Turn around bright eyes.

Well blogging world, I've done it again! (By "it" I mean go an entire month without blogging.) I figured some of you would be curious as to what I've been up to (MOM) and I was also given a class assignment to make 3 blog posts on a blog so that was my extra push. 

So since my last blog post, I've been doing a lot of school and work. The usual. But let's skip to the exciting stuff!!

The Friday before General Conference (October 3) I flew off to Salt Lake City! I had booked a shuttle to take me from the airport straight to BYU. However, my flight was delayed about 15 minutes so my shuttle left without me. They said I could wait another hour and take the next shuttle but I was impatient and mad at them. Plus I wanted to get to BYU before the football game. So I hopped on a train and hoped for the best! It ended up taking me around 2 hours to get to BYU. While I was on the Front Runner, I got a text from Dallin saying that he had just received his mission call in his mailbox! I almost died and fell off the train. As soon as the train arrived in Provo, the Slavens picked me up from the train station and we headed on over to Swig for the mission call opening. 

For those of you who don't know the Slavens well, Dallin's father went to Anaheim, California Spanish speaking and his older brother went to Twin Falls, Idaho Spanish speaking. So we were all prepared for stateside, Spanish speaking. Imagine our surprise when Dallin opens up his call and it's to FREAKING CAMBODIA! So that was basically the craziest thing in the entire world.

 

Still shaking in disbelief and excitement haha. After all the excitement, we headed over to grab some pizza and then we went to the football game. We only made it through halftime, but that's ok because BYU still ended up losing. 

 

The next morning we got up and hung out for a few hours. Then we picked up Dallin from his dorm, went to Flags N Stuff, and proceeded to buy every single thing in the store that had Cambodia on it (don't worry, I got a keychain). Then we drove off to South Salt Lake City where Olan Rogers (famous YouTube comedian and my personal idol) was having a meetup. When we got there, we found a line a mile long with people who had been waiting for over three hours. Since we had to rush off to Priesthood session, we decided to just take selfies with Olan from afar. While we were watching all of the diehard fans who had been there all day greeting Olan, I struck up a conversation with a security guard, explaining that we only had ten minutes to spend in the park. He talked to one of Olan's consultants and she asked the people in the front of the line if we could cut them, and they said yes!!!! So we got to go straight to the front of the line and personally meet Olan Rogers. As if that wasn't good enough, Olan's cameraman loved Dallin's dance moves (who doesn't) and filmed him dancing and later interviewed the whole group. 

 

We also picked up Olan Rogers. 

 

While the big boys went to Priesthood session, the ladies and children shopped around City Creek Center and ate some food. Then we got the boys and headed off to the world's scariest corn maze. I was so terrified. It was WAY scarier than Tucson's Terror in the Corn. 

The following morning we went to Salt Lake City again and walked around Temple Square. We bumped into the ONLY Cambodian Sister Missionary there. Which was crazy because we had been looking for her all weekend. She was so cute!!! Then we went to the PM session of Conference and it was amazing as always. 

 

After Conference, I was taken straight to the airport and flew back to Phoenix so I could be back to school on Monday. 

So this past week was my best friend Elmer Jay's birthday week! It was also a special week since it was his last week in Tucson!!! On Tuesday we had a birthday dinner at Native New Yorker as a surprise party and the turnout was awesome! He was so shocked. 

I spent the rest of the week filming people and then editing like crazy for EJ's birthday video. I seriously used every spare minute of free time to edit this dang video. I don't even remember showering or sleeping during that week. It was totally worth it in the end though (don't worry mom, I still did my homework first). 

On Friday I had to work until 5 and then I went straight home to prep for the party! It was a superb success. 

 

Lots of karaoke, as per usual. 

 

Saturday we went to Meet the Mormons in the morning (much better than I thought, everyone go see it!) and then headed off to the game. Excuse my messy hair in the following picture. Like I said, barely had time to shower this week. 

The game was surely a nail biter, and while it was a bummer that we lost, we played super well and I'm actually glad we lost because being undefeated puts too much pressure on the team in my opinion. 

 

After the game we had yet another party for EJ's going away at the house. Complete with delicious cupcakes (thanks mama Richardson). Tucson will miss having EJ (so will I...) but he is only a 2 hour drive away and we will still be seeing each other often! So all is well. 

 

XOXO Gossip Squirrel

Turtle love.

Another week down!! Monday and Tuesday were pretty much the same as usual. Except for the fact that there was no school on Monday! So you know that me, Syd, and Lauren went to the mall to hit up the Labor Day sales. Don't worry, we were very successful. Tuesday was back to the grind for everyone. Then on Wednesday, we went to school like normal and in the evening we had a special guest arrive! Bekah Jo is back in town and staying at 1320 for ten days. EJ and I went to the airport to pick her up and then we picked up the roomies and co. and went to Taco Bell. On Thursday we all went to class while Bekah went to a million and one Institute classes. That night we went to Outback to have a true Aussie experience. According to Bekah though, nothing there is very Australian. On Friday night, Bekah decided she wanted to go stargazing so we drove out to a random mountain and attempted to stargaze. Unfortunately it was pretty cloudy so there weren't many stars, but the city lights were beautiful. Then we went to 7-11 and got Slurpees. 

Saturday!!! So for those of you who didn't already know this, the first baby elephant born in Arizona arrived on August 20th at 10:55 pm. She is the cutest thing in the world and I have been dying to see her. I honestly cried a few times when she was brought up and when we drove past the zoo. The zoo is roughly six minutes away from our house and yet I had never been there. So Bekah, Syd, and I woke up early and ventured off to the Reid Park Zoo. It. Was. Amazing. 

Hello Mr. Giraffe. 

They had so much elephant paraphernalia I was in heaven. 

Seriously in heaven. 

Whilst at the zoo, we encountered some turtles who were "fighting" with each other. I'll spare you the gory details, but let's just say that turtle moans are ridiculous. They are so loud and low and grotesque. 

Here's the large turtle after an unsuccessful attempt at mating. 

Here is a nice little llama. 

#models

We also fed giraffes and it was a beautiful and glorious moment. 

After the zoo we had some Smashburger and went home to relax for a little bit. Then we headed out into the rain to drive up Mt. Lemmon. This is my favorite activity of the year and this one did not disappoint at all!

The beezies plus Bekah. 

Ryan found a cutie little frog thing. 

Overcast selfies are everyone's fave. 

As are group rock pictures. 

It was so much fun and we danced the night away in the mountains. Good food, good company, good music, good atmosphere. Overall a great, great, great time. 

Sunday: We went to church like normal. During sacrament meeting I took a phone call from my dad. I've been debating how to address this on my blog, but I just don't really know quite how. I didn't want to sound dramatic or cold or whiney or anything. I debated not putting this on the blog at all but I felt as though it deserved to go there. On Sunday morning our sweet Great Dane was put down. She has been getting old for a few years, but still doing fine. Over the past few days however, her organs started shutting down and my parents could tell that it was just her time to go, so they brought her in to the vet. It's hard to talk about this and hard to explain it to others outside of my family. In my family, pets are just like any other family member, if not even more important. 

We got Jozi from a breeder in Johannesburg (her namesake city) while living abroad. She provided us with much joy and laughter in South Africa. She scared our little maid Joanna, she stole the Thanksgiving turkey at just 10 months old, and she hid in the bathtub from our 9 pound cat. She travelled with us across the globe to San Ramon where her and Ozzie played outside, roughhoused, and created a spectacle wherever we went. With her passing, not only did Dewey lose a friend and we lost a family member, but all of those memories that our family shared have come to an end. She was a part of our lives during the most dynamic, troubling, joyous, and formative years. She will be missed and her memories will be cherished forever. 

Thank you for all of the love, slobber, and laughs, Jozi. 

Grateful Dead

Haha jk. Day one of the Grateful challenge. (5 days of three different things you're grateful for).

1. Diet Coke. My one and only true love that no man will ever be able to rival.

2. My family: for loving me unconditionally and supporting me no matter what I do (even if I decide to do something crazy like switch religions). They are my rock and my ride or die no matter what.

3. The opportunities that I have had to travel the world and learn about other cultures. While living in Johannesburg I was able to travel so much and it truly has helped me become who I am today. I love travelling and I will never stop!

(PS this picture is of me at the London Olympics so yes it's relevant) 

I'm all jacked up on Mountain Dew!

Hey party people! First week of school: done. And it has been awesome. Since switching my major, I am loving my classes. My Spanish class is fantastic and seems to be a review of 251 so I'm stoked for that, and it means I'm one step closer to completing my minor. My History class is pretty easy and we are looking at the Social Studies Standards for different grades in Arizona. Math is easy because we basically just write different word problems the entire time. We have to learn about the different types of problems and how to incorporate them into lessons, but it's definitely easier than Calculus. My Schooling in America class is really interesting because it's all about different educational philosophies, and my Learning Technologies class is cool because we are learning how to make websites to use in our classrooms. 

Enough with the school stuff!!! Friday night was the first football game of the year! It was fabulous. We totally creamed UNLV! I left early, which is a good thing because as soon as I left my nose erupted into a volcano of blood. 

It was so exhilarating to be back in the Zoo! Always a blast. We have a fresh new group of people in our crew and I can already tell that it is going to be a great season. 

We had to have three different people take our picture but we finally got a good one! Love the new ZonaZoo shirts. 

SATURDAY the day of our first party of the school year. We started off going to Costco, then we got to work doing all sorts of stuff around the house. We even weeded the backyard. We had a Will Ferrell themed party where everyone came dressed as their favorite Will Ferrell character (or supporting character in any of his films). Which is perfect, because Talladega Nights is one of my all time favorite movies. Ever. 

Lauren and Sydney dressed as Step Brothers (step sisters) and they were super cute. 

Annabeth dressed up as the guy from Land of the Lost. 

EJ and I were Craig and Arianna from SNL. Shoutout to Wes for being the best Craig I know. 

BFFLS

Who's that Spartan in my teepee?

The costume winner - Kyla as Ron Burgundy. 

Costume runner ups - Blades of Glory. 

Chloe was the 3rd place costume prize champ as Semi Pro.

As with every 1320 party, there was rocking karaoke. 

I've been told we had the cutest duet to Summer Lovin'. Probably because I think we were the only real duet. 

The party was a blast and it is always so fun to have our crew over and to rock out! 

This morning I gave my first ever talk in church! It was about the Priesthood Man and I made a ton of jokes and I was told that it went well! Lauren said I had to get my picture taken so here it is for all of you. 

And as a bonus, enjoy this video of Keith and I's duet. 

We're the kids in America....Woah

SURPRISE!!!! Once again I didn't blog. I barely had time to breathe this summer, let alone blog. I think I only showered weekly to be honest. Let's back it up to the end of June. I went away for a week to CAMP SUMMIT! For the fifth year in a row, I was a counselor to a bunch of 8-17 year olds and it was glorious. This year I was head counselor so I had a lot of extra responsibilities (most importantly being the DJ at the dance). It was hard, exhausting, stressful, taxing, but it was also rewarding, fun, and absolutely amazing. It's the best part of my summer every year. 

Here's my cutie counselor buddy Emmi. She jumped right on in even though it was her first year!

The kids this year were hysterical! They got into the art supplies....

Once again, the beach was a huge hit with the kids. 

Shirts were not required. 

They had great senses of humor!

We had a Jungle themed dance at the end of the week so I dressed up as a Jungle explorer. 

Back at home, I had a week long break and then started working at Adventures in Writing Camp in Los Altos. 

Here's a church selfie with Kristi. 

On weekends and nights I was also doing babysitting/party planning/a million other things. 

Kenzie is the cutest thing ever! She learned my name this summer but she pronounces it like "Day-Day"

My parents and I went on a little trip to Napa during my week-long break. 

The shopping and sightseeing was so fun!

I found the place for me. 

The best part about Napa if you're underage or Mormon (which I am both) is the FOOD. We went to Bottega which is one of my parents' favorite restaurants. 

The next morning we got up bright and early and went on a hot air balloon ride! It was so cool. There was too much fog over the Napa Valley so we took a two hour drive to Yolo County and flew over all of the agriculture fields. 

The sunflowers were humungous! 

While we were there we indulged in one of my favorite summer treats. Macarons! They are delightful chewy cookies. 

When we got back it was 4th of July so I made us a patriotic fruit pizza! 

We got new outdoor chairs and dishes, and Dewey got to have his nightly beer outside. 

That weekend, my mom and I went to Rachel Dunn's chocolate making class. It was so cool! We had no idea what to expect - we were ready for a copycat of the chocolate factory episode of I Love Lucy. 

The hairnets were the best part. 

We got a huge plate of goodies to take home and they were all so yummy!

When we got home, the new guitar that I had ordered online was at our door! I was so excited. It's beautiful!

I did a lot more babysitting...

And took selfies at camp. 

My mom and I hit up the annual Dachshund day in Carmel and Dewey even ventured into the water! It was awesome and we did it as a day trip and it worked out perfectly. 

We had to get a picture in the Wienermobile. 

Dewey was really into digging in the sand and burying things this time around. He buries things with his nose so it ended up getting pretty dirty. 

After the two weeks of writing camp in Los Altos, I started another two weeks of camp in Danville. The cool part about this session of camp was that a lot of the kids go to my mom's school so they all thought I was royalty. 

Writing camp was fun and crazy! They wrote their own e-books and edited and published them during the two weeks. The kids were super creative and had some crazy stories. 

I was also introduced to the Snoopify app, which is the best thing ever. 

At camp, we had Rap battle days where we had to dress up like rappers. Those days were my favorite because my rapper outfit is so comfy!

Selfie with Dewey on the way to the dog park. 

After writing camp ended, I went back to the Law Firm and kept working on the tasks I had left behind. I kept babysitting and nannying while the Kahn's nanny was sick for a week. We went swimming a lot and it rocked!

We also fed the ducks!

Finally it was time for the celebration of the summer! The August birthday party. This year it was combined with Madison and Mackenzie. Madison turned 5 and Mackenzie turned 2 and we had an art themed party. It was so much work but it was great! Best party of the year. 

Here's our candy bar. 

Cupcakes!!

Goody bags!

Madison looked so cute! 

Jackson gave a talk in Primary and it was fantastic. 

The Slavens fed the Elders on Sunday and watched Saturday's Warrior and we took a selfie on the way to the Tjan's house for the movie. 

I did the ice bucket challenge....

And I frosted Dallin's tips. 

I went to the Legit performance for the first time ever and it was so fun!!! Our little family :)

My dad got us matching roadtrip shirts for our drive Tucson. 

Today was the first day of church with my roomies and it was super fun! Lots of new people. 

After church, Sydney poured ice water on yet more ice-challengers and it rocked. 

After that I made dinner for the beezies and now we are getting ready for the first day of school! I can't wait - this should be a great semester!!!!