Lately..

Sorry I haven't posted in a while, I've been pretty overwhelmed with mid-terms and other stressful events that were going on.

Anyway, Emily and I pledged to go to the gym at least 3 times a week. Not too much of a sacrifice considering we have a free gym available on campus, and we're on campus everyday.. We also pledged to stop being so lazy. When we get home from school we crash or watch TV. We're boring, but we're also worn out! Don't judge!

My lame boss cut my hours, so now I'm only working every other weekend. I figured out how much money I would lose, about $200/month. Which isn't too much, but when you're a struggling college student, every Penny counts! We're supposedly having a meeting on Friday to discuss hours, I will voice my opinion for sure. That's crap!

My dad's birthday was on the 15th. I balanced my schedule so I would be able to make it home that day and back in time for work. My plan worked out perfectly, except for one thing.. My dad wasn't even home!! He had to travel for work on his birthday! He had a good attitude about it, he's a good man! I love you dad, and grateful to have such an awesome dad to take care of me all the time! You're so sweet and always make sure I'm living comfortably. I'm so blessed to have a dad like you, who looks out for our best interest and always put others before yourself. I LOVE YOU DAD!

I've been really sick lately. Not with the swine flu, thank goodness, but I have a terrible cold. I've never been this sick over a cold before! I'm so grateful to have such an understanding roommate who feels bad for me when I'm up all night hacking out my lungs, when I feel bad for keeping her up! She's always saying, "Laurel, I feel so bad, what can I do for you? What can I get for you?" She's the bomb. Love you Em.

This month is full of birthdays! It was Kenny's birthday about a week ago. (Kenny is a guy that's in Kristin's house, and he just started hanging out here all the time, so we made him a little birthday dinner.) Let me just tell you how excited I was about making my contribution to the dinner..

So, I found this awesome recipe from Emeril. You can never go wrong with one of his recipes, they're always the bomb. It was for scalloped potatoes. The recipe called for 4 cups of cream. Well.. it was a Sunday, his dinner was spur of the moment, so we had to use what he had. I had no cream. And we all said that our dinner would be SOO good if we didn't break the sabbath to buy something. So, I didn't go buy cream. I used milk, Emily said it wouldn't make a huge difference. WRRRRRROOOOOOONNNNNNGGGGGGGG. Also, forgot to mention, that Matt (a guy that lives below us) was home alone for the weekend, so we invited him to our dinner. He came up to tell us that he invited ALL of his roommates that came home later that night. So basically we're feeding about 10 people. With groceries that we have on hand. Anyway, back to the potatoes. So I let the milk and potatoes simmer, I cook it, and I taste it. I have NEVER in my life tasted something so disgusting. It tasted like burnt milk. Which, the milk probably did burn while it was simmering on the stove. I made like 10 servings, and had to throw it all out. I've never had a recipe go wrong, but then again- I followed the recipe. I improvised on this one.. bad mistake. But glad I didn't break the sabbath. Let's just say this guys didn't hear about my potato incident. That would definitely ruin my chances for getting dates.. haha

This weekend Emily and I were pretty bored. It was Maile's birthday, our other roommate, but her parents came up, and we didn't want to intrude on family time, so we made a spontaneous trip to Salt Lake. Let me just tell you how much I love Salt Lake. It's soo pretty, I seriously want to live there, or maybe I don't. Maybe I just love to visit? I haven't decided yet. But we went to the Cheesecake Factory, we were going to sit down and enjoy a nice slice of Cheesecake, but the wait was 2 hours- no lies. So we got it to go, and ate it at the mall. While walking inside, we're stopped by this lady. She says, "You girls are really cute, I like your style. We just got done with a High School Musical audition, and I would love for you girls to audition for something. Let me get your numbers." We exchanged numbers and she called the next day. I missed the call, and she left a message saying she wanted to set an appointment. I haven't called back yet.. Anyway that's basically all we did. We went walking around the mall a little bit and I got sucked into buying the cutest purse known to man. I couldn't help myself. I was JUST looking, but the oriental lady probably hasn't gotten a sale all day, so she's totally trying to sell me the purse. She talked me into it, and was jumping up and down and hugging me. This went on for about 3 minutes. I got myself a cute new purse, made her day, but was $50 poorer. I figured it was a nice birthday present to myself.

On our way home from Salt Lake, my sister texts me and tells me she's in the hospital waiting to have her baby! Bad timing!! If we were still in Salt Lake, and spent the night, Emily would have driven me to Provo to see the baby! But that didn't happen. And now I'm sick, so I can't see her baby for a while..

I'm pretty excited for my birthday. I will no longer be a teenager! And I'm also excited for the big Halloween Dance, The Howl! I'm dressing up as the Corpse Bride, I'm pretty stoked. I'll fill you in on Birthday Festivities.. But here are some pictures to enjoy.

Kristin, Maile, Me, and Emily on Maile's birthday.

I forgot to blog about how we went to Lava Hot Springs. It was fall break, and I got off of work early, so we made a quick trip up. We went through Grace, ID. So my roommates could see what an awesome little town it was.. haha

The hot pots are amazing.

Yummmy Cheesecake!

Design on a Dime & Evan's 80th Birthday

I finally got around to posting pictures of my new apartment! I live on the very top floor.. kind of sucks. Moving was such a pain, but thank goodness that's done with..until I move out. But my roommates are so cute, I get along with all of them... and when I say all of them, I really mean 4 of them. The other girl just has different interests, and we just don't seem to have anything in common, which makes it hard to try and hang out with her. But I'm trying!! Anyway, our apartment looked like barf when we moved in, and I was hating on life because I didn't want to move out of my summer apartment. I have adjusted, and love it here. There are WAY cute boys in the apartment on the lower floor. All RM's might I add. Which was a relief because I thought everyone in this complex was 18. That's the one of the only apartment's in the complex who are older 20. They're fun, and we're having a dance party in the commons this weekend, I'll be sure to blog about. ;) Here are some pictures of our newly decorated apartment. We got pretty festive for Halloween! Pretty much we have the cutest Apt. in the complex, hands down.


3 of my roommates from left to right: Elicia, Kristin, Emily


Haha, Kristin brought all of this up from home, she is a major
Halloween fanatic. Love her.


These are actually puzzles that we mod podged and hung
them on the wall. We have to improvise when we don't have
money! This is kind of the theme of our living room, 50's/gambling/music --random,
but it's soooo sweet.



End table centerpiece



Our couches were the ugliest print ever. So we went to walmart
and got ourselves some couch covers! Actually, they're fitted sheets.
$5! How's that for designing on a dime! And it looks a million times better.



See those pillows?? That's what our couches looked like.. barf right?
And all of the roommates each made their own piece of art work to display.
I did an attempt of the Ace of Hearts card. FAIL. I love Emily's painting, the
poker chip. She's an amazing artist.

Our CD display is freaking sweeeeet. We wanted to find those

60's beads that you hang from your bedroom door, but we thought

that it would be cool to do CD's, and everyone that visits our apt writes

their favorite movie quote and name. We are so creative. That whole project

probably costed like $20.

Haha Mine and Emily's attempt to decorate for Halloween.

Check out the TV too, basically the size of my head! Better than

nothing though.

Kitchen centerpeice.

Our kitchen.. and Kristin :)

*** Yesterday was Evan's 80th birthday! His daughter came to town from New York, and we had a little party for him. We went to the Golden Coral (his favorite) and had some cake back in his room. He was so cute, when I came in to start my shift I said, "Evan! Happy Birthday!!" And he smiled and said, "Let's hope it's that way!" I'm starting to like my job more and more everyday. I'm so blessed to have a job in such troubled times, and I'm also blessed that this job allows me to do my homework and make money at the same time, which was a huge concern for me coming to college. The weekend girl was fired, so I picked up extra over-night shifts on the weekend. I love going to the retirement home and meeting all of the residents. They are such great people.

Evan's B-day cake!

Ohh Evan, you never fail to read to me the Herald Journal!

80 years old and still truckin!

*I'll be sure to post about our dance party this weekend!

Oh, Mother Nature.

First day of Autumn- September 22nd.. 8 days ago

First day of Winter- December 21st.. about 3 months away



With this said.. WHY IS IT SNOWING RIGHT NOW? We still have 3 more months of Fall, Mother Nature! Give us a break.

And if my Landlords close up the hottub today, all hell will break loose! Just sayin..

Rekindling my Infatuation

Yes.. Two posts in one day. I have a lot to say, and this is definitely blog-worthy.

One more week till:

- I have something to look forward to at least twice a week.

-my infatuation with a certain someone will start to rekindle again.. :)

-I will be hanging out at my grandparents' house all the time. (hope they don't mind.. )

-I can lose my voice frequently

-I can cheer on my favorite team

-My life is back, basically

-I get anxious every time I take little trips to Salt Lake City

-THE UTAH JAZZ BEGIN THEIR 09-10 SEASON. :))

*Can't wait to see this hunk tearin' it up on the courts again! I could watch him throw 3's all day long..

Called To Serve

So I have a friend. She is not a member. She is dating an RM. I took her to FHE and other church functions. And I've always wanted to have a 'missionary moment' with her.

There's a line in my Patriarchal Blessing that reads, "You will have occasion to speak among your friends about the gospel. Be not afraid to speak to them and show by your actions the love you have of this gospel." Coincidence??

On Monday the missionaries came over to my apartment to ask how I was spreading the word and sharing the gospel. I mentioned my friend, and they had talked to TWO people before me who had also mentioned her name. Coincidence??

I ran into another set of missionaries at FHE that same day who asked me the same question. "How are you sharing the gospel?" I told them that I had planned on talking to my friend, and they pull out the scripture in Enos. Basically where Enos was in the wilderness and he remembered the words which his father had spake of concerning Eternal Life and other things. His soul hungered and he wanted to know more. (Something like that, at least.) So the missionaries encouraged me to bear my testimony to my friend, because her soul might hunger for more. I was reading my scriptures that night and ironically I left off right at the book of Enos. So I re-read it. Coincidence??

Today I went with my roommate to her Institute class because I wanted to see what her class was like. We talked about bringing other sheep to the fold. To be good examples, to help those who have lost their way, and to share the truth with others who may not know yet. Coincidence??

I think not.
ahh, I have this super over-whelming feeling inside, and I'm feeling really good about this. I was called to serve. :]

Belated Senior Pictures

When I say 'belated' I really do mean 'BELATED'. I'm 19, alomost 20, graduated over a year ago, and yet; still haven't gotten my Senior Pictures taken.. until just a couple of days ago. I missed out on that opportunity while in High School, but luckily my best friend is a photographer (actually, studying photography.. but she's amazing already.) She was so stoked to take my 'senior pictures' So here are some of my favorites..

Bringin the 60's back.. No big deal.

This picture is probably my favorite, the back

ground is so sweet. It's actually at a mortuary. Oooo.

Mmmm, I know what you're thinking..

and it's okay, you can be jealous of that

couch. It's been sitting on the patio of my

summer apt for probably years now.

This ones for my mom. I don't really like side-profiles of

myself, but my mom does for some reason. So here ya go

Mom! Also, I think the lighting is awesome, Kelli is a pro.

Credit: Kelli Danielle Harris. She's kind of a big deal. and she will shoot my wedding pictures too.. who knows when that will be.. But hopefully I'll get a best friend discount. :)

Posts A' Plenty!

Cheesy title.. let's not talk about it.

I've got a few things I'd like to blog about tonight.

-The Office, Season 6 premieres in 7 days! This is going to make life a whole lot easier.

-I absolutely love my new roommates. Especially my roommate that I share a room with. Her name is Emily Kofford, and she's amazing. She's such a good example, always reading her scriptures at night and writing in her journal. I've never been so diligent in reading scriptures until I roomed with her. I feel like if you're rooming with someone who does that, it rubs off onto you. Something like that. Anyway, I know this will be a good year with her. She also has the worlds most beautiful voice. She sings and plays the guitar, writes her own music, and is amazing. The first night I met her she sang and played the Hallelujah song. From that moment I knew I would get along with Emily. I have to beg her to play for me, because she's so good!

-I am starting to get a hang of college. Although, I'm not doing so well in math like I thought I would. My teacher kind of sucks, which is the world's biggest understatement, and he's not very easy to get a hold of after class to help me. So if anyone knows of a tutor, let me know! (Preferably one that is male, and cute, and single). :]]

-I was kind of bugged by my connections class today. Let me explain.. So we had this guest speaker come, and she was joking around with us before her presentation or whatever, and we asked her what she was speaking on, and she said, "Oh just some gay stuff!" We all laughed because we didn't think that she meant that literally. Wrong. She basically talked about the organization she's apart of. GLTBA or something like that. Gays, Lesbians, Transgender, Bisexual, and I forgot what the A meant. I was thinking, okay.. yeah I know we have to learn about diversity and what not, and be aware of these kinds of things.. but she was PROMOTING it! She talked about how wonderful her organization is, and that we need to all go in and hang out there because apparently it's the best place on campus. There motto was, "You don't have to COME OUT to come in." I don't know, I'm not bashing on gays or whatever, that's their decision, but I was super annoyed that homegirl was promoting homosexuality. Seriously, what is the world coming to?

-I went to a bonfire last weekend, and it was super fun! (I almost sounded like a valley girl in that sentence.. eeeeh.) But I went with my roommates and some other friends. Good times. The cops came to make sure we weren't drinking illegally. We weren't, in case you were wondering. They stayed a little while to play Destructive Ninja. The coolest cops I've ever had an encounter with!

-Last weekend, since my budget is little to nothing, my roommate Emily offered to take me to Bounteful with her. That's where she's from. And since I didn't want to be home alone, with everyone gone for Labor Day Weekend, I accepted. What a nice family! They were so welcoming and hospitable.

-Homecoming is coming up! And it's not formal this year.. Weird.. I know. BUT they are doing a 'Dress as your favorite decade' theme! SWEEET! This is like the 80's dance, only better cause you have more options! I'm thinking like the 40's or 30's. Like the Great Depression era. Or the Notebook type of look. Hopefully I can find a 'Noah' who's at good looking as Ryan Gossling! Yeee! aannnndddd it's also True Aggie Night. The only day where you can get away with kissing multiple guys within the same hour! Well.. I guess you could get away with it some other night, if you wanted to be classified as a.. never mind. ;)

-This last update is a little frustrating. But all the guys in my Apt Complex are 17-18!! Seriously I'm like the oldest, and I'm not used to that! The bishop told us that there was ONE room where there were guys that were like 21-23. Just ONE. So I hear the same thing every time I meet some new guys, "I'm 18." Siiigh. Oh well, I have connections with good-looking RM's. No big.

Sorry this is kinda long. I need to start updating everyday! It's an adventure here- all day, every day.

More to Come!
-Design on a Dime (how we fixed up our Apt)
-Bonfire pictures
-Emily's new song about our lovely green carpet (classic!)
-and all of my new goals for this year!
Stay Tuned.

Let the Festivities Begin!

So, now that school has officially started means that there are many activities going on! Week of Welcome has been so much fun, and I thought I was already having the time of my life! Just goes to show how much better college is! Here are some activites I participated in this week..

*Day on the Quad- The quad is just a grassy area on campus, where a lot of the dances are, and a fun place to chill. They had a live band, all these kiosks set up for you to join clubs and what not, it was fun to interact with lots of people. Plus the weather was amazing, so it was nice to hang outside.

*BINGO night- Layne came to visit on his way back from DC, so we went to BINGO along with Kelli. Can I just say that I think college kids get a little more into it than senior citizens at bingo night! haha, it was hilarious to say the least. I wanted to win soo bad, but I never have good luck. Lucky for me though, Kelli won a prize in which I can partake of too! She won a a free catering service from Cafe Sabor for 6 people. They deliver to your apt too! So we're definitely goin to have a party with that one! I'll let you know.. I was so close to winning a cute bike too, kinda glad I didn't though.. Let me explain. So when they had like 2 or 3 winners, you would have to do something terribly embarrassing. EX: 1- 2 people had to sing a song on someones IPOD, nobody could hear the music but them, and you had to belt out the song into the microphone to win the prize.. No thanks! EX: 2- Kelli had to make up a rap on the spot to win her prize.. also, no thanks. Haha I would've never been able to do anything like that, and especially in front of 1,000 people!

*80's dance!! - Ahhh USU's best dance of the year.. or so I'm told. This seriously put the icing on the cake. SOO fun. I missed the Foam dance a couple nights before, so I really wanted to make the most out of this dance. I found a cute shirt at the D.I. that said "I <3 Adam!" I thought this would go along with my 80's theme, it's been a while since I've seen and I LOVE ____ shirt! haha. But seriously, the best dance I've ever been to, and I never ONCE had to move away from nasty boys wanting some one-on-one action.. Logan is so much better now that college has started! I'll keep you posted! Here are some sweet pictures from the dance.



Just me, in the most awakward position ever. Notice the trendy green carpet! Nice!

The new Roommates, and Mandy. Who basically should be our roommie

"Make a Kiss Face!" (kiss like the band, not the action.. we had

to take this picture twice, because we all thought he wanted us

to pucker up! haha we're such girls.

Action Shot! Sweet!

Haha sweet face Laurel! I just love Maile chillin on the ground,

thuggin it.

College.. So far.

I officially started college today! Last week was just a class for freshman, and sort of like an introduction to college. I basically felt like I was in the 7th grade again, and they had tours around the school.. I wasn't a huge fan of this week long class, but it was an easy TWO credits, and I only have 3 more classes.. So I guess it was worth it.
Anyway, today at 7:30 in the morning, I had English. I love Utah State because they offer a FREE shuttle that takes you up to campus and by your class. I don't know if other universities offer that? They probably do, but I'm a big fan of this service, because I live quite a ways from campus and the walk is all uphill! Plus it was raining hard today, no thanks. So I took the bus to make my first class, and it wasn't really what I had expected.. It's too much like high school- let me explain..

-it's a little class.
-the people in my class are like 18, awesome.
-the teacher looks like she's 12, not really what i pictured a professor looking like
-and it's reallly easy, or at least i feel like it will be.

Then I went on the bus to go home for about an hour, so I could make myself some breakfast. I didn't have time before my first class to do that, so this hour break in between my next class is perfect for going home and making some breakfast. Then I caught the next bus to my next class.

My 2nd class of the day is my Psych lab. Good news!! He said we didn't have to show up to that class anymore during the semester! All of the assignments are posted on the internet, so as long as I email my assignments or submit them online, I don't need to show up to that class anymore. Perfect! More time to eat and get ready! Cause literally, I ROLL out of bed to make it to english.

Now, between my little breaks in between classes I'm just chillin in the Library. The place is incredible, definitely my home for the next semester. I love it here.

Welp! I'm off to my American History class, I feel like this will be a big one because it's in one of the bigger buildings. I will post later about my other two classes today. :)

I also met my actual roommate (the one sharing a bedroom with me) last night, and I feel like we could get along really well, which is good. my other roommate... uhhh not so much. :




UPDATE: So, I went to my American History class, and I feel like I'm going to enjoy it very much. It's a big class 150 students or so, and stadium seating. I like this part of college. More boys to scope out! Aaaaand there were tons of cute ones, might I add. Also, my math class was pretty good. My math teacher is border line good looking. I'm not going to say he's hot, because that's awkward.. but for a professor.. not bad! Minus he gave us homework on the first day of class, what a joke! Overall, college was kind of boring today, but I am loving it at the same time. This is going to be a good semester. I can't wait for the festivities to start! I'll definitely fill you in on that one!

Pictures!

I got the uploading tool to work! Here are some pictures to go along with my previous post.


The whole group at the Cutler Dam. We were puuumped!


Haha, the creepiest picture of me hands down. Probably
Eric sitting on my lap has a lot to do with that..


Kelli, Me, and Lauren. These girls are amazing. :)

Kelli and I at Bear Lake, loving life.

Kelli and I at the Iron & Wine concert!

Kelli and Alex

Drew and Me

Shopping at the Gateway! (These last pictures were taken

during my Salt Lake trip, two posts ago.)

Being our awkward selves.


Kelli takin a bite.

My favorite picture with my favorite girls. :)

I disobey.. frequently. haha

Handstands for the Homeless!

Baby got back!!

*Thanks to Kelli for supplying all of these photos, cause my camera sucks!