What I REALLLY Do At College

:) Here's what I've been up to:

CAMPING

This is one of my best friends, Kayleena! Me and her always have so much fun together!! Me, her, and a group of friends all went camping together up in the canyons of Salt Lake. It was so much fun!

So, Kaylee has a onesie....hehehe

Naturally, we HAD to try it on together!! I mean...what else would you expect us to do?? :D

With her onesie and my Barney blanket...I think we were a match made in Heaven!! hahaha

The next morning we went hiking just around where we had stayed.

This is one of my other best friends, Andy. He's great! He also went with us camping. Plus he's got an amazing truck! :)

So, that was my camping trip! First one in a while, and I'd be willing to go on another one. We slept under the stars...had stew...what more could you want? :)

VISIT FROM FRIENDS

So, not too long after that was conference weekend. (Which was AMAZING! One of the best conferences we've had in a while) So, a whole bunch of friends were coming up to Utah to visit! So, I went down to Provo and hung out with some of them down there, then we all drove back up here to Salt Lake together. It was so great seeing all of them!

We went to a place called "Spoon Me". It had different smoothies and things like that. It was actually really good! So, we all piled up into a car....safely of course, and totally not illegal in UT! :)

We also went to a BYU football game. And took random pictures there...of course! At one point I kidnapped a friend's camera and took a million pictures of myself. hehehe. I didn't put all of them on here because, there were just waaay too many!

We thought it'd be fun to get a picture with some of the band members who played that night...we were right! It was fun!

I stayed with Abby in her dorms that night, which was a blast! The next day I went with Abby to her grandparent's house which isn't to far from the MTC. They have this beautiful home with this gorgeous view! We also had an amazing home cooked meal! It was delicious! I love her grandparents! :)

We went back up to Salt Lake and met up with a whole bunch of girls. In this picture it's Abby, Kari, Stefani, Ashley, Cali, and ME! We had so much fun hanging out and catching up with some of our guy friends were at priesthood session.

We met up with two boys after priesthood session, Bryce and Thomas and me and Kari went off with them to hang out for a while. We walked around temple square (since that's where I live) and got this awesome picture!

This is my favorite!!

There's Thomas and Bryce! Both live in Mesa right now and are going to school. They both came up to visit for Conference.

Here's Kari and me! Kari's going to school at BYU ID. She just came down for the week-end as well, just for fun! She stayed with me that night, and we had a blast hanging out!!

I LOVED seeing all my Mesa friends, but it did make me miss the ones I wasn't able to see. It was a bittersweet moment. But, that's okay!

PROVO CANYON

Me, Kayleena, and Andy all decided that we were going to go to Provo canyon to hike and do homework! :) Yes, we HAD to go there to get it all done!!

This is me and Kaylee (again) hanging out in the back of Andy's truck. WHICH, we found out, is also NOT illegal!! :) haha.

We found this great spot by a river that was really quiet and COVERED in leaves. It was so pretty.

Feet! :) Don't ask.

We had a lot of fun at Provo Canyon. and YES, I DID get homework done!! :D We also went and got sweet potatoe fries. Mmmm!! They're some of my favorites!

SLEEP-OVER

One night: Me, Kayleena, and Rachel (our other best friend) decided that we were going to have a sleep-over! Cause...that's what you do in college, right? Well....we were heading over the Kayleena's room (that's where we were going to do it) when.......

Me and Rachel decided we couldn't make it all the way. :) You may be wondering where we are now...aren't you. Take a good look. Closer. You're almost there...it's the elevator!! :) We did get some funny looks...but not too many. Hey! It was like 2 in the morning! Who's that crazy to be in an elevator at THAT hour?! :D

Naturally, Kaylee wanted to join us (it was surprisingly really comfortable...that could be because I was just exhausted though!) So, we decided to take pictures. WIGGLE FACE!!

I love these two girls to death! They're such great friends to me and we always have so much fun!

Yay for college! :)

A Really Long List of Things I've Done Recently

Well...I hope you're ready for an overload of information! I've done ALOT the past few weeks and I'm about to share ALL of it! You thought I had alot of pictures from California? ... You were wrong! :) So, as a new chapter of my life begins, I wanted to start by reviewing the last few pages.

My mom is incredible! I love her so much. Before I left she made cookies and asked me to remember her as the mom who always made delicious cookies. So, in retaliation, I brought her Jamba Juice to her work one day. Then, I asked her to remember me as the daughter who always visits her at work, bringing gift. haha. I love my mom so much and I miss her!

One of the weirdest experiences I had before I left was working my LAST DAY EVER at Arizona's Bridal Warehouse. (On Broadway about 2 blocks east of the 101 Freeway) When people ask me what my number is, I'm still tempted to say, "Our number is 480.517.0027, and I hope to hear from you soon!" Obviously...that wouldn't work out too well....although, I guess I could always give it to a guy I really don't want having my number. :) hehehe. Anyway, I loved working at the Bridal store! Some of my favorite memories come from there and all of the girls were amazing!! I miss them soo much too!!

One of my best friends through out high school was Alicia Sampson! I was always guaranteed a good time when I hung out with her. I think i have more inside jokes with her than I do anyone else! Right, Detective? :) Alicia is over at NAU now, and I know that she'll be amazing at no matter what she does!

Katie Wilson! Truly one of the greatest friends I could ever have! I've always LOVED spending time with her and just chatting about whatever's on our minds. It's always been such a relief to know that there is someone amazing who really cares about me and loves to spend time with me! In this picture below, we're making a "model pose". It's a Lyndsie/Katie thing. :) I think that Katie is the next person in line I have the most inside jokes with! Everytime we got a camera, we'd do a model pose. Did it ever turn out? No...not really. But was it absolutely fun and silly? 100% Yes!

Katie's going to NAU aswell this year. She'll be studying music via the violin. I KNOW she'll be amazing at it! She always was the greatest violinist in my eyes! In this picture we were thinking of cute boys...what else? In particular...we were thinking of a certain boy. Yes...I know. It's CLEARLY obvious who we're thinking of. ... Draco Malfoy. *sigh* I would miss Katie...but I still talk to her on a regular basis, which I'm so grateful for! She truly is one of the best friends a girl could have and I sincerely hope we never loose touch with one another!

Every time I get together with Madison Moffitt, we have so much fun! I've alwaysloved hanging out with her. She stayed back down in Mesa, and I'm sure she's dating boys like crazy! ;) haha just kidding Mads! (But, really....a gorgeous girl like you will be married in no time! So, send me the invitation please!) ..... hehehe. She's such a sweet girl and inpiration to me!

as you can tell...most of the time, I don't take completely normal pictures....Is that such a bad thing? Abby Wells is such a doll! Through out the summer,we found ourselves hanging out with each other much much more. Unfortunately, I should've gone to work out with her more than what I did...(they weren't kidding when they said freshman 15!) She up at BYU Provo right now. She was another great friend and I'm really glad that she was there for me through out the summer!

Before I left Mesa, I had to go out and do as many fun things as I could! Hanging out with a whole bunch of girls and taking goofy pictures was one of them! Another thing I did was go see Beauty and the Beast. We got to get a picture with them afterwards, cause they were like related to Maddi or something.....I don't know. But, it was waaay fun!

The single-greatest thing I had the opportunity to do before I went was to go to the temple with two of my best friends: Aaron Webb and Bradley Bishop. As I've mentioned before, both of them have gotten their mission calls. It was one of the most spiritual experiences I've ever had and I wouldn't trade itfor ANYTHING in the entire world!

If there's one thing in Mesa I miss the most, its the Mesa Temple. There's just something about it that I've always loved. I know I'll see it again, but there's just a place in my heart that will always go out towards that temple.

Well, finally, we're getting to me leaving for UT. I'm currently going to the LDS Business College in Salt Lake City. The drive up was so much fun, but really long! I got to drive up in "my" car with my sister Jaimee. Since she's been home, me and Jaimee have grown so close! I really miss her being with me. We've had so much fun together!

All the way up, we took pictures of ourselves...cause what else was there to do? It wasn't while I was driving of course!! She's such a great person,and I'm really glad that she was there for me this summer!

The total time it took to get from my house to Salt Lake was about 13 hours. We drove about 12.5 hours one day, got a hotel for a night, then went into Salt Lake to move me in the next day. I really miss Arizona and it's "mountains". It so weird living here...but, it seems pretty natural so far.

Well...I know that there's one thing that you've all been waiting for! So...drumroll please!

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I have a bathroom!! Woot woot! I had a picture of it...but I accidently deleted itfrom this blog...and I don't want to take the time to put it back up....Oops. Anyway, here's my dorm room! It's so much fun living here! I live in the Plaza Hotel across the street from the Salt Lake Temple. (No joke!)

The one person I grew really close with over the past few years was my dad! If there's anyone I miss hanging out with its him! (Sorry everyone else) My dad was my buddy. Through out all my highschool years we spent so much time together! He was truly the most amazing dad any girl could ever have! I miss him soo much!

This is the outside of where I live. I wasn't kidding when I said I lived in a hotel!

Luckily, some of my family don't live too far from me. I lvoe both of my grandparents so much and I can't wait until this Sunday when I can see them again! They're so loving and amazing!

One of the perks of living in Salt Lake is I get to go to Temple Square almost every day! (I've been there every day except for ONE!!) It is such an amazing temple and you can reallyfeel the spirit strong there! (Although...it's not QUITE as strong as the Mesa temple!)

For orientation of the school, we had the opportunity to hike Ensign Peak. It was such a beauiful sight! This is me and my roomate, Suzanne on the top! She's such an amazing roomate. I honestly couldn't have asked for a better one. (I personally think I've been kind of a sucky roomate lately, but I'm changing that!) She's so patient with me and such a great friend!

Sillouette picture on ensign peak. :)

Well, that's how its been for me so far! It's been quite an adventure. I've learned alot about myself lately and hopefully, I'll continue to grow!

My Missionaries!!

My three best guys friends all got their mission calls this summer! I'm so excited for them! It'll be a great experience for all of them and I know they'll be AMAZING missionaries!!

Here's me with the three missionaries! You've got Bradley Bishop on the far left. He got called to mississippi and such :). He'll be speaking spanish! Next is Elder Ryan Merkley! He got called to the Orlando, Florida Mission speaking Haitain Creole. Crazy...right?! Next is Aaron Webb. He's going to the Santiago, Chile mission speaking spanish! (Then next is me of course!) I'm so proud of all three of them!

Brad leaves begining of September and Aaron is going to leave Mid October. But, Elder Merkley left for the MTC this morning! I know he's going to have such a great time and he'll be a huge blessing to all of his people in Forida!

Camp & A Trip To Kayles

This year I had the opportunity to go to Girls Camp...again. This is my sixth year of going and now I can fully guarantee that I will not be going back next year! (and hopefully, for quite a few years!!) I've always had so much fun at girls camp and this year was no different. Originally I was going to go because I thought I'd be working...but lo and behold: Something magical happened...(actually it wasn't really magical, it kinda sucked in all honesty...) anyway, to make a long story short I wasn't working for 3 out of the 4 days that girls camp was actually going on! So, a week before, I decided to go! Whee! Anyway, I really did have a fun time and I'm glad that I went. The theme of camp this year was "See No Evil, Speak No Evil, and Hear No Evil", with monkeys as our mascot. At first I thought, "Monkeys?!" but, as the trip went on, I found myself LOVING this cute theme. Everything was planned so well, and I'm grateful I could be apart of it!

Me and Tiff were up there together this year and I'm glad we could spend this last little time together!! She's been one of my best friends these past few months and I'm going to miss her. (Which may seem odd if you KNOW me and Tiff...and especially if you know our background and history together....AH, hatred! :) hehe) Tiffany is going to BYU ID this fall and I'm going to the LDS Business College. So, we may only be a few hours apart (we googled it), but I still doubt we'll see each other very often...sorry Tiff!

This year I went up as Jr. Staff. Jr. Staff is better than YCLs, but unfortunately, we're not quite staff yet...we're just kind of...there. No, really. Although we did have a flippin blast! All we do is sit there and watch everyone else work...really! Oh, and I guess we run the store. This year it was called the "Banana Cabana". The picture above shows all the Jr. Staffers. (Starting left to right) There's Yasmine, Tiffany, Kayla, Alexis, Brianna, Rhonda, and ME!! There were so many fun things that we got to do. There was one time, when our two leaders (Sis. Shnepf and Sis. Houston) decided that they wanted Sonic. So, they left camp to get them and all of jr. staff sonic, while we went and taught their Music class. haha. It was sooo worth it too! (I got a strawberry limeade! Mmm!) But, we also did have some sucky moments. Now, that we have "staff" in our title...girls seem to think that we'll solve their problems for them! On one of the days, we were all just chilling in front of the store and a whole ward came up to us complaining about their YCLs and having to clean the bathrooms...BLAH BLAH BLAH (I kinda stopped listening)...anyway, I will admit, we may have been a bit rude to them at first, but we couldn't figure out what the problem was. I told them to just suck it up and do it. Anyway, basically, we ended up giving them a huge lecture and their YCLs a lecture. Then we forced them into a group hug. (Tiffany's idea...not mine!) But, for the most part, it was a really fun experience!

One of the other things we did was a Stimulation Hike. Basically, you take a ward out on a "hike" and find perilous things along the way. These trials we run into, just happen to be all the things that they've certified in! Fancy that! :) One of the events involved me having to get bit by a rattlesnake and Tiffany having a broken leg and blood spewing from her arm! ............... I'm not kidding! This is a picture of us with our battle wounds.

One of the things we do up there is skits. The skits are so much fun and all the girls LOVE it! My ward (Cooper Ward) did a skit based off of the story "Little Red Riding Hood". Thanks to me and Tiffany...we turned it into "Little Red in the Hood"! Hence forth...gangsta! Woot Woot! The girls were sooo good! (Starting left and going right) We had Alex and Karly who were the bad gangsters (Mandy Wolf) and tried to lead Little Red astray. Then there was Bonnie who was the sweet old rapping grandma. Next is Kiera, Little Red, and the star of the show! Finally, there was Sierra, Hillary, and Kennedee. These girls were the angels who watched over Red as she traveled to her grandma's house! My sister and Mom wrote the cutest script ever...but it only worked out because the girls did sooooo good! I'm way proud of them!!

Jr. Staff did a little music video in between each of the skits. Our first one was to "Thriller" by Michael Jackson. We all wore hoodies at first and creeped onto the stage in the dark, then when the chorus came on, we took our hoodies off to show our white shirts and turned on a black light. Then we danced to thriller. The music wasn't as loud as we needed it to be...so, it wasn't as cool as what we wanted it to be. But, it was still fun! The next one we did was "Fabulous" from High School Musical. We all wore feather boas and just acted like we were fabulous. Whee. Next was "SOS" by the Jonas Brothers. We had Rhonda, Kayla, and Brianna as the Jonas Sisters and the rest of us were there fans. The was one point when Rhonda threw her "sweat rag" to me and Tiffany tackled me down to get it. I still have bruises from that. Next was "Let's Get Physical". He He. We did a work out video: starring Moi! I was the crazy intense teacher and all my students got kicked, hit, or fell out by the end. I had so many people tell me that that was their favorite one! It was waaay fun to do! Our fifth one was to "Popular" from Wicked. We had Yasmine in the middle and the rest of us danced around her and dolled her up so she could be popular like us. Finally, the last one we did was "Hoedown Throwdown" from Hannah Montana. We'd planned to do this one and learned the dance for it and when we got up there, we learned that they had a class for the girls to learn it too! So, at the very end, everyone got up and danced together. The girls loved it and we all had so much fun! Maybe I'll tape myself doing it sometime and I'll put it on here...that could be fun! :)

Now, camp wasn't just all fun and games (believe it or not). We did have some spiritual times too! There was a Values Walk that was amazing! We went on this walk as a ward around to different people. Each person would focus on a different value, starting with Faith. Divine Nature. Individual Worth (which was one of my personal favorites). Knowledge. Choice and Accountablilty. Good Works. Integrity. Then we ended up at a cabin with our Stake Presidency: President Speakman, President Guthrie, and President Rogers, who talked to us about Virtue. It was such a good spiritual experience and I'm glad I was able to be apart of that. We also had an amazing testimony meeting. Some of the girls who got up I hadn't expected too...and our Bishop had the opportunity to really teach us that we all do have a testimony, even if we don't think we do. Then, he taught us how to bear that testimony. It was one of the most amazing testimony meetings I've ever been too.

Well, after girls camp, I decided to go and visit my sister and her family. My sister has three adorable kids: Spencer, Landon, and Theresa. I had so much fun hanging out with them and I'm going to miss them all when I leave.

This is with me and Landon. It was the only good picture that I could get! haha. This is one of the cutest kids EVER! When he sees me, he puts his hand in the air and yells, "LOOUUU!" It's soo cute!!

I'm way excited for all these great experiences I've had so far this summer and i'm excited for the few I know that are coming up! It's been a great summer. :)