You Will Be Missed

Dear Randy,

You were only in my life for a short 9 months, but I will miss you. It was so hard for you to leave your mom's house and venture out to live on your own for the first time. It was hard for us to know how to help you sometimes, and I wish I could have been better at knowing how to help you. Remember all of the fun things we did with the guys? We went to the zoo, we went to see countless movies, we went on picnics. I will never forget your undying love for Elvis. I wish I could have seen you perform in your costume, singing Blue Suede Shoes. I hear it was incredible when you did it at work. You had a wonderful family that loved you very much. You used to always talk about how much you missed your dad. And you would always ask me if he was coming back. And I always had to remind you that he was in heaven. Then you would ask me when you would be able to see him again- and I told you that when it was your time to go, you would see him again. And I suppose your time has come. I'm glad that you are finally with your dad. You have been wanting to see him for so long. And I'm sure he's been wanting to see you too. I'm sure you're having a great reunion right now. And one day, hopefully a long time from now, I will see you again as well. It really touched me that you asked for me on the day of your surgery before you even asked for you mom. I'm glad you left this life not being mad at me, because I know you often were :) You don't have to have any more bad days- and I'm so happy for you. You don't have to struggle with the things you had to struggle with on earth. I know you are happy now, and that makes me happy. I will miss you, but I know I will see you again. Thank you for being a part of my life.

Love,

Grace

Drama

On pretty much any given occasion you can often find me saying something along the lines of :

"Drama is the spice of life!"

"Everyone loves drama, some people just don't like to admit it"

"The sooner you learn that everyone loves drama, the better"

or as the headline of my blog says- "Drama is life without all the boring parts"

Who's with me?! Seriously though- I totally understand that gossiping is wrong and that having to know everything about everyone is not always the best quality, but you just need to learn to do drama right! I'm not necessarily saying that I've learned how to do it right, but I know there is definitely a way to do it. Let's make life interesting, shall we?

I just love learning about people. I love getting past the small talk and really diving into what makes someone who they are. I guess it's also my way of just showing people that I care- because I honestly do care about what is going on their life. I care about what has happened in their pasts and I care about what is going to happen to them in the future. I suppose some people would call this being dramatic. And that's fine. I fully on admit that I am THE drama queen. And I will gladly wear the title- I just want to say that it's not a bad title to have.

Yes I want to know everything about you. Yes I will ask questions that you probably aren't used to hearing. But the more I ask questions, the more I realize that people are a lot more open than we give them credit for. You just have the ask the right questions! I have also found that in general, people love to talk about themselves- which is fabulous for me because then I can just soak up all the little details and form a stronger bond of friendship. I think it all depends on your motivation behind getting to know people. Are you genuinely interested in them? Or are you just wanting to know everything about everyone for your own status? That's the difference. I'd like to think I'm the former, but I guess you can make your own opinion on that one.

So maybe it's "dramatic" for me to want to know every little detail. Maybe it's dramatic for me to encourage people to get together. Maybe it's dramatic for me to push people to do things- when really I'm just doing it because I care. And maybe it's dramatic for me to react so passionately about things that happen in people's lives, including my own. But if being dramatic like this is wrong, then I don't want to be right! It truly is the spice of life, and it makes for a more intersting and fun time.

Drama you ask?

Yes.

Comedy

So I work a 15 hour shift at work- and 10 of these hours are just straight up down time. So I can do whatever I please- which is actually pretty nice. Aside from the fact that we don't have the internet. But that's also nice as well sometimes. So last night I was going through all of the shows we have on demand at work and I came across a show called "The Last Comic Standing." I'm sure everyone else has heard of this show.... since it's on its 7th season and all.... but this is the first time that I have ever heard of it. For those of you in the same boat as me- it's just another reality elimination show (i.e. American Idol) with 3 judges and all. And it's for comedians- if you haven't picked up on that already. So I sat there and watched a few episodes of all the auditions that the comedians go through. And I am just amazed! Comedians can pick any little aspect of their day and turn it into an incredible joke! It's quite impressive actually. I feel like if I were a comedian I would have to go through my day thinking "is this funny? Can I turn this into a joke? Will people laugh at this?" I just feel like that would be so much pressure!! And hoping that people will laugh at you is so stressful! So these people have got to be pretty confident in their humor! I would say I'm a relatively funny person- or at least I have the ability to be funny. But I can't even imagine having to make people laugh for a job.... it's crazy! So yeah- good for you, all of you comedians. I could never do what you do. I can enjoy laughing at your stories though. I'll leave the joke telling to you guys :)

Ode to the Manor Girls

I know a lot of people think that they have the best roommates ever, but I'm ready to argue that I really do. Where would I be without these girls? (And Obama as well of course) There's such a great spirit about my Utah home that has yet to compare to anywhere else. And it's all because of you girls. I love coming home to your smiling faces and debriefing every detail of our days. I love the smell of Elise's cooking and that she's always willing to share. I love that at any given moment, there is a pile of dough rising somewhere in the kitchen. I love staying up ridiculously late with Emily, even though she has work early in the morning. I love how our entire house has grown to revolve around my work schedule. It really means a lot that you guys enjoy having me around that much. I love coming home to Emma sitting outside on the porch with her computer and that she's willing to sleep outside with me when it's warm. I love that I can be my complete self around you girls and I hope you guys feel the same way about me. I love that Angela is always willing to sacrifice some sleep so we can talk about our days and debrief about all of the boy drama- or lack thereof. I just love the overwhelming feeling of love that radiates from you girls. We all lift each other up, and that's how friendship really should be. I wish we could all be roommates forever and never have to move. I know this is unrealistic, so I just want to enjoy everyone as much as possible this summer before everything has to change. I love you girls and you have definitely changed my life for the better!!

Summer Night's Dream

Last night was such a good night. I got home from a friend's house, which was very enjoyable. Levi, Angela and I then made paninis for a late dinner, which were delicious. Once it got dark, my roommate Emily and I took some lawn chairs and went and sat in the front lawn. The weather was perfect. We just sat there and talked and enjoyed the fresh night air. It did rain for a few minutes, but not bad enough for us to go inside. Our friend James then came and joined us. He also brought some fresh strawberries with dip. Fantastic. As the night progressed more of our dear friends joined us on the lawn. Jonathan pulled up a chair, then Evan brough a blanket and spread his ever so long body across the lawn. Taylor and Trent came and joined in the laughter, which eventually drew Angela and Elise out of the house as well. We all laughed and chatted about this and that. Jonathan then put on some amazing music that just set the mood for an incredible summer night. I eventually laid down next to Evan and James and just looked up at the night sky. I started thinking about how great my life really is. I have such wonderful friends and God has created such a wonderful world for us to live in. The stars are always such awe inspiring for me. I was kind of quiet while everyone else was talking and I was soaking up every moment, thinking about how I never want this time in my life to end. I wanted the night to just keep going and going and going. It was perfect in every single way. And a lot of my days have been feeling that way lately. Yes I still have my hardships, but in general I just feel ever so grateful to be able to have the experiences that I've been having lately. Unfortunately a lot of my dear friends will be moving after the summer ends and everything will change. I hate the thought of it, but I'd just like to soak up every moment this summer that I possibly can. Each moment is precious, as cliche as that might sound. I hope to have many more summer nights like the one I had last night.

Our Final Day

Well I tried uploading more pictures into this post, but for some reason it's just not letting me! Oh well you'll get the point from the ones already on here. Plus once again you can go to facebook and look at tons of them there. So our last day there was the absolute perfect day. I could go back and relive it over and over again. I don't think I'll ever forget it, actually. So we woke up and went to church with the family we were staying with. And yes they are the best family ever!! (aside from my own i suppose.... haha) Church was really great- it was a really small ward. And I mean tiny!! But there was a great spirit about it. From church we drove straight to Monteray, which was gorgeous. From Monteray we all piled into Levi's car and drove to the famous 17 mile drive. I had never heard this drive, but apparently it's famous. Anyway- we got to the drive- which costs $9.50 by the way... and drove around. Along the drive there are various stopping points that you can get out and look around. So we stopped at one of the points and had a wonderful picnic on the beach. It was just so picturesque - if you can't tell from all of these pictures.

After the beach, we headed back to our new family's house for dinner. And wow was it delicious! After dinner we all hung out and took fun pictures with the girls- Rachael, Olivia, Lily, and Gwen. They are the cutest girls ever!! If I haven't already mentioned that. Watching the boys interact with the little girls was so precious! Here's Evan and Olivia.
Gweny Gwen is SOOO cute! Check out that hair!!
Our new big family. So fun!
One of my favorite pictures from the trip. L-R. Lily, Evan, Olivia, Tay Tay, Levi, and Gweny.
The girls were giving us the full treatment! They gave Elise and I neck and foot massages and painted our toe nails. All while Emily was serenading us. Fanstastic
And then we headed back down the beach for the final time to watch the sunset. It was magnificent.



After we got back, the girls convinced Levi and Evan to get their toe nails painted as well! They were such good sports about it! And I know they secretly loved it haha!
We ended the night with James showing us how to make soft pretzels. They were so fun to make and delicious as well!!
So yeah that was my perfect day. I wish it could have never ended. It was sad to leave them and California. But we had to get back on the road the next morning and head back to Provo :( Hopefully I will find myself in California again soon. Hope you enjoyed the pics!

And it doesn't stop there

After our glorious visit to San Fran, we headed down to Palo Alto to say Happy Birthday to a certain E-ho, who was visiting Janna for the week. We met at a Starbucks for a quick breakfast before hitting the road for Santa Cruz

Janna told us about the scenic route along the coast to get to Santa Cruz and boy were we so happy that she did! It was truly inspiring. Evan and I enjoyed the entire trip down
As soon as we got to Santa Cruz, we realized the beaches were incredibly crowed so we headed to Aptos, where Elise's sister and family lived. And they live literally two blocks from the beach so we decided to just beach it up there. The beach was gorgeous and perfect in every way.




I really fell in love with the beach this trip. I've never really appreciated it before. But now I understand why everyone goes so crazy over it! :D

San Fran adventures continued

A day and night on the town. And boy was it phenomenal. I'm running out of adjectives to describe it actually.... So our first stop was the Golden Gate Bridge. It was a blast- the weather was perfect. It wasn't too hot, and yet there was a slight wind that kept it comfortable. We walked across it and took a ton of pictures- so fun!

Our next stop was Fisherman's Wharf on the pier. Of course we had to get the famous clam chowder in a bread bowl. And boy was it delicious!! The chowder? fantastic. The bread bowl? fantastic as well.
Ghirardelli square is right next to Fisherman's Wharf so of course we had to go over and get a free sample of chocolate!
Chinatown was the next destination on our agenda. We shopped around at all of the different shops. They had a lot of cool stuff- but most of the stores only accepted cash- I'll have to remember that for next time.
My good old friend Sarah met us for dinner at a place called Park Chow's. It was tasty! And it was so good to see her. I hadn't seen her since she moved out to CA- which was like 2 years ago!
After dinner we went down town to catch the trolley back up to Fisherman's Wharf. It was SO fun! I figured I would like it, but not half as much as I actually did. Thank goodness Emily talked us into doing it, because we almost didn't!
The only thing open once we got back up there was Ghirardelli square so we went in for ice cream and hot chocolate. The hot chocolate was divine I must say. And the ice cream was fab as well.
Then we made our way back down to our cars on the trolley. On the way back we were the only ones on the trolley, which was exciting.
On our way home we stoped at the Fine arts museum to admire the fine architecture and the beauty.
And that ended our day of touring San Fran. It was so fantastic. I can't wait to go back someday. I wouldn't want to live there due to traffic and parking fees. But a suburb very close by would be ideal I must say!

I left my heart in San Francisco. Literally.

Next stop? California! I went on an incredible roadtrip this past weekend. And I'd like to take a few posts to try and do it justice, if you'll allow it. My fellow roadtrippers were Evan, Levi, Taylor, James, Elise, and Emily. What a fantastic group- they really don't get any better in fact. We all left on Thursday at like 7 in the morning. We took 2 cars- which was great because it was more comfortable and convenient. The drive over was really great. We all got to know each other even better than we knew before. When we got there, we stayed with some people that live right in the middle of San Fran- so a great location. We spent Thursday night frolicking around Golden Gate Park. See below:

Elise and Evan on the way to the park- so happy to finally be in Cali!

Strolling down the street, just loving every minute of it
At the park, posing for a picture, obviously
Tay Tay and Levi soaking up the glory of the golden gate park
Oh just you wait- there is so much more to come!

Blogathon. First stop? The circus!

K I have seriously been slacking in blogging. Yes, I know. And I deeply apologize for it. So to make it up, I am going on a little blogathon. Yes that's right- multiple posts in one sitting! Isn't it exciting?? To start the night of blogging out - I'd like to tell you about a little circus party we had at my house 2 weeks ago. It was amazing!! We had so much going on and SO many people there. And a lot of people came in costumes surprisingly enough. haha. Good times. Big shout out to Elise and her mad party planning skills!! And to Angela for renting the llamas. Because you really can't have a great party without them, right? Emma was an incredible fortune teller and Emily made funnel cakes all night! Can you believe it? Yay for deep fried goodness.

So here is out little fortune teller- Madame Shmadame if you will.

We had a face painting booth. John's cheek was so sweet, don't you think? ;)
Joel looked quite dashing, really. He and James made balloon animals all night long. Love it!
Tay Tay was our ringmaster along with Levi the tiger.
The human cannon ball and a mime were also there. Evan the mime was incredible- he stayed in character all night long!
Adam was our clown for the evening. So good!
The bearded lady also made an appearance along with Steve the extraordinary juggler!
Elise looked super cute in her yellow dress and pigtails. And what's a circus without a giant lolly pop?
Angela controlled the llamas in the back. And they were great as well.
This is the outside of our house before the party started. Welcome to the circus!
Me with one of our furry friends. His name escapes me at this moment in time.
There are oh so many more pictures, but hey that's what facebook is for, right? Go ahead and add me if you haven't already and take a gander at the large amount of pictures we took. :)