp, neat, and detail-oriented.  Her 86-year-old husband has a hard time hearing and a harder time understanding.  He is also somewhat suspicious of the newcomers (us), and he falls asleep from time to time.  They sit and watch us the whole time we are installing.

We started working, and all the time, the husband was interrogating us--trying to figure out who we were.  Sometimes the conversation would go like this:

Grandpa:  So how old are you?
Dad:  Forty-eight.
Grandpa:  Oh.......(long pause)......
                Where are you from?
Dad (with a smile):  Out at Springdale.
Grandpa:  Where??
Dad (louder): Springdale.
Grandpa:  Oh.  My family used to live out there.  ...  Did you know my great-grandfather?
Grandma (cutting in quickly):  No, he didn't know your great-grandfather.
...........[pause]........
Grandpa:  ...They built the Church out there on our family's land. (Dad nods) ....They used to call it [insert family name]'s Church.
Grandma (cutting in even quicker):  No they didn't either...

He he he  :)  BUT my favorite conversation happened while Dad and Grandma were outside:

Grandpa:  So how old are you?
Me (loud, with a smile):  Nineteen.
Grandpa:  ....Do you have a boyfriend?
Me (smiling bigger):  No.
Grandpa (jumps, raises his eyebrows incredulously, and drops his jaw while saying...):  What?  (taken aback) Nooo...  Why not?
Me (trying not to laugh at his reaction): ...
Grandpa (grinning):  I took Mom (his wife) on our first date to a sweet shop, and I came home and told my parents, "I found the girl I'm going to marry."  And they...(shakes his head and face-palms (demonstrating)).  Back then, we earned 50 cents an hour... and I took her on a date for 50 cents.  You could do that back then, too.  A movie cost 10 cents a person, and then I'd take her to the sweet shop.  We'd get hot-dogs for 10 cents each, and some candy with the last dime... (He trailed off, reminiscing, and shortly fell asleep.)

Hahaha!  It was so cute and funny!  I loved it!  I'll be honest, I'm kinda jealous of those 50 cent dates.  Sounds pretty grand to me! :D

:)

Nerd Nights

Okay, okay...the time has come to reveal all.

I'm not as cool as you think I am.

Nope.  Not even close.  I've been fooling people for years.  You wanna know who knows most about my nerdy-ness, though?  Actually, they helped me develop and embrace the natural nerdy-ness within. ;)

My tendency toward nerdy-ness is actually hereditary.  My family has just tried to hone it into something constructive and not embarrassing.  ;)  Well, they did a good-ish job...for a while.  Until these guys destroyed it and molded me into the nerd I am today:

Jacob Tyler

Kaleb Larson

Jason Alma

Yup.  It's all their fault.  It's because of them I've seen three episodes of MST (Mystery Science Theatre)  and think Monty Python is remotely amusing...and that I can quote "I am a banana." and all other such pointless Youtube videos.  It's all their fault that I laugh at elephant jokes and childish bathroom humor.  It's due to their effect on me that I think jokes about grammar rules, calculus figures, composers, and music theory are humorous.  And yes, it's because of them that I find dumb puns hilarious.  It's all their fault.

Blame them when I laugh at something stupid.  It's all them.

Still, I appreciate these boys quite a bit.  They are true-blue friends, and genuinely great people.  They taught me how to enjoy being a nerd, have honed it into something...relatively...constructive, and it's great to have my needed outlet of nerdy-ness embraced every once-in-a-while.

Tonight, we had a conversation over a rat trap.  It was an object lesson on faith.  Jason promised me that if I touched it with my finger, it wouldn't hurt me.  Yeah right.  Of all the people he has ever taught it to, I was the slowest to be convinced to set it off.  It was a good learning experience, though.  We talked about scriptures and debated until they, all three of them, finally convinced me to set the rat trap off (after a half an hour of promising me it wouldn't hurt me, putting their fingers on the trap as well, and bribing me with tea-time afterward.)

Jason taught me how to build a "samich."  I taught them how to "smoke" Smarties (thanks Eric!) and we all tried [unsuccessfully] to blow Smartie-dust through our noses.  (Yeah....we're nerds... I told you!)  It's because of them that I stay over past a descent hour visiting about life, science, the Gospel—the nerdy and non-neardy alike.  They are the ones who make me sing the hymns a cappella with them so we can have four-part harmony.

Yes, I am a nerd.  The information in this post isn't even half of it.  And now that you know it's all their fault, let me just say...

I love it.  :)

The Silly Saga of an Epic Enterprise (Part 3)

(Continued from previous post...)  :]

The next, wonderful day, I awoke to a foggy morning and a report that it was supposed to be cloudy/slightly rainy at the beach--which was our plan that day while Bryce, Hills, and Carissa went to Disneyland.  I had been hoping for a sunny day because I had never been to the beach when the sun was out.  Still, I was not to be discouraged!  We were going to the beach, and it was going to be wonderful!  Haha!

We got all ready, and drove to Escondido (we were happy we could find it!) to get my beloved roommate Alissa Fred-Anne.  She's so wonderful!  We barged into her home, and visited for a little while with Ali and Mom (her mom, this time.  I have a lot of parents :)  ) before kidnapping her and taking her to Oceanside Beach.  Guess what we saw when we got there.

SUNSHIIIIIIIIIINNNNNE!!!!!!

Sooooooo much sunshine!!!! :)

If it had been possible, I would have been even more excited to be at the beach! :D Due to the amount of glorious, heavenly sunshine, we slathered ourselves silly with sunscreen, and while waiting for it to dry, Alissa Fred and I painted our nails with Del Sol color-changing polish.  It's wonderful!  My clear polish changed bright red in the sunshine, and I loved it!  Oceanside is a wonderful place to just swim and play in the waves, so we spent hours swimming, dodging waves, and body-surfing.  Eric brought a couple of boogie-boards, and Mike and I learned how to use them.

Yeah.  They're champions. :)

I'll be honest, I struggled with the boogie-board.  A lot.  I live 14 hours away from the nearest beach, and it takes me a while to get used to it.  I did figure it out, though, after a long time of trying, and I found it to be rather fun.  After a long while playing in the splendid water, we went to bask in the glorious sun, visit (Mike fell asleep...again....), and be warm.  It was soooooo warm there!  Eric tried to teach me to play catch with my left hand.  I've never struggled so hard in my life!  Re-learning to throw a football was hard enough, but left handed?!?  That's just ridiculous!  :)

This girl.  She's amazing. :]

After spending hour upon wonderful hour at the beach, we decided to leave and find food.

Mike and Ali modeling our beach stuffs.  Mike truly was blue! :)

We went to a little Mexican restaurant there called Colima's.  It was so good!  Eric, Mike, and I got California Burritos and they were GINORMOUS!  People walking down the street would double take at the size of them, and we could hear people talking about them...and us....awkward.... ;)  Hahaha

Afterwards, we headed to....someplace....I don't know where it is.  Prolly because it's a secret.  Anyways, we went to a place where we could actually get a fire pit.  Mike and Eric, being the men that they are, chopped wood with the hammer (weird, right?) and built the most sufficient fire I have ever seen.  

And then we roasted marshmallows!   And put them on the only thing we had....OREOS!!!  So good! Try it!  I don't know why I hadn't thought of it before!

We had so much fun visiting and being silly.  Ali was the brilliant person who led us to this place.  Brilliant, I tell you!  She planned it so well that when the sun went down, this was our view...

(Sorry it's blurry…)

The beautiful San Diego skyline.  It was wonderful!  We stayed there for a long, fantastic time eating, chatting, laughing, inventing stories of kidnappings, mutilating water bottles with red-hot skewers...

...and burning gasoline.  Yup.  There was a family of awesome people that needed to get rid of some water-tainted gas, and they asked if they could use our fire.  It was the biggest, awesomest fire ever, and they were such funny people!

Ali was oh so correct when she said I would be wiped out after a day at the beach.  Eric and I visited all the way home while Mike slept, but when we arrived and sat down to watch The Road to Eldorado, I couldn't keep my eyes open.  I was so wonderfully, delightfully, sublimely exhausted.  Besides....I had to be ready to do it all over again the next day...

:]

The Silly Saga of an Epic Enterprise (Part 2)

And now we're back...

So, we ended with us arriving in T-mec early in the morning.  I must say, I texted my dad to tell him we made it safely, and this is how the conversation went:

Me:  We're in Temecula :)  love you!  And goodnight! :)
Dad:  Goodnight?  I think it's good morning!
Me:  Hahaha yeeeaaahh.... for YOU! :D

He's a crazy man.  He doesn't sleep.  3:30 should never be usual waking time.

Little did I know, however that some of Dad's non-sleepyness rubbed off onto me!  I exaggerated a little in the last post saying we arrived at 4.  We really made it to T-mec by 3:30-ish, and Bryce groggily gave Mike and me directions to Eric's house.  They were hilariously inaccurate.  Mike and I just kept driving and finally deciphered (with Eric's help) what we thought the directions should say.  Aaaand once we got there, Eric, Mike, and I just had to have a short visit. ;)  The point is, we eventually fell asleep...at a time far later than anyone should ever go to sleep.

The next morning, however, I couldn't sleep past 8.  So, I was awake.  Eric had left to work, and I laid there thinking and looking at the foggy morning as everyone else slept.  And then Otis (Eric's dog) woke up...and then Ruffles (Eric's bird) woke up...and then the cats woke up...and finally jumped on the couch where we were "sleeping."  :)  And then piano lessons started at 9.  It reminded me of home... :)

In, as he said, a great lack of funds, Eric decided an excursion to the bank was necessary.  He asked if I wanted to come with him, and I said that as long as I didn't have to get out of the car (I was still in my pajamas/traveling clothes...bleh...), I would love to.  I probably will never live in California, just because of all the roads!  I grew up in the country where a block is four miles, and almost every intersection is square.  I seriously doubt I will ever come to be able to navigate around a city.  Anyways, we drove to the bank in the foggy morning, and Eric gave me a short tour of Temecula.  It's a beautiful place.  You should visit. :]


We came home to a house of busy family.  Eric's family is wonderful!  I remember acting just like his little sisters when I was their age, and it was interesting to watch from a third-person perspective.  His siblings were all smiley and happy and curious, I am sure, to see what we looked like in the mornings.  Well...they got an accurate presentation.  We were pretty cute... ;)  Alissa and Devin quickly proved to be the dog and bird whisperers, respectively.  Audrey, Heidi, and I chatted about riding horses, and being silly.  Dad (well, Eric's Dad, but I've unofficially adopted his whole family) was cracking me up, and Mom was so fantastic and took such great care of us all week!  I truly felt like part of the family by the time the week was up.  :D


True to Eric's word, at noon sharp, the fog dissipated and left, to our enjoyment, a beautiful, warm, and sunny day in its wake.  (I didn't believe it would happen when he told me, and I still think it's a strange occurrence).  We went back to Bryce's to plan a day of fun, and this unfolded:


First we toured more of T-mec.  We went to this place…

Temecula's own Old Town Root Beer Company.  Have you seen it before??? It's SO COOL! Vintage soda!  Each of us picked one, and we shared all the differnt kinds.  It was sweet! (Literally and figuratively...)

Then we headed to hike up to Hobo's Mansion.  We never actually made it there (we took a wrong turn), but our short little hike was very fun :)  

We were all holding suspicious-looking bottles, but no one said anything... ;)  Then, on the way, Eric and Mike had to climb a tree.  Why?  Because there was a platform in it, of course!  What a silly question...  :D

We eventually made it to this pretty stream-thingy, and played around for a while before heading back.  It was quite a cool place, but my fondest memory of it is this:

(You'll have to click on it to get the full experience…)

LOOK at them!  In all their awesome glory!  These are the wonderful people who choose to grace me with their presence!  They look like heroes, huh?  Yup, they do.  And is that surprising?  Not one bit.  They are heroes, my friends, and I love them.


We headed back shortly thereafter to get all spiffy-ed up.

To go do baptisms here:

The San Diego Temple.  It's soooooooooooooooo beautiful!  It's amazing!  I was so happy to get to go!  We had an absolutely glorious experience there.  And we love being silly with each other.  :P

After, we had dinner, and made fun of Hillary Dear, and visited, and enjoyed each other's company, and drove back to get enough sleep for the next busy day.

:)

The Silly Saga of an Epic Enterprise (Part 1)

Okay.
So it just so happens that I had about the most wonderful week of my life.  Just barely.  And I MUST tell you all about it, BUT there is no way that I am going to fit it all in one post.  And as I am also opposed to posting more than once in one day (there have been and will be exceptions :]  ), you'll just have to log on that many more times to read about it.

The journey unfolds...

First, I threw my back out, had it readjusted, packed, kissed my family goodbye, and headed off to the thriving metropolis of Provo, Utah.  Here, I broke my journey to see this wonderful boy,

My cousin Benny-Man, to the MTC (Missionary Training Center).  That's right, ladies, he's off to Quezon City, and you won't be seein' him for two years.  Sorry!

This time, I was very lucky because I was able to see him be set apart as a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.  It was a wonderful night full of strong testimonies, good advice, wishes of luck, and lots of tears from Aunt Stacy and I.  (I know I shouldn't, but I'm gonna miss that kid so dang much!)

Some advice that was given to the missionary:

Alma 17: 2-3

"...they had waxed strong in the knowledge of the truth; for they were men of a sound understanding and they had searched the scriptures diligently, that they might know the word of God.  But this is not all; they had given themselves to much prayer, and fasting; therefore they had the spirit of prophecy, and the spirit of revelation, and when they taught, they taught with power and authority of God."

Some advice to his mother:

Doctrine and Covenants 84:88

"And whoso receiveth you, there I will be also, for I will go before your face. I will be on your right hand and on your left, and my Spirit shall be in your hearts, and mine angels round about you, to bear you up."

It's a tough thing to let a missionary go, but I know the Lord will watch over him. :)

Later that night, I met my sister Liza-Jane and Sir Alex at Del Taco.  The three of us had some silly times before Alex left, and Liza and I settled down to sleep.  I love visiting with that wonderful girl. :]

The next day, I woke to Liza making me some home-made, whole-grain waffles complete with her scrum-diddly-umptious cinnamon/nutmeg/whatever-else-she-put-in-that-recipe-she-made-up syrup.  Needless to say it was glorious.  We chatted, and then I left shortly thereafter to let her study for the 3 finals she had to take that day. :]

It was B-E-A-Utiful in Provo and HOT!  I loved it.  From thence, I headed back to Aunt Stacy's to go with her, Granny, Jess, and Ben to complete a new tradition: taking the missionary to Chuck-A-Rama before we drop him soundly on the sidewalk at the MTC.  Lunch was grand!  Jess, Benny, and I were silly as could be, and we talked almost completely in movie dialogue.  (It's a very great and well-developed talent that I posses).  We ate ourselves silly...

Yup.  Silly.   ;)

From thence we traversed to the Provo Temple to take pictures and be silly some more.

 I told Ben to make his last (recorded) studly pose for 2 years.  Eat it up, 'cause it's gonna be a while before you see it again.  :D  I just hope they don't break his smolder out there....

 He was also very warm in his black suit and coat, BUT, being the resourceful man he is, he quickly found a way to remedy the situation…

 SPREAD-EAGLE AIR-CONDITIONING! :)  Who knew, right?  Turns out if you position yourself just right, the breeze can flow through your jacket.  Haha!

 What a great kid!  The roses were blooming like CRAZY! :)

 And then we headed back to the MTC to say our final goodbyes...for now. :)

 Benny and Granny:

 Benny and Jess:

 We said goodbye, and as he turned to leave with a gaggle of missionaries following him, I said farewell in my signature manner (much to the amusement of everyone who heard):
"Make good choices!  DO WHAT'S RIGHT!  And DON'T DATE AT ALL!!!"
Usually it ends with "Don't date hussies," but that isn't exactly catered to the life of a missionary. :D

After that, I headed to Miiiiiiiiiiichael ALAN's apartment to do his check-out cleaning for him, so we could leave for Temecula, CA as soon as he was done with his Calculus and Physics tests.  Bryce-ary (Bryce and Hillary) and I spic 'n span-ed the whole place, I paid a short visit to my brother Sambo and his wife Megan, and when the time came we (Mike, Bryce, Hillary, Carissa, and I) all loaded into Roger (my [parents'] very dear, burgundy Grand Prix) and headed off...at round abouts 6.....P.M.

Do the math.  It's a 10 hour drive--without stops.  And there's a 1 hour time-change.  And we had to stop...sometimes.

That's right.  We pulled into T-mec at about 4:00.....A.M.
Our drive was rather lovely.  We rather enjoy each other's company, and we were rather silly.  And Mike had the new Panic! at the Disco album (which has a few perty cool songs, by the way).  And there we sights to be seen such as this!

 The mountain on FIRE!....okay, not really.  Mount Doom is just in Central Utah.  Okay...not reeeeaaallyyy.... it's just the sunset.  .....aaaaand sights such as THIS!

 Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaand since we couldn't NOT stop for dinner....we saw sights such as this too!

I love these people. :)

So despite the late hours, and waking Eric William Malachi Hurkumer Jackman Smith up at the butt-crack o' dawn (excuse my language, please) to let Mike and I into his house to let us sleeeeeeeeeeep.... it was a rather thrilling beginning to a rather glorious adventure. 

THE END.

......for now....

P.S. I rather like the word rather. ;)

The Fantastic FanTAMily :]

Sooooo, the warmth that has finally decided to grace this land with its presence has caused me to have a happy and content mood...and a fantastic sunburn.  Oh well!  Still....

THE TIME HAS COME, my little friends, to talk of other things!  Like....my family--my wondrous, beauteous, fantasticulously splendiforous family!

The first area of business is that of one Tyler Dan and another Benny-Man.  These two are my heroes.  Memorial Day weekend, they both gave their farewell talks in church before they each head off to serve the Lord and his children in Panama and the Philippines, respectively.  These boys are some I have looked up to all my life...well...all their lives (because I'm older than both of them.)  :]  Tyler, because he's taller than me and funny and he breaks rules with me (nothing too major, don't worry) and he lets me tease the livin' daylights out of his blessed soul.  Bless his heart!  Benny, because he truly is one of the sweetest, kindest, funniest, most sincere and wonderful people I know.  They're quite unbelievably wonderful, and I'm one lucky girl to be related to them both!  I love them to the sky, and I will be writing lots of letters to them while they are gone.  What can I say?  I love my boys, and those closest cousins gotta stick together!

Second, my parents are the bomb.  I'll wager they're better than yours--I'd stake my life on it. ....Okay, okay...they are better than your parents were at raising me.  Happy?  :]  I get to work for my Dad, and I love having that opportunity.  Pa's a wonderful, hard-working man who has taught me a greeeeaaaattt deal (with and without power tools) ;).  Also, my Mamacita is so wonderful!  She is so fun to visit with and laugh at/with and cuddle to watch movies with.  She's a real gem of a woman, and I'm glad she's my Ma.

Third, last Friday there was a recital at my house.  Now, it promised to be a wondrous recital--full of tip-top talent and all that jazz (...well...actually it was classical music (with a lower-case 'c') but that's beside the point).  I was planning on attending, BUT....it was warm outside, and I don't think you will ever understand how much that word means to me at this point in time.  It was a lovely, sunny, warm evening, and I wasn't about to let that kind of weather go to waste sitting inside!  So, instead, I called the cousins up the road, and the cousins that...will live up the road, and we all headed to the church to play a game of Chicago Ball.  All that's needed is a big, soft Chicago Ball, and a bat--no mitts--which makes it very easy to put a game together.  We had a grand ole time teaching Mia and 5-year-old Petey how to bat.  We took turns, didn't play with any real rules, teased each other, switched teams, cheered for both, tried new tricks and made a night of fun, family ball.  'Twas a grand time, and what's even better?  All of us, even the smallest can hit the ball pretty well!  It'll be a grand, weekly, summer tradition!


Fourth, yesterday when the family went to visit the cousins that...will live up the road.  We were visiting outside, enjoying yet another wonderful, sunny, warm day when Petey informed me that my chair was on his rope...

Me:  Will you give me a kiss and then I'll give it to you?

Petey:  Yeah... >runs behind me and pulls my hair<

Me:  Hey!  That wasn't a kiss, Silly!

Petey:  >matter-of-factly<  That's how the Romans did it.

Hahahaha!  Who told that kid about the Romans?  I love the things that kid comes up with!  He cracks me up!

Fifth, Lizer-Lou gave her Senior recital in Provo on Saturday, and it was A-MAZ-ZA-ZING!  She sang beautifully, she smiled beautifully, and she looked...beautiful..ly. ;)  It was so fantastic.  If any of y'all ever have the chance to hear her sing, take advantage of it.  It's a glorious experience.  Just remember, I'm related to that voice and the girl who owns it. :)  It was great to be in Provo, and it was great to see her!  I miss her a lot since I moved away from Provo.  It was also great to visit with Miiiiiiiiiiiiiiichael ALAN for a few hours while the Fam went shopping.  He's just great! :]  After the recital, Megs and Sambodini invited us to their abode for a grueling game of Buzzword.  Can I just say...HILARIOUS!  Kudos to Alex Avery for keeping our team from sinking into the depths of loser-hood!  I miss Megs and Sambo a lot too since I moved, but it was fun to visit and be silly!

Sixth, even though Eric couldn't come, Beks and Blakers came to visit and ride with us down to the recital.  I just love them all, too!  Nephews are grand, and seeing them was so fun!  I'm still trying to teach Blakers to say "Abi," but "Dad" is still his favorite word, and he teases me by saying that instead and giggling at himself.  Hahaha!  Eric's got him trained perty well. :)

Last, Madi and Max are just so silly.  Madi can't walk in a straight line to save her life.  Max and I have elbow wars at the dinner table (left-handed little brothers are such a curse). :]  Madi makes fun of me.  Max is a goofus.  They both are silly as can be, and they both are just wonderful, and I love them very much.

Well, that's all for now!  Sorry it's so long, but now you can at least love my family too!  After all, they're pretty great!

Because it's FUN!

So, I have a bad habit.

I do things spontaneously.

All the time.

And the only explanation I can ever give is this:

BECAUSE IT'S FUN!

Like the time I sacrificed breakfast food because my roommates and I just had to have 50 glow-sticks.  Or all the times we stayed up 'til 4 talking.  Or when I write ransom notes.  Or wink at the speakers in church.  Or wear high heels.  Or make funny faces at mere acquaintances.  Or sing opera with my sister while we're making cookies.  Or....well, I'm sure you've caught the drift.

The fact is...I'm quite....eccentric sometimes.  Don't worry.  I like it.  It keeps my life interesting. ;)  

Now I have finally come to real reason I'm writing to tell you this.  Tell me what is wrong with this picture:

You would be correct.

I have found a new love.  

My.....MOODRING!!!

Quite possibly the greatest invention ever!  Ma, Mads, and I got them on our sister-mom date the other night, and they've been a source of GREAT enjoyment!

I wear it quite a lot, and am entertained for hours watching it change colors.

I'm beginning to suspect that it determines rather than indicates what my mood is.

It's fantastic.

Go get one.

Now.

:]

Thoughts of the day...

This will be a look into the random mind of Abigail, but please don't get too scared. :)  These are just some of the things that happened to cross my mind today:

• First, I love my mother.  Happy Mother's Day to a wonderful, beautiful, fantastic woman!
• I love it when my sister, Eliza Anne, can come home to visit.  I find I miss her a lot now.
• Grandma Kate is a classy woman, and she's one of the sweetest people I know.
• Have you noticed that most of us pronounce it "every-buddy" instead of "every-body."  I thought that was pretty cool (as I was loading the dishwasher).
• I am veeeeeeeeeeerrrryyyyy thankful for a dishwasher.  After 8 months without one, I can't think of an invention I love more.
• I thought of all my missionary family and friends who called their families today for mothers day.  They're pretty great, and I'm a big fan!
• I love Primary children.  Endless hugs, singing mother's day songs in Sacrament Meeting, and just being so darn cute!  Peter was yelling the chorus to "I Am A Child of God" today, and there were about 16 of us busting a gut in church.  Haha!
• I'm glad I can cook.  Liza and I made a restaurant-worthy Italian dinner for Mamacita, and it was quite possibly the most scrumptious thing I have eaten in a while. :]

 Thank you, Alissa-Fred for teaching me about/how to make Bruschetta! Mmmmm..... :)

• I love my family to the sky and back.  They're pretty great....jus' sayin'.....
• I had herbal tea today,--Sugar Plum Spice--which made me think of my wonderful roommates, Alissa-Fred and Marie Morgan.
• I miss some people.  I love my family, don't get me wrong, and I miss them when I'm not around them, BUT at this moment in time, I miss Tyler Dan and Thomas Olaf and Alissa-Fred and Craig Hunter and Marie Morgan and Miiiiiichael Alan and Eric William and Kirb-Stomp and Jessi and Christel and Jaden and Hillary and Bryce and Teri and Aaron and Eric and Trevor and J-Hart and Liza and all the girls from Building 10 (oh so much!) and Broseph and oh, everybody that has been separated from me since I left Provo.  I love and miss you all (like, you don't even know), and I hope you're doing just swell!
• I spent at least an hour looking at a huge book of maps of the world finding and reading about where each friend/family member is from/is/will be.
• "Maybe I should look up my Chumbly home and my Bardsley home, and then I won't miss them so bad."  Didn't work.  Remember that.
• Sometimes, I'm funny.  Relish it...because it doesn't happen very often.
• Color-changing fingernail polish is (yet again) one of the coolest things ever.  Fo' really. ;)
• I am a giant and a half--especially when I'm wearing heels.
• Sunday is my favorite day of the week.  It's just so great!
• Life is still so good. :)

Congratulations.  You just picked apart my brain.  Don't you feel...confused?  I sure do!

Fabulous Freesomes!!! ....

Okay, I KNOW it's supposed to be "threesomes," but what isn't better with an alliteration?  Hmmmm??? (Juuuuust kidding... ) ;)

BUT it's true!  I've been blessed my whole life long to belong to some of the awesomest, coolest, and, dare I say, best looking threesomes that have ever existed in the history of this galaxy.  Honest!

It started in second grade with Elizabeth and Julianne, continued in fifth grade with Cynthia and Morgan....then in high school, I became a part of the group called....

Hawkeye, Guster, and the Kid in the Candy Shop.

TAH-DAH!  Hahaha!  Funny story about this picture...but it was (surprisingly) the only one I have of our manifold adventures.  That would be Me, Lis Lucy, and Emilie Susanne.  They're GREAT!  I love these girls to the sky and back.  They have been grrrreeeeeaaaatt buds with me, and I'm a big fan of their beauteous selves!  We have ransomed the world (which is precisely what is depicted in this photograph).  Our legendary adventures have been the stuff of legend in the metropolis of Declo.  No one that has ever met the three of us will ever forget us. :) This next picture pretty much sums up the three of us together:

Complete with kisses.  Yup.  That's us in a nutshell!  Hehehe :]

The next one started at the beginning of my freshman year at BYU.  It is the union of The Queen, Love, and Yusuf Mohammed:

Actually, we are the girls of apartment 133, Me, Alissa Fred, and Marie Morgan.  And we only used our aliases once.  Still, we had many epic adventures as we spent this year as roommates.  I think we went to bed before 2:30 a total of....four times during the past school year.  We just loved to stay up and have tea time and share stories of life and liberty...but mostly the pursuit of happiness.  :)  I was truly blessed beyond belief with these beautiful, wonderful girls, and I love and miss them VERY much.  Like, more than I can say (even though we've only been apart for...not even 2 weeks).  I'm ridonkulous....

Another epic threesome that happened this last semester is that of...the wonderful, practically-sealed custodial workers at the ASB:

My absolutely dashing brothers, Eric William Thomas Henry Floyd Archimedes Mordecai, Miiiiiiiiiiiiichael ALAN, and I had some epic adventures as we worked.  (Duster sword-fights, anyone?)  We were pretty much the life of the crew.  They are part of my wonderful practically-sealed FHE family of which I will tell more (toooons more) later.  I was at their apartment during last semester all the day long.  Needless to say, I love them.  We grew to be practically the same...which is why we're all wearing green in that picture...and all of us are raising our right eyebrows....yeeeeaaahhh. :)  Mike got both Eric and I hired there, and I can't possibly thank him enough!  That job was by far the smartest decision I made during Winter 2011.  Jus' sayin'...

Another of my favorite threesomes actually started at birth...well....Tyler's birth, anyways.  We have always been close, but the three of us didn't actually become (figuratively) welded together until this last year while we all were at BYU together.

Thomas Olaf, me, and Tyler Dan.  These boys are my cousins, and a girl has never been so lucky to be related to two such wonderful/handsome/smart/sweet boys as these!  We were all born within five months, and we have loved talking about life, school, family, blessings, problems, girls/boys, everything with each other.  I have many memories of hunting for crawdads, teasing, wrestling, playing games, breaking rules, visiting, and much much more with them.  They are two of my best friends, and even though my boys are leaving me for 2 years missions for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (one in Guam, the other in Panama) you can bet we will be writing back and forth.  I'm glad to have these boys because our adventures will last into the eternities!  I'm so excited! :)

The last threesome is the one for this summer.  It, too, started at birth, but only this summer will it be a threesome, and an epic one at that.  Here are the key players:

Okay, I know it's a dreadful picture.  I look a mess, and Max is half out of the picture, but this is Max, me, and Madi--the great!  We are the youngest three in a family of six, and we are all that's left of my parents' ponderous posterity (See?  Alliterations are alluring...okay, i'll stop now.)  Haha!  I love these two to death, and we are together for the summer to make some awesome memories, and I'm excited to spend some more time with them!  I'll give you updates from here on out because the summer hasn't started yet, and there are epic adventures to be had!  Now off and away YOU go!  Go make some of your own!  All the day long... :)