U of U gymnastics

We got a picture! (even if it was in the parking lot)
I sure love this girl, and although I am happy for her upcoming wedding, I am going to miss her terribly when she moves away. Love you Becky.

Spring

In light of the lovely spring weather we currently have in the Salt Lake Valley (aka: snowy blizzard mess), I thought I'd warm things up a bit with fun springtime activities enjoyed when the weather actually resembled spring.

The 'Elizabeth House'!!! It's destiny... too bad the building is kinda (ugly) run down.

Anyone been to Memory Grove Park? It's such a beautiful and hidden park located just northeast of temple square. There's a trail/canyon that goes for miles! Nick's words: "I think we walked 50 miles!" - if only. (If I could do that, I'd be running the full marathon rather than the half)

MLS Cup

Yeah we drooled over it... what of it?!
(For those of you that don't know, Real Salt Lake - Utah's pro soccer team won the national championships, and this is their trophy along with a few of the players. Don't worry, I would have never known were it not for Nick's obsession with RSL.)

What's your answer?

Does anyone ever feel like this?

Accepted

Graduate school here I come! (Well, first I must find the financing... oh boy) How did anyone else finance their grad school? Any good suggestions for me??

Sweet Dreams

Can you believe I used to sleep on this?

If you can't believe it, you're right! I didn't used to sleep on it.
So then I bought this....

And I still don't sleep very well... Which has brought me to the conclusion that I am just a terrible sleeper - regardless of the bed.
So why did I spend $400 on a mattress just to find out it's not the mattress that causes my sleep problems? Oh, the foolish choices we make!

Help!

How come I can't upload pictures? It just sits there and says it's working, but nothing happens??

You are Loved

I want to share a wonderful quote with you from a talk by Elder Holland. I hope this will help brighten your day and lift your spirits; especially if you are in need of a little lift as I was when I read this.

"Brothers and Sisters, I testify that no one of us is less treasured or cherished of God than another. I testify that He loves each of us - insecurities, anxieties, self-image, and all. He doesn't measure our talents or our looks; He doesn't measure our professions or our possessions. He cheers on EVERY runner, calling out that the race is against sin, not against each other. I know that if we will be faithful, there is a perfectly tailored robe of righteousness ready and waiting for everyone, 'Robes... made... white in the blood of the Lamb.' May we encourage each other in our effort to win that prize is my earnest prayer, in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen."
-Elder Holland

Happy Birthday!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY NICHOLAS!!!!

Here you go channel 2 - he'll kill me for posting this picture. Make sure it's passed around the office by noon today! Haha (Oh, and pray for my life)

L-O-V-E

I've been dating this boy for one year today.
Valentine's Day? Yep. Cliche? Totally.
I couldn't be happier.

(This is for all of you at channel 2 - have a hay day)

Crafts

Yes, I said it; CRAFTS. I sometimes do crafts. Ashley and I attended the Art Market (a fun market where local 'crafters' sell their goods) last week. There were some things we knew we couldn't figure out how to make... and so I bought this lovely item:





Then we made these lovely items:




What would we do without crafts?

Make A Wish

Check out this link below... what an incredible story. I love Make A Wish!!!

http://www.ksl.com/?nid=148&sid=9668500

Application submitted!!!

My application for grad school is officially in! Is it normal to be nervous? 'Cause I am!!!

My New Favorite

Announcing... my new favorite coat! Worth the wait, worth the cost, and SOOO warm!!! Love it!

New Years Resolutions!!!

To anyone that says New Years Resolutions are lame - I say NO WAY!!! It's such an exciting time to look back over the year, see your accomplishments and then set some new goals for the upcoming year.

Here is a list of my 2009 goals:
I accomplished most of them and the ones I didn't - look out 2010!!! Some health concerns set me back from doing a lot of the running events, but I'm hoping this year will be much better!

As for 2010:


And my motto for the year:

GO FOR IT!!!

Christmas Festivities

Top 10 Christmas fun 2009!

1. Lighting of the Gateway Christmas Tree and listening to Jon Schmidt

2. Temple square with friends

3. Festival of Trees (GO UTES!)

4. Ugly sweater parties with yummy cheesecake factory dinner!

5. Candelight Christmas at This is the Place State Park - by far my favorite event!!!



6. Attending the lighting of Angel Tree at Grand America and shopping for Angel Tree kids. Santa even came!!! (Sadly, my camera was out of batteries - that always happens at the most opportune time doesn't it?!)
7. Volunteering at the Ronald McDonald House with Ashley and baking up a storm!
8.Watching as many Christmas movies as possible!
9. Celebrating the birth of our Savior
10. Getting my first kiss under the mistletoe! (Pucker up!!!)

REAL REAL REAL REAL REAL... REAL... SALT LAKE

And the champions are... REAL SALT LAKE!!! I nearly had a heart attack watching the game, and then lost my voice screaming when we won. Picture me, Nick, and his sister jumping up and down hugging... that doesn't happen much. That was our night when REAL won! The next day we went to Rio Tinto to celebrate their win.

Just in case you didn't know...

You get what you pay for when it comes to buying mascara... so much for trying to save a buck.

Halloween Time!

Halloween was spectacular! I got to spend time with some of my very favorite people. If you're in the pictures, then you must be among my favorite people. If not, call me, we'll work something out! Hehe

Jared was so great to invite us to his cabin to carve pumpkins and enjoy a campfire! Check out our awesome pumpkin... and my marshmallow eating skills?

FHE barn dance. Complete with dancing lessons for dummies... It was quite a hoot!

Mandy invited us to her party up in Brigham City... and we made it! Thanks Mand!
Princess Peach and Mario!

Ash and Peter - The Nightmare Before Christmas

The Parts game. Is that what it's called? They give you a card with 2 body parts on it and basically they have to touch. Example: Nose to elbow. My nose must touch your elbow. Crazy.

Of course Nick couldn't miss the fainting goats... and even got lucky enough to herd them back to their cage since they had escaped. He still talks about it today!

The Linthorst clan. Can you tell how much the kids love Nick? I love this picture!

And last but not least, my 2 beautiful little princesses.

Worth a Thousand Words

I love this boy. Enough said...

Service is good for you!

Ashley and I have been so lucky to spend time together each Friday doing some sort of skill building activity, crafts, or serving others. This girl of many talents has taught me how to successfully make a loaf of 100% wheat bread, save money at the grocery store, manage a budget online, and show love to others by serving them. The past couple weeks have been full of service. We went to the food bank and scooped pasta out of a HUGE box. We were lucky enough to wear the required hair caps and gloves! Aren't we gorgeous?!



This week we went to a soup kitchen to serve lunch. It was a really neat experience. Anyone can come eat, take a shower, or do laundry for free at this place during certain hours. Many homeless people came along with some who had been out of work for a while or just couldn't afford lunch that day. Everyone was so kind and kept telling me all sorts of different, sometimes really odd, stories. I leared all about different kinds of apples from an elderly man, so if you ever want to know anything about apples, I'm your girl! Seeing these people in this position however, brought me a higher motivation to continue with school and always work hard so that I will be able to sufficiently provide for my family. If you have anyone in your family, or a close friend that needs a little push in the right direction regarding school or work, do some volunteer service at a soup kitchen. I think it will open their eyes a little bit. It was such a wonderful experience and I can't wait to do it again!Thanks Ashley for settin it up! You are wonderful!

Mr. And Mrs. Lindberg

The amount of weddings I went to this summer and fall were drastically reduced from previous years. Does this mean I am getting old? Will I soon be getting baby announcements from all of you my married friends?
Sara and Brady have a pretty cool love story, involving a pretty serious accident, and a cute boy who took care of my dear friend every step of the way. I don't think there could be a better match than these two and I know we're all so happy for them! Love you Sara and Brady!
Oh how I love the Alpha girls! I feel so blessed to call them my best friends.

Brady is in the Air Force - hence the cool attire. He is also from Texas and surprised us all by taking his coat off to display a shirt decked out with Texas pride... He had it made, and was very proud! Dwan, hands off, he's Sara's husband!



Pretty sure our table never stoppd talking, ate the most bread, and spilled the most things (Ok, well the last part was me... successfully managing to knock becky's glass over not once, by twice - sorry Becky!!)

Lucky me

I feel so priviledged to have such a wonderful friend who lets me watch her kids while she goes out of town. I always have fun adventures with the Linthorst kids, and below are some pictures from our fun week. Searching for the world's cutest kids? I found them!!!

My new favorite!

I found my new favorite song this week and have probably listened to it 20 million times. Go to the link below, listen and tell me what you think! It reminds me of my days in Peru, sitting on the Amazon river in the middle of the night with fireflies all over and stars painting the sky. The song is truly magical. What do you think?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CMr52bCXNdU

Make A Wish

I feel so priviledged to be a part of the Make A Wish volunteer team. The mission of the Make a Wish foundation is to grant the wishes of children with life-threatening medical conditions and to enrich the human experience with hope, strength, and joy. I was so lucky to be a part of making Parker's wish come true. He loves to be outside and because he can't speak, the family decided that if he could talk, he'd probably ask for an outdoor playset. So, we did just that. It was SO wonderful to see his face as he played on the playset... I've never seen a happier or sweeter child. He is truly a gift straight from Heaven. His family is wonderful and they were such a joy to work with through this whole process. Parker brings so much light into everyone's lives and below are some pictures to prove it.











Check out their website at www.makeawishutah.org to find out how you can help this great foundation!