it was a sign....

so... danielle is a member of this gym... and i have decided that it is time that i get in shape... so i have now joined too!! its this really cool gym called "golds gym" and im really liking it... i have been a member for three days... there is this really cool room called the "cardio cinema" and its this dark room with treadmills and ellipticals and stair-steppers and a huge movie screen! so you can go and work out and watch a movie...and before you know it youve been working out through a whole entire movie! its brilliant! whoever thought of that was a genius. oh and apparently its a really good thing that we did sign up for the gym... because we broke a cement step just walking down yesterday! for serious! haha... we were going to the gym actually, and we stepped down the stairs and half of one of the steps quite literally crumbled beneath our feet! ...i guess it was definitely a sign that we need to be working out more! i think i might have screamed... it was really funny! haha.... but seriously! how random is that?! oh... and dont worry... we weren't hurt... :)

*the now broken step.

*the crumbled pieces on the ground beneath.

the gallery....

so... this summer i moved home. and i was given an ultimatum... i was getting kicked out of my room... and austin was getting to move in (they figured it would be good for him to have a bigger room since hes going in to highschool and all...) i guess it really was fair, and really was time, considering i had been at college for 3 years (and adrian and dustin had been in there for one of the years). so cleaned out my room...garage-saled most of it, d.i.-ed the rest. and we moved austin in...and it looks stinking cute!! and i got to move into austins room. now, i really dont consider it "my room" because honestly i just needed a spot to put my little collection of art...that i couldnt take with me. and we, as a family, have dubbed it "the gallery" ...and to be quite honest with you, it is fitting. so...without further ado i present to you the gallery!

*this is a creepy little face that i made in ceramics last year... i think it looks like a 3d police sketch of a rapist... or something... lol and its poppin out of the wall right by the door and above the light switch... i like it, my mom thinks its funny and for some strange reason get a kick out of its creepiness!! haha!

*i was given the shelf to do with as i please so i put some of my stuff up there too...some of the wooden bowls ive made, some other little fun things.... and that is actually my newest painting.... its big and i love the way it looks right there! :)

*the wall!

*apparently nobody appreciates art in my family. my mom was a little wary to hang this one... its not porn, people! its art! everything is covered! besides it is quite possibly my favorite statue... the statue is called "cupid and psyche" by antonio canova made in 1796... this particular statue depicts the moment in which cupid brings back his dying love with a kiss. it is an absolutely beautiful sculpture! so there. oh.... and that is the dresser slash aquarium stand that i built in woodshop with the (tons of) help from my granpa farr... pretty impressive, i know! :)

* this is a fun painting... im sorry, most of you have seen all of these paintings and art and stuff before, but they are all hung up now... so its kinda fun!

*this is just another view of the room.... not too artsy... just pictures and my jewelry box

*the drawings... y'all have seen these, im sure! :) and these are in the hallway

*this ones not done... its starry night by vangogh. and i dont like the way its looking. so i stopped working on it. my mom wanted me to finish it before i left... but i barely had time to do what i needed to do... and it really is at the bottom of my list. but she likes it, so we hung it up anyway. (its in the hallway down by kelseys room).

*these are my fish... and i absolutely love them! they are right by my bedroom...oh i mean austin's... door. but i really like it cause this is the first thing you see when you open the door to the carport... so my family can never foget me! lol... this way they are forced to think about me everytime they open the door and see the painting! haha! :) its brilliant! is it not?

****************************************************************

well... thats it. my art has kinda taken over the house.

and i love it! :)

fourth of july...

(im really sorry... i forgot to take my camera... im lame... sorry!!)

so.... friday was the fourth of july!! yay!! i got to go to bear lake with jason and laurel and isabel. we were invited by reed and karla (the claytons were up there for awhile having a good ol time)... anyway. i got to see reed & karla, mark & rachel, shelby and aaron.... erik got to come down from idaho too... and it was so so so much fun to see them all again! i didnt get to do anything last year for the fourth (i had to work and what not... i wasnt even in tucson... i was still in thatcher, and it was kind of lame.) but this year made up for it! we drove the 3 and a half hours up there... said hello to all the claytons, and then jumped right into the boat and went for a ride. and it was such a pretty lake! ...it was sandy! there were no rocks at all, so all of these people were making sandcastles and the little kids were playing in it... it was a very beautiful lake! me and rachel rode the innertube... and it was fun... just like old times! :) ... i fell off and was having some serious issues with balance... and getting back on the boat and back on the tube... oh and laurel accidently broke my sunglasses... it was really funny... she sat right on them, it really wasnt a big deal though, they were only 4 or 5 buck... thats why i took them to the lake! lol! but regardless... it was such a fun trip!! oh but it was really sad.... all the claytons were seriously burned! like really really burned... i didnt put any sunscreen on (it was cloudy) and i didnt even get pink. bummer, i know. okay so after we were done at the lake we went back to the condo... and had dinner, and we must have spent a couple of hours just talking and laughing and just being together! i couldnt be with my actual family (who by the way went to the cabin and had fun without me...you can check adrian or kelsey's for more details...) but this was definitely the next best thing! so thank you to the claytons for such a fun fourth! :)

oh yes... and me and isabel are best friends now... i got to sit in the back with her on the way up... and she is such a cutie! :) this was actually the only picture from the fourth.... and it was a text from shelby (... thanks!) poor little miss isabel smashed her fingers in the door... and was already pretty dang tired... and she fell right asleep.

oh... and we didnt get to stay for fireworks... it was too late, but we did see some as we were driving home.... and that was good enough for me! i do love fireworks!

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

i stole these from karla and laurel's blogs... thanks guys! :)

oh sad...

okay so just real quick... i was walking to work today...

and i saw a squooshed

(squooshed? spelling anyone? i dont really have any idea...)

snail!!

it was probably my snail that made me oh so happy yesterday....

i shed a tear for it... okay not really,

but it did make me a little sad...

:(

snails...among other things...

okay so i am walking to work and to school this morning (my second week of school! third day... haha) and im just walking and having a good day... its so pretty that early in the morning... and people keep passing me on the sidewalk. i didnt used to think that i was that slow of a walker... but apparently i am. theres this one dude that has passed me 3 times on 3 different days. i dont know who the dude is, but he is always wearing the same shoes... haha. anyway, so i figure that either i am a really slow walker or everybody else in utah just walks abnormally fast. i think they just need to slow down and look around and see how amazing everything is... and take the time to see the small things- which brings me to my "what made my day" moment:

so i am walking (with people passing me... keep in mind! lol...) and i look down and there was a snail on the sidewalk! a snail!! it was just moseying along going from one side to the other. and i was like what the snail? ...and started laughing... who wouldn't?! i kept walking.... i obviously couldnt just stop walking and help it along (i would have slowed everybody else down more than i already do... haha) so i kept walking... but it reminded me of my pet snail rasputin... he was definetely my favorite pet snail...okay so i only had one, but still... its actually i really funny story (i told paula about it, and she laughed at me...) okay so this one day my senior year i was planting flowers for my mom... we had gone to mesquite valley growers and i got these cute little pansies... maybe they were petunias.... i dont really remember. anyway, we got home and i was looking at my flowers and one of the stems was broken, and i was really bummed! but then, all of the sudden i saw this snail on my flower... it wasnt broken.... just weighed down a bit. and apparently im not a fighter... im a lover. i just couldnt bring myself to step on it or pour salt on it... and i couldnt just let it free to eat all of my flowers, besides it wasnt a natural species found in the desert... so i cleaned out a fishbowl and i put some potting soil in it and a little dish of water... and some sticks and carrots and i kept the snail... named it rasputin and we became best friends. i even took him to college with me. i had him for almost a year then he died.... and i burried him and mourned his loss... and this morning when i saw that snail, i smiled and thought of rasputin.... and it made me happy.... the end.

*this is my little rasputin!

first day of school!!

okay first of all, you have to remember a few things about me.... i am absolutely horrible with directions... i get lost really easily and also i really dont like being late... ugh i cant stand it. okay so bear with me as i tell you my story...

so i got up today... got ready (i wore a blue polo shirt with my amazingly cute.... and comfortable... pink crocs) grabbed a clementine and started out on my journey. (and i left early... just in case.... but i guess it wasnt really enough) so i started walking and walking... and i had been around campus a few times last week... so i thought i knew the basics... apparently not. i got lost. here's a map. the yellow are my destinations... the green the route that i took... the pink the routes i should have taken.... laugh with me for this is so ridiculously embarrassing that its funny.

so im walking walking... and i start going up this wicked huge hill... and i say to myself "hmm... i dont recognize this" but alas i keep going... i get to the top of this wicked huge hill and i say to myself "yeah...this is so not right" so i decide to try to get on to the actual campus (instead of the sidewalk.... where i had been) so im walking walking... and i have no pooping idea where i am. at all. so i call mom. and we are all chatting and i say "oh by the way im lost...any suggestions" haha so she is asking me if anything looks familar blah blah blah... so i am walking walking, talking to my mom... trying to look like i am not a loser and actually engaging in an meaningful conversation...not just asking for directions from my mother in arizona (who in the meantime has looked up the university map online)... however, i dont think i was very convincing to anyone around me. (oh yeah, remember how i got blisters yesterday from my church shoes... it seems to me that my feet arent used to anything but flip flops, my seriously cute crocs gave me seriously huge blisters ... i now have multiple blisters.... huge blisters... the size of jupiter kind of blisters... yeah...) so im walking walking and we (as in my mom) figures out where i am... and shes all "now, you should see blah blah building on the right and blah blah building on the left and then up ahead should be blah blah building..." and i probably got really excited and said "yeah!! i see it! i think im there!!!" ...probably loud enough that everybody and their dog heard me... so we hang up (after i say thank you... i love you... couldnt have done it without you and what not and i walk inside the building.) i walk up the stairs (my room is 202) the rooms started out at 213... i didnt think to go down the other hallway (oh and by this time im already 15 minutes late... and remember how i hate being late? yeah.) so i go back down the stairs... walk all around the bottom floor... no room 202. so i find another set of stairs and go back up. so im walking walking... down the hall and i see paula sitting at her desk. i already feel like a loser... so i keep walking, not wanting anyone else to know of my stupidity. yet... i really do already feel like a loser... and so i go back and say "hey paula! hows it going?!" and she says something nice like "how was your class?" and i say "oh my class? -embarrassed giggle inserted here- yeah... i cant quite find my room" and she says "what time did it start?" (it was about 9:25 maybe?) and i say "9" and paula laughed and told me where it was.... told me to tell the instructor that i was in the office with her... i didnt though... but i did find the class finally... and i walk in and they are going over the syllabus and of course... the only open chairs are at the front of the room. so i go up to the very front of the room... (and i was really hot... and my feet hurt hard core....and i probably smelled...) and sit in my seat. and i enjoy the rest of class... the end. haha...that was the worst of my story... i was talking to mom going to my next class... so i got a little off.... but i figured it out right away. but good grief. it was quite the morning... quite the adventure for me! so now everybody knows now that i really am terrible with directions... and i can only wear flip flops... haha :)

*thes are my blisters... i swear... they are killers!!

provo!!!

(so i am really sorry i am a terrible blogger... i had such a fun time on the cruise and disneyland... just check out adrians blog... its awesome! and hopefully i will be able to do something about it later...)

okay so its hard to believe... but i am really in provo! and i start school tomorrow! aahhh!! i am really excited though! and i am officially a byu cougar! yay!! and i have moved in to an apartment with danielle and it is so much fun!

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

on monday me and my mom left tucson and drove all day to st. george. i have to tell you... i dont think i was quite ready to leave... mentally, emotionally, physically... it was really sad leaving home. its kind of funny because i have been at ea for three years.... and i didnt even move home last summer... so ive been "gone" for quite some time... but this just seems so much more... i dont know final? (i even gave up my room to austin!) i suppose me coming home every weekend for two months this last semester didnt help... but really i was having so much fun in tucson hanging out with kelsey and devin and zac... and watching ben 10 with austin... helping mom.... seeing dad every day... and dustin and adrian were so close... just chilling with the fam, going swimming and watching movies. me coming to utah is like really leaving.... im gone gone. you know? there were definetely a few tears shed on my way out of town. okay anyway...so once we got to st. george we stayed with her friend (and roommate from college) tracy. she had a such a beautiful house and she was really nice and super funny... we went to dinner and then spent the night with her. it was so funny to listen to her and my mom catch up... even though they rarely see eachother, it was like they just picked right up where they left off in college... just laughing and having fun.

then on tuesday we slept in a little, said goodbye to tracy and drove on in to provo. we stopped and jason and laurel's house, which i have to add is stinking cute! (they have been remodeling and fixing up and it is an adorable house... they have done such a good job!) i also got to see their daughter... isabelle for the first time every!!! and she is just a doll!! ...i think she looks like erik... kinda weird i know... maybe its just the richardson-ness in her lol! then we went to my apartment! i live in this cute little apartment complex called cinnamon tree. me and mom unloaded my car... as fast as possible because it was really hot!! (i was expecting cooler weather...but it was in the high 90's. yuck... oh well i guess its better than 110) then we went over and met paula at her house (i hadnt see this house so i got another tour of a house...second for the day... but i didnt mind) then we chatted with her for awhile and then we left and met jason and laurel and isabelle for dinner...at carraba's i believe... (random little side note... if you go there you have to get their frozen raspberry lemonade...delicious!!) after that mom dropped me off at my apartment and she took my car to paulas... and i had fun unpacking and everything... danielle was home from work. and that night me and danielle and her fiance jared and his friend tim all went to the movies and saw hulk... it was pretty fun! :)

*this is the view from our front door! cute!!

*the black and white squares are my bulletin boards... i painted them to match... cute, eh? and i think i need something else above my bed... i think i am going to do a little quote painting or something. oh and austin look! do you see the little puppy you gave me? ;)

*if you notice.... dan has a brown comforter with black pillows and i have a black comforter with a brown pillows... we are all types of matching!! :)

on wednesday... me and my mom walked around campus for awhile... met up with paula again.... had lunch with her. oh i went to a counselor to talk about classes and stuff... that was pretty interesting. and i think i had dinner with paula and mom and kevin... paula's husband you i met then. he is a really nice guy.

thursday we... me and mom took lunch to my cousin marcor.... it was a nice little visit... a little bit awkward... but that was to be expected right? mom took me shopping (wednesday and thursday) and got me all settled...i have groceries now! yay!! :) and!! me and dan went and visited our old roommate from thatcher ashley... and that was so fun!! ash is so cute and she has the cutest apartment! so we must have done something else... but its been a long week.... i dont really remember!

friday i slept in a bit then went and got my books and student id...then i met up with mom and paula at her house and had lunch. then we all went to "get smart" the movie... which was stinking hilarious!! i met her parents for the first time... in i dont know... 20 years? they were very nice... paula's mom reminded me so much of my grandma neilson!! we went to dinner afterwards.... i saw slash "met" paula's son david... i probably havent seen him since i was 13 or 14... that made me laugh. and then i went and got ice cream at the malt shoppe with tim... jareds friend (actually we had been talking on facebook for awhile...so it was nice to have another friend up here). then i went back to the apartment and dan and i decided to redecorate!! so now our living room is terribly cute... we duct taped the wall... put our new pillows out there... got this wicked sweet fabric that we are using as a rug... and everything looks awesome now... not that it didnt before... but this is just so fun!! :) ...see danielles blog for details!! lol. ...oh yes and i said goodbye to my mom... *tear tear!!

*its duct tape!! how sweet is that!?

saturday.... my mom flew back home. danielle and i spent hours tanning... and now we are both a little red and sore... and i have more weird tan lines... this is getting ridiculous. i started reading "the host" by stephanie meyer and i am loving it! i am having a hard time not reading it! so we had a nice relaxing day... went out shopping for a bit and then me and danielle and jared went and saw "kung fu panda" ... which was a really funny movie to. apparently i like to go see movies. haha...

and now sunday....i went to church for the first time!! our ward is really cute and small right now since it is just summer.... but the smallness was familiar and somewhat comforting... everybody was really nice. actually annika is one of the relief society presidents... and she made sure to introduce me in relief society! (thanks!) oh yes!! on tuesday the bishopbric were apparently making their rounds... and stopped by and introduced themselves to me... and today the bishop stopped me (by name... i was thoroughly impressed!) we walked across campus to our building... and i wore shoes that i thought were broken in.... apparently not, i have a couple cute little blisters. bummer i know. i went to paula's house for dinner... it was kevin's birthday... i felt kind of bad... i didnt take him a card or anything. whoops. there were a lot of people there! i met his kids... and paula's kids were there... and her brother in law and his family and her parents... and a couple other random girls (like me) who werent related... lol it was funny we sat at a table pretty much by ourselves. it was definetely the cool table though... actually one of the girls... olivia... is paula's other secretary so it was nice to get to know her a bit more. okay so apparently in utah its the cool thing to do to have "ward prayer." haha this really makes me laugh... our ward gets together every sunday night at 8 on the "grassy knoll" to pray together... yep im in utah. haha! i guess its more of a social thing than anything else... but still it makes me laugh!

*oh and dont worry.... edmond made the long journey safe and sound! phew!!! :)

....and thus my utah experience begins....