Big Laughter Brings Big Problems-- But Still Worthwhile

Once upon a Spring evening, Emma, Jacob, Sterling, and I went to Porter Park to swing on the swings. AKA To get out of the apartment. I am a shorty, in case you didn't know, so my feet don't reach the bottom of the ditch under the swing when I am swinging. (You know, the ditch that helps you not drag your feet.) So the only way I can get off the swing is to jump or to wait for the swing to stop swinging.
I was just swinging away, nice and high, in my own little world. Jacob was spinning Emma around to make her dizzy to see if she could run in a straight line. In. The. Swing. Next. To. Mine. Not the most thought-out choice. So he stops her and yells, "GO!" Emma closes her eyes and runs for it. Naturally she runs right into the ditch and falls down. Under my swing!
At this point we all start screaming. I am screaming because I don't want to hit Emma but I can't stop because I can't reach the ground and I don't know what to do. Jacob and Sterling are screaming because... well neither do they. Emma is screaming because she is on the ground, dizzy, and confused at why we are screaming. (That is until my feet grazed her head a few times.)
I scrunched up my feet as much as I could, but I still hit her a little bit until I decided at the peak of my backwards swing to abandon ship. Miraculously, nothing was broken on anyone! I crumbled into a heap of laughter on the ground. (Which the boys thought was crying at first. They were perfectly concerned gentlemen, bless their hearts.) And let me just say, Big Laughter Brings Big Problems.
After that little scare, we did some crazy gymnastics in the field before returning home to our typical until-curfew chats on the living room floor.

On a side note, Emma and I totally belted Les Mis this morning for probably a whole hour. (And yes. We are listening to it right now. :) And we also texted each other (Me in the living room. Her in our room.) clips of songs to take a break from homework to 'hang out with each other' without even having to get up. We miss Quinci sooo much! (Welcome home, Elder Whatcott! Can't wait to meet you!)

Then the boys came over and we made brownies, played Jenga, and sang our hearts out. Phantom of the Opera? Check. Only Hope (A Walk to Remember)? Check. Hymns? Check. Good thing Emma is so fantastic at the piano! I felt almost like I was at home for Sunday night singing again... Except Emma and I were the only girl voices and that never happens in my family. Haha I miss you guys more than I can say!

Emma licking the brownie bowl!

Bahaha


Jenga!!


Jacob licking the machete.

No Pictures of Sterling or me, but we were there too! Haha Just use your imagination.

Life is good.

Much Love!!

An Extra Big Thanks to the Extra Rasins in My Life!

Wow. It has been quite a semester! There have been a lot of ups and downs. But I need to write and thank a few of my 'ups.'

Thank you! I got SO SO lucky to be put in this apartment with these amazing girls. Breanna, Michelle, Erin, Alisha, and Kimberly, I love you guys. Thank you so much for taking my little, freshmen butt in and taking care of me. I could sit here and list so many things that each of you did for me... But I think I will just list one...ish.

Breanna- Drugs. Thanks Lady. You sure know how to knock 'em out. :P And for always going to the store and Twizlberry with me late at night.
Michelle- Always inviting me to G's even when I was in my especially anti-social days. For being so good at making food of all kinds! (And also for having such a cool name.)
Erin- For being the best room room mate ever. Late night chats that end in insanity and laughter. And for putting french fries on pizza!
Alisha- For that '30 second hug of awkwardness.' And for all of the deep chats. And for being the Mom.
Kimberly- For being a freaking genius! And for showing me the library databases. And for saying "Your lips like chicken. Your lips like chicken. They taste like nasty bird."

We have some of the best quotes in the whole world. Long live the Makhajarbsey quote wall. I don't know if I will ever have such amazing room mates. I will miss you all so much!

Thank you, Jake! You are the best! You took such great care of me! I am so lucky to have you for a cousin. :) Thank you for being there all the time!

Thank you family! Mom, Dad, Melissa, Gregg, Jackson, Holly, (Eric), Ben, April, Amelia, Nate, Liam, Hannah, and Lizzie. (And Richard, of course.) Thank you for all of the Skype chats and the phone calls. Thank you for making me feel so loved even from far away. I sure have missed you guys! I cannot wait to see you all this weekend!

Thank you, Augie. Thank you for all of the time and love. Thank you for being my best friend and always listening. Thank you for always having advice. Thank you for being such a great inspiration to me and giving me so many fun times in Provo.

Thank you, Kyley. Thank you for letting me crash at your place. Thank you for all of the support and deep talks.

Thank you, Aaron. Thank you for taking me on my very first Rexburg date. Thank you for making it such a blast! I had a great time and you are a great guy!

Thank you FHE brothers! You guys are just awesome, hands down. Thanks for all of the laughs and looking out for us.

Thank you random guy at the gym currently referred to as "Teddy Bear." You are inspirational and huggable. Not to mention beastly strong.

Thank you, Malena. Thank you for all of our crazy random talks and thank you for not dying from a stroke or burning in a fire.

Last and definitely not least. (Quite the opposite actually.) I have to thank my Heavenly Father. It is all Him. I don't know how people live without His guidance.

There are countless other people that I have to thank, but I just wanted to thank a few on here. :) I love you guys. You mean the world to me.

Much Love!!

An unexpected A

College is stressful. College is fun. College keeps you up extremely late!!!! Whether it is because people are screaming outside your window or your room mate gets asked to the Valentines dance so you have to go on an adventure to answer the boy and explore an igloo, sleep does NOT come in large doses. This is a true story about a girl. (It's actually just what happened today, but I wanted to be dramatic. So go with it.)
Last night we started our quote wall and we all stayed up planning a road trip to Colorado and just talking until we said prayer and finally crawled into bed with only half of our homework done. (Yes, this is the price of being awesome.) So naturally this early morning was not so welcome. Here's what was going through my head. 8 AM class. All the way at the Ricks. Freezing cold. I am NOT going today. Wait. I have an assignment due. I have to go. :(
15 minutes later sitting in my class with a prayer in my head just to make it through the class so I could go home and sleep, Brother Ricks walks in and tells us to add 10% to our test score because of the curve!!! Yes, that makes my grade an A! Maybe today isn't so bad after all. After class the guy I sit by says, "Hey, it's pretty cold out there. Do you want a ride back home? You live near me."

*Insert hallelujah chorus here. (Mo Tab style, of course)*

So basically today is living proof that we only have to do what we are able to do. Were my notes super detailed and deep today? No. In fact, I doodled more than I wrote. But I woke up and walked to class when I could have slacked off and slept. I would have missed out on such a great morning and on so many blessings that God had in His hands just waiting to hand over to me. I take so much for granted, but it is days like these that remind me and make me thankful for the extra raisins in my life.

Much Love!!

I'm reading a book!

Everyone should watch this. :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BuRuwR2JSXI

Yes, I did buy this on Itunes.

P.S. I have learned that you can usually trust people with green backpacks.

Much Love!!

Dear Family...

Dear Family,
I miss you like ippi mississ.... what exactly does ippi miss?
Ok, I can do better.

Dear Family,
I miss you like a flower misses rain... Too cliche.

Dear Family,
I miss your stinkin' guts... Oopps. That's hate not miss... :P

Dear Family,
I MISS YOU!
Love, Michelle

Much Love!!

Facts of life in Rexburg 101

So I am in Rexburg. After being here 3 days, I have already learned a multitude of valuable lessons.
1) J-Walking is the only way to cross streets here.
2) You have to choose whether you want to look cute or be warm. (Any guesses on my choice? Hehe)
3)"Ring Checks" are a necessity before you talk to someone of the opposite sex. (It is really funny to see people obviously look at your hand too. Bahaha)
4) People will often ask where you are from and what your major is before adding... Oh yeah. What's your name?
5)"Community food" goes really fast in my apartment.
6)There is such a thing as a free lunch, so take that Ms. Fischer!!! (HS Econ teacher.)
7)Expect to be hated by girls when they find out you have a boyfriend.
8)Cakewalks can be extremely competitive and even involve strategy and sexism.
9)Random strangers are usually friendly and will even joke with you. (I like this.)
10)There is no such thing as the freshmen 15 when you have to walk this much, uphill, in the cold.
Doing my best to share my education with all,

Much Love!!

A Trip to the Dentist

(Yes, I named this after a Veronica Mars episode....)

Ever since I can remember I have disliked the dentist... severely. I used to start crying as soon as the Dr. put his gloves and mask on. I remember thinking to my 5-year-old self, "Why are you crying? They haven't even done anything yet." Well, I figured it out! I was crying in subconscious anticipation of the experiences I would have at the dentist later in life. And that is all I am gonna say about that.

P.S. Today was my last day of work at Ave Maria. I am sure going to miss that job. I loved it and I was totally pampered and adored for no apparent reason. Thanks to everyone there. :)

Much Love!!