You smell like beef and cheese

Let's just talk about how horrible I am at blogging for a second. Sorry. I suck at it. It's been precisely 18 days. Whoopsies! School and work and tv and sleep and eating have definitely gotten in the way.

Shortly after Thanksgiving break, we had the Winter Formal dance at church! It was totes awesome. Shoutout to my awesome date.

 

Can I just say that I love my roommates? Sadly Lauren was sick that night, but she was there in spirit. 

 

 Oh and you know we got down on the dance floor all night long.

 

Sydney and I decided to join the other cool kids who have started "Grilled Cheese Tuesday". They said we were impostors. 

I'm not sure when this photo was taken, but here is a picture of Jared looking mighty fine at the institute. 

Since the seasons have been changing, you know I had to make a Christmas wreath for our house. I decided to do just red and white so I could reuse it for Valentine's Day by replacing the snowflakes with hearts. Thrifty, I know. 

For those of you who may not know, my calling (assigned volunteer position) at church is to be an "FHE Lead". FHE is Family Home Evening, which would normally be a fun night to spend with your family. However, we are a bunch of college students living away from our families. Therefore, we are separated into four very large families, each family with a male and female co-leader (we just call ourselves parents). This school year I was called to be a mom! So I have been coordinating FHE all semester for 44 young adults. Most of whom are older than me. I try to make FHE be as fun and enjoyable as possible, instead of a lesson and overused game every time. Since the holidays are getting closer and finals were drawing near, I decided we should decorate sugar cookies! Can I just say that I have the most enthusiastic and artistic family out there? They rock. 

 

Sydney looks super cute when she eats cookies that she decorated. 

 Travis makes really nice snowflakes too. He also likes to pose like a model.

 I think Chloe won the prize for "Most hipster mitten"

And oh my goodness this one that Audrey made is basically a work of art. 

 

 Here is Sister Eyre looking like a total cutie pie. As always.

 

In classic 3rd ward style, we went to U-Swirl after FHE to celebrate Sister Eyre and the time she has spent with us. She is one of the best sister missionaries I have ever known and I feel so happy and proud to call her my friend. I can't wait to party it up with her in Utah over Christmas break! She rocks my world. We were really sad for her to be leaving us, but her time was up and now she can be with her family and friends again! 

 

 

The roomies and I wish Megan all the best in her schooling and everything else!

 

Since I didn't get to decorate any cookies during FHE because I was supervising, I made myself one the next morning. It was pretty darn yummy. 

 

 Here is a selfie of me enjoying that snowflake cookie.

  

It was Danielle's birthday which means you know we went to U-Swirl again! I feel bad for the people who work there because we take over their entire store quite often. It's ok because Danielle is totally worth it. 

 

For those of you who recall our sleepless nights in 1320 when the air conditioning was broken...guess what? It turns out that the reason it wouldn't work was because the entire heating and air conditioning unit had a huge crack in it. After suffering many mornings of it being 40 degrees (which is cold for this Texas/Africa/California raised girl), our landlord finally replaced it. Thank goodness!!

Last Saturday we got to have a super fun time and go to Natalie's Bridal Shower! It was amazing and she is so sweet and beautiful. I don't think anyone can say that they don't think Natalie is the nicest person ever, because she definitely is. We had delicious chicken salad sandwiches and fruit and Martinelli's and it was fabulous! To be honest, I think I ate three of the sandwiches. Whoopsies. Natalie's high school BFF Justine planned some rocking games which we got to play. There was even a little girl named Phoebe there! Maybe if we had known that there was going to be a small child there we would have gotten Natalie a much tamer gift....

One of the games we played was like "Headbands" where we had to find our match. My match was Sydney and we were William and Kate. I liked my nametag so much that I wore it home and even took a nap with it on.

 

 

The roomies and I with the beautiful Mrs. Natalie Smith. 

 

And here is the ADORABLE Phoebe who let me hold her kitty, Ballerina, during the shower. 

 

So I discovered that my roomies/friends hadn't ever been to Lindy's, which is definitely my dad's favorite restaurant in Tucson. Shoutout to EJ for introducing us to this glorious establishment. Their motto is "Curing anorexia one cheeseburger at a time". Their burgers live up to that motto. I got my favorite burger which has guacamole, sour cream, and french fries on it. It doesn't get much better than that, kiddos. 

For FHE this week, we were combined as a ward, which meant I wasn't in charge of planning it. (Thank goodness because it's finals week) We combined with 5th ward as well and carpooled over to Winterhaven, which is basically a neighborhood with cute Christmas lights and displays all over. Almost the entire area is completely done up in holiday spirit and it was so gosh darn cute! 

 

Here is Sydney and I with everyone's favorite Christmas character, Curious George. 

 

And of course I had to get a picture in front of the Menorah to pay homage to my Jewish background.

 

The lights were just so pretty! Definitely a sensory overload for me though. 

  

 Here's Nate in his natural habitat, milking a cow.

  

One of my favorite houses had the 12 days of Christmas set up on their lawn. I especially loved the "8 Maids a Milking" one. Such diverse maids. 

And no holiday event would be complete without an entire house dedicated to the movie Elf. This is my absolute favorite quote from the movie. It happens to be one of my family's favorite movies and we have carried on a tradition of watching it every Thanksgiving after our turkey dinner since the movie came out. It is such a classic and my father and I like to be annoying and quote everything that Buddy does or says. Often times we quote Buddy incorrectly or we say what he's going to do 5 seconds before he does it. That's ok though because my mom and sister have to love us no matter what. 

Today was the last day of finals which means that I am done for the rest of the semester! Three down, a lot more to go. Tonight also happens to be EJ's graduation ceremony (Part one, there's another on Saturday) so the Richardsons are coming down this afternoon. It's going to be a bigger party than usual because we are celebrating EJ's graduation AND because their brother Rory came home from his mission last night! I have befriended almost all of the other Richardsons (Except the McLeod's who are in Canada) and I can't wait to finally meet him!



As a side note, if anyone is looking for a great movie to see in theaters,  I highly recommend Tyler Perry's A Madea Christmas. Hands down the funniest movie I have seen in a long time. If you want to feel nostalgic and watch a sequel that isn't as great as the original, then I suggest Anchorman 2. And if you want to see a movie with a horrible ending, then the Desolation of Smaug is probably your best bet.

Thanksgiving break!

Hello! So I flew home on Wednesday evening, and it was glorious. 

Here is a picture of the cute little dutch ovens my mom got! Let's ignore the dirty pan though.

Here is an artsy photo of an orange. 

Here is a picture of Owen looking super cute. 

And Dewey doing the same. 

Jozi wouldn't pose for the camera. 

Here is the beautiful stuffing?

And my beautiful plate of food.

I told my mom to take a picture of the menorah and this is how it turned out....not sure if she was shooting the menorah or the wine glass but I'll take it. 

And to top it all off, I took a picture of the inside of my mom's brand new car! She got a Jeep Grand Cherokee and it has all of the fancy bells and whistles on the inside - we definitely had fun playing with it all weekend. 

It was a super fun time at home filled with lots of dogs, food, family, a completed 1000 piece puzzle of Times Square, watching Elf, Black Friday shopping, family portraits, painting, more shopping, more food, sleep, more dogs, and friends. It was a really nice break from school and I feel recharged and ready to tackle finals. We are in the homestretch, kiddos!!!

To get you through finals, please enjoy this video that my mother took of me coming home to my pets. And ignore my squealing, I just get way too excited to see Dewey. 

To my best friend, Syd

Happy happy birthday to my bestest friend Sydney!!! She is the light of my life and truly my soul sister. 

I'm going to copy Lauren and make a list of 18 different things that I love about Sydney. In no particular order.....

1. Sydney has the world's best taste in music and she is always down to rock out to some awesome tunes whether it's in the morning, in the car, or in the shower.

2. Syd has the best combination of blue eyes and brown hair. It's beautiful.

3. Sydney is so loyal to all of her friends and would lay down her life for any of them.

4. Sydney is so strong in who she is and would never ever let anyone tell her otherwise.

5. Sydney is probably the world's cutest person. Just look at her when she gets excited or nervous and you'll know what I'm talking about. 

6. Sydney is very passionate about anything and everything, including Big Brother but surprisingly doesn't want to live in a trailer park.

7. Sydney's family is probably the most entertaining group of people ever and Syd contributes a lot to that fact.

8. Syd is super understanding and will be there for you if you are ever having a tough time. Even though she doesn't like touching, she will hold you while you cry. 

9. Sydney would never judge anyone for having different beliefs than she does, only if they're Republican.

10. Sydney hates French just about as much as I do.

11. Sydney is very consistent with her visiting teaching.

12. Syd has a lot of very specific "favorites" (Takis, red, Mt. Dew, etc) which make it very easy to buy things for her. 

13. Sydney puts up with my craziness and never once objects to living with me or having to be in the same room as me. 

14. Sydney is mature and wise beyond her years. 

15. Sydney is cultured and aware of the world around her, which is pretty rare to find in most 18 year olds. 

16. Sydney is really good at getting free Chipotle with me. We always walk away without paying full price. 

17. Sydney lets me say my jokes fifty thousand times over and over and over again because I like to make sure that everyone has heard the beautiful things I have to say. 

18. Syd's name starts with the same letter as mine, which automatically means that we are soulmates and meant to be best friends for time and all eternity. 

Sydney I love you so much and I'm so grateful that I've had the opportunity to celebrate you this week!

Phi Beta Kappa initiation ceremony. 

First game in the ZonaZoo.

First Sunday at the Singles Ward. 

Getting ice cream and looking hot at the same time. 

The first of many free trips to Chipotle. 

Gettin' down at EJ's party. 

Impromptu scenic hikes. 

And the picture which defines our relationship.

If you give a girl a mouse....

Holy cow I would be so happy. Back when I was in 2nd grade, I desperately wanted a pet of my own that I could take care of and call mine. My family had cats and dogs, but they were the "family pets". Not my own. My parents suggested a rat or mouse, and upon further investigation, decided a rat would be easier. Mice are super small and can get out of their cages and hide places in the house. So I was content with the rat for a while. But the mice are just so much cuter!!! My sister promised me that when she went to college, she would buy me a white and tan mouse. I'm not sure why she had to wait until college, considering the fact that mice cost around $4. But I think we thought they were much rarer than they actually are. My sister just finished up her Master's this summer. I'm still sitting here mouse-less.

Oh my goodness it is so cute! Actually, I'm not entirely sure it's that cute. I think the hype that I've built up over the years makes it look much cuter.

Homecoming Weekend

I suck so hard at blogging omg. Here's how cute I look in my Gap nametag. 

And here is my nametag up close. 

We went wedding shopping with Natalie and I naturally had to try on tiaras. 

One time Lauren and I went on a cute date to Rubio's. 

I freaking love the turtle pond! It always amazes me. 

Ok so now I've officially been to two hockey games in my life! We went to one on Halloween and it was my first one ever! I even got a puck :) It's decorating our bookshelf and it is my pride and joy. 

Since it was Halloween, we all dressed up. EJ put his Benny wig to good use and dressed up as a crunchy person. 

Peace. Granola. And hockey. 

I rock that wig rather well. In my own humble opinion. 

The next night was the Halloween dance where we were all Cheetah Girls. Here is a blurry photo of me being super hip with my Cheetah Girl makeup. 

Annabeth and I's new favorite thing to do is to put pantyhose over our heads. It makes for some super attractive photos where we resemble 19th century British boys. 

This weekend was Homecoming weekend and my mom came to visit as well as the Richardson clan! It was truly a weekend filled with so much joy. We went to a hockey game, ate lots of yummy food, went shopping, walked around campus, went to the Homecoming parade, some of us went to the game, my mom and I went horseback riding, and we just had the best time ever!!!!! Here is a picture of me in a car full of Richardsons. And Annabeth, but she's hiding. 

Avery found a hat at the mall that she liked a lot. It inspired her to start rapping into the mirror. 

After the mall, we went to Taco Bell!!!

Hockey game selfies....naturally. 

I joined in on the fun. 

After the hockey game, I took McKenzie and Avery to the airport to pick up my mom! Avery didn't hang in there too long so she slept through the whole ordeal. 

After the airport, my bedmate slept very peacefully. She looked like a little angel!

The next day was HOMECOMING! We went to the parade which was awesome. 

Roomie selfie at the parade.

Again, Avery fell asleep. 

We should definitely be in the "Wild Ones" section of ZonaZoo. 

This basically sums up Syd and I.

Look. Here's me and my friend Matt. We love hanging out so much. 

Finally, my mom and I had a lovely dinner before I sent her back to San Ramon! We ordered the same exact thing. 

It was an awesome weekend and I'm so grateful that my mom was able to take time away from San Ramon and to come visit me and play with us all weekend long!!!!