My cousin Brady was married December 13th to my now cousin Chelse in the Logan Temple. They got married on the same day as my parents and had the same wedding colors. We drove through a lovely blizzard, but it was worth it!

For decorations they had huge champagne glasses filled with christmas ornaments and lit trees all around the room


Rachel manned the camera for a while. I swear she has tremors or something. Every picture she took was blurry. I tried to sharpen this one up a bit so you can see my handsome cousins.


The beautiful black/crimson roses and pine branches for a bouquet


For a favor, they gave out a CD of their favorite songs. They were some GOOD songs too!


The grooms cake, made in copy of Brady's favorite tie


The dessert table was just that. About 15 different cakes, pies and cheesecakes. They were all gigantic and delicious.


The beautiful wedding cake. Always the highlight for me. I'm obsessed with wedding cakes!


My cousin Brady is majoring in Opera performance at BYU-I. He is SO good! This is just his normal singing, but when he switches to opera, he's amazing. I would LOVE to have my hubby sing a song to me at my wedding like this. All his groomsmen were from a barbershop group they were in since high school.

Testing, Testing 1, 2, 3

Just doing a new layout for spring (HA! Spring? I think it's snowing right now) so bare with me. Massive christmas/picture post to follow!!

I've been no place but home for the holidays

Christmas has kicked in at the Hodgson house! I spent half a day at Shell's house this week helping (eating mostly) make cookies for her family party the day after. First off she made corn salsa that's made with white corn and a bunch of other tasty ingredients. It was SO good. I'm getting all the ingredients on Tuesday and making it for my family. I can't wait!!!

After the salsa we did sugar cookies and coconut macaroons. Michelle was genius and made half the batch into chocolate sugar cookies by adding cocoa. Actually, they were pinwheels to be technical.


Michelle ghave me a plate full to take home for helping her. Even though I pretty much talke to her sister the whole time and tested evrything while stealing all her recipes. But that's what friends are for, right? :D The joke of the day was teeth cookies. We were cracking up like no other. While crushing the candy canes, Kim noted it sounded like crushing bone. Then MIchelle piped up, "Actually they look like teeth when they are freshly pulled with the blood still in the root." After examination of the candy canes, we realized she was right. Does it not look like little teeth in the cookies? makes you want to go out and a eat a dozen or so! But they turned out good and we ate them anyway. She needs to re-write the recipe down with the title of Teeth Cookies.


This upcoming wednesday is our cooking day for the girls in my family. We'll have about 8 different things cooking at once. Should be interesting, and hopefully we survive it without killing eachother.

Oh side note, I'm starting up a new blog (yes me, beckstreet who is constant end never changing) I'm keeping this one as my personal blog, but this new one called "She Hints" is going to be all stuff I love and stuff I want. I'll also have an etsy shop linked to it where my family and I will be selling random stuff. So look for that ina couple of days. It's gonna be BIG!!!

Pain is Good...I think.

Thursday Night Volleyball. A way to keep in shape, socialize with friends, increase sporting ability, make yourself look like a fool in front of pro Samoans, and realize how much you're out of shape.

I used to go to our stakes' volleyball night religiously (ha), and then I quit for a couple months with life being too busy. We started it up again this past month and tonight was the first night the Samoans returned.

Oy.

Don't get me wrong, I love playing against these guys. After all I'm related to one now, thus making me related to every Samoan in Utah. They're amazingly fast, powerful and just plain volleyball superheroes. I love the rush when I save one of their spikes, or get one of their jump serves (which includes watching my life flash before my eyes before impact). You can't imagine the rush of blocking a hit up close by the net in which I decide in a split second if I value my vision and/or face more than the victory of blocking a 100/mph hit from a guy who can jump 5 ft in the air without trying.

Playing against these pro's only improves me each time and I wouldn't have it any other way. Not to be humble, but I'm quite the decent volleyball player after having years of coaching from a vollyball superstar sister, so it's not like I'm some novice playing against pros. I know what I'm doing, but these guys are just SO GOOD.

I swear they have iron arms with supersonic fast reflexes, and endless muscle power. (Vampires perhaps? Nah, just reading too much twilight I think)

The result in my relentless blocking of hits and serves after not playing for two weeks, is the picture below.

No, I don't have fat forearms with patches of fat here and there, They are swollen, have blood spots under the skin as well as a bunch of small bruises and one big one. I think when the Samoans get going, I get going and we push eachother to the point of exhaustion. (Or maybe it's just me, and I'm kidding myself)

I have to admit though, I over did it tonight. I'm now nursing my ever bad left knee (which I won't be able to walk on tomorrow or the next day), arms so tender and swollen I can't wear a long sleeve shirt because touching them hurts so bad, a large headache from overexertion, one blister on my foot, and calves and thighs so sore I can't exactly walk upstairs or downstairs. Just straight forward (I like to dive for stray hits, what can I say?)

After taking two very large Extra strength Tylenol, and Icing my knee, I'm off to bed to dream about a sport I have a love/hate relationship with. Over time my arms will toughen up again and I'll be used to the 2hr game of death minus headache and killer knee.

So this is a good thing. I have to get right back on the horse and keep going.

Can someone bring me a ladder though? My leg won't lift that high on it's own right now.

Stuffing Day

It's finally over! Our closing night was monday and it went really well (minus mic problems) and we had a packed house. I'm super glad I did the pit. Musicals are ALWAYS ALWAYS written in psychotic keys with either all flats or all sharps possible. Or in C with every accidental possible. I've played in 6 musical pit orchestras and have yet to be surprised by the difficulty of key signatures. Anyway, playing for Oklahoma has renewed my circle of fifths memory and when I went to SLCC orchestra last night it was cake. Six flats? Big whoop. Bring it on dawg.

Today I trimmed, thinned and layered Rachel's hair, then my mom dyed it. Hope fully it turns out well. It's making me scissor happy and I think I'll do something new with my hair. We'll see.



I"m seriously considering printing this out and pasting it to my forehead tomorrow. I'll be spending at my aunts house in Alpine with all of my dad's side of the family. I love thanksgiving, but I sure wish I was married with kids when people start asking "what I'm up to these days" I hate it when people ask me that! I think I'll try to constantly have some sort of food in my mouth so I can't talk. Andlike that will be hard to do for thanksgiving :)

I feel bad for vegetarians on thanksgiving. I bet half break free and eat some turkey. How could it possibly be resisted on such a holiday where it's the main event? I must admit though, stuffing and rolls are my favorite part. I'm not a pie person. Can't stand crust, and the only kind I'll eat is cherry or an apple pie made by Shell. I usually have 1part pie and 10 parts ice cream to drown out the pie. I'm odd. I know.

I hope you all travel safely, eat lots, have a good time with family and have a Happy Thanksgiving! Don't forget to be grateful!

Migraine, Migraine, Go Away

So sick of my head hurting right now. Makes me want to crawl in bed and die. frustrating!

Pit orchestra is going well, our performance is next thurs-sat and the following monday. Today the stage crew kept opening the back door and each time lowering the temperature by 10 degrees. By the end of the night, my fingers were so cold and stiff I was missing every other note. They brought in space heaters, but if you have them turned up to high, it starts to melt things and catch certain wood instruments on fire. I'll stick with being cold rather then risk life and instrument for some heat.

Tomorrow I'm taking a test/entrance exam for a job in south jordan. If I get it, pay starts at $14/hr. Sweetness! I hope I get it because I'm in so much debt and the collection calls are starting to come in. Happens when you don't pay them I guess. :)

So, I went to therapy this week for my second session. I am now one of those freaky people who can say, "MY therapist...blah blah blah". She tells me I'm supposed to let people know of my anxiety/depression instead of holding it in and telling people I'm fine. It will help me heal faster. So....I get anxious and depressed if you didn't already know. It's the reason I came home from my mission. But after the therapy, they may let me go back. There, do I fell better? Um......Not really. Maybe I have to tell people in person. So someone call me so I can tell you. Sheesh, I can't wait until this is over! Mid life crisis goin on. But I've been over/through the worst of it, so I really can't complain.

Whew, new subject. No more pouring out my soul.

So, yesterday Joecelyn got engaged, for those who didn't see on facebook. Ian proposed last night and sent a mass picture text to us all showing off the ring on her finger. It's insane how many of my friends will be married by next year. Man I need a husband just so I can say I'm married and in the loop. Forget the whole love, courtship garbage, any takers? I mean what kind of 22 year old female freak isn't married by now? I think I'll just plan on being single forever and then I don't have to worry about it any more. Did you see 27 dresses? I'm turning into that, just without the guy in the end. Too much pressure in our culture for marriage. Maybe that's why I go to a therapist.

Going to bed now to try and sleep off this migraine before the test tomorrow (getting up at 6 on a saturday is a crime) Enjoy your weekend!

Bec

Welcome my friend fall!

Last week I helped my sister set up her Christmas tree and other Christmas decorations. I can't wait to do ours now! Our family gets a little gung ho with Christmas decorations sometimes. either that or we don't even get a tree until Christmas Eve. That's happened at least 4 times in my life. Not this year! We have a fake Christmas tree so I can set it up whenever I want! Of course we'll stick up thanksgiving stuff as well.

I thought this was a cool idea for fall. Not sure where you could get the wheat though. Michaels perhaps?


Rachel found this creature online a while ago. I laugh every time I see it in my pictures folder. Id ecided to show it to you all. Tell me that doesn't make you laugh?


Here's a little thanksgiving treat idea. Get any kind of choocolate covered cookie, melt some chocolate or frosting and use a dollop to stick a marshmallow to it. Then cover the marshmallow with the frosting/chocolate and you've got a pilgrim hat! I need to find an idea for a pilgrim bonnet as well. I'll let you know!


Oh quick note, Shannon, if you still read my blog, you need to put comments on yours! I want to comment on all your cute Ideas and recipes but I can't! So fix it! (please :) )

So, I joined the Cyprus pit orchestra last week. They're doing Oklahoma and are in desperate need of strings so I joined. It's fun to watch these little (I mean LITTLE) kids doing a play. Pit always give you an interesting perspective. plus, because I'm Alumni I can come and go as I please and not have to be to every rehearsal. So nice. Matt Pugsley & Tim Platt are back doing it as well. Fun reconnecting with old high school buddies. The choreography is very well done and the actors are great. You should all come see it!

So I just got the twilight soundtrack and the new David archuleta album. Twilight, I love the linkin park song, but the others not so much. Most of the david songs are good and his voice is just perfect. I recommend it highly. I can't wait for the twilight movie to come out! I'm going to the midnight showing with Rachel and her friend is getting us in free because she works there. Stoked!

Well, I'm off to help my sister get her house cleaned a bit before her husband gets home from Samoa today and then I've got a lot of music to practice. Choir, Symphony and Pit stuff. Fun fun!

Bec

Blast from the Past

One of my favorite bloggers (Mrspriss.com) did this, this past week and I loved it! I decided to do it for you guys and hope to see some of your own!

Most of these things are from elementary school for me. Do you remember Skip-it? I was PRO at this. I once went so far as to over count the counter. It had to start over. I loved it. Mine was of course, Pink

I have to admit, I still own my full collection of polly pockets to this day. I have about 15 and could never quite get rid of them. They were my all time favorite toy.


Did you guys ever play this game in MS-DOS? "One must fall" is what it was called, and I hear they have an actual online version you can play. I spent hours on this game and could never get quite as far as my brothers.

This one I'm sure you'll all recognize. NANO BABY MANIA!!! also giga pets. I owned one of each. I remember sitting in Mr. Gregorson's 6th grade class trying with all my might to keep this thing alive when I should have been learning how to do math. I adored these things, even if they did keep me up all night pooping and needing to be fed.

Treasure trolls! I think we had a treasure troll gang that would meet behind the relo's during recess. We thought our trolls were posessed and worshipped them in a way.

Who could go through life without lisa frank stationary? I had this picture on a folder that I kept for years.

I got this Barbie for my 12th birthday and still have it in a box somewhere. I thought it was the coolest thing ever.

So you guys, try and remember all your old toys and favorite things as a child, find it on google and post it!!! Brings back a flood of memories I'll tell you what. Oh, and welcom to Kristi S. to reading my blog! I kind of posted my blog address in a public place (how more public can you get than facebook?) and got a wham of visits. So any lurkers or old friends, please comment!

bec

Hair Bow How-To

This is per Toni's request and I have been super slow at putting it up. Sorry :P



The only way I could get Rachel to be my test subject was to let her use my computer while I did her hair. So don't mind my messy desk.

Pull hair into ponytail (is that one word or two? Hyphen perhaps?) and split into three sections. Make the center section smaller than the two outer sections.

Take the right side and make a loop and pin in place. Here's a video how to

It will look like this

Then loop the other side

Then roll the center piece up the same way as the sides. You're just rolling vertically instead of horizontal. make this roll big enough to pin over the elastic. And you're done! Takes practice to make it smooth looking and lots of bobby pins to stay in place if you have thick hair like my sister Rachel.

Vote?

Well the election has crept upon us all. Oh wait, is that the same election they've been cramming down our throats in the media for months? Right. Two in the same. I forget.

I get the vote by mail option because I signed up online months ago, so I've already voted. Who knew all that 3rd ddistrict, judges and other mumbo jumbo would be included. How the heck do I know if a judge should be kept in office? And does Utah's Hogle zoo really need, what was it, 80 MILLION to renovate? seems a bit extreme to me, but then again I love animals.

Ok, off the political soap box. Just consider this reminder to you all to vote tomorrow. My motard brother says he's not voting because, " Why would I vote when I don't want either of them to win?" Um...BECAUSE WHOEVER WINS WILL CONTROL YOUR LIFE (in a way) Stupid brother. Most retarded reason not vote EVER.

My brother in law's dad died on halloween, so yesterday my brother in law flew to Samoa for the funeral and to see his family. Crazy time right now in our family. So all week Rachel and I will be taking turns staying with my sister. But then we all forgot that my dad will be in Texas for a couple days for work, and my mom hates being alone. Rachel and I will be stretching ourselves thin this week to help others-insert halo. Oh, also a Samoan family in ward just had their baby blessed a couple months ago, this week the 27 year old mom died of an unknown enlarged heart. Now the dad has 5 kids including a 5 month old to take care of on his own. It always takes someone you know to die to really kick your perspective of life into gear.

Have you guys heard Beyonce's new single, "If I were a boy"? I love it. She has such an amazing powerful voice, and the song is great too. Go to youtube and watch it, because it doesn't really make sense unless you watch the music video with it. Girls will love it. Guys, learn from it.

Off to make some carmel popcorn and some cheesy biscuits for my dad before he leaves. Ok, they're for me too, but I'll share. Sometimes I wish I didn't know how to cook. I wouldn't eat so much tempting stuff all the time. Such is life.

Bec

I've gotten a couple complaints from people that non of the pictures are loading from Michelle's reception. Here is a link to my photo's of all the pictures from the original source.

Michelle B's Wedding

Check please.

Leaves changing colors? Check

Weather cooling down? Check

Freezing at night from lack of finished walls? Check

Cold/flu symptoms kicking in? Check (I'm cursed, I swear)

Holiday cooking started? CHECK!!!!!!!

If you know me (which you better if you're reading about my life everyday) you know I love to cook. Makes me feel accomplished and Martha-Stewart-ish. Plus, what other activity can you consume the finished product? Without internal injuries that is....

I've been searching high and low for halloween treats and decor because our family never really gets into it anymore. I thought I'd bring the traditions into full swing this year. As a family we used to do a halloween party every year and it was great fun. We're all too old/too busy/too lazy now a days for anything like that.

Not anymore! Here are a few of the ideas I've been brewing up for our party.

How cool is this decoration for the front yard?

I can totally use my gingerbread cookie cut out for this one. Genius!


A cool way to use my birdbath in the fall

Candy corn pudding! Butterscotch, banana cream and cool whip


Balloons, glue, and string. Some ghostly creations. coolness.


Take a melon baller and an apple.....


Mini caramel Apples. SO CUTE!!!! and no seeds or apple core to worry about!

Last night my mom and I picked every vegetable from the garden. Monday we're pulling out all the plants. We got lots of squash and pumpkins, plus the usual mystery vegetables and fruit. We should have quite the fall get up on our front porch.

Off to get primary stuff ready for tomorrow and look through some books I just got from the library. Lots of hair designs and updos, so be waiting for a post on that!

Bec

Late nights with a camera, a viola left out after practice, and nothing else to do.

Well, It's done. Michelle has gone off with the married crowd. I am down another single friend.

Moving on. can't dwell on that sad fact.

I put my itunes on party shuffle as I was browsing my daily blog/websites, when suddenly, I hear the hunky man voice of Perry Como crooning me to "I'll be Home for Christmas". BAM!!!!! Wow, Christmas! It doesn't help any that it's snowing this very moment. Or walmart for that matter. I always start thinking about it too soon and get in holiday season mode. Halloween, Thanksgiving, then christmas. Keep it in order people! Although I do know what I'm getting most of my friends this year. It's cute too!

Now Carrie Underwood is on. Jeez. I get so distracted by music I can't think. I analyze it and sing along with the harmonies. Distracted.....

This morning my alarm didn't go off(or did I forget to set it? I can't remember. So at 6 Rachel came down to my room to tell me she was ready. I jump out of bed, start getting ready to book it to choir. Rachel went to clean off the car (stupid snow), then I had to move my dad's car(he parked behind me, KNOWING I leave before him in the mornings), Had to find shoes instead of flip flops (stupid snow) and seeing how I can't remember the last time I wore socks, had to scrounge up some of those. Rachel and I get in the van, she can't find her music folder. Back in the house to look for her folder. She never found it, and the by the time we would have left, driven slowly because of the snow, we would only be at choir for 15min before it ended. Not worth the gas I think, so we bagged it and stayed home. rachel went back to bed while I looked for jobs online. Fun stressful mornin' I tell ya what.

Speaking of hunky man voice, I found this interview of MIchael buble on a british talk show. I loved this little segment at the end and edited it up for all to see. I love this man. Later.

Beauty is pain

Tonight was a fun filled night. First I drove to the Jordan river Temple and got to go through an endowment session as Michelle recieved her own. For some reason I get nervous when I go through the temple, and my heart races the whole time. I have no idea why, because I have noreason to get nervous. I can't figure it out. Anyway. I felt great coming out of the temple as usual and was going over some thoughts. I still can't beleive that Michelle is getting married on friday! It came so fast, but I am excited for her.

After the temple I bolted(as much as one can bolt on redwood road's 45mph limit) to Orchestra. It was our last rehearsal before our performance next Tuesday. Which is at 7:30 @ Kearns High for your info. I had practiced all week and did amazingly well through all the tough parts. It still irks me though, some parts are too tough. We have an amazing (did I say amazing? I meant UNREAL) Bass player who flies through the runs like they were cake and never misses a note. This guy rocks at Bass like no other (yes Tony, You rock too). Makes me wonder how much some people practice and in turn makes me feel guilty for not practicing more.

I wore my high heels today for the first time in months. I've been falling into the lazy habit of wearing my flats to church because I can, and because I have no one to impress there with my girly high heels. After a 2 month break in heels, my calves are screaming. I feel like I ran up 500 stairs on my toes. Sad really.

My sister Michelle and her husband are moving to Magna this friday. They are renting out the condo/apartment-thing on Centennial Rd. from Mr. Dilley (my old drivers ed teacher oddly enough)and I am super excited to have them so close. They'll be in my stake and neghbors with your mom Toni! Well, somewhat close neighbors. Mainly the excitement comes from getting to see Miles so much (I'm selfish). So tomorrow Rachel and I are going over to her current apartment to help her pack after choir.

Agh, must go now.

bec

"Moses, He was famous!"

Tonight I was looking up the address for my doctor appointment tomorrow. Now normally I use mapquest, but I was lazy and looked under google maps. I was awed by their pictures that go along with the directions. Of course the starting point was my house, so I clicked on it, and rotated to face our actual house. This is what came up.


My mom and Rachel just happened to be outside the day the camera person came though. They're famous! How many people can say they are on google?

I borrowed my mom's camera to get a couple pictures and found this one from the other day up in the mountains. More beautiful fall coming out way.


A couple days ago we had tacos for dinner. I am very particular of my hard taco shells and like to heat them up to crunchify them under the broiler. I was talking with Michelle and ran dow to my room to grab something for her and completely forgot about the tacos. I suddenly remembered and bolted upstairs to find the oven billowing out thick black smoke. Anyone for some tacos?


The bottoms were still edible and we used those for taco salads. Luckily we had another package of shells and some tortillas.

Too late to keep talking again.

Bec

Do you smell that?

I can always feel the change in the air, like Mary Poppins is coming or something. Can you feel the atumn air rushing in? All the leaves in my garden are turning yellowish like they're closing up shop for the winter.


My parents went to Oktober fest tonight with Michelle and Lema. They also went to take family pictures in the mountains. Michelle brought me back these leaves to press. Do they not look freakin' fake?!?! The colors are amazing!! Mother nature is constantly amazing me with what it comes up with.

Tonight I butchered my garden. Well, part of it anyway. All the sunflowers were leaning down to the ground and drying out for the season. Everytime I walk in the garden I get sunflower spines in my legs. Feels like I rubbed a sheet fiberglass over my legs at the end of the day. So, down came the sunflowers. Our back yard looks like the carnage after a war. But instead of bodies, sunflower stalks and heads.

Yesterday I finally did my sewing(I sound like Cinderella there) . I know how to sew thanks to my mom's homemaker-ing efforts as a child. And because of it, I have to fix and alter my own clothes whenever sewing is involved. When my sewing pile gets to about 3 feet high and I have to do the spilts over the pile of clothes to get to my bed, I guess it's time to get busy.

I get everything set up all nice and organized, my machine nicely threaded, oiled and dusted(it's been a while since I used it) start sewing, and BAM. thread breaks. I pull out the bobbin, and the stuff is shredded. I have no CLUE what happened. I tried adjusting the top thread tension as well as the bobbin tension (which is a royal PAIN to do, taking apart the whole stinking machine) and it worked a bit better. It kept skipping every third stitch and still shredding the thread. I finally switched over to my mom's machine because I was about to strangle someone with frustration. I just don't want to cough up the $50-70 to have my machine checked out. It's more expensive than a car basic diagnostic test. I love my machine. It was one of the first computer/electronic model in the 90's. My grandpa got it for my mom for $800. It's like the Mercedes of sewing machines.

Not sure why I wrote that all. Just to get it out I suppose. I'll let you know the ending one of these days once I decide what to do with it.

I have to go shower and prepare my lesson for church tomorrow. Also vacuum my floor. Somehow under the sewing pile, a chunk of deodorant materialized and was crushed into the carpet. It must have been one of the countless times I dropped my deodorant and it shattered across the floor. No fun kids. No fun.

Enjoy the fallness rolling in everyone. I'll probably go in the mountains sometime this week with my family to enjoy it myself. Night!

Bec

8 Things, as tagged by Shell & Toni

8 Things I am Passionate About:
1)Music
2)Hair (styling)
3)Cooking
4)My relationship with family members
5)Having and keeping in touch with friends
6)Animals (mine inparticular :)
7)Trying to be a good example
8)reading

8 Words or Phrases I Say Often:
1)Holy Muchachos
2)Mommy Dearest
3)...or something (at the end of a sentence)
4)definately
5)Know what I mean Vern?
6)Bones (my sister's nick name
7)yes (I say this WAY too often)
8)holy milacha

8 Things I want to do before I Die:
1)Get married in the temple
2)Have children
3)Jump off a diving board
4)Mission
5)Sing Opera
6)See an active volcano
7)Lose tons of weight
8)Own a huge propert for lots of gardening

8 Things I Have Learned From my Past:
1)You have to work hard for anything you want in this life
2)Trials really are good for you in the long run
3)Trust God
4)Live your life for you
5)Old habits are hard to break
6)Don't fit in, be yourself
7)Take chances
8)Stay close to your family, they'll be there when everyone else is gone.

8 Places I Would Love to Go or See:
1)Paris
2)Switzerland
3)Australia
4)The Philippines
5)Jerusalem
6)The redwood forest (again)
7)New Zealand
8)Samoa

8 Things I Currently Need or Want:
1)Job
2)Car
3)Therapy :)
4)Husband
5)Motivation
6)Humility
7)a good zuchinni bread recipe (my garden is exploding with them)
8)A rich relative to inherit millions from

8 people I tag
Uh, Tony(if he ever gets online again), Rachel, Everyone else who reads my blog has already done it I think. Perhaps Ryan and Jess S.?

Over the River and Through the Woods

Off to my grandma's house in Ogden for the rest day. She's showing us her vacation pictures and we're showing her ours. She travelled the world this past year. Fiji, New Zealnad, Russia, China, and France. She's going to make us her famous (and when I say famous I mean you would cut off your own leg for these) Chicken Enchiladas. Not looking forward to the drive dwon to Ogden though. Geo Metro's and 4 people over 6ft tall combined are a fearful thought.

Quick or slow? you choose.

This week (so far) has been eventful. The first couple days after a long vacation, you collapse in bed, and get up for meals once in a while. I called a bunch of people about jobs, started orchestra at SLCC, Choir in the mornings(with Rachel in it too!), proabably institute soon, Saw Jocelyn(yay!), realized my room was a mess beyond measure, and noticed I ate out too much on vacation. Time to start running again :( .

This week I get to meet with the man who ultimately decides if I can go back on a mission. Did I mention I was planning on going back? Well there you have it. I have to wait until my "Sessions" are over, so about 2 months until I'll know for sure. I've been keeping up on my spanish study lately and trying to cram in scripture study. I'm just worried it's been so long I may have to get a completely new call and maybe even a new language. It will all turn out how it's supposed to though. If I go, I go, if not, I'll move on this time.

So today I finally got see Jocelyn! She came home on the 11th when I was on vacation. She kind of talks like a Samoan, has hair past her shoulders now, she's gorgeously skinny, and has dark brown hair. We got to sit down and talk for about two hours about her mission, my mission, dating etc. Her homecoming talk is this sunday at her ward at 1pm if anyone is interested in seeing her again. I'm all flushed because I thought I would have to find a substitute for my primary class until next week, but it's this sunday. As Shell would say, SCRAP!

Tomorrow my dad is bringing home an external hard drive so I can transfer my vacation pictures from his laptop to my computer. Lots and lots of pictures. I'm excited to show you all where we went and what we saw.

I went to Walmart with my my brother Michael today. We thought Ace was mature enough to be out of the kennel when we go out, but alas, he proves us wrong every time. We came home to a living room full of garbage neatly spaced across the floor. I think he ate half a bag of chocolate chip cookies. Hopefully the chocolate won't kill him. Ace insists on not only eating garbage, but new unopened foods left within range of his paws on the counter. Whole loaves of bread, bags of chips, full casseroles, you name it, he'll eat it.


bec

The land of rain?

Well, I TRIED to upload some pictures, but the dumb blogger kept losing them somewhere in the internet. I have to finish packing up my stuff as we are on our way to california and nevada on our way home, so you have to wait unti lI get back for the massive picture dump I'll be doing.

Jocelyn gets home tonight!!!!!! I'm so excited to see her when I get back, and am sad I can't see her get off the plane. After a year and a half I guess i can wait another two days.

INteresting thing happened two days ago. I noticed the brakes sqealing avery now and then, but because it was such a high frequency, my parents couldn't hear it. A couple days later, we have metal to metal grinding of the brakes. NOt very good when we're travelling up and down steep mountains. So we had to take the van to hertz and switch for a new van, because to fix the brakes would take a day we didn't have to spare. So we have a new toyota van that is lame compared to our old Hyundai we all know and love.

We're off to see crater lake and possibly a drive through jungle experience with african type animals. Hmmm, not so sure about that second one.

Need to pack now. Vacation is a blast, but I'm glad it's almost over, two and a half weeks is a long time to be confined to a van with my sister and my parents. Nerves are starting to frazzle here. How is Utah these days? I hear you guys have been getting drenched lately. Funny because here in washington, it hasn't rained once.

Gotta go now!

Bec

Vacation Part 1

We made it to Vancouver, WAshington tonight, and after a 2 hour long swim in the pool with Rachel, I decided to give you a glimpse so far of our vaction.

These are in no particular order btw. Here we have mountnoma(?) falls supposedly the second highest waterfall in America. Very beautiful, but packed with people. We forgot that it was labor day weekend. I love the beautiful trees and moss all over the ground. Green everywhere.


Cliffs seem to be the theme in Oregon.

I love ferns. I have a travel journal from years back full of ferns from almost every state I've been to.

Our bow-tie towel waiting for us at Holiday Inn Express. They give us a huge breakfast every morning. We best buds.

Full size Stonehenge replica. Some rich old guy who fought in WWII made it as a memorial for a bunch of soldiers. Cool lookin.

The parents

RAchel wall climbing.

Our sacrifice to the Washington Gods.



A vacation isn't a vacation without a squished penny to show for it.

Twin Falls Temple.

Me and the temple



Mt. Hood in the backround of the stonehenge mountain. It was SO windy!

Our first night in Idaho KOA. We had to set up the tent at 11pm in pitch black. It was anew tent too. Fun times.

The dock for the foot paddle boats.

The brindge at some gorge. Can't remember the name, you'll get all details when I get back to Utah. Base jumpers too. Videos to come.

Shoshonie Falls, Idaho.

I love all things mossy.

We'll oot n' aboot for the next couple of days. Just thought I'd give you a peek of our adventures so far. HAving a blast, and no sunburns, sickness or injuries so far. Seeya laters!

Bec