Childhood Mem's

*Kudos to Melissa for providing me with this latest blog post. What a gem, seriously. :]

1. Where did you grow up?
I lived in Grace, Idaho for the first two years of my life, then we moved to Idaho Falls, Idaho where I resided for the next 17 years.
2. Do you consider your childhood a happy one?
The happiest. I couldn't have asked for a better childhood. I loved the fact that I had a big family. It was a huge challenge for my parents to raise us all, but I loved every minute of it.
3. Do you have any siblings?
Ha.. I have 5 other sisters (3 older, two younger) and 3 brothers (two older, one younger). And I love 'em all!
4. Who did you think was the smartest person in the world?

Definitely God.
6. What about being a child do you miss the most?
Going outside to play knowing that the whole neighborhood would be outside too.
7. Where did your family go on vacation?
We've been to several different places, but I always just loved making short trips to Grace, Idaho to visit with my grandma. Those were the days..
8. What is something you really wish you hadn't started earlier in life?
I can't really think of anything I wish I hadn't started.. But one thing I wish I had started was the piano. I played for a little bit, but never practiced and hated it. Now, I'm trying to teach myself and it's not as easy as I know it would have been if I were younger.
9. Did you have any serious accidents or illnesses as a child?

Nothing too serious. I cut my wrist open using scissors when I was trying to make a quilt for my Young Women's project. And I have a nasty scar on my knee when I fell hardcore on my way to church. Nothing stitches couldn't fix.

10. Did you have any nicknames?

Boo-Boo.. let's not talk about it.
11. Name 5 school days accomplishments.
-The only one I can think of is becoming a Geography Bee finalist for our school. How sad is that?! I had pretty good grades though. I was in advanced choir for four years.. Nothing too awesome.
12. What stories have been told about yourself as a baby?
My grandma would always tell me what a terrible child I was in church. She said my dad had to take me out every week; and every week as I was yelling, I'd never fail to wave and say goodbye to the bishop behind the pulpit.
13. Did religion/church play a part in your childhood social activities?
Oh yeah. Girls Camp. Primary Activities. Mutual. My parents were very diligent in making sure we went to every activity there was.
14. What objects do you remember from your childhood? to list a few:

Always had one of these on our home from grandma's!

We were way into pogs and slammers. I think we still have some too.

Lisa Frank.. EVERYTHING. Notebook, backpack, folders, pencils, etc. I was obsessed.


Barbie Jeep.. minus the creepy kids.

A short and easy read for when I needed an extra point to meet my A.R. goal. And I will admit that I read every one of these books..

Wouldn't go anywhere without my gellie's!

Seriously, the best computer game ever.

*I could make a whole blog post about memories as a child. I probably will, in fact. the 90's were very good to me.

The Big 22..

Layne may not be able to read this awesome post I'm dedicating to him, but I just thought I'd share with the World Wide Web how much my big brother means to me:

• He takes such good care of me. He helped with college applications and gave me lots of encouragement. That meant the world to me.
• He would always come visit me in Logan. I loved having him there to hang out with me.
• He would always send me thoughtful texts or facebook messages. I saved every one of them.
• He doesn't care what people think of him.
• He's such a goof ball. It's easy to forget all of your problems when you're around him.
• He's makes about 20 new friends every day.
• He's very smart.
• He may not think it, but I think he's a great speaker and I love hearing him bear his testimony.
• He's good at everything he does.
• He's the life of the party.

Layne and I weren't close at all growing up. We just didn't have much in common, and it was hard for us to get along. After we got over the fact that we were complete opposites, we became best friends. It was hard seeing him leave for 2 years because we were so close. I would miss our late night talks,and his spur of the moment visits to Logan. But I know that his descision to serve a mission will be the best descision he has made thus far. Since he's been on his mission, I have felt closer to him than before. He is such an amazing example, and I love hearing from him every week. I wake up every monday morning at 2 am just to read his emails. That's the perfect way to start off my week, is hearing from him. I can't wait for him to return with HONOR in 1 year and 8 months.

Layne in a nutshell.


Still his goofy self, even on the mish.

By the way.. If any single ladies are reading this- My brother will be available in a little over a year and a half. Although, I will have to approve. ;)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LAYNER!
I might just have to print this off and send this to him..

Dear Social Life,

See you in two months!

Since my social life went down the crapper, you'll have to endure posts all about my nieces and nephews. Which should be totally fine, because they are so fetchin' cute! Not to mention hilarious! But as for the whole social/dating scene.. probably won't see a lot of that for a while. Anyway, enjoy some cute pics of my niece and nephew!

1

Sweet little boy.

Classic Avery

-I don't have any pics with Jace, I wonder if he'll let me do a photoshoot with him?

-and I was bored with my hair and decided to cut some bangs. Looks a little rough, but it's okay because I'll see my sister soon and she'll fix em up for me! Right, Chelle?!

Young Love

(I thought I published this one, but I guess I never did.. This was when I was nannying over the summer.)

I love being around little kids, they are so funny and don't even mean to be. I've probably laughed more in these three weeks that I've been nannying than this whole year.. They're great. My neice, Avery, is so cute. She's in the whole "Boyfriend, kissing, fairytales, Prince Charming stage." Last week we drove out to Texas to meet with my sister's husband so we could all celebrate her little one's birthday. Anyway, her husband (JD) lives with 3 other guys, so we all crashed with JD and the three other guys for a week. Well, there was this guy living there that was actually pretty attractive. Avery had a little crush on him.

I was sitting on the couch with her and she comes and whispers in my ear:
"Laurel, I've got a secret.."
"What?!"
"There's three guys sitting at that table." (haha, really Avery?!)
"Do you have a crush on them?"
Avery blushes and goes into shy mode, which is rare.
"Yes.."
"Is it TRAVIS!?"
"Shhh! I don't want him to hear."
"Do you want me to ask Travis if he likes you?"
"Yes! But not yet, let me hide."
Avery hides behind the couch and gives me the 'thumbs up' cue.
"He's talking to the other guys right now, I don't want to inturrupt them."
"Just say, "Excuse me! I need to talk to you!"



I never found out if Travis liked Avery or not. Maybe in a couple of years though, Ave.

The Nanny

A thousand apologies for the lack of posts.
Being a nanny is a tough stuff; when I have free time, I usually don't spend it blogging. I'd rather re-watch recordings of American Idol, listening to Lee sing his version of Hallelujah. [Avery and I kept rewinding his performance, and watched it at least 30 times.. and still love it.] Or I sleep.
I need a hobby.

One Advantage

I saw this chick on campus who had super short pants on, and I thought to myself.. "Man I'm sure glad I'll never have to worry about my pants being too short." And then I thought of Steve Urkel.

There are advantages to having short legs!

My Mom Would Be Proud.

I've been sick all weekend and it's terrible! I haven't been eating and obviously haven't been very productive. But tonight.. tonight was different. Not quite sure where I got the motivation or the will, but I deep cleaned our whole apartment! It was pretty gross. I wish I would have taken 'before' and 'after' pictures because this whole process took about 4 hours. It didn't help that we have a wuss of a vacuum either.

Whoever thought that putting carpet in the bathroom area, (where girls comb their hair) was a good idea- should be slapped. Do you realize how much hair the carpet accumulates? Gross.

Our black couch covers ripped.. bummer.

I'll have you know I was on my hands and knees scrubbing that floor!! The counters don't look that clean, but really they are! There was also two sinks full of dishes that I cleaned.. minus some pots and pans because I didn't feel like scrubbing the crap out of them when I wasn't the one to dirty them :)

And a final picture of my new hair. I got it colored a little bit ago. It sucks that my natural color is blondish; because when my roots come in, it appears as if I'm going gray or my hair line is receding. And it looks GREAT! ...

Now I can sleep in peace knowing that I'll wake up to a clean apartment. :)

Perfect.. or Something Like It.

I was too tired to blog last night when I got home, but I'd just like to say it was one of the best days I've ever had in a long time.
Why, you ask??

• My Ipod and radio played all of the right songs. It's like they were psychic and knew exactly what my mood was and what I wanted to listen to, it was awesome!
• It was the last day of class and I finished up my first year of college! I feel pretty accomplished, and I'm glad I made the decision to attend college. I've grown and learned so much.
• It was April 30th. Some people might not find any significance in this date, but it just so happens to be my half-birthday! 6 more months until I'm 21!
• Elicia did my hair. I love it when people play or fix my hair! By the way, it looked fantastic, wish you all could've seen. :)
• It took me two seconds to find something to wear today, and it worked the first time I tried it on. I won't lie, I looked pretty good yesterday!
• I didn't have to wait for any red lights, and every time I had to turn left it was a green arrow.
• I went over to my grandparent's house, and of course they took good care of me and wouldn't let me leave until I had a bowl of Chili.. and a rice krispy treat :)
• The Jazz took the Nuggets out of the playoffs! Nobody thought that would happen, especially with two of our starters injured. Bring on the Lakers!
• A certain someone, and his thoughtful email that he sent me. :)
• I went out of my way to make someone's day.
• I spent $12 at the grocery store with food that will last me all of next week until I move. I've never been that great of a bargain shopper.
• Randomly picking a General Conference talk to read like it was specifically written for me.
• My wonderful mom provided me with my Melaleuca Products this month.. it's funny how fast your money gets sucked out of your checking account when you lose your job.
• There was probably a lot more, but for the most part- everything just worked out yesterday. It's so refreshing to have days like these, I highly recommend them.

The Final Countdown

1 more day of class..

4 more finals to take..

1 more week until I move out of my apartment..

2 more weeks until I pack up my stuff again and head to Phoenix..

& about 1.5 months later we arrive in Oklahoma City!

I'm so excited to spend the whole summer with my big sis Leah and her fam. I only get to see them about twice a year, so to be able to spend the whole summer with her again is awesome! I can't wait to be a nanny again. And I can't wait to meet some new people. I really needed a change, so this opportunity was absolutely perfect. :)

I get to hang out with these munchkins everyday. :)

Different World

Since I live in Logan I have the opportunity to visit my grandparents frequently. That's probably my favorite thing about living here too. I'm so grateful that we're so close now. I know so much more about them, and I love to hear their stories. They are such great examples, and I hope that I can be the kind of wife/mother that my grandma is; and also my mom, because she is a spitting image of my grandma.

But I was talking with my grandma the other day, and she was just telling me how different the world is now than what it was like when she was growing up. I'll give you a few examples:

She said that is was unheard of for a woman to initiate ANYTHING with a boy. No phone calls, no asking out on dates (now there's girls choice dances), and I'm pretty sure the girl didn't make the first move. She told me that when she was engaged to grandpa she had to call and tell him something important, so she did. She said after she had called him that her mom was in shock because girls aren't suppose to call boys even if she was engaged! That's so crazy.
She also said that it was improper for someone to say that they were pregnant. I can't remember the proper way you were to release that kind of information, but nobody back then said that they were pregnant. Also crazy.
And last, she said that the language now is so crude. Which I agree with too, that's no surprise. Seriously even in PG-13 movies they throw in the F bomb, and we get a little more immune to hearing that, so now it seems like no big deal.
Well, I just thought I'd share with you what I learned from my grandma. We certainly do live in a different world now, that's for sure.

[my wonderful grandparents]
Picture courtesy of Marcie Moody's Facebook page, I didn't have any pictures of just the two of them.
*I just have to share this one other thing-
I was watching a late Jazz game at their house the other day, and it was about 11:30pm when my grandpa says to my grandma, "Can you fix me up some celery?" It's completely effortless to cut up some celery and serve it, but if my husband were to ask me that so late in the night, I would probably be grumpy and tell him to fix it himself, but instead my sweet grandma says, "Well of course dear!" I think we can all learn a thing or two from her. Isn't she neat?