just a random thought.

i miss christmas time.

everyone is happy,

loving life,

and lovin the season.

is that weird?

i feel like it's the only thing that makes it a little more bearable during this awful Winter season.

guess I'll move along during this cold weather until Spring!

this and that.

Well, these past 2 weeks have been quite the eventful one, full of random events.

1) My sister went out of town and I borrowed her Wii game, Just Dance. We played 2 nights in a row with some friends and had a blast! best.game.ever. and such a workout, as you may be able to tell from this fellow pictured.

2) Brian Mooney has left us to move back home to warm Arizona. I sure will miss this boy!

3) First of all, Mom came to town this weekend so that was great in and of itself. Second, this wonderful cousin of mine, Justin, opened his mission call with us! He has now been called to serve in the Asuncion Paraguay mission! I'm so glad we got to be there for this exciting moment! I am SO proud of his boy!

4) Met up with the Jensen family for a yummy dinner at Texas Roadhouse! It was so great to see them and I am happy they moved here! Hopefully we'll see them a lot more!

5) Mom went to buy herself a doughnut for the Provo Bakery and she walks out with a dozen orange rolls. Tina is such a funny one.

6) We did a lot of wedding stuff, including dress shopping! Quite the exciting adventure! It's fun to help with weddings when it isn't yours!

7) That night we got to go to Midway to meet up with the Nichol/Reeve gang for some delicious Pizza! It was fun to spend time with them for the night!

8) And last, but not least, we celebrated Miss Amelia's birthday last night with delicious treats and a FANTASTIC dance party!

So that's been my life recently. Lots of random things happening, but it's been great! Not to mention, it's nice to have fun things to do inside during the bitter and cold weather! But I am definitely more than ready for the warm weather!

Amelia Bedelia.

Today is a special day for this cute roommate of mine.

Amelia Bedelia is turning 23 today! She is the baby of our house [even if I only beat her by a few weeks] ....and I can speak for our whole house when I say we love her SO much and are so grateful she lives with us :)

This was the first picture Mia and I had together as friends/ roommates. quite the tender moment; from then on, i knew we'd be good friends!

In honor of this special day, I'm gonna tell you exactly why I love this Mia girl of mine:

I love Mia cause she attended the last $1 scoop nights Baskin Robbins ever had followed by a Christmas Movie with Nicole during December. Such fun nights. Always looked forward to Tuesday nights!

I love Mia cause she is a hard worker. She worked a ton last semester and still works a ton with a full school load. Not the easiest thing. But I sure do love coming to visit her at work!

I love Mia cause she'll be a dedicated student with me. Like this one time we went to the library by 8 am in the snow to study for finals. And we brought these bad boys in. Saved our lives.

I love Mia because she doesn't care what others think of her. Like, she doesn't think it's dumb to punch out the lenses of 3D glasses and wear them around all day [school, work, dinner, etc.] She does what she wants.

I love Mia cause she'll go on roommate dates, sneak our drinks into a movie in her purse, and dance around the theatre with me for 10 minutes when no one else is in there.

I love Mia cause she's a good friend. She continues to help me become a better person. I know I can talk to her, trust in her, laugh with her, do crazy things with her, watch ridiculously hilarious youtube videos with her constantly, play games with her, and go on rants about things that drive us nuts. she's pretty great.

I love Mia cause she'll join me in looking like a fool and dancing around the house while every one else there just watches and laughs.

I love Mia cause she has the same love for The Rocket Summer as I do. It made it one epic and fun concert.

I love Mia cause she is a great cook! We love to make pancakes, cookies, and warm treats quite frequently. But seriously, I love making food with this Betty Crocker.

I love Mia cause she has been a great roommate! We didn't really know each other going into this school year, but I have LOVED every minute of living in this house with her. I lucked out on getting this girl in my life.

I love Mia cause she likes to be random. Like on our trip to Vegas, she brought bubalicious gum and we had bubble blowing contests to and from Vegas. She is quite the talented one. Not to mention, it gave us some entertainment.

I love Mia cause she is up for road trips. Our Vegas trip would not have been the same without this woman. You could say this is when I officially just knew I'd love having this girl around. She is hilarious and a fun vacation partner!

I love Mia because she loves Vans and mini golf. [and taking ridiculous pictures]

I love Mia cause she loves to exercise. She may not love the long walk back from a hot day at a football game, but who does? She's a champ.

I love Mia cause she loves party hopping to random peoples houses. She is always up for new and exciting things.

So here's to you, Amelia Bedilia. I hope you have the BEST 23rd birthday ever, you totally deserve it! I love you more than all the reasons I've already listed, but I am SOOO glad that we got to live together this year and become such great friends! My life would not be the same without you!

Have a Happy, Happy Birthday :)

actually.

i don't know how many people have ever noticed this (obviously I have)

but I'm sure this has happens to some of you too!

About 90% of the time, I hate the word "actually".

whenever someone says it, especially fast, it sounds like they are saying "Ashley".

i don't even know how many times someone has said "actually....blah blah blah"

and I'll ask them what they said (thinking they were talking to me) and they just look at me like I'm an idiot.

but ya, talk about annoying.

it's awesome.

maybe i should listen more carefully.....

or maybe they should just be better at pronouncing their words.

actually, just don't ever say the word when you are around me.

problem solved.

those are my thoughts for the day.

happy thursday! :)

birthday celebration- round 2.

Friday night was another celebration night!

It was one my best friends, Nick's, birthday!

So we rounded up the greatest friends ever and, of course, went to Red Robin!

We ALWAYS go to Red Robin for Nick and Jared's birthdays so needless to say, we LOVE birthday time! The food is always so good and we just had so much fun being together! My freshman boys and I haven't gotten together in SO long! So you could say we were all really happy and excited to be hanging out that night! I've really missed hanging out with them all the time like I used to do! They are the greatest friends ever! Not to mention, Carter is FINALLY back from Hawaii, but sadly, Nick Jones went to Hawaii so we'll never all be together again. Sad.

After dinner, we continued on with the celebration! We came back to my house and played some gams on the Wii and played my newly obsessed game, A to Z.

[Have I mentioned that I've really lucked out in the friend category? Cause I did. BIG time.]

So Happy Day of Birth Nick Barnes. SO glad you were born so we could celebrate! We hope you had as much fun as we all did. :)

Birthday Celebration!

Since I am NEVER with my friends for my birthday,

we decided to go to Texas Roadhouse this past week to celebrate!

If you haven't been there before, GO!

Why you may ask? Let me tell you:

Their rolls? TO.DIE.FOR. Britt and I could BATHE in those rolls, they are so delicious!

Oh, and if it's your birthday, don't worry- you can ride on this bad boy, twirl a napkin around, and say yee-haw. Reminds me of my southern roots.

Basically, if you are looking for a good time, good food, good service, good country music, and good company- go to Texas Roadhouse.

k, i'm done advertising. but if you'd like me to attend with you, I wouldn't say no. :)

It was SO great that all the roommates could get together! Sadly, with all of our busy and different schedules, we are all hardly together! So we went at 9:00 so everyone could go! It was fun to spend a night together just talking and laughing!

I love my roommates and my "adopted roommates"! I have been SO blessed this year to meet and get placed with such amazing girls to live with! These girls have become some of my closest friends and I feel SO lucky! We all get along and enjoy being with each other!

Thanks girls for the birthday celebration! Love y'all! :)

so thrilled.

my best friend/sister is ENGAGED!

You are looking at the future Mr & Mrs Brandon Slama!

[yep, i was the first to take some photos of this great occasion... of course]

her ring is absolutely PERFECT for her! I love it!

i was so excited to see these 2 walking up to my door tonight just GLOWING! you can tell they are SO happy and SO in love!

[please don't mind me and the fact that my sweatpants make me huge]

Who would have thought that having Brandon in my ward 2 years ago would have lead to him meeting my sister and end up being my brother?!

But I couldn't have thought of a more perfect match! They are so great for one another and I am thrilled for them.

Brandon has been a good friend to me the past few years and I know he loves my sister so much! I'm excited to have him be a part of our family! :)

So congrats to my best friend! I can't even begin to explain how excited and happy I am for the two of you! I love you so much Sister Jane! I wish you many, many years of happiness with Brandal Pants!

a happy place.

I've had EFY on my mind a lot this past week.

How grateful for the AMAZING youth and the friends I continually meet every year!

I know for me, that when I've been a counselor, I wonder if what I say or how I act will affect any of the youth that I come in contact with. Will I be that example to them? Will I say enough to emphasize just how important this gospel is and how it has blessed my life and can for them too?

And sure enough, at the most random times, I will hear from a participant who needs advice or wants to talk about something that I taught them that previous summer. [Yes, it just happened to me this week] I feel so overwhelmed and touched every time. They seriously just take my breath away.

These aren't just any ordinary kids. They are amazing young men and women who have SO much potential. I just feel lucky enough to spend 1 week of their lives with them and, with some, remain in contact with. They really are so much stronger than I ever was at their age. Yes, I was a good kid and had a testimony and loved this church, but they are SO much stronger, I can't even explain it.

I don't do EFY to make friends [but let's be real, it's a GREAT perk] I have met some amazing people and some friends that have benefited me and blessed my life. We really grow close to one another and I'm so grateful for those people who I have met and have become such great friends with!

I don't do it for money, I wouldn't even want to get paid if that was an option.

I do it for the youth. I do it because they help me become a better person and change my life. I do it because they continue to amaze me and strengthen my testimony. I do it because I love to share with the youth why this gospel is so important.

EFY is truly one of my most favorite things in this life. How many people get to spend weeks with amazing kids and co-workers talking about and sharing something that is so near and dear to our hearts? Not many. And I've been lucky enough to have EFY in my life since I was 15.

It's a once in a lifetime experience and I'm so grateful I have been a part of this program for so many years. I've met some amazing people and have made friends that will last a life time. If I could, I would have EFY be all year round. It's an amazing program to be a part of.

EFY is my happy place.

I know I wouldn't be the person I am today without it.

EFY will always have a special place in my heart.