Cousins at College

It's The End of the World As We Know It

2010-01-21T14:37:00.000-08:00

Well, we have officially reached the end. For all those of you who have been worried that now that Kajsa is married you would never hear from us again in the blog world- don't worry, you will! Just not here. We have both created ourselves new blogs (separately now) and so you'll have double the fun hearing about our lives from now on. My (Melanie) blog is now at melaniefry.blogspot.com, and Kajsa's (and her new addition of husband, Mckay) blog will be at mckayandkajsa.blogspot.com

So never fear, we are still going to be around, just not at this blog. After a little while (hopefully to give you all time to read this last post and change over to our new blogs) we will delete Cousins at College, so make sure you get our new addresses! And thanks for reading :)

Things I've Learned in College- Fall '09 Edition

2009-12-18T08:21:00.000-08:00

The semester has finally finished (ok, so it finished awhile ago... hey, don't judge, I was busy!) and I've decided to do a post again where I write down all the new things I've learned at college. So here is my "Fall '09 Semester Learnings List" :)

1. You'd think the city bus (being on a scheduled time and all) would come on time... it doesn't.

2. The library is where it's at during finals week. However, the library is not where it's at when it comes to studying during finals week...

3. You meet some extremely interesting people when standing in line for basketball games. You also get really close ;)

4. When scheduling meetings with advisors, or any other thing besides your already scheduled classes, it's always helpful to remember the correct time that those things are at. That way you aren't waiting around for an hour or two before they start... you also aren't missing them...

5. No matter how much you try, your physics lab teacher will never understand your question the first time... or the second... possibly even the third...

6. There are some really interesting things you can do with a microwave. Probably not good things for the microwave though.

7. 4:30 class times are the worst. Especially when you get graded on attendance.

8. However, you can discover ways of using that class time for your advantage... for example, you're on campus anyway why not go talk to that cute boy you know is in the library right then? :)

9. Despite any good intentions you may have, homework will never get done when you get ganged up on by three of your friends to go do something fun. (But let's face it, you wanted to go to the game anyway)

10. It's always good to have a back-up plan. Rainy, windy, freezing game? No problem, we can watch it on the cable :)

11. Talking to someone on Facebook chat who's sitting right next to you is really entertaining. Doing it in the library while studying- even better. Doing it in the library while studying and sitting across from someone who has no clue what's going on or why you're laughing-priceless :)

12. Do not read or do funny things in the library, people don't like it when you laugh really loud.

13. I apparently have really big pupils.

14. It's amazing how many people you can get to show up somewhere if you mention the word "dessert".

15. You can get some really interesting quotes from talks in a single's ward. Example: "Satan's slippery slope is slipprier (yes I know that's not a real word) with butter." or "She was totally diggin' his chilli."

16. I apparently have very nice smelling hair.

17. When it comes to dating there's either a drought or the quote "when it rains it pours" comes into play. The same is also true with engagements... it's either none at all, or all at once.

18. When you're in the major Elementary Education the people in your classes just follow you around from one class to the next. It's amazing how close you get by the end of the semester.

19. It's really fun to argue with people during class discussions. They get really flustered :)

and finally....

20. You can always make it through a semester with a little help from family, friends and delicious food.

If You Chance to Meet A Frown, Do Not Let It Stay, Quickly Turn it Upside Down And Smile That Frown Away :)

2009-11-23T15:56:00.000-08:00

It's amazing how Utah weather can go from snowy, wet, windy yuck to sunny, bright, blue-skied pretty in one day. It's also amazing how one girl can go from extremely bored, stressed and fed-up to busy (somewhat), excited and happy in one week. Due to time (writing) restrictions we'll gloss over the part where I was the extremely bored, stressed and fed-up child by just saying I was a little stressed out and wasn't having a good time at school or work, and we'll move on to the busy, excited, happy girl that I am now :) This past week has been awesome. I've been hanging out with some awesome people, doing some fun things and it has completely cured my stressed-outed...ness... Anyway, here is the break down:

Sunday- Had a desert night with friends for the first time in probably a few months. Spent a good chunk of the night talking to my friend Stuart (who then proceeded to change the greeting message on my phone to "I love Stuart! Marry me!") and having fun arguing with him about which of us would win at a Guitar Hero battle (totally me (; )

Tuesday- Hung out with Brittany, Collin and Jason. We played the game 5 Crowns and stayed up waay too late

Wednesday- Spent an hour after class in the library distracting Stuart from his homework (not like he wasn't distracting himself before. Here's what I see open on the computer when I come in: Facebook, Youtube, email, more Youtube....) More arguing about Guitar Hero :)

Thursday- Went with my friend Emily to the USU Guitar Club's Cake tribute concert so that we could support the "Manhouse". (for those of you who haven't heard, the "Manhouse" is an apartment of boys in my ward that I'm friends with. For instance, Stuart lives in the Manhouse, along with Moose, Boy, Jason, James and Tyler) Had an awesome time talking to Boy and Jason instead of listening to the actual concert (oops (; ) and then helped Stuart clean up his drumset and take it back to their apartment

Friday- Went to the last Aggie home football game (don't even ask how we did :P ) with Brittany, Emily, Collin, and the Manhouse boys. Decided to skip out of watching the terrible losing end by leaving with Emily and Boy at the end of the 3rd quarter to go to Angies to have food and to interrogate Boy on the girls in his life.

Saturday- Hung out with my friend Emily, doing random exciting things :)

Sunday- Made brownies with Emily and then randomly went over to the Manhouse for some entertainment. Ended up listening to everyone's first kiss stories, which some of those boys' were pretty funny :)

Monday (today)- Got jolted awake from a nap by my phone ringing. Didn't recognize the number but figured I'd answer it anyway. Turned out to be my friend Jenn's younger brother Sam who got back from his mission... 2 days ago? 3, 4? Less than a week ago. Anyway, he asked me on a date, which was rather hilarious because #1- I was barely coherent having been just woken up from a nap, and #2- We've never even met. But hey, it's a date :)

Anyway, that is my exciting life lately. This week I'm way excited for Thanksgiving on Thursday when I get to go home! (well... sort of (: ) I can't wait to see the whole family, and hopefully when I come back up I will have a little package of things coming with me (preferably the Wii and Beatle's Rockband that Bradley will definitely let me borrow (; ) Maybe then me and Stuart can finally put to rest that I am much better at Guitar Hero (although in this case it will be Rockband) than he is ;) Hope you all have a Happy Thanksgiving and an awesome break!

They Did The Monster Mash

2009-10-31T16:02:00.000-07:00

Hey everybody- Happy Halloween! I finally got some exciting news to write about so I'm back on the blog :) Let's start the party!

On Friday the IMA (institute men's association) had a volleyball tournament which me and my friends entered. There were 6 of us on the team- me, Brittany, Jen, Ben, Collin, and Adam- and we did amazing if I do say so myself. We won our first game, but sadly got knocked out in the second round. But hey, that was a lot farther then my team got last year though ;) Anyway, here are our pictures from the night taken courtesy of of my team's official "photographer" (thank you Emily!)

The team (from left to right): Adam, Jen, Ben, Collin, Brit, and Me :)

Setting up the rotation for the first game

Going for the ball (don't we all look so good? (; )

It was a way fun evening and I loved playing with everybody. Along with the fun of the volleyball tournament we had a combined FHE Halloween party this last Monday. It was at "the Man House" which is an apartment full of boys in our ward. These are also the same boys who we played the "Genevieve" cat trick on. Sooo, (obviously), this was the perfect time to play a second "Genevieve" prank on them. While a couple of us distracted them with our awesome costumes, our friend Emily snuck into their bathroom and taped Genevieve to their shower head. The girls strike again! It was a great party, and I wish I could get our video of it on here, but sadly it doesn't work so you'll just have to imagine (or you can see it on my Facebook profile) :)

Anyway, once again, have a Happy Halloween!

She said YES!

2009-10-14T09:29:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone this is Kajsa and it is true I am engaged! I still can't believe it, I would have never guessed last Christmas that it would be my last one with just my family. Yet it was and I am SOO excited for the next step in my life. McKay is so amazing and it is crazy how much more I have fallen in love with him even in just the past 3 weeks since we got engaged. I am so grateful for the lessons and trials that I have gone through to get to this point. (They were well worth it) Well anyways lets move on to the exciting stuff like the proposal! Now everyone my proposal was perfect in every way, McKay worked hard at it and honestly nothing went wrong (except that the camera was on the wrong setting so the pictures are alittle blurry :P) So here is how it all went. It was Thursday September 24th and we had planned the night before that we would go to dinner at a friend of McKay's house after I got off work. So honestly up until Thursday evening it was the worst day that I had had since coming to school. To say the least I was not in a good mood, and I was about to cancel going to the dinner, but something just kept telling me to go, and boy am I happy that I did. :) So back to that night, we were driving to the dinner and he changed and said that the dinner was actually on some private property of his friend's and there was a pavilion there that we were going to have it at. So we drove there and parked. No one was around and at this point I was starting to question stuff, but he said that it was down a path and around the corner, so we started walking....and when we rounded a corner there in the distance was a trail of rose petals and at the end was a candle lit dinner for just the two of us! It was gorgeous! The table was set at an amazing look out point with the sunset in the back ground along with that we could see all of campus and Cache Valley. Seriously the pictures don't do it justice. The table was decorated and there were tiki torches all around us. So after we sat down I pretty much knew what was going on and I could barely sit still! So we ate dinner of all of my favorite foods and finished off with Oreo pie which is also becoming one of my favorite things. During dinner his roommates served us and they were all dressed up in their suits and they were very good at staying hidden so that we could enjoy everything in private :) So after dinner McKay walked away to go tell his roommates that they could leave. And while he was over his brother who was holding a bouquet of red roses that the ring was attached to. So McKay walked around the corner and I knew right as he did that this was the moment! He came back to the table, gave me the roses along with a poem that he had written me which I read and when I looked up he was down on one knee holding the ring. He asked me and I said yes of course! And the rest is history! Haha In the end we sat there at the look out point for a little bit longer as the sunset then we walked back to the car. His roommates were so good and cleaned everything up for us so we didn't have to do anything. Oh and by the way the ring is so pretty and has everything that I wanted. McKay helped design it all on his own so I had no idea what it would look like. Actually the entire proposal night was a complete surprise to me because he had told me that it probably wouldn't be until the next week! Which I would have died if it really was that long! So here are some of the pictures from that night and some of the ring up close.

This is a view of the table from the mountains behind it (sorry it is so small)

Now three weeks later we are just moving along with all the planning, which my mom is amazing at and she has made it pretty easy for me. The weekends are crazy as we try and cram in as much as we possibly can, but I am just trying to relax and just enjoy the process as much as possible. Luckly a lot of things are done so now it is mostly just the little details. Oh and here are a few pictures from the past couple weeks!

But The Cat Came Back The Very Next Day

2009-10-13T12:09:00.000-07:00

Have you ever felt incredibly busy, but when you thought back on it really had nothing to show for it? That is how I am feeling right now. It's been forever since I last wrote, but when I tried to think of things that had happened I came up pretty much empty. But hey, this post is going to be dwarfed by pretty much anything Kajsa puts up so I really should just not even try to come up with something cool ;) (for those of you WAY behind in the times you'll just have to wait for her post to see what I mean there)

Anyway, life has been going fine for me. I'm still working, still going strong with school, and still hanging on to my singlehood (for those of you who are like my dad and are trying to marry me off-kidding Dad :)- don't worry, I have been dating. I even went on a date just this past Friday. The only problem here is that I haven't liked any of the boys enough to try for a second date.) I'm trying to work out how I'm going to hang out with 3 different people, at 3 different times, plus my family, all in a period of less then 24 hours this weekend and am trying to figure out where in there to get some visiting teaching done. Whew, crazy! Along with that I'm starting my P.E. practicums next week which means that I will officially be a student teacher! (even more crazy!) and I also will be finishing up everything that will go in my application for the Elementary Education program so that it can be turned in by the beginning of January. Phew! So pretty much I guess you could say that life has been crazy and busy :)
Oh, I did just think of a funny story that I can tell you guys about! This past Sunday my friend Emily invited me and some other people over for spaghetti dinner. The total came out to about 12 people, 5 girls and 7 guys. Anyway, the guys all live in the same house and they were telling us hilarious stories about things that happened to them over there. The funniest one was about a stray cat that wandered in, was fed tuna (sounds familiar...), named Genevieve, and pretty much adopted for a few hours until one roommate came home and kicked it out. The story gets better-the next day when one of them was in the bathroom he heard this thud and turned to discover that Genevieve had jumped up and attached herself onto the screen of the window in the bathroom and was mewing to come back in. The same thing happened again the next day, and the next, pretty much freaking each roommate out every time they came into the bathroom. So after they tell us this story we girls decide to play a little joke on them. Yesterday night we go to Walmart and buy a stuffed kitten, duct tape and a collar. We then proceeded to their house in the dark, stick the collar on the cat with a little tag that says "Genevieve", and then duct tape the whole thing to their window so that it looks like it's attached to the screen. I can just imagine their faces when they walk in and see that cat stuck to the window :) Anyway, we're hoping they'll figure out it was us and find some way to prank us back with the cat because the next thing we want to do is get it inside their house without them knowing :)
Well, that's really about all that's been happening in my life, but hey, as long as I'm enjoying it right? :)

It's Coming

2009-10-07T21:20:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone this is Kajsa, just checking in real fast. I just wanted to get you excited for my next post (sorry it is taking so long)! I will have complete details on the actual proposal plus some pictures of the actual night and some that we have taken since then. Life is crazy right now and I am just trying to adjust to everything, but I will be back, no worries. (like you would anyway) Well that is all for now, hope everyone is having a great fall day!

Give My Regards To Old Broadway And Say That I'll Be There E're Long!

2009-09-19T17:09:00.000-07:00

What happens when you put 3 girls with "virgin" hair (never been dyed), 1 girl with a cosmetology license, and 4 bottles of hair dye together? Hightlighting Party! Friday nights have never looked better ;)

So for my 'spur of the moment incident' this week, I decided to get my hair highlighted. My roommate Brittany has a cosmetology license and me and our 2 friends Jen and Alexandra decided to have her highlight our hair on Friday night. 3 hours of hair dye and caps, all coming together in the end to a new hairstyle... or haircolor rather :) So here are the 'before' and 'after' pictures :)

I don't know if you guys can necessarily tell the difference in my hair, it's kind of subtle, but I promise it is highlighted :)

Now, along with my 'spur of the moment incident' I also had a 'that was random' incident this week as well. What happens when your roommate looks out the window and sees 2 kittens about to get hit by a car? Well, obviously, she decides to go get them, bring them into the house, and feed them tuna and milk.

On Saturday I'm woken up to Brittany yelling, "Melanie! KITTENS!" These 2 little black and white kittens had been wandering around in the road and she'd brought them in and fed them. Unsure what to do with them (we didn't want to keep them), we called the humane society. But downside, they said that it was highly unlikely the kittens would get adopted there, so we decided to find somebody to just take them from us. We called EVERYONE. However, we're college students, and college students usually are friends with other college students. And a downside to being a college student, you're usually renting. Downside to renting- no animals. So in the end, we just sent them to the humane society anyway. This though, was after they'd clawed the carpet, peed in a plant and pooped in our basement. Dang cats :( But they were cute despite all that, so we were a little sad to see them go... emphasis though, on little. Anyway, here's the pictures of our cute (but thoroughly obnoxious) refugees :) And if anybody wants a cat- try the humane society ;) (oh, and ps- I have to explain my title- the topics of this post were cats and hair highlighting, so what better to explain it then the 2 Broadway musicals "Hairspray" and "Cats",thus, "Give My Regards to Broadway" (: )

I Love to Laugh! Loud and Long and Clear, I Love to Laugh! So Everybody Can Hear!

2009-09-10T13:54:00.000-07:00

So apparently I am not obvious enough in my writing to show that it's me, therefore I am now being required to state who is writing. So, to let you all know, this is Melanie.

Right now I'm sitting in a computer lab on campus killing time between my last class and my physics lab and I figured, hey, since I'm bored I might as well write on my blog right? But sadly I don't really have any great news or fun to share from my life, so instead I'm going to share fun from someone else's life :) For those of you who know me you'll know I love quotes, especially funny quotes. So to give you all a laugh during this stressful time called the school year (and to give myself something to do) here are some of my favorite quotes:

"It's always darkest before the dawn, so if you're going to steal your neighbor's newspaper that's the time to do it."

"Marriage is an alliance entered into by a man who can't sleep with the window shut and a woman who can't sleep with the window open."

"Women get the last word in every arguement. Anything a man says after that is the beginning of a new argument."

"Women really do rule the world. They just haven't figured it out yet. When they do, and they will, we're all in big big trouble."

"We're all a little weird and life's a little weird, and when we find someone whose weirdness is compatible with ours, we join up with them and fall in mutual weirdness and call it love."

"Can you imagine a world without men? No crime and lots of happy, fat women."

"Macho doesn't prove mucho."

"Why do men chase women they have no intention of marrying? The same urge that makes dog's chase cars they have no intention of driving."

"At every party there are two kinds of people-those who want to go home and those who don't. The trouble is they are usually married to each other."

"The surest sign that intelligent life exists elsewhere in the universe is that it has never tried to contact us."

"Anyone can do any amount of work, provided it isn't the work he is supposed to be doing at that moment."

"Of course there's a lot of knowledge in universities: the freshmen bring a little in; the seniors don't take much away, so knowledge sort of accumulates."

"It's not that chocolates are a substitute for love. Love is a substitute for chocolate. Chocolate is, let's face it, far more reliable than a man."

Well, I hope you've all gotten a good laugh out of these, sad to say that it took me so long to finish the whole post that it's now Sunday and I'm sitting with my roommate watching "Princess Protection Program", but whatever! Enjoy the rest of your week! :)

No School? Party!

2009-09-09T18:59:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone, this is Kajsa speaking. Just checking in. :) So this past weekend was labor day. We had a free day from school, which was heavenly! Also, this weekend was extra nice because I had Friday off too. Why you may ask? Because my classes were cancelled for the football game the night before AND work was cancelled because of a small fire the day before. Don't worry everyone was ok and so was the building it just took a couple of days to clean everything up. So on Friday I was able to sleep in and then head home early. McKay came with me ofcourse because he had a wedding to go to that day at the Draper Temple. (Perfect huh?) Friday evening we went to the dinner for the wedding. It was nice because we got to see some of his family. The couple was so cute together and it was exciting to see them making that next step. Then Saturday morning we had family pictures scheduled at 7:00 AM. It was so early, but we pulled it off and even with rain we were able to get some good ones. Later that day we just did some yard work and pruned some trees. (and by some I mean tons, my dad got alittle excited about how everything was looking and just started triming everywhere!) That evening we had a wedding shower for my cousins that just got married this past summer in Connecticut and it just so happened that it was the exact same time as the BYU game. So we weren't able to open gifts until half time. (BYU fans are so picky) just kidding it was an awesome game and I would not have wanted to miss it either. So while the game was going on McKay and I had fun entertaining all the little cousins in the backyard and they LOVED him. It was so cool to see how great McKay is with kids (wink wink) :) Anyways, moving on... Sunday went by, my dad gave us our fathers blessings and then we just spent time as a family. Monday we just hung out in the morning and then my family all came to bring me back up here to Logan. Along the way we stopped at Hill Air Force Base Museum. I have been there many times but each time I go I always learn new stories and fun facts from my dad, which is cool cause we do not always get very many chances to hear them. Once in Logan my family checked out my new apartment and then we went out to dinner for the last time as a whole family for about a year and a half. Saying goodbye on Monday was pretty tough since it was the last time that I would get to see Larissa before she left for the MTC. I am so proud of her, and I am so impressed with the example that she has always been to me. She will do amazing and I can't wait to hear all of her stories in 18 monthes. Oh and here are some pictures from our weekend adventures!

I am still here!

2009-09-01T20:50:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone, sorry it has been awhile. I have no excuses or random reasons for why I have not updated recently. I have just not been in the "posting" mood. So here is a quick update. I moved out of my house thanks to my dad. Got settled in Logan at my new apartment. This time was ten times easier than last year. (I have no idea why I stressed out so much before) I started work again at the Children's House again two weeks ago, and I am LOVING it. Seriously it is so fun everyday. I especially seeing all the kids from last year, and also just hanging out with my coworkers. We all get along so well and it is nice to talk to people who are going through the same stuff as you are. Such as trying to make our ways through the Education Program. I work about 27 to 30 hours a week compared to about 15 hours last year so it is very good that I like it so much. Also this semester I am taking 13 credits of history, english, physics, and food technology. They are about as basic as you can get, but I am trying to make the best of it and learn as much as I can. After all I did just pay TONS of money to come here, I better spend it wisely. Also some exciting news is this weekend McKay and I went to my house for Larissa's Farewell. It was amazing. Larissa did so good! (like always) and She had TONS of support from friends and family. My mom had planned on a hundred people coming over to our house after and I think that there was atleast that many, if not more. So thanks again everyone, I know that she appreciates it. On the downside I did not take one single picture of the event so I am sorry. What a horrible sister I am :( But on the positive side we are having family pictures later this week so you will atleast have those to look forward to. Well that is all for now. Have a great week everyone!

I Want You to Want Me, I Need You to Need Me

2009-08-24T11:47:00.000-07:00

Story time! For those of you who don't know I recently moved back up for school not only once into Crestview, but then again out of Crestview and into another place (a house)! Here is the story (shortened version of course (: the real thing is much to long for a post):

My friend Brittany lives with an older couple and helps take care of the wife who has MS (multiple sclerosis). Long story short, they were looking to hire another girl to replace Brittany's roommate, and, what do you know, they decided they wanted me! So after moving from Darwin back home for 2 weeks at the beginning of August, then from home to Crestview for 5 days this past week, I (since of course I hadn't had enough of the moving) moved from Crestview in with Brittany for my next, and hopefully last, place.
So far life at my new place has been great. Me and Brittany share the whole basement, so we each get our own room. I don't have to pay for rent, food, or laundry (due to the fact that I'm living there to take care of the wife), I make $500/month (for doing the care) and (for those of you who are wondering) I do actually kind of enjoy taking care of the wife. WOOT! All in all a great situation for me! ... sort of. Downside to this- the wife's care schedule is fairly set in stone time-wise, and while it's easy to work around classes, it's not so easy to work it around classes AND my job with the Alumni. So for the last few days I've been having great stress over working out my time, but I'm sure that once classes settle down, I get more use to the care schedule, AND I talk to my boss at Alumni and either quit the job or get my schedule worked around this new job, then I'll be much, much, better.
Another exciting bit of news:... (please hold for dramatic effect)... I'm taking off Spring Semester! And for what you ask? To move to San Diego for 3 months! I can't wait- a condo on Coronado Island, living right on the beach, no dealing with the Logan winter, WOOT! Can life get any better? I submit that it cannot! (name that quote) The older couple I live with now goes every January for a few months and me and Brittany are going with them. We are both pretty much estatic for this (in case you couldn't tell), I mean- sun, sand, and no school, I don't think it can get much better! (but, oh, it can, know why? it's part of our job, that means we go free (: ) And for those of you wondering why I'm taking off a semester of college right after I finally picked my major- don't worry. I'll still graduate early and I'll still be on schedule with my classes, I'll just be taking Summer Semester rather than Spring that year.
Oh, wow, I don't even know how I'm going to top this post later unless I get engaged or something (not going to happen anytime soon). Anyway, to finish up I'll let you know how school has been going since I kind of skipped over that with this other news. For those of you who don't remember, school has reconvened! Much to my excitement :) Sad to say that my classes are mainly full of girls, I don't get any cute guys in any of them (however my ward is a much different matter... (;), but I'm loving the topics so far. This semester is like all my favorite subjects- human development, physics, physical education, and playing with little kids (all thanks to 3 practicums, you'd think I was going into Elementary Education or something). I've found a few of my friends in my classes, including a few who I haven't seen for awhile. Kajsa gets to take Physics with me (lucky her (;) as well as Physics lab (even more luck for her!) Good thing she's in a class with me because I'm sure I'd never see her otherwise now that we've moved to seperate apartments and she got a boyfriend. :) Other than that I haven't got much to say about school (probably cause it just started?) but I'm sure that as it progresses on I'll have more excitement from it. Hope you all had a great first few days! Have fun!

One Short Day In the Emerald City

2009-08-15T11:49:00.000-07:00

I'm baaaack! I'm sure you all missed me so much ;) And even though I missed you all as well, I had an amazing time in Seattle! It is so pretty there, with the weather and the green everywhere. Oh, I can't even describe how much I loved it other than to say that I may move there. Soon.

So, to fill you all in, here's the way my trip went:

Me, Caitlyn and her family all piled into 2 cars and drove straight through to Washington last week. After a long 15 hour drive we reached Caitlyn's Grandpa's house, unloaded the cars, and all went to bed. The next day a few of us went down with her Grandpa to Olympia and the farmers market, while the other half went shopping for wedding stuff (part of the reason we were on the trip was for Caitlyn's brother's wedding). That night we went to Mercer Island for the wedding dinner with the bride's family. After a mix-up with the pavilions and a lot of confusion we finally were able to enjoy the delicious Cafe Rio/Costa Vida type food that Caitlyn's mom and sisters had made. We stayed the night on the island and then the next day got up for the wedding!

The wedding was at the Seattle temple, which was very pretty. Caitlyn, Maren (her little sister), and me spent the sealing time walking around the temple grounds and taking pictures, and then the time after the sealing taking even more pictures with the bride and groom :) After the pictures slowed down we all left with Caitlyn's Uncle and Grandpa to go walk around Pike's Place Market until the reception that afternoon. However, as it was a Saturday, the market was crazy crowded! By the time we'd walked through the whole thing we were all exhausted by all the people and just ready to go eat food at the reception. The reception was at Daniel's Broiler (which is apparently a big, fancy, equivalent of eating at say, Hamilton's in Logan, type restaurant) and had some very fancy food. In fact, it was so fancy that me and Caitlyn were not big fans of it, so we actually walked down the street to a deli and bought ourselves sandwiches to sneak into the reception to eat. ;) After sending off the bride and groom we all headed back to Caitlyn's Grandpa's house for relaxing after the wedding stress.

The next day (Sunday) we all went to church with Caitlyn's Grandpa and then spent the day, once again, recuperating from the wedding. We went on a walk down on the beach and looked for seashells. Funny story about Seattle beaches (or at least this one) there's a lot of mud, which, because of the water going in and out, becomes quicksand mud. If you walk in the mud, you get stuck, and sometimes almost lose your flipflop. Or your friend gets stuck up to her knees and almost falls on her face in the mud. But still, pretty beaches :)

Monday Caitlyn's family left early in the morning to come back to Utah, and me, her, and her older sister Ann, stayed to play in Seattle. We went back to Pike's Place Market for a more calm experience of it, bought some fried doughnuts, and then spent the rest of the day shopping at all the big stores in downtown Seattle. After we got sick of shopping we went over to the Locks, which is the area where boats go from salt water to fresh water. It kind of reminds me of the Panama Canal in how it works. We got to watch them move a few boats and then we headed out to the Space Needle where we spent our last hour in Seattle. Afterwards we headed back to Caitlyn's Grandpa's house and went to bed.

Our last day there, Tuesday, we rode a ferry into Seattle. It was really cool, you drive your car right on there and then an hour later when you come into port you just drive right off. When we got into Seattle we went over to Pioneer Square and took the Underground Tour. See, the original city of Seattle burned down and when they rebuilt it they built almost 2 levels of the city, an underground level and a regular street level. (Not the whole story, there's a lot more to it relating to the sea level and stuff with sewage, but you get the picture) As time went on people stopped using the underground level and just used the regular street level, so now they use it as a tour for us tourists ;) After that we went to a few more stores for shopping and then drove back to the house for the night.

The next day we packed up, went to the airport and flew home. (And let me tell you flying is a pain what with all the security and the lines and the waiting, ugh) And that's my exciting trip :)

Girls Weekend

2009-08-13T13:03:00.000-07:00

So for most people a girls weekend is a rare occasion that is looked upon with reverence and only comes around every so often. At my house that is a daily occurrence. So last week we were once again nearing the weekend and Larissa has had a desire to take a road trip. So she decided that we were going to Moab. Now this was our first time to Moab, and I was a little hesitant about whether five "city" girls should make such a journey all on our own. It was after all the middle of the summer and we were heading to a place that was 105 on a good day. And without any air conditioned malls I had no idea what we were going to do. But she wanted to do it and everyone else was willing and after a little bit of convincing I decided to tag along too. So we set off Thursday night with the trusty GPS guiding us. That night we just checked into our hotel and went out to dinner. The next day we got up early and headed to Arches national park. We didn't really have any plans but we knew that we wanted to see the Delicate Arch so that is where we headed first. The brochure said that the hike was strenuous. What does that mean?! I was getting a little worried about whether we could do it. But one hour later when I was gazing up at the Delicate Arch in all of its wonder and glory I knew that it had been well worth it and I would reccomend it to anyone. It was an incredible view and very neat. As for the incredible heat wave that we were expecting... it never came. The wind saved us and actually I felt very comfortable the whole time. After Arches we headed back to the hotel for naps. I slept for three hours and felt great. That evening we went to a Chuck Wagon dinner with a live show after. The food was so yummy and my family had fun taking pictures. After the dinner we spent one more night at the hotel and then drove home in the morning. It was short but nice to have a break from the normal stuff. Thanks Larissa for your great plans and for draging me into them. The only sad note to this incredibly relaxing weekend was that I did not get to see McKay. So to make up for it I am going with his family this weekend to Lava Hot Springs. :) Well that is all for now enjoy the pictures from this fun filled weekend below.

The Final Countdown

2009-08-05T07:10:00.000-07:00

So, just the other day I was debating writing a post about all the things that I am counting down for. Then today, I get on, and what do you know- Kajsa had the same idea! So, not meaning to copy her or anything (sorry Kajsa), but here is my countdown list :)

1 day till I go to Seattle (WOOT!)

19 days till USU fall semester starts and I go back to school

12 days till I move back to Logan and into my new apartment

6 days till my mom goes (with Kajsa's mom) to Connecticut

32 days till I will finally get the chance to go to my new student ward (14 days after the fact)

18 days till the Oquirrh Mt. Temple dedication

25 days till Larissa's farewell

27 days till the sequel to "Hunger Games" comes out (thanks to Aunt Carolyn for recommending it (: )

Obviously some of these things are the same as Kajsa's (we are, after all, cousins and both USU students, you would expect some of them to be the same) but it doesn't matter because I'm still excited for them, same as her :) Sadly I should have written my list the other day because it was much longer then (a lot of the things finally happened yesterday as luck would have it) but hey, it's all good! :)

5...4...3...2...1...Go

2009-08-04T20:46:00.000-07:00

So I feel like life is just one big count down clock right now. Everything is not happening yet...but almost. Change is exciting and especially this year being a little bit older and hopefully a little bit wiser. The stress of starting school hasn't hit yet so for now I am just trying to enjoy the present. Here is a list of a few of the things that I am counting down to...

14 more days till I move back to Logan

six more days of work

2 more days till we go to Moab

15 more days till I start back at the Childrens House (I sure have missed those kids this summer!)

10 more days till my dad comes home from Arizona

1 month and 5 days till Larissa leaves on her mission

10 or 11 more days till I get to see McKay again and go to Lava Hot Springs

6 more days till my mom leaves for Connecticut

18 more days till I get to meet my new and totally awesome roomate!

and last but not least...20 more days till school starts

And the list could go on and on, but we will just leave it at that. Wow I haven't done that much counting since school got out! Well I am going to head to bed now have a fantastic day.

Oh I think you missed a spot...

2009-07-30T20:34:00.000-07:00

So tonight was our stake's YSA mud Volleyball night. It was a little messy as you can tell by the pictures but SO worth it. I mean who doesn't want to exfoliate their skin while playing volleyball? So the game started off nice and sweet, everyone just kind of stood in their own little corners and did their best to actually play the game and support their team. Then the fun started... The 6 inch deep mud started getting slippery and people were going down right and left and if you were, there was always someone there to ensure that you got your own taste of the mud. So before I went to this I wasn't too excited about getting dirty so I planned to avoid the messiest areas, but once in the middle of it I realized that EVERYWHERE was the messy areas and there really wasn't any hope. So instead I worked on making myself look as messy as possible without having to get face planted by one of the over excited boys who were all trying to relive their childhood dreams. And I am not kidding, most of them were RM's yet they were acting like they were soldiers at war who would sneak up on you from behind and tackle you to the ground with them. It was quite hilarious as long as you were looking at it from afar. And in the end I did pretty well except for one quick smack down from my friends and a few hand prints from Larissa. And I knew that nobody would believe how dirty we got so I made sure my mom took a few pictures. It was a great evening and I am really enjoying it now that I am all clean and showered. :)

This is one of the whole group as you can see each team had a "few" extra players

Sisterly Love

My 'friends' yet they threw more mud on me than anyone else!

Us from a different angle :)

McKell and I right before the "war" broke out... so sweet and innocent

So Long, Farewell, Auf Wiedersehen, Goodbye

2009-07-19T18:28:00.000-07:00

It is the month of the mission farewells. In these past 2 weeks alone I've had 6 farewells to go to. So crazy, but so much fun. I love listening to all the boys give their talks (and the food afterwards is pretty good too! (; ) I'm so proud of all of them for choosing to go serve a mission and teach the gospel for 2 years, they are going to be amazing and will have some powerful experiences. Good luck on your missions boys!

All I Wanted Was A Car

2009-07-17T16:07:00.000-07:00

Congratulations- You are now the proud owner of a brand new car!

Ok, so not really, technically it's my family that is now a proud owner of a slightly used, new-to-us, lovely Honda Pilot. But hey, still cool! And not a moment too soon either. Coming home from Logan this weekend was a bit of a struggle as our "unique" van decided to start leaking anti-freeze and overheating. We only made it to Wellsville before we had to bag that whole track and call my dad to pick us up with the truck. So all in all, the whole family's pretty happy with the new car- Mom because there's no more dealing with the van, Bradley because he may be getting a new car depending on what happens with the van, and the rest of us because we have a cool new car!

In other exciting news I've found a new boyfriend :) His name is Aiden, he's very cute, sweet, and is infatuated with me. He is down here at home so we only see each other on the weekends when I come home, but hey since that happens pretty much every week it isn't too tough on us. It was really cute though the other week when I was getting ready to head out- as we're driving off he calls, "Melanie!" and when I turn around and wave, he, with this adorably sad look on his face, says "Don't go..." :( So sweet! Oh, and by the way, did I mention he's three? Haha, so no I really don't have a new boyfriend but he does seem to think that I'm his new girlfriend! He even told Bradley so just the other day ;)

Other than that I haven't had too much excitement lately. I've been trying to finish filling out all my forms for officially changing my major. I've finally decided to go with Elementary Education with an emphasis in Library Media. I'm hoping to be able to get into a lot of the classes for it in the fall so that I can get onto a track that will have me finishing in 3 years (so that in total I will have done the 4 year college thing). However, that said there is still the typical bet going on about how long I will actually last in this major ;) (Just kidding)

When You Find You... Come Back to Me

2009-07-16T19:16:00.001-07:00

Ok let me start out by saying no McKay and I did not break up! I know that the title can be a little miss leading. In fact we are doing AMAZING and I love all 33 hours that I get to see him each week (give or take a few hours). But I actually chose this title 1:because I couldn't think of anything else. 2: because I am basically obsessed with David Cook's new song "Come Back to Me" Why... I don't know, but it sounds a lot like Nickelback and Daughtry which I also happen to love. So if you want or haven't heard it yet, you should go to you tube and listen to it. I could post it here and make it ten times simpler but that would take time, time that I don't have at the moment because I am leaving for a YSA bowling activity in less than fifteen minutes and I would really like to finish this before then. But I am posting pictures... so hopefully that will make up for it. Wow on side note I just realized that I used another song title, sorry Mel I am really not trying to copy you with your song title themes, and I promise this will be the last one. (I will just have to be creative next time, not that song titles aren't creative, but that was mel's creativity and I just stole it. Wow here I go again...digging myself into another hole. I am just going to stop not with the song stuff and move on. (I know what you are thinking, "just get on with it!") Ok here is an update of this past weeks activities, and maybe a few from last week. So to start off last week a few of my friends and I headed up into the great outdoors for a camping trip. It was so fun! I was a little nervous, and I bet you would have been too. I mean think about it.. four ninteen year old girls, setting up a tent, making dinner, building a fire, and no running water. So you can see why I was not too thrilled. But I wanted to hang out with everyone so I went and I am SO glad that I did. I feel so much closer to everyone and it will make for some great laughs in the future. We got the tent up just fine, and it was huge so I felt like we each had our own seperate corners. The dinner was yummy and quick which is what you need when camping. The fire started up super fast, almost too fast for my liking, but that is just because I am not too fond of fires. Then for the good parts talking and roasting marshmallows. We talked about everything we could think of and I think we almost heard every detail of Jessica's wedding plans which was so great because I hadn't even seen her since she got engaged. Later we actually went to bed at a good hour after having a group potty break (the bathrooms were terrifiying so ofcourse we all went in together) The next morning we woke up had a nice breakfast of dinner left overs with fruit all of which was covered in nutella. (mmmm...) Took a few quick group photos and then it was time for me to go home to work. Some of which you will have the pleasure of viewing here. PS: don't make fun of our lovely morning hair and PJ's

Whew! we made it through one event. Now onto the weekend!! (love this part) :) So this weekend was a little different than the rest because it started off in Logan. No I am not back up at school yet I just went up for a quick visit and a quadruple date. (if there is such a thing) It was with me and McKay, his brother and his girlfriend Natalie, Corinne and McKay's younger brother Preston, and Mckay's younger sister and Natalie's brother. Thank heavens McKay has tons of siblings so that we could find dates for everyone. The date was a huge success thanks to McKay and Jesse (his brother) who planned it. We went and started off with a hike through Logan canyon which I have never done before. The hike was hard but well worth it in the end. After the hike we went to Natalie's house for a barbaque and then headed home. In the end everyone wanted to do it again so we will see if it ever happens and maybe next time it can be in Draper. After the date I headed back to McKay's house to spend the rest of the weekend. His family was great, I love spending time with them and they really make me feel very comfortable and relaxed. But wow was I exausted when I got home Sunday night and it was a hard adjustment back into my work schedule. Which may I add was messed up all over again on Tuesday night when me, my sisters, and Mykelti's friend went to see the midnight showing of Harry Potter.

So I have been looking forward to this movie since FOREVER! It has been way too long since one came out. No I am not going to pick it apart, sometimes I get tired of people being too critical of movies. I am an easy person to please and I don't get into all of the little details and things that they could do better. So over all I loved it and it kept me entertained (isn't that all they are suppose to do) I stayed awake for the whole thing and work the dya after so I was feeling pretty good. but I am excited to go see it again this weekend with McKay to see what he thinks. Here are some pics from before the movie started.

Well that is it for me, my family has some fun things planned coming up this weekend so stay tuned for those and hopefully I will be faster at posting them. Well I am going to bed, have a fantastic day. :)

My Country 'Tis of Thee, Sweet Land of Liberty- God Save the Queen

2009-07-07T17:37:00.000-07:00

Now it's my turn, Happy 4th of July everybody! I, sadly, am even later at wishing you all this than Kajsa was, but I was waiting for my camera to charge so I could post my pictures with this entry :) Anyway, this past weekend has been very fun what with the holiday and such. As Kajsa already said our families celebrated the 4th together, and it was very fun to get to see everyone. In the morning me and my mom went to the Kaysville City parade to watch the Davis High Marching Band. This is my first time ever actually going to the parade rather than marching in it, and I was feeling very much feelings of nostalgia (ooh, big word there, I learned that one from my mom as we were walking over to the parade, it means a feeling of wistfulness to return to something in the past, such as, marching band)

Afterwards the whole family went down to the family barbecue, where a spontaneous game of volleyball broke out, much to my excitement, I've missed being able to play volleyball. Later we all went to the Bees game which went 3 innings overtime much to everyone's dismay. But, it was still a fairly good game. With all of the cousins and aunts and uncles we took up a whole row at the stadium and much of the game was spent out at the concession stands buying snacks for the whole crew.

Afterwards we watched the fireworks, which are definitely my favorite part of this holiday. I love the bright colors and the big BOOMS and the whole thought of something exploding :)

In other exciting news (or sad, depends on how you want to look at it) Brady left on his mission on the 2nd. He is very excited to be going and I am very excited for him as well. And before you think to ask me, "How are you holding up? Are you doing ok?", let me answer it for you. Yes, I am perfectly fine, I haven't even cried. It sounds really bad to say that, because you would think that I would be feeling sad that my boyfriend has left for 2 years but I don't. Well, I do, but not as bad as everyone thinks I should. This is where he's supposed to be, and why should I feel sad that he's doing what he's supposed to? I'm jealous of him in fact, I wish I could be in England sharing the gospel! I will miss him though, he's one of my best friends, but this is where the Lord needs him and I am so happy he followed the commandments and went.

Other than that not too much has happened, I continue to go home every weekend to attend the millions of farewells that are going on. In fact, just this week alone I have 4 to go to. But that's ok because mission farewells are one of my favorite things, it's so neat to see all the boys your age who you spent the last few years thinking were immature prepare to go share the gospel with the world. I love hearing their testimonies. And I especially can't wait for Larissa's farewell, I know that one will be one of the best! :)

PS- I don't know why that one paragraph is underlined, it happened when I put on the pictures.

PPS- So for the past few months or so with this blog all of my titles have been parts of songs (if you can figure them all out, good for you) that have to do with some part of my topic. I want you to know that this title is the most clever one I think I have ever come up with. I am feeling very smart at the moment because of it and if you can figure out why I think you deserve to buy yourself a candy bar. :)

I am proud to be an American, where at least I know I am free! And I wont forget the men who died and gave that right to me...

2009-07-05T08:45:00.000-07:00

Happy 4th of July everyone! (I know I am writing this on the 6th, but whose counting?) Anyways I have had a great weekend with family and friends. It all started Thursday night when Larissa got this idea of the family all going camping again like the good old days. But unfortunetly she had this little epiphany a wee bit late so she had to settle for a picnic in the woods because all of our favorite campsites were taken. In my mind I see this as a blessing in disguise because honestly I wasn't so excited about being trapped in the mountains and no running water my entire holiday weekend. So we got the picnic all planned and we were going to leave right after I got home from work on Thursday night. But while I was at work on thursday a thunder storm came in. It was raining and really quite dark outside. So the whole way home from work that day I was thinking "Oh poor Larissa, now she doesn't even get her picnic in the woods... " WRONG! I should have known a little rain or a lot whatever you want to call it would dampen my family's spirits. When I got home they were all packed and ready to hit the road. So in the end we did go on our picnic and it only took us about three trys to get the fire started that was going to be cooking our dinners. (once Larissa stopped trying to "blow" on it) Everything went according to plan and the fire was perfect) We were all soaking wet and smelly by the time we got home, but still happy. So I will apoligize to my family now for doubting that the picnic wouldn't work out.

Ok, I know I have only just begun to explain my familys fun filled weekend, but I must interupt with some very exciting news. This past week my sister Larissa got her mission call!! It was all very exciting and I was very glad that I was able to be there when she opened it, because with having all sisters you never know how many times you will be able to witness one of these special occasions. But anyways on with the good stuff ( like where she is going and things) Ok Sister Larissa Cannon will be serving the people (drum roll please) of the Texas Houston East mission and she will be speaking spanish. Isn't that exciting? I thought so. It will be sad to have her gone but she is so excited that you can't help but be excited with her. She leaves on 9-9-09 so we still have a few more monthes to be blessed with her presence. Oh and here are some pictures of her opening her call.

Ok well back to this weekend. So Friday during the day we went to Raging waters. Now most of you know that I am not a huge fan of swimming, but you would be amazed how many times I have gone this summer and I am loving it. I don't know what it is... there must be something in the water. So I loved going to raging waters, my favorite part was just hanging out in the wave pool with the cousins and family. Sorry for the lack of pictures but I really hate my hair when I am swimming so I choose to not take any picures. That night after we got back we had a barbaque and did a few fireworks that Larissa insisted that we bought. (wow she is pretty demanding) The next day, the actual fourth of July we were planning on having a barbaque with my moms side of the family. So everyone came over, including McKay, and we ate then just hung around, took naps, played volleyball, and watched movies. It was very relaxing and nice to see everyone. Melanie came and it was good to see her, I can't wait till we are both back up in Logan and we can actually hang out more. And this time we will be able to go over to each others apartments instead of just saying, hey lets go hang out in our room. lol The evening of the fourth the entire group went to the Bee's Baseball game and watched the fireworks after. It was also a ton of fun! (Fun seems to be a reoccuring theme to this weekend) Oh and here are a few pictures from this event, Dayton was as cute as ever and I think he asked Mel and I atleast twenty times "When are the "birworks" going to come?" Birworks are fireworks in his language. Sadly though the game went into over time and by the time the fireworks actually came, he was half asleep and plugged his ears through the whole thing.

Well that is about it, my dad left Sunday morning again for more national guard training, we went to church on Sunday, McKay left Sunday night, and life basically went back to normal. But I am thankful that we were able to have such a memorable weekend with the family while we thought back on everything that our country has gone through to get to this point. And to end I would like to add "The Crisis" by Thomas Paine. Lets all remember that Freedom is a gift that comes at a very high cost and should be treated as such. And a special thanks to all of those who have paid that price.

THESE are the times that try men's souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands by it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman. Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph. What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly: it is dearness only that gives every thing its value. Heaven knows how to put a proper price upon its goods; and it would be strange indeed if so celestial an article as FREEDOM should not be highly rated.

I Have the Only Key To Your Heart

2009-06-15T18:05:00.000-07:00

So, if you know me even a little bit, you'll know that I am the most forgetful, unorganized person ever. Especially, when it comes to keys. For instance, in high school I got locked out of my car, my house, and (isn't this pathetic) the percussion closet in the band room. Not to mention that those all happened multiple times. In fact, if you say anything about me and keys to my friend Carson he will immediately start laughing because he, better than anyone, knows how bad I am at keeping track of my keys.

However, now that I've moved out on my own I seem to have been able to keep better track of my keys... WRONG! In fact, if anything I've gotten worse because not only do I still lose, forget, misplace, etc, my keys but I usually forget (or it's battery is dead) my cellphone at the same time. So not only am I locked out, I have no way to call for help. It got so bad that my boyfriend had to start asking me as we walked out the door, "Do you have your key? How about your phone?" (This was after a mishap when I got locked out of my house at 1 in the morning, didn't have my cellphone on me and had to walk 15 minutes to his house, in the dark by myself, so that I could borrow his phone to call my roommates... who's phone numbers neither of us knew) Anyway, I figured that once I moved into my summer apartment rather than living in a dorm I'd be better with my keys because I could have a spare key hidden outside my door. (You can't really do that in a dorm because it's just like a big hotel, where would you hide the key?) But I'm betting all of you don't really believe that... good for you.

The first time I got locked out of my summer apartment was after church. I hadn't put out a spare key yet and I didn't have my regular key on me. So, being the smart child that I am, I set about trying to find a way in. I searched all over the front door, yard, etc, looking for a possible spare key that may have been set out there by a roommate or leftover from previous occupants. There was none. So then I decided to wait for one of the boys next door to come home and let me into my apartment through theirs. (Our apartments have a connecting closet, kind of like hotel room that connects to another one). One of them finally gets home and takes me through to the closet... which of course is locked from my apartments inside, just my luck. So I sit outside on our steps when I notice one of our windows is open. And once again being the smart child that I am I think, "Can't you pop the screen out of those things?" So I set about trying to pop the screen out of the window. I finally manage to work the window wide enough open to push the screen through, then I have to work myself in (please note I'm doing all of this in my church dress) and try not to knock over the bookshelf that's set right beneath the window. And finally, after all of that I make it into my apartment. WOOT! Thank you, thank you, hold the applause. But, please also note that as I tell this story to my roommate later that night, she asks, "Why didn't you use the spare key?" and then proceeds to show me the spare key hidden outside our front door that I had missed during my search... :P

After this lock out I became amazingly good at having my key on me whenever the door was locked... or so I thought. Once again today I was locked out of my apartment. No big deal, right? Just use the spare key. Wrong again, we had lately had some people over working on our drain on our porch and so as not to give them a free key to the apartment we'd taken the spare key inside for the time being... and so once again I popped the screen out of the window. I am getting to be a pro at that.

So I have decided that I should become an expert on all things with locks. Learn how to open them with a bobby pin (which, sad to say I did try the first time I got locked out... I mainly just managed to mangle the bobby pin), learn how to open them with a credit card, maybe even learn how to crack safes! Just kidding. But anyway, all things considered I'm debating writing a book about my lockouts. Kind of like those "Worst Case Scenario Handbooks", only all about getting locked out of things. First chapter- When It Comes To Keys, You Can Never Have Too Many Backups. :)

I Wish I Were the Rain

2009-06-11T17:54:00.000-07:00

Rain, rain go away... or not.

So Logan has been in a sort of week long rainstorm this week. Everyone is getting a little irritated with it but in my opinion it is awesome! I love the rain, everytime I see a puddle I want to jump in it :) I have always thought that when I grow up I should move somewhere rainy like Seattle and (good news) this summer I am going to Seattle on a trip! Me and my friend Caitlyn are going up there for her brother Will's wedding and then we are going to sight see and party up there together, I cannot wait. I find it quite surprising that while my mother is a major sun person, I am a major rain person. There's just something about a cloudy day with pouring rain that makes me happy. It's probably because those are the days when I can just stay inside, cuddle up in a blanket and read a good book with a bowl of popcorn. Or, I can go play in the rain, even better :)

Nothing much has been happening for me lately. I've fallen into an everyday routine- work, relaxing, some sort of activity with friends. Depending on the day I either go to FHE, ultimate frisbee, country swing dancing, or just watch a movie with roommates. Country swing dancing lately has been a lot of fun. I met a cute boy last week who asked for my number. Unfortuanently there was no call :( However this week he did give me a hug after we danced :) He is a football player too! Haha, why I have always wanted to date a football player I have no idea. Frisbee has been really fun too. I'm really enjoying the group of us that play and am getting pretty good at catching and throwing the frisbee finally. Maybe during the school year I can play on the quad with everyone else!

PS-I had a really funny video that I wanted to put on here but unfortuanently I can't figure out how to get it on because I can't get it onto my downloads. It's a boy at a student ward talent show singing the song 'Hey Delilah' only the Mormon version called 'Hey Delilah (I'm at the MTC)'. It's quite hilarious. So, since I can't get it on you will all just have to imagine it's here and laugh pretending that you watched it :) (Haha, or you could come find me and see it in person on my computer. Or if you can't do that and still really want to see it let me know and I'll email it to you on facebook since I do know how to do it that way (: )

What is in a Name?

2009-06-04T15:07:00.000-07:00

So what is new with me? Well I started a job at the Deseret News for the summer. Yes it is very different than anything else that I have ever done before, mainly because no kids are involved, yet suprisingly it is very refreshing. It is my first time ever working full time and boy has it been an adjustment! But slowly I am getting used to it. Other than work my life consists of sleeping and weekends. Weekends are the most wonderful things in the world! McKay usually comes down and we do anything and everything from hiking to swimming and surprisingly we have done a lot of shopping. He is a great sport when my dad is gone and he is the only guy around. (he says it is weird, but I think that he secretly loves it) Our goal for this summer is to do at least one thing new each weekend that we have never done together before. So if you have any ideas let us know. :) So besides McKay another thing on my mind, also the whole point of this post is my name. I know... most people don't really ever think about their name, they are used to it and it is just a normal thing. Which for me it is perfectly normal, yet it never stops to amaze everyone else. It is usually the topic of conversation whenever I first meet someone new. Which can be nice, but when you are meeting tons of people all on the same day, like when you start a new job or a new school, you start to sound like a broken record. So where did my name come from? It is a family name, which if I say so myself is a very cool thing. The original Kajsa is my great great great great Grandma. She was from Sweden and came over to America as an adult. She left all of her kids in Sweden and traveled across the plains with the missionaries to Pleasant Grove Utah. Once she left Sweden she never saw any of her children again. Impressive huh? Yes I have always felt some sort of obligation to live up to my name sake, but honestly I can't imagine anything that I could do that would come even close to her so I should probably just give up now. This picture is of me next to Kajsa Larsen's grave in Pleasent Grove on Memorial Day. It was a little unnerving to see my name engraven on a headstone, but exciting to finally see it. The next story that involves my name is this past Sunday my Sunday School teachers named their daughter after me. Earlier on in the pregnancy she had asked me if she could use it and ofcourse I said yes, we could use more Kajsa's in the world. But Sunday was the first time that I had seen her. She was darling ( ofcourse! her name is Kajsa). It was weird to hear everyone talking about Kajsa and not having it be me, but I feel honored that someone would like my name so much that they would want to use it. The only difference was that they spelled her name Kysa. Which I agree with whole heartedly because it is actually spelled the way that it sounds and it will make her school experience a little easier. So with all of this talk about my name I thought that I would once again look it up online to find the meaning and like always I could not find anything. But oh well I still love my name, thanks mom and dad for giving me such a unique name and I hope that I will be able to find some unique names for my kids.

Paperback Writer

2009-05-31T14:26:00.000-07:00

I miss my piano. I am feeling the craving to play a new song, something loud and fast. Sadly this craving cannot be satisfied very easily unless I go home for the weekend... or find a piano somewhere...

Anyway, so story for the day 2 couples in my ward got engaged last night. Obviously they have caught the love bug that has been going around everywhere. It may be because I work at a place that hosts receptions but it suddenly seems like everyone is getting engaged and married. People I went to high school with are suddenly announcing weddings (or calling them off... that was a shocker) and it's just like this big contagious bug. But, I'm sorry to say that I have not caught the love bug (no matter what Kajsa or my mother tell you). However, I am still way excited for everyone else. And will still gladly host the receptions at work (especially since they give me good ideas for if I ever have my own wedding (: )

In other news I finally got a Logan City library card, woot! I can now go check out books to my hearts delight. Because of this I was able to get my hands on a copy of the 4th Leven Thumps book finally. And once again was very frustrated to find that there is yet another sequel. So once again I have to wait till the 5th one comes out to hopefully finish the story. Usually I love sequels because they give me more to read, but I hate when they end a story with a cliffhanger. How horrible is that! You read through that whole book, end with a cliffhanger and then have to wait another year for the next book to come out. It's the same with movies, although they don't even give you the chance of having a sequel usually. In fact, today I watched the end of Gone With the Wind with my roommates. Major cliffhanger there... stupid movie. So I can now add another book to my list of sequels I'm waiting on. I'm still waiting for my copy of the 4th Fablehaven, as well as the 3rd book in Inkspell and the 3rd book in Hazardous Duty. But (I suppose to make up for all these sequels) I have been able to find a ton of other new books to read. Now I just need to remember to add them all to my book list...

Well, that's all my fun for the week. I haven't done too much this week because I was trying to recuperate from the long weekend of partying with my friends and family at home. I did go play ultimate frisbee and have a few movie nights, so it wasn't a total let down of a week though :) Have fun!

I Know Just One Thing, Let's Have a Barbecue!

2009-05-24T20:44:00.001-07:00

Happy Memorial Day Weekend! (Yes, I do consider the entire weekend to be a holiday. Hey, if I get it off work that makes it a holiday, right?) I was lucky enough to get Friday, Saturday, and Monday off work so Thursday afternoon I headed home for the weekend. It has been so much fun, I love having a break from work (not that I don't enjoy work, but you know) and getting to be back home with my family. However if you ask my mom she'll tell you I was barely home this whole weekend so she doesn't know how I got the idea that I was hanging with the family. But, I did spend all of today with them and I will be spending all of tomorrow with them, so I figure half of the weekend with them, half of the weekend with friends is a good balance. :)

So Friday I went walking with my mom in the morning (good exercise you know). Then I went over to Brady's house and finally got to see him after 3 weeks, woot! We played Rock Band for an hour and then I went shopping with my mom. After the shopping me and Brady went on a bike ride. And I've decided that my preference of exercise is definitely more leaning towards walking than bike riding. Poor Brady had to wait for me at pretty much every corner as I struggled to pedal the final distance to the corner. But, it was still really fun. :) Afterwards we each rode home and showered and then I went over to his house to watch a movie. We ended up playing basketball in his backyard for about an hour before we finally watched "The Russians are Coming, The Russians are Coming". It's actually a pretty funny show, I liked it.

Saturday I went walking with my mom again and then went on a date with Brady. We went to the movie theater and saw "Star Trek", which if you consider the fact that I know nothing about Star Trek and hadn't ever seen any of the old shows, I surprisingly enjoyed a lot. We were supposed to go to lunch afterwards but we ate an entire giant bucket of popcorn between the two of us during the movie (sad, I know, we're like bottom-less pits) so we decided to skip lunch and just head home. That night we went over to our friend Alisha's house for 2 other friends surprise birthday party. There we played football, ate cake, hung around and talked, and then watched the movie "Seven Pounds" which I actually didn't like much. So up to this point in the weekend, I have now watched 3 new movies, but don't worry, that's the last of the movies for now.

Today I hung out with my family and went to church, regular Sunday activities. I'm heading back up to Logan tomorrow night along with my family, and then we're going to do FHE up in Logan. We're going to go clean the sink :) I'm way excited for it. Other than that not much has been going on. Most of my summer has been spent working, going country swing dancing, trying to meet more people in Logan, and figuring out how I'm supposed to come home practically every weekend for a new missionary farewell. But I'll figure it out, don't worry :) So to end I'm going to post a few pictures of me and Kajsa when we were cute little kids (mainly because my mom keeps asking me when I'm putting them on -"I got them for you specifically for that"-, and also because they are pretty cute and they make me laugh so I want to share it. Hopefully Kajsa doesn't mind (; ) In the first picture I'm the one in the blue coat looking confused (typical), and Kajsa is the one with the big mouth (also typical, just kidding! Kajsa doesn't have a big mouth) I also want you to please note Kajsa's hat... :) In the second picture I'm the shorter one (but I wouldn't stay that way for long, haha!) and am wearing the regular t-shirt. Kajsa is the taller one with the frilly shirt/dress thing (somehow this also seems to be typical, her in fancy, me in plain. Apparently we knew how we wanted to dress even when we were young!) You probably could of been able to tell who was who anyway, at least I could tell pretty quickly, we look just like we do now, only younger... well actually, I look more like a cabbage patch kid than like myself but Kajsa looks the same... but I figured I'd tell you who was who just in case! :)

Definition of a Blog

2009-05-18T16:09:00.000-07:00

Here are the rules of having a blog: 1: update it 2: read it and everyone elses 3: comment on the blogs 4: add pictures 5: while updating it make it interesting so that people will actually want to read it... and the list goes on and on. But my point was that I have not been following any of these rules and now it is time to repent (technically repenting means that you will never let it happen again, but I don't think I can promise that so we will just go with this update and see where it takes us) Ok moving on, here is a quick update with me. School finished and I moved home and got all unpacked in one day (it was a lot of work, but worth it so that I didn't have to deal with it until fall). Also that same weekend Mckay came to my house, we went to a family party where he met my mom's family. It seemed to go well I don't really know but he is still around today so I guess that must be a good sign? Then we stayed at my house that night. On Sunday we went to his family's house for his dad's birthday. It was a lot of fun to meet his grandparents and see his family again. during this weekend we both had a reality check, and we realized how long this summer is going to be with him in Evanston and me in Draper. But we are committed to making it work and so we will see where things go.

Later that week my family and I went to San Francisco. It was a ton of fun and the weather was perfect! In my opinion I like San Francisco better than L.A. But what do I know I have only been to each for a week? Some of the highlights were eating Afganistan food (and tons of it) going to Alcatraz, The Golden Gate Bridge, hanging with the cousins, and going to the Oakland A's baseball game. We also went to Six Flags, but in my opinion that was not a highlight because I have officially discovered that roller Coasters make me sick. So I spent that whole day watching animal shows and sitting on the park benches outside of the rides. But overall the trip was great, and it was nice to get out of the Utah bubble for awhile. Well that is all the really exciting news the rest of my summer has been spent job hunting and babysitting. So I hope to continue to write and thank you Mel for keeping the blog going and it sounds like a blast in Logan. Oh and on a final note here are a few pictures of McKay and I. Isn't he cute? Well I think so. Anyways thanks for reading and I hope you are all having a fantastic day!

Oh Look At Me Now

2009-05-16T10:13:00.000-07:00

Busy, exhausted, exciting, horrific, hilarious. Aren't those such good adjectives? Pretty much those describe most of my week. Busy because I've been running around doing work, errands, activities, etc, all week long. Exhausted because I've been so busy and have definitely not got the sleep that I need. Exciting because I've been hanging out with friends and going country swing dancing and fun stuff like that. Horrific because I went in to get my hair trimmed, decided to actually get it cut, and ended up with a terrible haircut that only looks good covered up by a hat, or a large headband. And hilarious because of a few kids that me and my friend babysat on Tuesday and their interesting advice they shared with us.

So, to go into more depth I've had an awesome and slightly sad (from an incident on Wednesday) week. On Monday I spent 4-5 hours walking around downtown Logan (since I have no car and the bus only goes so far) searching for a navy blue polo to wear to work. No luck, but I did get a new wallet :) I also went to FHE and played games. Tuesday Caitlyn came up to visit me. We had a typical Caitlyn/Melanie hang out day, went to the movies, went to Olive Garden and bought breadsticks, and laughed a ton. Then we went to babysit some kids from a family she knows in Logan, that was where it got entertaining. 2 of the kids loved to talk and they wanted to share their opinions about everything, including our dating life (or lack thereof) It got to the point where the 8 year old girl told me, "Are you dating anyone? If not you should try the internet." I'm not sure if she was telling me to try internet dating or if she wanted to give me something to do since having no dating life gives me loads of extra time. Wednesday I went country swing dancing again, still tons of fun. This time I learned how to do the Cowboy Cha-Cha, which is sort of a cha-cha/waltz-y thingie... anyway, it was cool. The other part of Wednesday was spent getting my haircut. So my short hair has been growing out and it was starting to look a bit shaggy (at least to me) so I decided to go in for a trim. Unfortuanently being the girl that I am, I went in, looked at the hair magazines to pass the wait, found a cute style and immediately decided to get my hair cut rather than trimmed. Of course I should have known that this was not a smart move, but hey, I obviously don't learn. So I ended up with a (to put it nicely) not-so-good haircut. I've since discovered that covering it up with a hat (or for work an incredibly large headband) is the only way to look semi normal, and I'm just hoping it grows out fast. Thursday I worked all day and then came home exhausted and slept. Friday I worked all day again then went grocery shopping. And then today I'm going to a bonfire up Green canyon (at least if I can stay awake after work I am).

Well, that is my exciting week. And ps- if anyone has a cute hat or a nice headband they want to lend me, that'd be great :) HAHA!

Oh What Do You Do In The Summertime

2009-05-10T15:36:00.000-07:00

Pictures! As promised here are some pictures from my summer so far. :)

This is my bedroom in my new apartment, it kind of reminds me of a wood cabin...

This is my picture of London that Brady painted for my birthday, which,in case you are wondering why he painted London, is where he will be going on his mission in July.

This is me taking a picture of myself in my mirror. The reason I have a picture of it is because this is my favorite mirror ever, it makes me look way skinny and tall, kind of like the opposite of a carnival mirror :)

This is the view from my backyard, isn't it pretty? My roommate Brittany calls it "spectacular". The one on the top is while it was raining, and the one on the bottom is during a sunset.

The hammocks! These are my favorite part of my summer apartment, the two hammocks in the backyard overlooking the valley. I love to just go out and sit in them during the day. :)

Well, I hope you've enjoyed your glimpse into Logan summers, I'll try to add some more pictures as the summer progresses. :)

That's What You Get When You Play A Country Song Backwards

2009-05-07T14:35:00.000-07:00

I hate to say it but... I have seen the light, and country swing dancing is definitely one of the best things ever. I finally went yesterday night to it and I have to say that it is awesome! Dancing way fast, doing dips and twirls and flips and whatever all, is way exhilarating. I have definitely been converted. I did feel kind of bad that I was not the best at "following the lead" of the boys, but I am getting better at it, by the end of the night I was doing fairly good. And definitely the best part of the night was when one boy I was dancing with told me, "You are the perfect size for dancing" and then asked me if I was going to come more often. :) Cute! (Reading back over that it sounds really dorky, but it was actually really sweet so be sure to picture it that way (: ) So for all of you who have not gone country swing dancing in Logan, I think that this next fall semester we are going to have to all go because, as much as I want to deny it, it is actually a really cool thing and there are some really cute boys there and all in all it's definitely the best. :)

Well, other than that exciting bit of news my summer has been fairly uneventful. I get up, I go to work, I come home from work, I eat, I sleep. Whew, with all that excitement it's a wonder I haven't worn myself out! Haha, just kidding, I'm hoping it will improve when the weather decides to stop being cold and cloudy and starts being warm and sunny. I still haven't met anymore of my roommates, and I'm thinking that if I'm anything like Brady and his roommate I could go the whole summer without ever seeing anyone I'm living with! :)

So that's all of my news, hope everyone else is having a good summer and a much more entertaining one then mine :) Bye!

School's Out for Summer

2009-05-04T20:08:00.000-07:00

3..2..1.. SUMMER! It is finally the end of school, finals are finished, most everyone is home for the break, and the weather is finally warming up, hallelujah! However, I am not home because (drum role please...) I'm still in Logan! I finally got a job! I'm working at the alumni house being sort of a secretary/ hostess for events. So far I've enjoyed it a lot. But, because of this change of events I had to stay in Logan for the summer break, luckily I got housing even with my short notice. And it's really good housing too :) Some more exciting stuff that has happened, yesterday was my birthday, I am now 19 years old, woot! It was a very good day, I got some really cool presents. One of my favorites was a painting of London at dusk that Brady painted for me, it's gorgeous. I also got most of my grades from Spring Semester in, including an A in Sign Language class, woot! And I will once again make the mark for my scholarship with probably another 3.7 GPA, happy day :) Well, that's pretty much all of my great exciting news. I moved into my summer apartment today and got everything unpacked and put away. I'm sharing a room with my roommate who also happens to be named Melanie, but I haven't actually met her yet since when she's here, I'm not and when I'm here, she's not. But hey, we have to cross paths sometime. I guess that's everything really, birthday, job, housing, grades... yep, that's all. As soon as I get my camera charged I'll take pictures of my new place and new stuff and put them on here for everyone to see. Oh, and ps- anyone who wants to visit me in Logan over the summer, do it!

I'm Bored, I'm Bored, I Don't Know What To Do

2009-04-21T13:07:00.000-07:00

Happy No Test Week! So school is about to finish up for the semester and we are into the last week before Finals, woot! However, this also translates into a week of boredom because we have no homework along with no tests. But, don't worry, I am finding things to do.

This last weekend I went to Olive Garden for the first time, and have decided this may be my new favorite restaurant. Their salad and breadsticks are awesome!... and the main courses are pretty good too :) I also went to Moonlight Serenade at Davis High, another exciting thing. If you've never been to Moonlight Serenade you are missing out, of all my band memories, serving at Moonlight is definitely one of the top ones, which if I can have that much fun serving at it, somebody going to it to eat and dance will definitely have a fun time. After all that excitement over the weekend I came back to school (and sun!) and buckled down to finish the whole 1 assignment I had due this week. Now I am officially finished with all schoolwork other than finals, so I have had plenty of time to do other things, such as sit around and think about how bored I was. That made me think of all the stuff I wanted to be doing at the moment which made me think of all the stuff that I've learned to do since coming up to USU, so I decided to make a list of new skills I've learned at college (although not necessarily in a classroom):

1. How to play the guitar. My song repertoire now consists of "Here Comes the Sun" by the Beatles (I can play the full song even (: ), "Classical Gas" (Only about 2 lines on this one), "Banana Pancakes" by Jack Johnson (Only like 1 line, but still), "Breakdown" by Jack Johnson (Pretty much the whole song on this), and "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" (Whole song, woot!). Sweet, huh? Maybe I should join a band :)

2. How to make an html website. Haven't tried it yet but I do know how :)

3. How to use C++. Not very well however.

4. How to longboard. Someday I am going to get me one and ride it to school to show how cool I am, haha! :)

5. *How to talk in ASL. ("They're communicating!")

6. How to work a Macbook, I'm a total expert now... sort of.

7. How to cook scones and wontons. (I put these together cause they are pretty much the same concept, just wontons have stuff in them)

8. How to make a bowl out of a vinyl record.

9. How to build a circuit.

Well, that's all I could think of right now, I bet there's more. The one's with the * by them are one's I learned in a class, everything else I learned from a friend or on my own. So from the looks of things I've had a very productive first 2 semesters :) Anyway, wow, this feels like a really long post. Probably because I'm trying to catch up on everything since I last wrote, and then I thought of these other things that I wanted to put on, and so it's just going to have to be long. But, since I am now out of things to write (other than telling you about how I painted my toenails or how I got sunburned from sitting out in the sun) I'll just end here. :) Hopefully one of these times me and Kajsa will get some pictures put up on this thing, but for the moment my camera's battery is dead and I don't know what's up with Kajsa, so just be patient. :)

Moving Forward, Moving Back

2009-04-11T15:32:00.000-07:00

So I got on to the blog today thinking that I was going to write some amazing post about everything going on in my life and I discovered that... well, I had nothing to write about. I wish I was like Kajsa and had momentous, exciting news to share like I was applying for my program, but sad to say I'm still just moving along at my same, old, normal pace. And really, that's what I think has been bugging me for these past few months. I feel like everyone around me is moving ahead, plowing forward, and I am stuck at one point with no movement going on whatsoever. I don't have a major so I can't move ahead with school, I don't have a job so I can't move ahead with my career or even just working, I have a boyfriend who's leaving on a mission so I can't move ahead with that relationship, I have no idea what to do with school next semester so I can't move ahead and make my schedule, pretty much I'm at a halt. And I don't like it. Everyone tells me, 'It's fine, you just need to continue going, we can't have an exact 100% plan in life, it just doesn't work that way, just keeping moving and everything will work out', but that's not really helping me. And I can't explain it but I just feel like... I'm not even sure really, it's something like what they think is the problem is not even scratching the surface of the real issue. But the other problem is that I don't know what the real issue is. I wish I could just figure it out. I need everyone else to stop moving on so that I can have time to think and worry and ponder it out. Unfortuanently it's not happening. But you know what, maybe I should listen to everyone and just buck up and take the next step. Maybe the reason I'm at a halt is because I really am waiting for life to light up where my next step should be, but like everyone said, life isn't going to do that. Sometimes you have to put out your foot in the darkness and walk on, and then the light will come and let you see if you're going the right way. "A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step." Well, I guess I might as well try it, you never know maybe by my next post I'll feel like I'm going somewhere, it's always worth the chance. Haha, wow, who knew writing in a blog could help you solve problems like that? Just kidding, I did know that, writing is supposed to be a way to sort through and finalize plans and ideas, a way to release emotions and concrete feelings. Odd, but helpful. Anyway, sorry, no fun entertainment from me today but hopefully reading this helped you a little. And if not, hey whatever, it helped me :)

When it rains it pours

2009-04-08T18:45:00.000-07:00

So as previously stated by Melanie it has been one week since starting our blog, and up until today we had only the posts done that day. Then all of a sudden in one day BANG we do 3 posts in one day! So enjoy it while it lasts cause there might not be any for a while.
So you may be asking yourself... why is Kajsa writting again today? Isn't one enough? The answer is yes one is enough, but I was bored at this moment because Mckay (boyfriend, you will probably be hearing about him a lot) is off getting food (like always) and so I am stuck alone in the library with the strict orders to not move. So what else is there to do besides get on facebook or blog and as we previously discussed facebook is getting old so here I am blogging. So what is new with me... well basically my life consists of homework right now. General Conf. was a great weekend, but by the end of it all I could think about was how much "stuff" I had coming up. I had made a new goal one week previously that I would not do homework on Sunday, so yes it was a much needed break from things, but it was hard to not do ANY homework. But in the end I made it through and overall I am excited to now have, as Mckay says it, "a day all to myself." Except I must correct him that it is technically not my day, but you all get the point. Anyways...moving on this week I have had two major accomplishments. #1 I have perfected the art of being able to study with your boyfriend. Part of it has to do with choosing the right guy (when mckay is in his "zone" he ignores everything around him and so I have nothing else to do besides work on homework) and part of it has to do with setting. Such as the library (where we are now) you can't help but focus on homework while you are here. This is such an accomplishment because previously I would often get very frustrated because I wanted to spend time with him, yet I needed to do homework. I was always in a constant battle with myself and never felt like I was accomplishing much of anything. Now I get to see him all day and still feel like it was a productive day. #2 I have now completed everything that I have to do before applying for the education program! (oh besides pass my current classes, which I am planning on it so everything should be all set) I took my last two CIL tests yesterday and found out that I have passed them all. So I will be applying by July 1st and hopefully I will get in. If not there is always Oct 1st. I have heard that it is hard to get in on your first try so I thought I should probably start early, and it is already going to take me 5 years to graduate so I don't want to waste anytime. Well those are my only two exciting things this week, and I can see that this blogging stuff will get easier so I will keep practicing (obviously I need it, I am so embarressed by my first one :P) But everyone has a bad one here and there. AndI know this will come as a surprise to you but I am not perfect.... shocker I know! It blew me away too the first time that I heard it. Ok, wow this is getting worse by the minute I think I will just stop here. Have a great day!

One Week In

2009-04-08T14:11:00.000-07:00

Happy Week Anniversary! So me and Kajsa have now officially had our blog for about a week, and sad to say we, or at least I, are more prone to look at it to see if Kajsa's written anything than I am to actually log on and write something. But, never fear, I have now written again! Woot! Please hold your applause. :)

Anyway, moving on to news from me-

We have been able to experience "spring" for a few days here in Logan this Monday and Tuesday, finally! I spent most of Monday outside enjoying the sun and playing football and frisbee (which caused me to spend all of Tuesday and today incredibly sore) and a lot of Tuesday sitting out on a blanket reading a book. It was wonderful. I also went and saw "Monsters vs. Aliens" Tuesday night, which was a really funny movie I must say. Other than that I haven't done anything very exciting, just school and taking Computer Literacy tests so I can graduate when the time comes. Which, speaking of, I totally got 100% on my Document Processing computer test (meaning I can correctly and efficiently use Microsoft Word 2007, woot!). Right now I'm waiting to see what I got on my Power Point test, hopefully I will do just as good. Well, that's about all the news I have, sadly. I'll try to do something more exciting this next week so that my next post will be full of action packed fun like sky diving or snorkeling in Maui, but, as with my hope that my little car won't die and my parents will suddenly realize I should get it rather then Bradley, I don't think it will actually happen. :)

Things I (Kajsa) have learned at college

2009-04-08T12:28:00.000-07:00

So this is my first post on our blog, and it is also my turn to share my top twenty things that I have learned at college. They will probably wont be as entertaining as Mel's but try and bare with me...

1. It is harder than I imagined
2. It never works to study with a guy you never accomplish ANYTHING
3. Always have a plan... without it nothing will get done.
4. Actually go to class... this seems so unoriginal yet it really helps your grade plus you are paying thousands of dollars for them so you might not want to waste your money.
5. Get involved in everything you can, it makes life a lot more entertaining
6. Everytime you go home raid the food storage, it saves a lot of money
7. Cherish Saturday mornings they are the only chance you will have to sleep in
8. Don't buy any treats and you won't be tempted to eat them if they aren't there.
9. Have tons of clothes because laundry is way over priced and takes too much time
10. Have a small room, because then it will always be clean cause if it wasn't you couldn't go in it.
11. Go to any function with food, that is one less meal you have to plan
12. Learn what isles at the store to avoid so you don't spend more money
13. You will never actually finish all of your homework and so learn to have fun while you do it.
14. Find joy in the simple things in life, such as a cute boy smiling at you on campus. :)
15. Get to know your ward
16. Discover all of the short cuts through buildings, for those days that you are running late to class.
17. Learn to sleep through anything, saves you when your roomates are watching movies till two am
18. Always find time to excersize... helps to avoid the freshman fifteen
19. Things are never as bad as they seem, just relax and take things one day at a time
20. College students are just big kids trying to learn how to be adults... is it working? probably not. :)

Well there is a taste of a few things I have learned at school. As you can see Melanie and I have had completely different experiences even though we lived in the same room, but I am sure we will both remember this year as a great one at least I feel that I have grown a person. It has definetely been a challenge for me, but as the year is coming to an end I can look back at everything and I realize that none of it was really as bad as it seemed at the time, and I am really excited about the future and the many lessons that are to come with it. (wow what I am I even talking about it isn't like the year is really over yet, we still have the worst week to come.) oh joy!

Things I've Learned at College

2009-04-02T17:46:00.000-07:00

Here are my (Melanie's) things that I've learned since being at college (none of which are related to classes):

1- If you are running late to class, the bus will be running late also

2- When a bus is absolutely jam-packed, the bus driver's favorite phrase becomes, "Push back and get close, we can squeeze a few more on."

3- If you ask a boy what he's majoring in it will almost always be Engineering

4- If you ask a girl what she's majoring in it will almost always be Elementary Ed

5- If you aren't majoring in Engineering or Elementary Ed you are in the minority

6- There is absolutely nothing to do in Logan

7- Finals Week is one of the worst things ever invented, who wants to have a whole week dedicated to studying and tests?

8- Spring is a non-existent season in Logan

9- Even if there is a church right across the street from you, because you're in the singles ward they will send you to a church 15 minutes away

10- College students are pros at finding free things, and you'd be surprised at the things you can get for free

11- People who live in housing that's considered "off-campus" can be closer to the actual campus than some of us in housing considered "on-campus"

12- Forgetting your debit card at a ski lodge is bad

13- Red-box movies and $5 pizza make a good date

14- One of the most popular forms of entertainment is Wednesday night Country Swing Dancing

15- If you don't go to Country Swing Dancing those who do go will feel the need to convert you into going

16- Make sure you always turn off the oven

17- The popular time for fire drills is 1 am

18- Going jeeping in the snow at 11 pm and getting stuck is quite the way to spend a Friday evening

19- Boys are just as confusing in college as they were in jr. high

20- Enough sleep is harder to get then an A in a class

We Succumbed to the Pressure...

2009-04-01T21:16:00.000-07:00

So our roommate Jamie was pressuring us into getting a blog. Actually, this is what Kajsa says Jamie was doing, I have no recollection of any pressure on Jamie's part. After laughing about it for awhile we decided to get one together. Mainly because Facebook was getting boring and we had nothing else to do on this Wednesday evening. Finally after many struggles since we're both sooo computer savvy (not) this is what we came up with. And since we live together (roommates) we figured it would work well. But when we move away, and Kajsa gets married, and I can finally type this without her changing everything I say, we will try to keep it updated sort of alone/together-ish. Anyway, hopefully by the way we talk you will understand who's writing each time. (This time it's Melanie... with imputs from Kajsa, usually that involve hitting my arm and yelling "Don't put that!") So, thank you for reading our first attempt, maybe we'll get better at it as we go along, I don't give any guarantee on that though. :)