My 5 hour perm

So...I've been trying to limit my packing and was having a hard time because for my hair I was packing a hair dryer, two curling irons, a straightener, gel, mouse, hairspray, etc. It was starting to really add up. Then a friend of mine a few days ago was talking about a perm and I started thinking. How smart would I be if I got a perm so my hair looked gorgeous 24/7 and I didn't have to waist my precious touring/sight-seeing time doing it every morning? I've never had a perm before, but I figured I would give it a try. If I didn't like it, I could just bring my straightener and straighten it on some days when I didn't have it in a pony tail or something cute. Genius idea, right?

So I braved it. I wanted it to look like this:

But sadly they didn't have a lot of large rollers, so I had to choose between a regular hair cut, or doing a beach wave look. Here's what it looked like during...(it took 3 hours and 3 people just to wrap my hair and get to this point...no exaggeration!).

 

It looked like this after, but they said it will be tight curls for a few days and then straighten out  to more of the beach wave look.

So here's what I learned.
1) Perms are complicated
2) Perms take forever
3) Perms SMELL SO BAD
4) Get them done at a hair school, they're SUPER cheap
5) You might look like a poodle when you're done

I'm still not sure how I feel about it...but I'll give it a few days, and I guess we'll see what it ends up looking like.

Let the packing begin!

Now that I'm home from Washington, I've started packing for our next adventure...EUROPE! Words can't describe how nervous/excited/anxious/scared/curious/thrilled and everything else I am feeling. The packing has been fun...so far...but I'm really worried about fitting everything I need into one suitcase. I have never been a light packer. Half of my suitcase is full of humanitarian gifts for children in an orphanage in Poland, so really I'm packing in half of a suitcase for 6 weeks. But luckily, I'll have the other half coming home to fill with souvenirs!

Oh and did I mention I sprained my ankle yesterday at our LAST rehearsal before tour? It would happen to me, right? I've been icing, wrapping, and elevating it the last 24 hours. I've got a couple of days to heal so hopefully it will be good enough before I go dancing all over Europe. Because ready or not, here I come!

Families are Forever

This past week I spent in Washington visiting my family. It had been since Thanksgiving - a world record for me - and much TOO long to be away from home. It was wonderful getting to be back home and spend time with all my brothers. I drove them around to a lot of their practices and watched them. I am such a baby. I cried so much just watching them and being overwhelmed with pride seeing how talented they are and wishing I could be around them more. It is so hard being the older sister and not getting to be around them while they grow up. All I can say is that every time I see my brothers, they are incredibly more handsome, a lot taller, and a lot more smarter. It's fun seeing them interact with one another and remembering past memories of us being little. I have the greatest brothers and would do ANYTHING in the world for them.

Watching Brigham at football practice

Poor Levi had an ear infection so he wasn't allowed to swim with the rest of us. I caught him sitting on this ball, watching us swim, and wishing he could join in. So sad.

Levi playing Marimbas at his concert

Talmage playing the bass marimba at his concert

He is almost as tall as me!

And his feet are BIGGER than mine.

Dairy Queen Date!

Garrett went through the temple for the first time and I was lucky enough to attend it and join in on his special day. Isn't he growing up so fast?

He leaves in a little over 2 months but I won't see him again until he's going into the MTC!

Probably the last time the 6 of us will be together for two and a half years! Yes, I cried a lot.


  Also, Trevin looks mad in this picture, but it was only because I said, "BIG SMILES!" and he had to be a stinker. I had a lot of fun with Trevin running errands, shopping, driving around, and talking about school and life. He is growing up so fast and I am constantly impressed by how incredible he is. He is so much like me it's almost weird. It was even weirder watching him take the car everyday and letting him drive me around some of the time. My little brother should NOT be old enough to drive yet. And now he's 17 and a senior. Time passes too quickly. I love you boys!

To-Do List

Anyone who knows me well, knows that I ALWAYS have at least one list with me. Usually two or three. I have always been a list maker, I get it from my dad. Every morning, I wake up, and the first thing I do is write out all the things I need to do that day. Then throughout the day I make more lists, add things to my lists, combine lists, and eliminate my lists. And I can never fall asleep without writing out a list on my nightstand before I go to bed. It might drive Eric crazy because my life is ran by my lists, but I get things done, I stay calm and organized, and I love being able to write all my stress onto paper and still keep a smile on my face. I guess it's my secret to running a hundred miles an hour with my head cut off, and still being happy 24/7.

Today I was reading one of my mom's books called, "A House of Order" and I came across a chapter on making lists! Here's a few things I wanted to share from it, that describe exactly how I feel about all my lists making.

"One of the smartest things a person can do is to keep good lists. Making lists puts the pressure on paper, rather than on our minds. It helps eliminate the pileup, the tension in our lives. Lists help us pace ourselves so we can avoid the rush at the end, the feast-and-famine approach. Lists save us from indecision, duplication of effort, forgetting, errors, conflicts, frustration, and frenzy."

Not everyone is a list maker, but it's a wonderful habit to make. I'm grateful for my dad who always left lists all over. He had his church lists, his work lists, his housework lists, etc. And I remember loving to do things on his lists when he was at work and getting to cross them off so when he got home he was extra happy. If you've never tried it, it is never too late to start!

Arches and Arches of Fun

Last week we embarked on an adventure that turned into much bigger of one then we had imagined! Amber, Eric, and I all left Thursday night after work for Moab. We arrived there a little before midnight, but spent two hours trying to find an open campsite in the dark. We were having no luck, until we stumbled across one a few miles out of town...but it was completely empty. We all had a weird feeling and were a little creeped out at how remote and alone it seemed. So, we turned around and ended up spending the night in our van parked in a parking lot. It may not be the wierdest thing we've ever done, but we sure had a lot of laughs. I don't think I slept an hour total that whole night.

The next day we met up with John Trout who drove down from Vegas, and we spent the entire day hiking and exploring. I was amazed by how beautiful all of the rock and valleys were. 

Double Arch

Sunset at Delicate Arch

Delicate Arch

Eric and John Exploring

Friday night Jessica and Tyler joined us! We had a fantastic Saturday hiking and exploring all of the valley. After the four of us left Saturday afternoon, Jessica and Tyler stuck around to finish up some hiking they'd missed out on the day before. And that night, Tyler proposed to Jessica!

Landscape Arch

As we were leaving to head back to Provo, and John back to Vegas, he realized he'd lost his license and credit card. They must have floated out of his pockets when we went swimming in the river. Well, after a lot of thinking and praying for solutions, Amber and I decided to go with him back to Vegas so we could take turns driving. Eric had to head back to Provo because he had work the following morning. We got into Vegas around midnight, and Amber got to meet all Eric's family and get the "animal tour" of the house. It was really fun getting to be back with family, though it was weird not having Eric there. That afternoon we drove a rental car back to Provo so I could start work on Monday. It was a LONG and very unexpected trip to Vegas, but we had a lot of fun and got a lot of enjoyable talking time during all our hours on the road! Thanks Amber for being such an incredible friend and a girl I can talk to about ANYTHING!

You are You

Today was a good day. I did a lot of thinking and had a lot of reasons to smile.

First off - I got asked on a date at work. Later a guy asked me for my phone number. I wish we were allowed to work with jewelry on our fingers because you wouldn't believe how often I have to bring up my husband to give guys a hint. It only makes for very awkward conversation killers...but I'm getting pretty good at it.

Second - When I got home from work, my turtle had eaten a hole in his box, escaped, and was running around my kitchen floor.

Third - I finally got a hold of  Garrett and we got to chat for about an hour! After seeing him and talking to him almost everyday for the past ten months, we're both really missing each other. He told me all about his Summer job (my old nanny job) and I told him all of my stories! He goes through the temple next week and I'm heading up that way Monday to spend some time at home (finally after 8 months) and be there when he goes through. I'm so excited for him and even more excited that I will get to be there with him for his first time. Did I mention that I miss him a lot? He leaves in a little over two months. Crazy.

Fourth - I had a really neat experience while working today. A young girl (probably about my age) came up to me and asked me where the office was. She was dressed very professionally, with her hair and make-up done (it was apparent she had a job interview). As I began directing her to the office, I noticed that one of the sleeves in her sweater was empty. Then as she pulled out a paper in her purse, I saw that her other arm only had two fingers and it was only as long as my elbow. As she smiled her beautiful smile, thanked me, and headed for the office, I was overcome with emotion. Though we had talked for barely a minute, she had permanently made an impression on me. I instantly wanted to walk her in and give her a job in my store on the spot, but then I began thinking how it would be nearly impossible to find her any job here that she would be able to do - since all of them involve working with food and handing money. I started thinking how hard and frustrating it must be for her to get a job anywhere because she didn't have the use of hands and arms. I was suddenly reminded of a few simple truths. We are all children of God. He knows and loves every single one of us with an unconditional love. Each of us are given very specific trials while in this mortal experience to help stretch and grow us to reach our full potential. And lastly, I am so incredibly blessed to have a working and healthy body that I have. Sometimes I find myself putting my body down or wishing I didn't have so many allergies so I could eat all the yummy foods that I miss, but let's be honest. I have a body that works, that allows me to dance, and run, and exercise, and sing, and talk, and hike, and anything else I want to. I am so blessed to be me.

Turtle and Fish

 Last night we stopped by Jared and Baylee's to say our last goodbyes before they head on to their new adventure. Eric and I have been so sad to say goodbye to all our friends that graduated and are moving on to   "real life". But alas, that will be us before we know it. Thanks Jared and Baylee for being such close friends and always bringing smiles and happiness in our lives! Thankfully, they are moving up to Washington so we will hopefully get to see them next time we visit!

Eric and I kept fighting over who got to hold their beautiful baby girl =)

  Last week I saw an add on Craigslist for a free turtle! I got so excited because I miss having animals and we're not allowed to have any dogs here (not like we would have time for one anyway). So we called the owner and set up a time for us to go pick up our free turtle! I was ecstatic, and Eric - who has never had a turtle before - settled on a name: Speedy M'clackster (but he wanted to call him Clacky). Well, about half an hour after talking to its owner...she called us back and sadly informed us her roommate had already given him away. We were both pretty devastated. So as fate would have it, as we left Jared and Baylee's last night, they asked us to watch their turtle, named Turtle, and fish, named Fish, for a month before they passed back through Provo on their way home. So, Eric and I still ended up with a pet turtle (even if it's temporary) and a fish!

He will put his face until our cabinets and fall asleep like that because he thinks he is hidden under a rock. It's pretty funny.

And Eric and I will both admit, we're loving having them! We talk to them a lot and take Turtle outside to let him walk around and eat grass. I know it's pretty corny, but it's still fun! The funniest was when Eric cut out a picture of the Colosseum from our travel magazine and taped it to the side of the fish bowl for the fish to look at. I love the smiles he brings to my face every day!

Step in Time

The past few days I've been working as a Dance Camp Counselor at BYU. It was tiring, but very rewarding getting to be a role model to all the kids and becoming their friend. It was neat to see different girls who were struggling with different things (home sickness, being tired or frustrated, not feeling included, feeling unloved at home) completely attach themselves to my side and become my friend. I loved feeling needed and also knowing that I could be a friend to these girls who really needed one. We had a lot of fun, sweat a lot, and had a lot of good laughs. Pictures to come!

my man can grow a BEARD

So as we all know, Eric can grow facial hair pretty darn fast. He's currently growing out his hair and beard for a New Testament movie the church is making this Summer. Everyone knows how I feel about men and facial hair...it disgusts me. But Eric loves his beard, and loves filming, so I'm trying to get used to it. I decided we would take pictures every Sunday to document his beard growth, and well, all I can say is he started it after the first week of May. So here's three weeks:

When he started...

Two weeks later (we missed a week)

And here's his third week of growth...

And in case you didn't know, he has to grow it out until October. That's 22 more weeks. Oh boy.

Living with a bearded man somewhat changes things. Not between us, but when we go out in public. It makes me laugh how all the men suddenly respect and admire him, and the women are all scared (I know how they feel). Here's a few photos that make me laugh from THE BEARDLY (I think when it's all said and done, we'll have to send in a few of his photos...he'll probably look like Moses by then).

But as much as I hate it, I think my hubby pulls off a beard better then anyone I know. I love you Eric, even with a beard! =)