painting for january....

so this is my newest painting.

i dont know how i feel about it...
meh. its fine... i guess.
maybe ill try it again later....

the joy of it all....

{pictures to come}

a couple of weeks ago, i was talking to my mom about a plane ticket so that i could come home for the baby... originally we were thinking around valentines day in february... actually around presidents day so that i could use that monday to be home too. but! we actually found some tickets for way cheaper... and they would get me home way sooner! so i flew home last wednesday!! [adrian and the baby were released from the hospital on tuesday so it worked out perfect! oh and it was grandpa keith's birthday, so aunt karla and aunt nancy flew down for that too!]

so mom and aunt karla picked me up from the airport wednesday night... and we went straight to adrian and dustins house... and thats when i first met little miss hayley bug! and she is just the cutest little baby i have ever ever seen! it was really cute actually... dustin was holding her when i got there and he handed her to me and then gave me a little hug and started tearing up and told me how happy he was that i got to come home and be there with them! i love dustin... and he is just the cutest new daddy i have ever seen!! then adrian came out and started crying too!! it made me feel so special! haha.... after we spent a few hours with them [nancy karla & grandpa were there too... and mom and kels and tino] we all went back up to moms house.

thursday... we spent the morning at home and adrian and dustin and the baby came up after their doctors appointment. it was so fun! oh my heck!! i think i seriously held hayley for a good 2 hours... just me and her chilling on the couch! :) oh how i love that little baby! after that.... adrian and dustin went home and we [dad mom kels tino me gpa nancy and karla] went to texas roadhouse in honor [and tradition] of grandpa keith's 83rd birthday!! i love that he spends the winter with us! and i love that when i go home he is there too! growing up, we only got to see grandpa and grandma neilson once a year... sometimes even less often.... and it really has been nice to get to be around him so much! [ill admit, i saw him more when i was living in thatcher, but still... its fun! and we love him!] happy birthday grandpa! :) love you tons! after dinner i went down to adrian and dustins to spend the night with them. dustin had work the next day [a 24, mind you] and so i got to take a couple shifts with hayley so that they could both get some much needed sleep. and i really was pretty tired the next day... i dont know how dustin and adrian were doing it! it was a bit exhausting! but i was happy to help! and happy to spend some extra time with them all!

friday morning, adrian and i took hayley to the doctor's again [they messed up her blood sample from the day before, so we had to go again] after that we went back up to mom and dad's... and grandma & grandpa farr were there! :) it was so nice to see both of them!! i really do love my family... [oh and grandpa brought kelsey's cedar chest down... hopefully she blogs it soon! it is beautiful! he really is so talented!] and we got to spend some time visiting with them... hayley has some amazing great-grandparents! adrian got a call from the doctors office in the afternoon... apparently hayleys biliruben count was really really high [she was pretty jaundiced]... and she needed to be hospitalized asap... to get her under some uv lights and whatnot... so my mom took adrian and the baby to the hospital... nicole and i went down and got an overnight bag for adrian and then we [gma gpa farr, gpa neilson, mom dad kels tino me nicole and nancy and karla] met back up at the gaslight theater for a show... and holy poop it was funny! i really do love going to the gaslight... and i usually miss it, but i got to be there for it this time! oh and the gaslight was for grandpa neilson and grandpa farrs birthdays... it was such a fun night [with two-gun mcgraw and laredoooo.... and willie nelson and johnny cash... hahaha oh man, good times!]

saturday adrian and the baby were still in the hospital... both of them doing much better! [hayley' s biliruben count was down... and adrian was getting some much needed sleep!] they had to stay all day... so me and kelsey and nicole went and got eegees.... which is, as always, simply my favorite. mmm... yay for ranch fries! :) austin was at a friends house, dad was working on the tree house, and grandpa was on the back porch "supervising" and soaking up the warm sun! and. i just have to say.... i absolutely love love love arizona winters! it was so pretty!! and so warm! it was actually rainy the first couple days, but then the sun came out.... oh baby. i love arizona. i seriously dont know why people would choose to live in the snow forever.... its just so dang cold. but i have decided that when i get old, im totally gonna be a sn0w bird... welp, maybe not.... maybe ill just have a cabin up in the white mountains, and then ill just come down to tucson for winters. yes... yes that sounds idillic. thats what i will do! lol... anyway... we, the girls me mom kels nicole nancy and karla] went and saw bride wars saturday night.... and it was totally fun! nicole actually spent the night with us the night before, but had to go home last night... im so glad she got to come and spend some time with us too! we all just love her! :)

sunday... sunday we were pretty much just playing by ear... we didnt know if hayley would be released, or if i would have to tell her goodbye from behind a window or what. but she actually was able to be released... so i got to spend a few last minutes with her! i really do love that little baby girl! then mom took me and aunt karla [we were flying out at the same time] to the airport. oh and i got some snow clothes from my dad! thank goodness! :) it was a whirlwind of a week... and i loved every moment of it! i love my sweet sister and her sweet husband and their beautiful little baby! i really do love all of my family! and i seriously cannot believe that i am living this far away from them... seriously. i was sitting in the airport and i just started crying.... embarrassing, i know. and im pretty sure that everyone was looking at me funny... especially the flight attendant... for serious. oh well... what can you do. my plane in la was late... and then it was snowing in salt lake city... so we were flying in circles for a good half hour waiting for the runway to be cleared... it was kinda making me sick... so we were about an hour late landing, but it was okay. and i got my luggage... and got on the shuttle to the economy parking lot... got off at the wrongs stop... lol, so i walked for awhile, good thing my suitcase has wheels! haha... so i brushed off all of the snow from my car... paid for parking and was on my way. it was snowing a lot, but it was a little bit, and the roads were mostly just slushy but there were a few spots which were a bit snowier. and seriously my hands hurt from holding the steering wheel so tight. im not even kidding... apparently im turning into mom, lol... not that that is a bad thing! [i love you mama!] and i was kinda getting a little dizzy driving in the snow... you know that sensation when you are at a stop light and the person next to you starts moving forward a bit, but then it makes you feel like you are rolling backwards? yeah... its kinda that same thing... i really dont particualry enjoy driving in the snow. my dear cousin jason offered to come get me and drive me home... but i figured i ought to suck it up and just do it. and it really wasnt that bad... im just a spaz. hahah... but i would endure driving in the snow again if it meant i got to see my family! oh and just real quick... i opened my suitcase last night and saw that they had searched my bag... and left me a little paper.... i didnt even care last night i was too tired. but i was went to get my tortillas out of the front cause i was making a burrito for lunch... and someone put bottles of pills [and a chapstick] in my suitcase. im not sure who's they are or why the crap they are in my suitcase, but ill be calling the airport people soon to see what they want me to do with them. yeah. stupid airport security people. hahah... anyway.

now im back in provo. and its cold. and i miss my family... but just think, if everything works out... ill be home in just 3 months! thats not too long, right? right....

pictures

nature photography.
take 1.
provo river. 1.19.09

i played with these a little bit on picasa... but im pretty happy with the way they turned out...

dont forget to look at my adorable little niece!

down here
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.............
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miss hayley bug...

...welcome...


HAYLEY MARIE SANDERS!!


1.18.09 @ 10:28am

6.5 lbs & 18.25 inches long

*****

i have yet to meet this beautiful little girl and i am
already in love!

...cant wait to meet you miss hayley bug!

*****

see kelsey or adrians post for more pics and info!

:)

a week full of firsts...

alright. so it has been a very eventful week... filled with a whole bunch of new experiences... pretty much all of them were firsts!! :)

last sunday, i went to the ces fireside up at the marriot center.... president monson spoke and it was absolutely amazing!! he is such a talented speaker! i went (for the first time) with one of my new roommates... her name is angela, shes 18, from brigham city (have we all seen the movie... haha...) shes super sweet! so yeah...
first fireside...

on monday, i went to fhe... be proud of me, it was a close call. i went with brooke (my 17 year old roommate... shes been here since october-ish... and shes from vegas. shes super fun. lol... so yeah....
almost first fhe....

tuesday, i went to devotional (all by myself, i might add)- again at the marriot center, and elder holland spoke. and oh my goodness. it was just what i needed to hear... ill post links to both president monson and elder hollands talks when they come up on lds.org. but really. it was amazing... there were just so many dang people there!! :) ...so yeah...
first devotional at byu...

wednesday.... umm.... well, nothing really happened on wednesday i think, did it? i cant remember...

on thursday, i rented my canon rebel for my photography class (suprise!! im taking a nature photography class... its through my department). anyway... this is a thousand dollar camera, and i rented it through byu. and it is stinking amazing... i think its a 12 mega pixel... someday i hope to own a camera like this. ive been messing with it a little today... pretty much just with my bamboo plant in the apartment lol... so yeah...
first dang amazing camera....






on friday... phew! friday was a fun and busy and tiring day! i went cross country skiing for the first time! the grad students in the rmyl have a "friday fun day" every friday... this week they went cross country skiing. one of the professors and his wife took us. it was me, the prof and his wife, some of the grad students- rachel (from rock climbing), clive, this awesome dude from australia... he comes in everyday and says "g'day kendle" in his cool australian-accented way, and two other girls. oh man! it sure was fun! paula let me borrow some ski pants and other things to keep me warm, but shoot! i got pretty warm there once we got going! it was quite the work out. they had these cool little tracks and apparently the state, or whoever, puts them in... brian, our prof, was telling me how they come out and "groom" these little path/track things (they kinda reminded me of bowling with bumpers) every winter.... it made it way easier, and yet i still managed to fall- apparently i need to work on my balance a bit! hahah... there was this little hill that we had to go down to get out... and i for serious havent been skiing since that one time in high school... from the priest/laurel trip, so i was just gonna take off my skiis and walk back... but super sweet clive let me hold on to his pack, and he skied me out... how sweet of him!! lol! so yeah...
first time cross country skiing...

then i got home and made a egg salad sandwich and was eating it (i was a little tired... haha) and a boy from our ward knocked on our door to get brooke to come to the ward's opening social, and she made me come too... it was fun though! we went to fat cats... which is a bowling ally, one block east... it really was fun! we spent a couple hours bowling. we initially got put on lane 16... but we were a few frames late, and the people on that lane were all snotty and asked us to move to a different one cause we were slowing them down. jerks... lol... i didnt realize that opening socials were actually about the activity... not actually socializing. shocker. anyway... we (me & brooke) moved over to the next lane with one of the bishopric members and a bunch of boys... so it was way more fun! :) haha... then we walked back to the apartment complex and had banana splits! they were delicious. so yeah...
the first opening social at
cinnamon tree...

today was fun too actually... we had cleaning checks this morning... and so our apartment is all types of clean right now, and i did my laundry, and i took my roommate, brooke, to petsmart so she could get a rat... and she ended up getting two. they are so cute though!! she got this huge one... she named him smalls... haha... and this beautiful albino one... his name is michelangelo. he is a pretty chill rat! :) i think im really gonna like having pet rats. (oh and i took the rat pics with the canon too) so yeah...
first time living with rats...

this one is smalls...





and i have just found out that adrian is at the hospital... and waiting to be induced... so yeah...
first time waiting for a sister
to have a baby...
yay!! :)


wow.
what a fun week!!

yay for groceries...

so i dont have much today...

i went grocery shopping yesterday for the first time since before thanksgiving. ive bought bread and junk like that, but i hadnt really been grocery shopping. kinda sad, i know. so yeah... it was sunny for most of the day yesterday and melted the ice and slushiness of the roads a bit, so i figured i could venture out for some much needed groceries. [i was still a little nervous, lol... im such a chicken!! haha!] and i only slid a little in the macey's parking lot... haha...

today at work i finished the decorating the door... i had started the day before yesterday, but my markers died, so i had to wait to finish it. it looks pretty cute! :)

)

more snow...

okay. so i forgot to add my snow story to my post yesterday... so here it goes.

yesterday was the first day of class. and i already told you how i went to all the right classes at all the right times... life was pretty good. it was cold walking to school though, i checked my computer before i left and it said 19* and that is pretty cold. but it wasnt snowing. there was snow all around.. and it was really icy [i didnt fall... i slipped a few times, but i didnt fall...] so i was happy... although weatherchannel.com said that there were expected snow showers for the evening and into the morning. i wore my new scarf (from danielle) and like 5 or 6 layers and my awesomely warm boots and i was feeling pretty good [oh and i still have that little cold... but i was still feeling pretty good.] i got to work a little early and the sun was still shining. about an hour later one of our grad students came in and said it was snowing like ca-razy! and later kevin called paula to tell her she was going to have to brush six inches of snow off her car... and he was right. paula drove me home yesterday, and we walked outside and there was tons of snow everywhere! and it took us like a half hour plus to get home... everyone was driving like 8 miles an hour. i am really quite scared of snow... driving in it makes me so nervous! and i was talking to paula and telling her that i am probably not going to be driving until april when there is no more snow! it seriously makes me nervous.... if i ever lived anywhere with snow i would for serious have a 4 wheeled drive beast of a vehicle with studded and chained tires all winter long. im not even kidding.

so paula pulled up to my complex and i stepped out and into a snowbank... and tried to pull my foot out and my boot was stuck. like hard core stuck. my foot came out... my boot did not. paula rolled down her window and said "arent you glad your dad waterproofed your boots?" haha... it was funny... i walked upstairs with a snow covered sock and a boot in my hand. im not even kidding... hahah... oh the snow...

..........................................................................................

okay. that was yesterday. here is today's.

so ive already told you that compared to all these crazy pants byu-ans im a slow walker... in the snow its even worse. im even slower. im totally for serious. it was a lot slushier today than it was yesterday... and its a bit easier to walk in, but i still slip and slide like nobody's business. i dont know if its just cause im an inexperienced snow walker... or if my boots arent frictiony enough... or if im just retarded. haha... but im seriously so slow!! its kinda embarrassing...

i wore my super big coat today too... it was awesome.
awesome and warm!! :)

and today at work one of the professors was telling me that his snow blower broke... he said it had sucked up a newspaper... and i asked him how a snow blower sucked up a newspaper.... doesnt it blow the snow? he looked at me like i was insane. apparently snow blowers suck up snow... and then blow it out... who woulda thought?! and he told me that he took it to the shop... and i asked him if there were special snow blower shops... and he looked at me like i was insane... again.... and he said umm no. lol... and i told him that i want to see a snow blower in action. he said, you can come over to my house and do it yourself... and i said, no thank you... i just want to see it- i dont want to actually do it. i thought it was funny... oh and clarified the situation and told him that i grew up in arizona... seriously. i just dont know these types of things.

paula drove me home again today... and we got home pretty fast! :) haha... and we were talking about building snowmen and junk... so i decided to make one when i got home [oh the snow was wetter than it was yesterday... good "packing" snow apparently... yesterdays was super powdery.] and it would seem that men arent too fond of me... particularly men of the snow variety... lol, it kinda turned into a snow creature. haha... it makes me smile though! i still need to build a big snowman with a carrot nose and a radish smile [thats paula's idea... :)] and mark it off my to do list...

[but be proud of me tino...
it looks like something you would make :) ]


i decided that today would be a good day to take pictures of the snow... it was getting a little dark though... sorry!


my poor arizona car... he must be dying under all that snow!!
[and it would appear that i am breaking the law... it looks like i have a license plate cover... although i cant tell if it covers "arizona" but im so not doing anything about it till it warms up. it wont matter unless i am in arizona right? im hoping... lol!]

oh and when i got home our apartment heater wasnt working. its pooping cold. and i have about a thousand blankets on my bed... and its not enough. lol.

the end.

and im back...

happy new year!!

:)

so. a few weeks ago i finished up my finals and got ready to leave for arizona.

i was on the same flight as jen and devin... and apparently las vegas was having issues with snow and it was throwing the whole airport system out of whack... we were supposed to get in around 11 pm... we didnt get home until like 2:30 in the morning... it was a delightful trip. haha.

the next day we drove straight to mesa for danielle's endowments [my parents went, while me and kels and devin babysat the townsend babies.] the next day was the wedding and reception. i should apologize now... i seriously didnt take any pictures the whole entire break. i feel so lame... but everyone and there dog had cameras... so- im sorry. i stole this one from kristens blog [thanks! :) ] everything turned out absolutely beautiful. it was perfect! i loved it!
and congrats to danielle and jared!!
oh and that was my boquet... very pretty!



we spent that weekend sleeping in... it was awesome. nicole spent the night with us... what? every night except one... i think. it was a blast! she even got to spend christmas with us! it was so fun having her around! everybody absolutely loves her! christmas was great! i got a cell phone... the one that i bought a few weeks ago... mom stole it from me christmas eve and stuck a bow on it so i could "open it" in the morning haha... 3 seasons of the office, the x-men trilogy, a mirror, paint, sweaters, a hat and scarf, some jewelry, and all sorts of fun stuff... including an 8 ball lol. it was the only thing that didnt make it back to provo... it weighed too much! haha... austin got the wii fit... oh man is that a fun one! kelsey better be posting the video of dustin hula-hooping. oh my freaking hilarious! it was an exceptional christmas.... although dustin didnt get to come until christmas night... he had to work, but he was there for christmas eve dinner... which was, as always, delicious!

our christmas tree!! yay!! :)

me and tino.... putting up christmas lights... this was actually over thanksgiving... but still christmas-y...

scary picture... lol- one of our many nights of sleeping over...


austin made this nativity scene... i thought it was pooping hilarious. hes always been super talented and creative like this... ever since he was a little toddler. isnt this just too cool? man i love it... good job tino!

oh and he made his elk head into rudolph... hahaha.... :)

there is this little mexican restaurant that i love love love! they have the best chicken chimichangas... and grandpa took us there for lunch one day... and there is this painting of a desert scene that he loves... so i painted a little version of it.... i think its fun. i havent really done landscapes before... so this was fun for me to try. and grandpa loves it so thats all that matters...

and for adrians baby shower present i promised her that i would do some paintings for baby hayley's room... this is how it turned out!! i love it... and it matches perfectly! :)

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it was so much fun being home! it was so nice and warm!! i wore flip flops the whole entire time! :) it was the best! i love my family... i miss them. it was so fun... grandpa is the best, adrian is about to pop... it was so fun feeling hayley move more! im bummed that i cant be there longer... i love arizona... its my favorite. oh and this is the picture that austin made for me the night i was leaving... :(


i miss my family, but this semester will go by fast im sure... i didnt get lost today... i was in the right classes at the right times... and i didnt fall on my bum... so high five for me! its gotta be a sign that its gonna be a good semester right? right...

although im still not sure about all this snow... it scares me...