recap

So I have realized that I have failed to update y'all on my life so here's a little recap of Fall 2011:

1. Moved into a new house with some old and new roommates. It's always an adventure and now we're all such great friends! I love it. :)

2. Pinterest....Oh how I love Pinterest! It's probably worse than Facebook. I now have double the number of projects that I want to work on. Thank you Pinterest! But they're cute projects, so it'll be worth it in the end.

3. Boating with Michelle's family. Her parents are so nice to let us come and have fun!

4. Nights of boredom....this is where we do crazy things like doing our hair all crazy and dance to 80's music or come up with things like the grey monster!! Hehe.

5. Picking apples. Every year this has to happen. It's always a bitter sweet moment due to the fact that we all love the taste of these apples, but oh how we all hate picking them. I'm not going to lie...it sucks. But in the end we get to eat fabulous apples and have the best apple juice ever made!! Mmmm....my mouth is salivating at the thought of that apple juice.

6. Rock Band. I have some friends that do this thing called "Roctober" and they basically play Rock Band and Just Dance every weekend of the month of October. It's a blast!!

7. Making a giant screen. My friend Mark had this brilliant plan to make a giant screen to watch movies on and have dance parties. We got some used queen-sized sheets from a hotel and we sewed them together. Then we hung it up on the side of Mark's house and we let the fun begin!! It was pretty darn awesome...Just sayin.

8. Campfires...they're always fun, even when I get frustrated and almost swear in front of everybody. ;)

9. Halloween. Best. Holiday. Ever.

10. Pumpkin walk. I went with my roommates and a couple of friends to the pumpkin walk this year. It's pretty cool to see all the things people can do with pumpkins. Best part of that night....Jessica getting engaged. I didn't know about it, but I saw some pumpkins there that said, "Jessica, will you marry me?" And then I got a text from her sister Chelsie saying, "Jessica's engaged!" I looked at those pumpkins again and I was all like, "Say what?!" Yep, Brock propose to Jessica at the pumpkin walk. I thought it was cute and original! Way to go Brock!

11. Bowling! I like bowling. I have an awesome roommate named Stacey and she works at the Fun Park. She can get us in free for bowling! I love her for this. And I love her too! Good times. :)

12. New job. There are no pictures for this, but I did get a new job and I am loving it! I do miss the people at Production Services, but there is always a time to move on to newer things in life. The people I work with now are so nice and I think I'm going to have a great year with them.

13. Hamburger Cookies. My ward had a contest on who can make the best cookies! As they were judging them, the rest of the ward watched Hocus Pocus. Good laughs right there! When they were done judging, guess who won the cookie contest?? I did!! It was so exciting....first time that I've won something in like forever.

14. Sardines in the Fine Arts Center. There are no words for how fun this is.

15. Birthday Parties! Michelle's birthday was in November so we naturally held a party for her to celebrate the event. Stephanie made a Dobby cake! It looked so good. We ate cake, played Swedish Twister, and had a dance party. So much fun!!

I've also gone to my sister's party in October, brother-in-law's party in November, and my nephew's party in December. I don't have very many pictures from those, but I had a few of my niece and nephews.

16. Making a video for our ward prayer introduction. We had a lot of fun planning this and showing it to the ward. I'll have to post it a different post.

17. Facebooking. Stacy and I have a lot of fun chatting back and forth on Facebook. One time, we got 100 notifications on her profile because we had nothing else to do.

18. Thanksgiving. Once November hit, I made a giant turkey to put on our wall and all through the month of November we all added feathers to it and wrote things that we are thankful for. It looked pretty awesome in the end. I had three Thanksgiving dinners this year. One with the ward, one with my roommates and friends, and one with the family. Lots of good food!

20. Roommate Christmas party. We decorate the house pretty cute for Christmas so we had to have a mini Christmas party with just the roommates.

21. Making a gingerbread house. Steve, Mitch, Michelle, and Stacy made a gingerbread one night and the next day we all helped make a gingerbread house. I think it turned out to look pretty darn good!

22. White elephant party. I have pictures...but I forgot to put them on here and I'm not doing it now...it takes to long. Sorry everyone! But it was a fun party at Michelle and Stephanie's parents house. We ate food, played some pool, exchanged the gifts, and watched "A Christmas Story." Loads and loads of fun!

23. Christmas. Sadly, I have no pictures of Christmas day, but it was fun. I went to Lyman and enjoyed a delightful Christmas Eve dinner with my family and we all enjoyed visiting and being with each other. The kids had fun opening presents and seeing what Santa brought them! It was a good day to celebrate the birth of our Savior! Always a good reminder to have the Spirit of Christ all year long.

24. Weddings. In total I have been to 8 or 9 wedding receptions. (I can't remember the exact number...oops.) But just this week I had 6 friends that got married! I feel so old and behind, but I'm excited to see all my friends move on to a whole new adventure. Lucky them. ;)

Well...that's all. Bring on the new year!!

what's important?

Do you ever wonder how/why people are miles ahead of you in life? Or you feel left behind? I feel like I've accomplished so much in life, and yet I still feel as if I'm the one missing out on so many things. Sometimes I just feel so alone; that no one understands me. I mean, I know I have family and friends who support and love me, but they don't understand what's going on in my head. I wish I had someone to share my hopes, dreams, and fears with. Someone who really cares to listen.

The Christmas season always makes me reflect on my life and the different adventures and tribulations I've been through. That's probably why all the questions above have come up lately in my mind and I can't get them to rest. It has something to do with the year coming to an end and I know that there will be new beginnings but I'm not sure what's in store for my future. It scares me.

This is why the gospel is so important to me. It keeps me going. I know that Jesus Christ is my Savior and that He knows me and understands me. He's someone who I can confide in and I know that He's listening to me. He's always there for me. He will guide and help me through my troubled times. He loves me. I love Him. I'm thankful to have been raised in the gospel. To receive a fulness of joy and to have an eternal family. To become more like Him.

dear boys

boy

[boi]: noun

1. a male child, from birth to full growth

2. a young man who lacks maturity, judgment, etc.

3. a grown man, especially when referred to familiarly

4. a son

5. a male who is from or native to a given place

Haha, I laughed pretty hard when these were the definitions for boy. Silly silly.

So my roommate Michelle writes this post called dear boys and it's always fun to read it and try to figure out who she is talking about it (She probably doesn't like it when we do figure out who the boys are...sorry Michelle!). I believe she got the idea from a blog called elise's pieces. This girl does this cute thing where she writes little notes to the boys in her life. Silliness, but fun. So here's my chance to do the same thing.

Dear CAEE,

I think you're adorable. You have a cute smile and laugh. Also you're smart. Good combinations. You do confuse me though. Maybe you should get on with it and make a decision. But thanks for being a new friend!

Love Paula

Dear MONSTER AT THE END OF THE BOOK,

You crack me up. I enjoy your company. That's all.

Love Paula

Dear CHANTICLEER,

You make the sun rise in my world (If you've never seen Rock-A-Doodle, then you won't understand this phrase or your name). I like you. Do you like me? Probably not. I'm not pretty enough, but that's ok. But I think my personality can outweigh my ugliness. So just look past all the bad and see the good...Please!

Love Paula

Dear CAR WASH

Why can't you be taller?

Love Paula

Dear MR. AWKWARD,

I can't even talk when I'm around you. I must say that you're quite handsome. Somehow I must get past this awkwardness when I'm around you...ah well, it makes for a good laugh!

Love Paula

Dear BEARDMAN,

Oh the good times I've had with you! But guess what? It's time to stop being a bachelor and start figuring out what you should do with your life. You are quite a catch and any girl will be lucky to have you. What are you afraid of?

Love Paula

Dear SANDWICH,

I'm tired of being stuck in the middle. Don't involve me anymore. And stop hating on us so much...we just want to be your friends...cue song *Why can't we be friends, why can't we be friends, why can't we be friends...*

Love Paula

Dear CALI,

You're sweet. You know my cousin and her family from your mission days and they all think you're amazing and now they're convinced that we're getting married. Guess what? That's never going to happen because I'm pretty sure I would end up killing you if we ever got together. Sorry, the truth hurts. But I appreciate it when you stop by and say hi.

Love Paula

Hopefully you enjoyed this! Now here is a little funny:

me right now

word of the day-metempirical

[met-em-PIR-i-kuhl]: adjective

1. beyond or outside the field of experience

2. of or pertaining to metempirics

Alright, my roommate Michelle and her friend Kaylee both posted a blog post called Me Right Now. I've decided to copy them because I liked the idea. So here's ME RIGHT NOW:

Things that have made me happy:

• Hocus Pocus movie and winning a cookie contest
• "Thankful Turkey" that I made for our kitchen
• Staying up late and talking on Facebook with my roommates when they are sitting right by me on the couch
• Tuesday lunches
• My family
• Parties at our house and other places
• Decorations in the living room
• Joking around with co-workers

Things that scare me:

• Celestial Kingdom-Will I make it there?
• Finding Mr. Right
• Going on a mission
• My sister-Will she come back to the gospel?
• Finances
• Whales & Spiders (individually, not together)
• Finding a full-time benefited job

Things that annoy me:

• Dishes in the sink
• Saying sorry all the time

Things that encourage me:

• The Gospel
• Scriptures
• My family
• My friends
• Quotes

Things that overwhelm me:

• The Gospel
• Going on a mission-Am I prepared?
• My future-Am I making the right decisions now for a better future?

Things that relax me:

• Swimming
• Wrapping up in a blanket and talking with friends or watching a movie/tv show
• Eating food (this isn't a good thing)
• Reading/Studying the scriptures and other gospel topics

Things that I think a lot about lately:

• Dating (I don't want to think about this, but it happens all the time)
• Going on a mission
• Studying the Scriptures/Preach My Gospel
• Jobs Jobs Jobs
• Finances
• Sewing/craft projects that I need to start
• Paying my parents back
• Being better than I am
• Should I move out of Cache Valley
• Things I should do until May to keep me busy (besides my job)

A picture of me:

Just kidding here's a real one:

happy & nice

nice

[nahys]: adjective

1. pleasing; agreeable; delightful

2. amiably pleasant; kind

3. characterized by, showing, or requiring great accuracy, precision, skill, tact, care, or delicacy

Nice things that make me happy:

• The Gospel of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints-It brings peace and joy to my heart. :)
  
  
• My family-I've learned more from my family than anyone else. They are true examples in my life and love being with them. And they're funny...I like funny people.
  
  
• Friends-Life wouldn't be the same without friends. I'll never forget the good times that I've had with my friends and I know there will be more good times in the future. :)
  
  
• Laughter-Doesn't it just make you feel good??
  
  
• Sunshine-It makes me happy and I feel great when it's all sunshiny and warm outside.
  
  
• Unexpected notes-I've kept all cards and notes that anyone has ever given to me since I was 8 years old. These are the notes that people have given to me because they love me and I love to go back and read them. Oh the tears they bring to my eyes! :)
  
  
• Mashed Potatoes-Mmmmmm...I don't need to say anything else.
  
  
• Making Cards-I love making cards for people. It's something that I've been doing since my middle school years. I feel like it's the one thing that can give that's personal and it can be appreciated.
  
  
• Random dance parties-It just has to happen once in a while.
  
  
• Poofy hair-This is the one thing that makes me different from other people.
  
  
• Inspiring quotes-I'm always looking for things to motivate me to a better person. Quotes are the way to go!!
  
  
• Scarves-They're cute and warm. :)
  
  
• Chocolate Milk-I'm drinking this now and my tummy likes it.
  
  
• Hedgehogs-Cutest little animal ever! I've decided that I'm going to own a hedgehog someday...yep it's going to happen.
  
  
• Books Books Books!-Reading is fun.
  
  
• Sewing-There is no greater feeling than accomplishing a huge project that I'm working on. I get a satisfaction of success when I sew.
  
  
• Owls-They intrigue me.
  
  
• Music-I don't own very much music but I really enjoy listening to it. Especially Pop, Hip Hop, Rock, Classical, and Oldies. No country....it makes me sick. Just kidding! But seriously I don't like country.
  
  
• Flowers-Aren't they pretty?? And I love the smell of flowers. Oh they can make your eyes sparkle with happiness!
  
  
• Pictures (old and new)-I love things that remind me of another time...pictures are the best way to remind myself of the good ol' days. :)
  
  
• Earrings-I can't go a day without earrings...I feel naked if I don't wear them. Weird eh?
  
  
• Trees-Have you seen the trees in Cache Valley? Well let me tell you, they are beautiful!! I could stare at them all day if I could.
  
  
• Fire-I love sitting around a fire with family or friends. I've had some of the best conversations around those fires....oh the memories!
  


• Smell of a real Christmas tree-It reminds me of the Christmas spirit. Such a happy feeling.
  
  
• Bridges-They're just cool.
  
  
• Red Barns-These are just cool too.
  
  
• Railroad tracks-Have you ever walked down railroad tracks with your significant other? Yeah, me either. But someday I will.
  
  
• Coal-Oh coal. I've learned so much from thee.
  
  
• Swimming pools-This is where I've learned to be part of a team and to work hard.
  
  
• Heavy quilts and pillows-When it's cold outside I love wrapping myself up in heavy quilts and laying down to read or watch a movie or talk with friends.
  
  
• The color orange-Orange stimulates the appetite, but that's not why I like it. It's such a happy color and there's something about it that stops me in my tracks...maybe that's why I love the fall season...it's so beautiful!
  
  
• Utensils-I don't enjoy eating with my hands, so I'm glad that we have utensils so we can eat our food like civilized people.

I could go on and on and on, but I think I've gone far enough. Hehe. Yay for nice things!! :D