Monday, July 21, 2008

the moving part is over...

Saturday was moving day, and thanks to my wonderful friends, everything went very smoothly! Between 9 people, 2 trucks and 5 cars, we got it all done in about 2 hours. My new place is now nicely decorated with cardboard boxes and piles all over the place! I bought a couch and bookcase that will be delivered on Saturday, which will help with all the unpacking and arraigning! My bedroom is pretty liveable, and so is the bathroom. I still have a few more loads of new dishes, pots, and pans to wash before the kitchen is unpacked. And then it's time to decorate! Hopefully I'll get everything set up and decorated before Hawaii - so stay tuned for pictures!

After a quick trip to IKEA, a few friends and I headed downtown to see the Sand Sculptures in Pioneer Square (with a name like that - you'd think I still lived in Utah!) They were pretty amazing!
The details and everything were amazing! After the sand sculptures, we hit up Nordstrom's Anniversary Sale! It was great - I got an amazing red pea coat, and now wish that it wasn't July so that I could wear it! I think after a little bit, the boys realized that Nordstrom's probably wasn't the best idea of ways to spend the evening! But I'm glad we went, and can't wait for it to get cold enough to wear my new coat!

Overall, it was a great weekend! Now if I can just survive this upcoming week of craziness!!

Thursday, July 17, 2008

New apartment. New adventures.

If last night was just a glimpse of what's to come.... I'm not sure that I'm going to survive living by myself!

So, yesterday, I left work a little giddy about my new apartment! I got to the office, had to sign a zillion pages of paperwork! I did a walk-thru with one of the managers just to make sure everything looked - but since I'm the first one to live there after the remodel, everything is brand new! After she gave me the keys and left, I couldn't help myself from doing cartwheels in my new living room! I had to run a few errands, met up with my friend Megan, and the two of us headed off to the grocery store to pick up a few essentials. It was a little difficult trying to decide what to make for dinner when I didn't have any pots, pans, plates, bowls, utensils, nothing! We decided on a frozen pizza - and made sure to get one that we could stick right in the oven - seeing as how I didn't have any cookie sheets. We bought some paper towels, and some soap to wash the glasses that I had bought about 15 minutes earlier!

On the drive back to my new place, I realized that I didn't have a knife to cut the pizza with. Megan and I agreed that it wasn't essential that we have a knife, so we continued home! After carrying in a few things, we decided to let the pizza cook while we unloaded the stuff that I had packed in my car. So I turned on my oven while giving Megan the grand tour! I could smell something a little funky, but didn't really think much of it, until I started back toward the kitchen, and realized that it smelt like something was burning.... and sure enough, I look in the oven, and there's FLAMES! I freaked out for a second, then hurried and turned off the oven and opened the door! Anyway... me, being the brilliant one that I am, didn't check the oven before I turned it on, and since it's brand new, it still had some cardboard in there, the instruction booklet and some other paperwork - which caught on fire pretty quickly when it turned on! So - Megan and I we laughing pretty hard - but still trying to figure out what to do about the flames in my oven! I didn't have anything in my kitchen besides the pizza, some OJ in the fridge, and the box of cereal that Megan had just bought. So I turned on my sink, and started cupping the water in my hands, and 'throwing' it into my oven! It was pretty funny!! Once the flames were out, we pulled out the manual and the bottom of it is partially burnt!! We managed to get all the paper and plastic things out of the oven, and then turned it up as hot as the oven would go, and left the oven door open to try and get rid of the little puddle of water in the bottom of the oven. We managed to eventually cook our pizza, and get it out of the oven without too much drama! I remembered that I had some scissors in one of the boxes that I had brought in, so we literally cut the pizza! It's probably one of those things where 'you had to be there' , but Megan and I had quite a bit of fun!


A little later, Sheri and Diana came over too. Sheri had made a cute little cake (from scratch!) She even frosted it and wrote 'Welcome Home'! We had a fun evening of girl talk and laying on the floor of my empty living room!
I can already tell that this whole living-by-myself thing is going to be quite an adventure! And I couldn't be more excited!

Tuesday, July 15, 2008

This year needs to slow down!!!

I can't believe it's already the middle of July! What is happening to 2008?! I have really been slacking off on my blog posts, although I'm not sure how many people actually read my blog, so I'm not sure that many people really care. Life has been really good lately, with lots going on. It's interesting to sit back and look at life and where it takes you and the experiences we each have. Here's a little catch-up of the last few weeks!

Tomorrow, I'm moving into my new place! Ok - so I'm going to get the key and do all the check-in stuff. Saturday is the real moving day! I found a cute little one bedroom place - newly remodeled, in the area I wanted! I'm really excited to finally have my 'own' place! Although... I don't own any furniture (besides my bedroom stuff), so I have lots of stuff to buy in the next few weeks! And it's amazing how much STUFF I have! This is the longest that I've lived in one place since I moved out of my parents house - 14 months! I've managed to accumulate quite a bit of stuff in those last 14 months. And unlike when I lived in Logan, I can't easily store stuff at my parents house anymore! But I have some friends coming to help with the moving on Saturday, so I have until then to get everything (or most everything) in boxes!

This past weekend, my friend Megan and I went up to Seattle! She has a friend who is doing an internship up there, so we visited him, and spend Saturday playing in Seattle with him and 2 of his friends... more pictures to come!
(a view of Seattle from the ferry)


Other things going on.... This next weekend (July 26th and 27th) is our multi-regional YSA Summer Conference. There is about 1200 YSA that will be coming, but luckily enough, I don't have nearly as much responsibility as I did for the Winter Conference! And then August 7-9 is our Ward Campout! I'm really excited, although I've never planned a camping trip for 30+ people! It should be interesting! And there's always plenty of other things going on each weekend - people having get-togethers, BBQ's, things happening downtown, outdoor movies and concerts. All sorts of fun and exciting stuff!


I chopped my hair off - about 9 inches. I don't really like the cut, but I do like the color. I'm going in at the end of the month for a trim, and hopefully a style I'll like more! This is not a very good picture at all, but you get the idea! I'll probably keep it short for a few more cuts, then grow it out a little bit. Who knows!!


I'm not entirely sure why I'm posting these - maybe just to see if this link works... but about a month ago, my friend (Andrew) took these pictures of a friend (Matt) and I to model the shirts for his music magazine - Minute Morning. Matt and I had a blast, and were laughing during about 90% of the pictures. I'm not sure if Andrew got many good ones that he could use, but Matt and I sure had a good time! Anyway, someone who doesn't have Facebook should let me know if this link really works :)

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2172272&l=515cf&id=11508016

OK - that's all for now! Time to go home and do some more packing and cleaning!

In Cambodia

In Cambodia
January 2007

A DAY AT THE PORTLAND ZOO!!! (June 1, 2007)

A DAY AT THE PORTLAND ZOO!!!            (June 1, 2007)
on a tricycle for elephants