Raisins

Welcome to the world, Little Bundle of Joy.
I envy all of my family members who have gotten to kiss your sweet face today. But don't worry. As soon as I saw the first picture of you, I knew I loved you and I always will.


Liam meeting his baby brother. I love you too, Liam! (And Jackson) :)


What a beautiful mommy! I only hope I will look this good after giving birth!





I will see you in a month and 2 days if all goes as planned. Don't grow up too fast! Thank you for choosing to come bless our lives.

Much Love!!

You know those days where you find yourself out in the middle of a barely field in Idaho, walking down a dirt road as the sun has just set? Then you get picked up by some guy in a cowboy hat in his big boy truck and end up at a bonfire right on the edge of the Snake River? And through all of this you find yourself pondering the question, "Why don't I have my taser right now?"
Yeah. Neither do I.... :)
Last night Jake invited us to sojourn to a bonfire in IF with him. And I kid you not, the above story is reality. This is how they do things in Idaho apparently.
At first we couldn't find the tiny, dirt road that we were supposed to turn off on. So Jake pulled over to ask some boy for directions. This is Idaho, so naturally he knew this boy. His directions sounded like this:
Drive that way until you see the big house down there. Then there's a little dirt road right before a telephone pole.
Idaho? Yes.
So we turned off onto this dirt road that really was tiny and drove for a while on a very bumpy road until we crossed a bridge and got out. Then this man on a four wheeler excitedly greeted us and yells that he is gonna go grab someone to pick us up. Then we walked/drove for another who-knows-how-long and ended up right by the Snake River at a quaint, little bonfire where we learned about the circle of life (farmer style... I'm not gonna share this one.... I like to keep my blog somewhat uplifting) and how the hippies from Arkansas could never survive up here because they don't like guns. And by the way, Rednecks do believe in world peace... If you want me to explain that one, call me. Again, I like to keep my blog somewhat uplifting. :) We all agreed that this night was a really great motivator to stay in school... Haha.
It was a little on the sketchy side, so we didn't stay long. But the journey was just soooo Idaho that I couldn't resist sharing it. This is how they do it in Idaho, folks.

News update: Tyler (My roommate) just informed me that she got 2nd place in her age group in the Twin Falls Triathlon that she just completed!!! Nice going, Girly! You are a rockstar!!!

So what's new in Idaho? ... Mmm nothing. But I am trying my best to enjoy the old. :) Idaho is a whole different world and Rexburg is even more unique, but they have a lot of cool experiences to offer. Embrace it or die of boredom and possibly insanity. I will forever be grateful for my time up here and all of the people I am meeting. I am sooo blessed.

Much Love!!

Random and probably dumb thought real fast. Why are we so fascinated with old junk? When we want to go take a photo shoot, we always want it to be by old, rustic stuff. Why?

Maybe:

We find solace in the past
We can feel the old memories that surround these places
Or they just look so cool!


Today I got to go to IF again. It was a lot of fun. Jake took Holly and I up to this old mini golf place that is completely destroyed and graffitied. The above picture is of my lovely paint shoes on this slide that is broken off. It's up on this tower and it overlooks a pretty view (and the old mini golf place.) It is so cool looking though and it is completely in the middle of nowhere. You can even see the Rexburg temple from up there! I loved just being able to sit and ponder there. Jake calls it his "close to Heaven" place. I totally agree. Here a few pictures of it. But I have to warn you... The pictures do not do it justice.

Here are some baby mountains. .... Ok. They are just baby in comparison to the Rockies.


Dang. I just can't say enough how beautiful this Earth is. We are surrounded by so many blessings. :)

Much Love!!

Ain't she purty??

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, HANNAH JO!!!!!! I cannot believe that you could possibly be old enough to have your permit! You have grown up to be such a fantastic person! If I ever start talking about you to anyone up here, I just cannot stop raving about how great you have become. Seriously, I am basically your biggest fan. I look up to you, and not only because you are a tiny bit taller than me, but because you are such a wonderful example to me and to everyone around you. You keep it UP, Girly!! I love you so very much!


We have so much fun together and we often pretend that we are twins instead of 4 years apart when we're on vacation. We even pretend to be from England sometimes. We always sing and make funny faces. I mean, is there any other kind of face to make for a picture anyways?


I know it is Hannah's Birthday today, but I hope she doesn't mind sharing a little bit of the grandeur of her day on my blog with Lizzie. :) I don't think she will. When I saw her in April in between my semesters, I could not believe that this was the same Lizzie that I had left! What happened to the little girl that we always sang that song about?? "Elizabeth, Elizabeth, goes doodly doodly doodly down her dress!" Lizzie will always be the baby of the family, but she has become quite a grown up tween. She even rides dirt bikes! (Jealous) Lizzie is one of those special people who is always willing to give you a hug when you need one. (Even if you think that you don't want one. She'll prove you wrong!) I sure love you, Cheekie! Thank you for chatting with me this morning as I walked to class. You never fail to make me giggle. :)
Lizzie has a lot of examples to look up to, but she makes her own impressions. Don't ever make the mistake of thinking that she can't hold her own in a discussion with the whole family. She is so spunky and silly. :) And... She also has inherited the fortunate gift of funny faced pictures. :) I wonder where she learned that from.....


What are sisters for? What AREN'T sisters for!?!? I miss you guys so much!



Both of my little sisters are such great examples to me. I am always amazed with the great choices that they make in life. They are on the path of life that will lead them to happiness and I couldn't have asked for better younger sisters.


And don't even get me started on my older sisters and brothers and definitely not my parents. (I will have to take these blogs in strides because I do have a pretty large family... Haha) I think I must have done something right to have earned such a fantastic family. Where would I be without you guys?
It all started with these guys. We owe them so much. :)

On a side note...
Dain, my sweet, Korean room mate has been teaching me Korean. She wanted me to be able to have something to contribute when all of the Korean girls are over. I am practically fluent. (Kind of...) Last night as I was trying to stay up till Midnight so I could be the first to wish Hannah a happy Birthday. (Dain told her Happy Birthday in Korean, by the way. No worries.) Dain and I were talking about the facts of life and Korean. She informed me that all of her friends (We consider them our room mates as well because they are always in and out of our apartment.) call me "doll." They think that my curly hair and little self make me look like a doll! Bahaha I think that is funny. She taught me how to say it... But it is a hard word and I don't remember it. I do know how to say Hello and Goodbye, No, I love you, and I don't know, shut up. (My personal favorite...) She told me to tell them that one whenever they ask if she is home. Haha They crack me up. I have so enjoyed learning all about the Korean culture.

11:30 PM
Last minute update! FHE got a little crazy tonight and we got the excitement of getting to take Emma to the ER tonight. She got hit really hard in soccer and hit her head. She has a mild concussion, but she is doing alright. So we have an alarm set for every two hours, and we get to wake up and check on her. She's a trooper though! How great is it to have so many priesthood holders to give blessings nearby? We literally could have walked in any direction for 10 seconds and found several willing men. Quinci's brothers came and took care of her before we went. So many blessings. We are glad that it wasn't any worse. We sure love Emma.


Life is looking up! It always does if you choose to zoom in close enough.
Sending all of the love that I can fit in this meager post!

Much Love!!

One song comes to mind. "This is the first day of my life. Swear I was born right [on that sidewalk.]"
Tonight was a fantastic night! Sarah, Jake, and I went to get some Mexican food. (Which was great in and of itself.) On the way back, these boys were pulling out of the Hart parking lot on their bikes. Jake yelled that we wanted a ride. (Thank you, Dearest Jacob.) Oh Jason. What a Sweetheart. He gave Sarah and I both a ride around a few blocks. He went fast too! He said he'd gladly give us a ride another time too.
But oh my goodness. This was one of my few goals for this semester. (The others shall only be revealed if they are accomplished, of course!) Although my life feels much more complete... I just feel like I want to ride it again!!! I certainly hope that I meet the knight on shining bike that is Jason again and sooner rather than later. ;) Not only because he has a bike. He really was a very nice boy.
The responsibility of mowing the lawn was officially passed down to Hannah today. She mowed for the first time! I hope that she has as many great adventures with Lawnie as I did. :) (And I hope she documents them. Hint, hint.) Oh Lawnie.
Today I was so blessed. I was able to get a new phone ordered and on its way to me, score an A on my science test, greatly improve my long boarding skills, and RIDE A CROTCH ROCKET!!
And I know I say this all the time, but I truly do have the most wonderful people in my life. I am so grateful for every moment I get to spend with you guys, even if it is just a phone conversation. If memories or love could be stolen, I am pretty sure I would need one of those really prestigious vaults in a Swedish Bank. Yes. You're that good. I love you guys. You make life fantastic. :)

Here is to an even better tomorrow! Let's, you and I, make it great. :)

P.S. I miss you, Quinci! Your weekend had better be AMAZING! :)

Much Love!!

Prep time today= 30 seconds. (That means that I woke up at 7:56, threw clothes on, and ran out the door and ran up the hill for 8AM class. I wasn't too late either. That's impressive if I do say so myself.)
So in my oh-so-exciting math class (the 8AM one) there is this boy that sits one empty seat away from me. I think I have talked to him once. But for whatever reason he loves to look over at me a very lot. I can't figure out if I have something of interest on my face everyday, I completely charmed him with my "Hey, I'm Michelle. What's your name? [Insert math question here because my sort of tutor wasn't there that day]" the one time I talked to him, or if he is terrified of me and is watching me to make sure I don't try to slip a knife in his ribs. It's most likely the last option. I even asked Blake (my sort of tutor) today and he assured me that he looks over an abnormal amount of times. I mean, come on. We're talking like every 30 seconds. Maybe he has a nervous twitch.
Marriage Prep time= 3 hours. (4 including class)
Quinci and I wrote our midterms for Marriage Prep today. 10 pages of glorious lovey stuff. I finished in 3 hours. It did help that we had some ice cream and Celine Dion to get us through though. :)
Up until about 5:30 today, I didn't even have time to tie my shoe. (Literally. I walked all the way to the library and back with my shoelace untied.) But it is days like these that the very small things become really noticeable. (At least for me.) It's almost like my senses are heightened in all of the rush and I notice them and then just like that, they are over and I am on to the next thing. I can't remember a single specific thing, but I do remember a smile on my face for the little things today. Thank you for the little things.
Also, I just finished Sarah Dessen's latest book. I may or may not have shed a little tear.
This morning when I thought of this blog, I had a lot more in mind to write, but that was 10 pages of marriage prep ago.... so this will have to do. Brain=fried!!
Thank you for being extra raisins in my life. Don't forget to remember.

Much Love!!