Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas everybody!

Ugg- Life is so distracting- I started writing this the Saturday after Christmas, and I finally finished, though I skipped the big family play day at the park. Maybe I'll just post pictures from that day.

My life has been pretty great recently. I finished school on December 17, completing all the credits I need to get my Associates Degree. I'm very glad that I was able to do it in only 2 and a half years, but it was a lot of work. I have not, however, applied to SDSU yet because...drum roll... I've decided to serve a mission!
I turn 21 in March, which means I've been considering the idea since I turned 20. A couple of months ago I really thought about the idea, and I finally decided to do it a few weeks ago.
My first official meeting with the Bishop will be this Sunday.
The most special moment for me which really pushed me towards deciding to do it happened while I was at December Nights with my best friend Kristine. She is not a member of the church, but she has always been curious about Mormons. Kristine always loves to come to the church Christmas events, and she has come to church with me a couple of times, so she knows a bit about our culture. I told her while we were walking back to our car that I was considering serving a mission. She gasped, loudly, and exclaimed, "DO IT!!!" I was so surprised by her reaction. I was expecting "no, we won't see you for 2 years," or "why, are you sure?" But the last person I ever thought would be the most excited for me to go was her. It meant more to me than she'll ever realize, and I really love her for it.
So I had told my best friend, and I wrote to my cousin Elise, cuz she is also my inspiration and I tell her EVERYTHING. I told my close friend and adviser, Marty Morgan, and my Bishop; but I wanted to wait for a good moment to tell my parents together. I didn't get that.
My mom was writing the family Christmas letter and she called to me from the other room, asking me when I was going to apply to SDSU. I thought, "Dang, how to answer that without telling her?" I couldn't. So I went to my mom and said, "well, mom, I've decided I'm going to serve a mission, so I didn't apply to SDSU." So I had told my mom.
Then, later that night, Dad was revising the Christmas letter and asked me exactly the same question about SDSU. I thought "seriously? this is how I have to tell them?" So I had a deja-vu moment telling my dad the same thing. He was so excited and asked me lots of questions. I was glad to tell them, but I wish I could have done it with both of them there and on my own time.
Some of the rest of my family found out later, and I officially told all of my family on Christmas. I was glad that I got to have almost all the Reads present to share my exciting news. *I love you guys, by the way!
So that's the biggest news of my life recently.

Christmas has been very great, even with my mind being occupied by lots of other stuff. We stayed in town, which was SO great, because I really needed the relaxation after school. I had a wonderful party with my friends. And I got to see a lot of my cousins.
We had an enchilada dinner with the Sensenbaughs, which was DELICIOUS. David wasn't home yet, so he came over to hang out one night while Karen and I went crazy in the kitchen.
We spent all day cooking brownies, chocolate oatmeal bars, and two kinds of very elaborately decorated cookies. It was really fun, but very tiring; by the end, both of us were too lazy to do anything and complained about our feet hurting.
We had a night in Bethlehem dinner with the Reads (it was fun to have the Cedar Reads with us!). Though it was not my favorite Night in Bethlehem MEAL, it was still a great night because of the company we had. I was happy to see Madeleine again, home from BYU, and as I said, Spencer and Joanel's family.
Carl and I make the best Christmas shopping team. We went into Target and Walmart with Carl needing presents for about 5 people, and we were done in no time. We really rock!
Spencer and Joanel's family came over to our house on Christmas Eve.
It was a wonderful evening. We played some card games with Andrew. Dad, Kristen, and McKenna took Maia for a walk, and then we all sat together, talked, were thoroughly entertained by Jonathan, and sang some songs. We actually stayed up later than we ever have before on Christmas eve. Normally, our parents demand we go to bed at a reasonable hour so we'll be asleep when Santa comes.

Christmas morning was very special.
Eric and Lora came over very early and came upstairs. It has always been a thing for the kids in the family to hang out together in someone's room until we were allowed to 'wake' our parents up. Oddly- I am not usually a part of that- cuz I am a big sleeper- they always have to wake me up too.
We opened all our gifts from Santa (I got a great new camera!), and then, for the first time ever, we had a sit down breakfast together. We all worked in the kitchen, making eggs, waffles with delicious syrup, bacon, and juice. It was really fun, really delicious, and very special; I hope we keep doing it.

After breakfast we went through the family presents.
The rest of the day was really relaxing- normally we try to make it to both sides of the family, but this year we spent most of the day at home, and then we went to Grandma Read's Christmas night.
I had a really fun time playing 'Signs' with the cousins. It can get really heated when our family plays games, but they are still really fun.

So- That was relatively short- I don't want to go on too long about everything- especially since now it will take a long time to post the pictures.

Aquarium

Today was the BEST day at the aquarium!
The eel that I discovered actually came out today while we were looking for it, so my buddy (who said she didn't believe that it was there) actually got to see it! AND, an aquarist let us go in the back!! I got to see all the tanks and stuff- we even got to go up and see the Kelp Tank from above!! I had the biggest grin on my face the whole time- it was SO cool! I probably looked like such a dork, smile spread wide, and jumping up and down in excitement every 2 minutes. It was the Best part of my month! I wish I had a camera to document it.

VMS Taylor Swift

The VMA's were one last night.
Taylor Swift won best female video for "You Belong With Me", and she preformed it live.
Here's the video- she left the VMA's during the show to do this live.

New Music - More Music Videos

here's her music video

Taylor Swift - New Music - More Music Videos

New Moon Trailer

New Moon was my least favorite twilight book, but so far, the movie looks SO awesome!

Here's the latest, most amazing trailer.

Movie Trailers - Movies Blog

Birch Aquarium

I just started Volunteering at the Birch Aquarium. I LOVE it!
I am an Exhibits Interpreter. I stand outside with at the tide/touching pools. My job is to protect the animals, but also to help the visitors make a connection with the animals, by answering questions, telling them cool things, and helping them touch them.
I get to work with a lot of kids- some of them adorable angels, others not so perfect.
On my first day, we had two kids both fall in because they were reaching too far and slipped. Both happened within 1 minute. The kids were fine, and so were the animals- so it was ok.
If you've never been to the Birch Aquarium, I highly recommend you go, and if I go with you, you can get a discount price of 5 dollars! Or come and surprise me while I am working!
Come! it's cool, I love it!

500 Days of Summer- I wish

My summer has been really great so far, but it has been relatively uneventful. Mostly I've been lazy, but we've also been doing a lot of work at our house. Carl's room is almost completely new. I have a blue wall, a better closet shelf, lots less junk, and a partially clean carpet.
I took a great yoga class that ends tomorrow. Hopefully I will keep exercising somehow.

I was called to be Relief Society Instructor. I teach on the fourth Sundays, so I do Teachings For Our Times. I really like teaching, it's not scary for me, and I love teaching from Conference Talks- manuals are boring.

My friends and I have had a lot of fun doing random things this summer.
We've climbed Cowles Mountain for the sunrise and watched the sunset at Sunset Cliffs.
We saw Harry Potter at midnight, which was awesome. I loved the movie. It was better than all the others. Plus, midnight showings are always way fun. We met some people that went to our high school, and we talked the whole night. It was kinda cool. I'm not used to talking so much with total strangers. But they were fun, and two of the guys even left their group to sit with us- because we are so much fun.

I haven't had many babysitting opportunities, so I try not to do things that require spending money, but my friends and I are the masters at having 'cheap' fun. We find the fun in everything- especially with our cameras. It's weird- any situation becomes exponentially funnier when there are cameras involved.

New Arrangement

I redid my room again!!! I forgot how much I love rearranging stuff.

Here's the new layout

video from Marty's Party, edited by James

April in a Nut Shell

Here is an update on events in April
I rearranged my room- it wasn't major, but I really love it. I like having both sides of my bed open, and having it closer to my computer, so I can watch videos easier. I just have to get used to getting up to turn of the alarm- which is a good thing, just frustrating.


Tim and I went to the Aquarium- he had questions to answer, so I helped him with those while I had fun taking pictures and videos
I am really into Jellyfish. They are SO cool. I haven't decided which animals I want to focus on when I am a marine biologist. It's between Sharks/rays, jellyfish, and sea otters/seals




this was cool, just as I took my picture, Tim's flash went off, so I got the benefits of the flash without a reflection





We celebrated Marty's Birthday again, and to out do last year's surprise, we covered the floor with balloons




Today, we had a surprise party for Marty. There will be a video- thanks to James. He is so awesome for filming and editing it for us.


I have also been reading a LOT of books recently. Unfortunately, my grades might show how I read instead of do homework. But here are some great books, and some OK books, that I have read.

kissed by an angel, Elizabeth Chandler











City of Bones, Cassandra Clare











Peeps, Scott Westerfeld











The Warrior Heir series, Cinda Williams Chima











Fairest, Gail Carson Levine











The Girl Who Could Fly, Victoria Forester











someone like you, Sarah Dessen

Email Test

This is a test to see what you get when I send you a post notification.
Some people can't see images or videos when I post them. If this is the case, please email me, and I will make sure to send you a link to my blog when I post something. Plus, if you don't want to keep receiving the emails,- like you check my blog regularly and don't need a notification (wink, wink) email me.

love you all!

this is just a test video, but it IS cool, so check it out


and here is a test picture

Jon Schmidt

Thanks to Dad for sending me the link

Sad News

I didn't get it.

The Aquarium Internship, I mean.

If you need me, I'll be in my bed, reading happy books.

Good song

Carl played this song for me, and I really liked it. I knew the artist, but this is a new song.

Its called Jump Rope.

oh, and Emily really likes it. When it comes on, she says "UP, DOWN!"

Birthday

Yes, I know I just posted, but hey, things happen, and you gotta write about them before you forget.

My Birthday was 2 Wednesdays ago. I turned 20!! Yes, it feels weird.
I enjoyed a very relaxing day on Wednesday, I only had one class to go to. We opened presents and had banana cream pie before Dad, Kristen, and I went to cheer on the scouts in their basketball game. It was a lot of fun- I really miss young womens.

To celebrate my birthday, my friends came over on Friday, and we all went out to Ruby's for dinner. I love that place. The fries are amazing and you get free refills. If you've never been to Ruby's- you've gotta go.
We also saw a movie after dinner. I had been looking forward to Monster's vs. Aliens, and I was not disappointed. People like my mom wouldn't enjoy it, but I thought it was absolutely hilarious.

We also went to the Wild Animal Park on Saturday with the Robbins. It was Jason's birthday, so we that was our gift to him.
It was a lot of fun, and I hadn't been in a long time.
We fed the lorikeets, which was awesome because we went right when it opened, so they were all crazy, and they hadn't eaten yet, so they didn't poop on us(excuse me mom for saying that word). We also had a crazy experience with some very brave birds in the Hidden Jungle. They would swoop down right over our heads. And these weren't little finches, they were these big, neon orange, loud birds(http://www.sandiegozoo.org/wap/ex_hidden_jungle.html).
I was very bummed that the Butterfly exhibit wasn't opened. We were just 2 weeks early. It actually opens tomorrow. *Dad! Can we go back??*
We got to see the lions up close because their temporary home puts them just 30 feet away from the glass.
They have a new baby elephant who was just 2-3 weeks old. He was absolutely adorable, and the men had a hard time getting us picture loving women away from him.
We saw the bird show, which was very disappointing compared to how it used to be. They didn't do the money grab, or have Lorlita sing. What was cool was the Secretary bird. Look it up, they are really cool.
We rode the tram before we left the park. It was good, but not as cool as the other stuff.



I know I didn't go into detail like I usually do, but I am tired of writing.

Countdown to Eternity

Well, the big day came, and then it was gone.
The weeks leading up to Friday, March 20th, were filled with craziness, anxiety, but mostly lots of excitement.
For me, it felt like blowing up a very big balloon. You get so out of breath and dizzy from blowing so much and so hard, that when it pops, you're so surprised that you stand there for a second with the silliest look on your face.
I have no idea where that analogy came from, I don't usually make my own metaphors, but I think that was pretty good. Even though we were preparing for this day for a long time, it still took us by surprise.
Don't get me wrong, it was a great surprise- really perfect and fantastic- just fast and breath-taking.

Prologue:
Wednesday, March 18, 6:00 pm
Eric left with a crew of men (Bob Pettit, Chris Sensenbaugh, James Read, Nathan Nicholes) to set up the lights and tulle.
6:20- Eric calls to inform us that a basketball tournament was being held at the building until 10:00.
9:30- we (Dave & Kathy Nicholes, Ken & Allison, Jeannie, Mom, Dad, and Me) leave to go help set up.
So yes, our plans were messed up and we couldn't start on the ceiling until 10:00 pm. For about 40 minutes, while the men put up the cables, all of us extra helpers tried to get work done without having any good plan. We must have looked pretty funny trying to figure out how to put everything else. And the plan that we did eventually have was not a good one.
With lots of ladders (and having to move those ladders every 2 minutes) we draped all the tulle (stapled end to end) over the cables across most of the room.
But after the tulle was all up, we realized that it needed to be tightened, because it drooped too far, and it needed to be spread out. So we had to go back up the ladders 20 more times to do that.
Then, we got the lights out, and concurred that they looked better over the tulle, so we had to go up all over again!
Finally, at 2:00 am, the ceiling was done, and beautiful. But we also started on tying bows for chairs and decorated the wall behind the party tables. Oh, and we started setting up some tables.
We did not leave the building until before 3.
We went to Denny's after, and got home at 4:00 am. Poor Eric had to get up for a final at 6:00.

Thursday, March 19
Lots of family arrived on Thursday, and we spent most of the evening making rice crispy treats. There was constant set up going on at the reception building, and we went and helped out when we could.
Thursday night, we had a large get-together to see all the family that was in town. It was a simple meal, but it was really great to relax and chat.
Karen, Kristen, and I watched the beginning of The Holiday while we did pedicures. We didn't get very far once our heads hit our pillows.

FRIDAY:
6:40 Mom woke me up to shower before it was occupied. Dad had just put in a new shower head, and I really wish he hadn't. It was low, and there was no water pressure, and the water went from freezing to warm and back again.
But we all got showered and dressed up all pretty with time to spare.

10:00 We leave for the Temple. Those of us who couldn't be there for the sealing stayed out side and tended children. That included most of the bridesmaids. It turned out to be a bad idea for bridesmaids to babysit- not because we aren't great with kids, but because we were wearing our dresses. It is not easy to run around after kids, who are never content to sit still (even the ones that can't walk). And for us specifically, the dresses were really fragile because of the sheer over skirt. I had been pretty lucky not to have a little hole in the seem somewhere, but then, when Emily jumped off my lap, her shoes caught on the edge and created a very large, very noticeable hole that would have to be fixed before the pictures. Thanks to Lois Ann for saving the day by having an emergency kit of thread and needle.

12:something- Everyone was outside waiting for the Bride and Groom -well actually, the Bride and Groom had to wait until everyone important was there. Sadly, the Maid of Honor, Tiffany, did not know that she was supposed to be there. When I discovered this, it was too late for her to make it there for pictures. But the Bride and Groom came out, with the biggest smiles I have ever seen. They hugged everyone and we quickly went through the difficult task of taking pictures. We didn't do all the pictures at the temple, because we wanted to be fast, and Tiffany wasn't there. So we did a few group shots and family pictures, then we went to the luncheon at Panda Country.
The Bridal Party got to ride in a large limo. We fit almost 20 people inside. The driver drove us the long way, and I am pretty sure we did a few circles, until we were at the restaurant.

The Luncheon was fantastic. I love Chinese food, so I couldn't have been happier. After we had some time to eat, Dad got out the microphone and he and mom both said a few words to Eric and Lora. Unfortunately, dad made me get up and present my gift to them over the microphone, which I hadn't realized I would have to do. I quickly said, 'this is for you', and sat down. Then Bob and Tiffany both gave their speeches.

My gift to Eric and Lora was a pair of wine glasses, or sparkling cider glasses, for their toast. I had painted, with much difficulty and frustration, their names, in silver, and the date on the back. I also painted very thin pink lines around the rim and the bottom. It had been extremely tedious, because thin lines are VERY hard to do. When they were done, mom and I put bows on the stem.
So Eric and Lora were toasted to, and then they told us how they met. Eric had meant to tell the engagement story, but I was glad they did the other, because we hadn't heard it before, and it was still entertaining.
After the luncheon, Eric and Lora went with the photographer (Lora's cousin) to Balboa to take more pictures. We all went home for some dress repairs, relaxation, and last minute things that we had forgotten. It was really nice to have that time.
5:40 We leave early to take pictures at the church. This was when we finally did the wedding party photos. They were fun and very cute. Our family also took a big group photo because everyone was there except for Nathan, who is on a mission.
6:30 The reception officially started. To describe the reception in its complete glory would take everyone's own perspective, because there is only so much one person can see or do at one time.
I, personally, love to dance and party, so that's what I did. I danced a lot, and was really excited to have so many people to dance with, who actually knew how. Andrew and I did some swing, and Ben Koala joined me for a good Cha-Cha.
I did get a chance to enjoy the chocolate fountain, and while I did so, I was able to see and talk to people. But the rest of the time, you would find me on the dance floor.
So I couldn't really describe much to you for myself.
Oh, I did, however, make the slide show that was showing in the far corner of the room. I got a lot of compliments on it, and I am grateful for them. I have a lot of fun (when there aren't computer problems) doing slide shows. Thanks to Chris for the TV and taking care of setting it up.
My mom spent the whole time talking to people, so she would be able to tell you who was, or wasn't, there.
Eric and Lora did all the traditional wedding events. They shoved cake in each others' mouths, they danced, and they tossed the bouquet/garter. Lora's cousin caught the bouquet, and James caught the garter.
It was a beautiful night, and after Eric and Lora left, we had lots of people stay to help clean up.

The ceiling, which took hours to put up, came down in 15 minutes. The 400 bows that were tied around the chairs, were untied, and the flowers were divvied up.
We were tired, so our beds were really welcoming when we got home. In fact, I don't even remember getting home/going to bed.

So, that was the Wedding. It was wonderful, and exciting, and I am so glad it is over. JK- I loved it, but it was a lot of work.


I know that pictures are a big deal, we love to see them, so I will post the great ones that I didn't use in my description here. A big thank you to Heidi Robbins for taking so many beautiful pictures for us.









































Congratulations you guys. I know you couldn't be happier. You're perfect for each other, and I wish you a wonderful marriage.