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. :)

Ode to Center-Pivots and Wheel-lines

Today, Jack and I had a date. (Jack is my bright red, Giant brand, mountain bike.  He's great.)

You see, Daddy-dear just got me some brand-spankin'-new, Specialized bike shoes complete with Shimano-brand clips and pedals.  I just HAD to try 'em out. ;)  (Sidenote: They're pretty spiffy, and I love them!)

You know those times when you're running or biking along and you're just so hot?  You're burning up.  You're tired and thirsty, and running over hot, black, sticky asphalt does absolutely nothing to help.  You think briefly about calling your mother to tell her you're dying of heat-stroke...

And then you hear it.  The slow, steady chop of the ginormous rain-bird that sits on the end of a center-pivot.  Suddenly, you can see it and the huge, black, watery, and delicious spot it's making on the road in front of you.

You buck up, make that your goal, and sprint with strength you didn't know you possessed to reach that beloved spot in record time.  And you stand there.  And stand there.  Aaaand stand there in the glory of the river-water that is being hurled at you from above.  And you love it.  Don't try to tell me that you don't.

Yes, my friends.  That is why you bike in Idaho.  And if the sprinklers are on the wrong side of the road, ride on over!  Odds are, you won't see a vehicle in the time you're riding.  Refreshed, and with new-found courage, you continue on your way only to find that the path you chose to run/bike along is quite literally littered with other such places of joy and happiness created by those dear, thoughtful farmers who saw fit to position their wheel-lines and pivots to your best advantage.  ;)

You spend at least a mile of your trip running through puddles and artificial rain.  So much for heat-stroke! :]

Now if I could only find a solution for those dad-blasted dogs...

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

:)

And I thought a 'think'...

Today, I realized I must have a 'think.'

Now, I knew it had to be a serious think--one I thought a barefoot walk to the barn would appease.

Well, I was wrong.

No sooner had I reached it, then I realized that this think needed to be thunk over real good.

So, I climbed astride the swather (with not a body around except the horses, sheep and rock-chucks), got comfortable, put on my best thinking face, and thought long and hard.  Don't bother about what...

And after I had thunk it over, I felt better.  And I was glad to have a place to think.

I climbed down from my thinking perch and while I kept walking, I thought some more.  About things like:

Where do people in cities go to be alone?

Why do I have such wonderful people around me all the time?

Do I deserve it?  (Answer: Prolly not...but I'm workin' on it.)

What do those poor children who don't live near a farm or have a river in their back yard do?

How lucky am I that I live in such a beautiful place!

I'm glad I can walk and be alone, or my thinking would never get thunk over.

And all other such little things in life.  And it was wonderful. :]

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.  :)

Sunday Will Come :)

We are taking a brief intermission in the Silly Saga, so I can tell you about my experience today.

The title I used comes from a talk by Elder Joseph B. Worthlin in the October 2006 General Conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.  It's a wonderful talk, but oddly nothing I have to say here really references it.  It just seemed fitting.

May I just say that I love Sundays?  There isn't another day like it when I can just relax and forget about everything I have to do.  When I can be with my family and laugh and eat and have fun.  When I can take the time to be quiet and to really stop and look at the world around me.  Sundays are the days when I stop to have a "think," and it is always much-needed.

Aaaand one of my favorite things about Sundays are Relief Society.  I truly enjoy my time in that wonderful organization--whether I'm in a student/singles ward or a visiting a family ward--there is something about being surrounded by the women of the church and listening to their trials, blessings, testimonies, and experiences that captivates me and makes me want to be and do better each week.  It's such a blessing!

Today, I was visiting the family ward I grew up in.  Our lesson in Relief Society was about service--"the heartbeat of the Church."  It was so good for me to hear stories of giving and receiving service.  I felt the love the sisters in the ward had for each other.  As part of the lesson, Sister Harman re-told the story of The Good Samaritan from the Bible.  She asked a few questions, and a discussion ensued.  It was pointed out that not only did the Samaritan stop, he bandaged the man, took him to an in, paid the inn-keeper money to care for a stranger, and stayed with him through the night.

All my life, I had kind of glanced over that part.  Today, it hit me, and I sat there in silence wondering what was so significant about the Samaritan staying to watch over, serve, and care for this stranger through the night.  And then I remembered...

When I am sad and having a hard time, night is the worst time of day.  In the dark I feel most alone.  At night, my problems seem to multiply and my blessings seem to dissipate.  What once seemed just a bump in my road, sometimes transforms into a monstrous boulder.  Nights are just really hard to get through sometimes.  But, if this is the case, why was it that the Samaritan stayed for only one night?

The Samaritan, as good as he was, was also on his own journey with tasks to complete.  He also knew that, in order to become stronger, the stranger had to do some healing and growing for himself.  With the rising of the sun, it was evident that the stranger would come to recover.  This, I found is very applicable to me.  Just as my troubles seem to multiply by the thousands at night, so they seem to shrink into insignificance with the rising of the sun.  In the morning, the sun sheds light on the world--not only brightening my day, but lightening my load of cares.  In the sunshine, I can see more clearly the ways to tackle a problem or at least find the silver-lining.  Troubles don't seem so intimidating in the light of the day, and it is by struggling through my own problems that I grow most.  I don't learn as much when others fix them for me.

Better yet, by the light of day, I can see my trials put into perspective and how much I can help those around me and how beautiful everything is and how happy I am to live in this world.  Sometimes, I just need that arm to lean on when things are very hard to bear.  It is in those times that I have been rescued many times by family, friends, and most of all, my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

:)

Lord Have Mercy on a Country [Girl]

Today I went for a run.

Yes, I ran.  Yes, that is a miracle (kind of), and yes, I ran longer than I thought I could.  Still, running and I have a hard time liking each other.  My experience always goes something like this:

"Ready, set, RUN!"

"I'm not going to get very far.  This is going to be dreadful."

"No, you can do this.  I know you can."

"You're right. I can.  And I am! How coo--wait, somethings wrong.  Oh, yeah.  I have to breathe."

>gasp, cough, gasp<

"Yeah, don't forget that.  Breathe slower.  Control you're breathing."

"Okay, I can do this........>deep breathing<..........................  I'm tired."

"You can make it to that power pole."

>sigh of exasperation< "Okay, I'll do that."

"...Now the next one."

"Okay..."

"Keep going..."

"I'm going to have to take a break in a little while."

"If you do, you know you'll never get back running."

>With new gusto< "You're right.  No breaks."

....

>With great desperation< "Okay, at the next power-pole, I have to break."

(Abi breaks for 10 seconds, and then actually continues her run only to realize at the end that she didn't enjoy the weather or see the beautiful things she ran right by because she was busy fighting herself to run.)

It doesn't sound too appealing does it?  Naw...I didn't think so either. That's just MY experience running, though...

HOWEVER,

after work, I did go mountain biking with Dad and Max.  There's a ginchy little trail along the highway that lots of people ride their dirt-bikes on, and it just happens to be a pretty decent jaunt for a mountain bike.
Now, biking--that's my cup of tea.  You get further, you go faster, and you don't get all the impact on your joints--not to mention, when you're mountain biking, you're concentrating so hard on staying on your bike that you don't even notice how much you're working.  It's a win-win---win-win situation.  AND when you can go with your family, is there anything better?

Now, at this moment, I regret to announce that while I was mountain biking, I still had very little time to look about and see the beauties of the place I live in.  I was trying not to eat it... it happens to me a lot when I'm biking.  BUT after we got off the dirt path, Dad and Max kept going, and I took a little detour so I could have a think.

I took the paved road, and thought about home.  I got hit by some water from a wheel-line, and it smelled like river--fish, sand, sunscreen, whitewater rafting, and campfires.  I rode past a few houses and watched kids play in their yards.  I drove past fields of winter-wheat--all the same height.  The smooth grass made ocean waves as the breeze drove it about.  I passed a field of alfalfa that was almost ready to cut, and it had about as many happy, yellow dandelions in it as alfalfa.  I was, again, mesmerized watching the pivots water the fields.  I rode past a dairy.  Call me crazy, but I don't mind the smell.  Actually I rather like it.  There's a cliche here that says "It smells like money," and while I was not raised on a dairy, I have experienced feeding and milking.  I love the small-town, country reliance on livestock and land.  It's given me respect and gratitude for those who work so hard to provide for me, and it's taught me how to work hard too.

I could feel and hear the wind, and the air smelled chilly.  I kept going, and counted the cars I passed.  Four.  Four cars in 5 miles.  I saw so few people.  Oddly enough, I didn't know any one of them, and they all waved at me as they passed . . . and I waved back.  :)  I paused to look before I turned to start the home-stretch.  I could barely stand on my bike-accustomed legs.  I smelled the river, the dairy, dirt, coming rain, dozens of crops, horses, and water.  I kept going, and thought of how lucky I was to grow up here.  I love this place--everything about it--even the dead polecat on the road.  :) It wouldn't be home without it. :]

Josh Turner sings a song that I related to a lot when I was living in Provo.  Now, don't get me wrong, I love Provo, but now you know why this song makes so much sense:

Well, I grew up wild and free,
Walkin' these fields in my bare feet.
There wasn't no place I couldn't go,
With a .22 rifle and a fishin' pole.

Well, I live in the city, but don't fit in,
You know it's a pity the shape I'm in.
Well, I got no home and I got no choice.
Oh, Lord, have mercy on a country boy.

Josh Tuner holds a place in my heart :)
I finally rode home, and when I got there, we had dinner, and I convinced Madi and Max to do a little yoga with me.  Then we had herbal tea, and headed off to watch Kung Fu Panda.  All in all, it's been a grand day.

And I'm exhausted.

:]

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.

:]

Just because you're special...

Hey, you!  Yes, you.  I think you're wonderful and special.
You wanna know just how special I think you are?  VERY.
You can tell because I'm going to do something that I reserve for the elite in my "Book of Special People" written by me.  I'm going to go on a walk with you--not just any walk--this is a walk through the scene of my childhood.  It will be picture-laden and memory-filled. Today is just such a beautiful day, why not?  (P.S. You can click on the pictures, so our walk is more detailed. :]  I've got you covered.)
Here we go--but first, you must abandon those dreadful things with which your feet are shod.  Yup.  No shoes are allowed.  Okay, now that you've discarded your moccasins, we can head out. :)

Here's where we start:

 And here's what you can see:

Here, you exclaim, "How beautiful!"  I say, "You wanna see more?  Yes, you wanna see more."  And I quickly grab your hand and pull you on this wonderful adventure. :]

As we walk down the dirt road in front of my house, lo and behold! Grandma has plum trees blooming!

They're lovely.  You can hear the bees in them, and they smell as wonderful as they look! ….

 The one on the right plants potatoes, and the one on the left digs them--well, used to.  Now Granny uses  the old-school equipment to adorn her lawn, and it's lovely.

This is how we get to Granny's through the trees that make her wind block:

Kind of mystical, huh?  I helped pave it.  We walk through, and Granny's house is on the left.  Isn't it cute?

As we walk through her yard, we see my great-grandparent's house.  It is also the home I grew up in.

The blue spray paint was done by....somebody....  Anyways, we keep walking, and finally we make to the paved road:

You see some odd contraptions to your right:

A dump-truck and a small tractor. :)

We keep walking, and we chat about how wonderful life is, and what a perfect day it is to take a walk.  As we do, we see this:

We have to stop, though, and follow through with the tradition:

Every time I cross this bridge (as do many of my cousins) I pick some grass, throw it into the creek, and run over to the other side to see it float under.  We've done it for years, so you, Madi, and I stop to follow through.  You laugh at my silliness as we keep walking.  We turn right onto a dirt road…

...and walk to the barn.  I've explored it many times.  Maybe, when we have more time together, I'll bring you back.

 Watch out!  There's stinging nettle in front.  You decide not to go any closer--after all, you don't want your bare feet injured!

Here we see Grandpa's horses.  The one in the middle is Mountain Walker.  We've been buds for a long time.  Too bad he doesn't remember me since I went to college...
It's okay, you can pet them, I promise.  You do. :)  Classy bites you...juuuuuust kidding!

 We head back to the road...  I'm so happy you are enjoying this as much as I am!

We gaze at the wheat field…

...and keep walking toward the river…

This is your first glimpse of the Snake.

I show you the gate Thomas Olaf made as a gift for Grandpa:

Here is the bridge.  Right there to the left of it is where we cousins don our life-jackets and enter the water for our summer floats.  They're great! :)  I push you in.  Psych!  I wouldn't do that, Silly!  Now, technically there's a gate to the bridge...but it's open, so why not go ahead?

 The sun came out :)

 There is a house on the island...which seems to be a bad idea to me.  See how high the river is?
Look how smooth the water is.  It's a perfect day for skiing, eh?

 These are the pelicans that like to hang out by the mouth of the creek.  The middle one's name is Percival.

 It was very sunny, but it started to rain!  You, being the genius you are, instantly start looking for something you know likes these kinds of weather conditions….

 A rainbow!  You found it!  Isn't it lovely!  Still, it's about time we head back…

 And we walk, and visit.  I'm sorry you're feet are hurting a little...you should build up those callouses.  It's good for you. :)

 Did you know rainbows come in pairs?  Oh, I'm sorry.  Of course you did!  You can see it right there!

 We see a lovely view of granny's house and the sheep barn.

 The creek is especially lovely at this time of year, and the sun is just beautiful!

 Here we come.  Back to Granny's!

 Some of my ancestors used to live in this cabin.  It now sits in Granny's yard.

 Here's her house.  Can you tell she likes spring flowers?  "Especially daffodils!" you say.  Look at you! You know your flowers, you sly dog.  ;)

 The front wheels to a wagon...the back wheels are across the grassy lane…

 We turn left and head back up to my house…

 We take a few last looks.  You exclaim, "How lovely it is!  I'll bet you had a fun time exploring here as a child."  Yes, my friend, I did.  And it was grand.

And look who we see on our way back to the house.  None other than Granny, Grandpa, and Anna all sitting and visiting so happily!

They're just great on their cute little swing!

 Now we are back home...but there's one last thing I have to show you...

 We have to go take one last look at where we started--in my back yard.

There!  Now don't you feel grand?  I rather enjoyed that little jaunt.  I have a feeling we shall go on many walks together in the future.  I liked walking and visiting with you!  Thank you for being so wonderful! :)

Just some things... :)

Today, I thought I would share some things that have been making me happy.  :]

• I pick up on things relatively quickly.  
• I helped make most of four granite countertops today.  I understood what I was doing, and I didn't mess up.  That is an accomplishment for me.
• Fingernail polish that changes color in the sunlight! :]
• It's my new favorite thing.  Instant joy and happiness right there!
• My little brother needs me.
• He needed something cut today...and he didn't know how to use a chainsaw.  I did.  And it made me happy.
• "I think the vorpal sword was a chainsaw.  They go 'snicker-snack!'" --Max
• This made me burst out laughing and almost drop Melvin (he wasn't running yet)
• P.S. Meet Melvin Stihl the Chainsaw.  His wife, Victoria, is a weed-wacker.  They've been my good friends for a while now.
• And yes, I am wearing color-changing nail polish in that picture :D

• My skills come in handy sometimes. 
• I cut this pile of wood with a chainsaw last summer.  I didn't think I'd be needing that skill so soon

• Shopping at DI
• I found a cute dress that fits me like a glove...for $8.  I'm quite pleased with myself.
• I can sew
• The other day, I ripped a 5" hole in my jeans.  Thanks to my handiwork, you can't even tell...unless I point it out to you...which would just be awkward... ;)
• Family--They're just the greatest!
• I get to work for at least 8 hours a day with the best daddy I could ask for
• My siblings are silly/happy/funny/goofy/loving/cuddly/cute/wonderful
• My mother loves to sit and visit with me all the day long
• We watched Nacho Libre for FHE...it was much needed family-laugh time
• I painted nails and braided hair with a bunch of girl cousins yesterday
• Petey and William ran to give me hugs yesterday
• I laid on my grandparent's floor and visited with them
• My eyebrow trick makes Blake (my nephew) giggle
• Waking up to a text from Alissa Fred
• British comedies
• Playing the grand piano and singing along.  Could my house be more beautiful for that?  I submit that it can not!
• The sunshine!  It finally showed up! (Which made my nails and earrings change colors which brightened my day just that much more!)
• Thinking about Alissa Fred, my Chumbley family, Miiiiichael ALAN, Eric William Mordecai Archimedes, and my Crookshank family all having a BLAST at Disneyland today
• Marie Morgan making Elder Craiggory a Funfetti cake :]  Brightened my day a ton!
• Letters from Tommy from Chuuk!  (P.S. If ANYONE knows ANYONE who can translate Chuukese...'twould be a great help!)
• Watching Nacho Libre and thinking about Larsen serving a mission there.... Hehehehe!
• Watching Nacho Libre and thinking about my practically sealed FHE family--especially Craig, Christel, and Kirby.  I love all our jokes! :)
• Figuring out how to play the guitar.  It's a pretty fun pastime.  I enjoy it a lot.
• Feeling so sore, tired, exhausted, and completely un-lazy.  It's perfect just before you go to bed. Goodnight everyone! :)

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... :)