The last few months...

Well it has been a little while since the last time I blogged.

Okay, a little is an understatement.

It has been a long time. 

Over 4 months to be exact.

But now I'm watching Say Yes to the Dress, the baby is asleep (not my baby...I'll explain in a little bit), and so I figure why not blog.

So bear with me. There is so much to tell. I hope you are ready for a long post with lots of pictures.

First off...Halloween. I'm not the biggest Halloween fan, but here at USU they have a little thing called the Howl. I know what you've heard about the Howl...barely dressed woman, lots and lots of beer, and yes those things are there, but that is not why I go. I go for one thing. The concerts. Last year was We the Kings and it was awesome! Probably the best concert I have ever been to. This year was Cartel. Not as good as last years but still worth the $10 I spent on my ticket. My best friend Kait and I have decided to make it a tradition. Every year we will go to this, unless of course, it is a terrible band. So far we haven't been disappointed. And, it is always fun to dress up.

Alli and Jonathan came with us too.

It might be hard to tell, but we are zombies. I am a zombie baseball player, Kait is a zombie schoolgirl, Alli is an Indian, and I am still unsure what Jonathan is supposed to be...

Next we have Thanksgiving.

Thanksgiving was not a big thing for my family this year, and that was totally fine by me. We did start a new thing this year though and that was running the Turkey Trot. I am pretty sure my Mom did it just for Jimmer, the dog, but it was still fun none the less. 

You can tell I was really into winning. Most winners pose at the mile marker.

After The Turkey Trot came dinner. Dinner for us was a little delayed. We came back from the run and were relaxing when we realized that we forgot to start the turkey in the roaster. Whoops! Don't worry we did have dinner, but it wasn't until about 5 P.M.

After dinner came BLACK FRIDAY. Except I don't think it should have been called Black Friday. It started about 8 P.M. on Thursday. Alli, Jonathan, Steve and I were waiting in line at Best Buy from about 8-12. Alli and I had a list and we were on a mission, Jonathan was along for the experience, and Steve just came. Alli and I were wanting a TV, which sadly we did not get. I did get some awesome DVDs. This is the only picture I got all day. We started at 8 P.M. and we finished around 6 A.M.

Next on this review of the last couple months is a little trip to Temple Square.

It was a beautiful night, but oh my word it was freezing!!!

This was a really fun night, but these were the only two pictures I got all night. George, Jonathan, and Garth came too...I just don't have pictures.

These two got engaged sometime in the middle of December. Not quite sure what day, but oh well. I'm so happy for them! They are getting married May 11th.

Christmas was the next main thing. This is the first Christmas that I haven't been home for. We celebrated here in Logan with Amanda and Neil. It was different, but so much fun. On Christmas Eve I got a horrible migraine that made me sleepy most of the night. 

The Etheringtons on Christmas Eve with Carter and Jax in their Christmas jammies.

Here is out annual Christmas Eve picture. Don't let this smile fool you; I felt terrible.

Amanda and Neil are starting a new tradition by reading the Nativity story on Christmas Eve. Carter was not happy about sitting down and reading, but I guess the finger in his nose helped him concentrate. 

All the presents on Christmas morning. Amanda told Carter that all the presents with a "C" on them were Carter's. I found him a few times trying to open my presents!

It was this sweet little boy's first Christmas. And we were so thankful this Christmas to have him at home and not in the hospital. 

Carter getting Steve and Neil to help him with his new ambulance. We spent most of that day playing doctor and Carter putting his stuffed animals in the back of the ambulance.

The following day Steve, my parents, and I all headed to Burley. Amanda and Carrie and their families would be coming to spend the remainder of the week. I was lucky enough, if you can call it lucky, to be able to be excused from work for that week. The only reason I was allowed to leave was because I needed to have my wisdom teeth out. I was in training at work and they wouldn't allow me to leave without a really good reason and I got it! So Tuesday my mom, George, and I headed up to Twin to get those bad boys taken out. I don't remember much of that day, but I am told that I was kind of a beast on that medicine. I was yelling because I could not drive home, and I took out my bloody gauze and laid it on the seat of my Mom's car. I remember nothing about the ride home. I barely remember eating some mashed potatoes and chicken broth. I do very clearly remember waking up from a nap and feeling like my face had been run over by a truck! I didn't have much time to complain though; because soon after that everyone arrived and it didn't get quiet until Saturday afternoon when everyone left! 

Here are just a few pictures of that week...

Christmas with the Andros kids. 

Many rides on the fourwheeler.  

Jace and Paige sang us a song that they sang for a Christmas program. 

Did I mention my Mom scheduled family pictures for the day after I got my wisdom teeth out? That may look like a smile, but it is actually a grimace. It is amazing that we got everyone to look at the camera and smile. It is also fantastic that no one is crying!

These three little boys loved playing MarioKart Wii. They would always get 10th, 11th, and 12th, or they quit halfway through a race, but boy did they have fun.

Then on New Year's Eve it was time to part ways. Carrie and Ben headed back to Washington, Amanda and Neil headed back to Logan, and the rest of us headed to Payson, Utah. We headed there to attend a very special baptism. We attended the baptism of my boyfriend, George. Yes, blogging world, my boyfriend, and yes, his name is George. Is it weird for you to read? It is kind of weird for me to say, to be honest. I have never really called anyone that before, or; admitted it to anyone. Anyways, it was a really awesome day. My brother, Steve, did the baptizing. It was such a cool experience that not many words can describe it. It was also a pretty embarrassing day. George's Stake President gave a talk that was pretty much all about me, and boy did my cheeks go red! But other than that it was pretty amazing. I was so thankful that my parents were willing to come and support George, and to Steve for baptizing him. Unfortunately, I took no pictures of that day.

Since New Year's Eve I have just been working and going to school. I shouldn't say just school and work because I am so, so busy. All of the time! I have school every morning at 7:30. Yep, that is right, 7:30. I am pretty sure some of your jaws just dropped because you cannot possibly imagine me dragging myself out of bed at that time, but it happens...EVERY MORNING! Did I mention that I am taking Human Anatomy this semester? Did I also mention that class is the most failed class at USU? And if you know me you know my record of failing classes...ya not good. But I study so hard it is insane. Right after school everyday I go to my new job. It shouldn't really be called a job because I love it so much and it is so easy, but I get paid for it so I'll call it one. 

I get to babysit this cute face EVERYDAY!

Meet the new man in my life...

Trae Michael Kennedy

Isn't he just so cute? 

So cute, in fact, that I don't mind when he pukes or poops on me. Which, unfortunately, happens quite often. It is okay though...how could I possibly be mad at him with a face like that? 

I also have another job.

This job, however; deserves a post of its own. Which I will do at a later date. I have already blogged so much that I can't do anymore today. Soon though I promise.

So yes this has been my life lately. It is a super busy life, but a blessed one. I feel so blessed everyday to have a job, to be a student, to have such incredible friends, and to have such an amazing family.

It's ok I'm a P.E. teacher...

If you have seen the movie Dumb and Dumber you probably know the phrase

"its ok! I'm a limo driver!" 

As if Lloyd being a limo driver makes it ok for him to run onto the airplane.

Well, I've been feeling a lot like Lloyd lately, but in my own way.

By my own I mean I think that it is ok for me to do things because I am going to be a P.E. and health teacher.

Here are a few examples...

Firstly, I justify how comfortable I am with talking about how the body functions because I am going to be teaching health classes someday. I forget that some people aren't comfortable talking about bodily functions (poop) quite like I am. If they ask about my openness, usually in disgust, my response is usually "Oh, it's ok I'm going to be a health teacher." My roommates have gotten to know this fact about me really well in these 2 months of school!

Next, I justify looking like this EVERYDAY!

My hair is always in a ponytail and a headband. On Monday and Wednesday I have a softball/soccer/basketball class that requires me getting pretty sweaty. Therefore; I don't get ready very much those days. Tuesday and Thursday classes are a different story. I have regular classes those days, but I do go to the gym in the middle of the afternoon. So I get ready for the day, go to classes, go to the gym, and for the rest of the day I look like the above picture. 

But hey, ponytails are perfectly ok if you're going to become a P.E. teacher!

Funny story: last week I went to get my hair trimmed. While my stylist, Natalie, was cutting the bottom layer she asked me "Do you wear your hair up a lot?" My response "um, ya. How did you know?" She says "well, your hair is starting to grow up and not down." And of course my response was "It's ok I'm going to be a P.E. teacher."

 Well moral of the story...I probably shouldn't wear so many ponytails.

The last example has to do with my clothes. I try to do laundry about once a week. When I say try I mean have to do laundry once I week. I don't have many clothes left at the end of the week. And when I say clothes I mean t-shirts, basketball or running shorts, sweat pants, and sports bras. I usually wash about 2 pairs of jeans a week and 1 one nice shirt, but I always have a full hamper. You want to know what I say to that? "It's ok I'm going to be a P.E. teacher!"

           These are my t-shirt and sweat pant/ basketball short drawers. There are over flowing! I have way to many pairs of shorts and sweat pants and definitely way too many t-shirts!

This is my collection of my newest obsession...RUNNING SHORTS! Oh how I love them. I go on a weekly trip to Kohl's to see if they have any new ones on clearance. If you count correctly there are 7 pairs of running shorts in that picture, and that is not counting the 3 pairs in the hamper and the pair I am wearing while writing this post. But hey, "It's ok I'm going to be a P.E. teacher!"

And here we have my beloved t-shirt drawer. It really is crazy to think of how many t-shirts I have. Most of them are USU or Yankee ones to be honest, but I have a good stack from high school too. To be honest I probably go through 3 t-shirts a day. 

"It's ok I'm going to be a P.E. teacher!" is my favorite phrase these days. I say it to myself and out loud to others. I love that this one phrase justifies everything I do with my life! 

Goodbye AK, Hello UT

Ya, ya I know. I've been home from Alaska for almost exactly a month, but its been a crazy month--hence the reason why its taken me this long to change the blog.

My summer in the AK was by far one of the best summers of my life. But you know what they say: all good things have to come to an end. So here I am back in the real world (the real world being school of course).

Not a whole lot changed in my three month absence, but there were a few changes that I would like to document.

The first one being me.

Ya sounds weird I know, but I changed in Alaska. Both physically and mentally.

Physically meaning I lost weight. Yep about 25 pounds to be exact. I gained so much muscle that my arms were starting to bust through my tshirts...ok not really, but almost! I am pretty proud of myself!

Mentally meaning that I did stuff in Alaska that I never thought I could. I went days without my usual 9 or 10 hours of sleep. I pulled days of 15 or 16 hour shifts. My record high was 19.5 hours. Yep. Thats right. I went from 7 A.M. to 3:30 A.M. and it actually wasn't as bad as you would think. One of the first days in Alaska our boss, Tami, gave us a small speech about how hard the summer was going to be. One things has stuck with me from that speech. Tami said "You can do hard things." You know what? She was right. I did hard things up in Alaska, and I loved every second of it.

The second thing that changed was this "little" guy. I use the word little here freely. I am talking about my parents' new puppy, Jimmer (yes, his name is Jimmer. My Dad is, unfortunately, a BYU fan).

This is the Jimmer I left (he is on the your left.)

 cutest little puppy, right? He could just curl up right on my lap.

And this is the Jimmer I came home to.

Sad thing is he still thinks he is the same puppy I left, and he still tries to curl up on my lap. Jimmer, I hate to tell you its no longer cute when you try to fall asleep on my lap!

And now for the last change. I am talking now about my sweet, little baby nephew Jackson. When I left Jackson was in Primary Children's Medical Center in SLC, and when I returned he was still there. He didn't stay there the whole time, but I never saw him outside those walls. When I left Jackson was just a tiny baby with his intestine in two pieces. When I returned his intestine was put completely back together, and this baby was no longer a teeny tiny baby. The only thing that stayed the same was his location. It breaks my heart that this baby only knows a life in PCMC, but that too is about to change. He should be home very shortly!

This is the Jackson I left in June.

A very small, but still cute baby.

And this is what I returned home to.

A very alert, smiley, happy baby, but most importantly a baby with one reconnected intestine! I cannot wait until this sweet baby, and his family of course, gets to join me here in Logan. I have been waiting for three months for this!

So all in all my summer in the AK was much better than OK. Thanks for following Brin and I all summer. Keep tuned in here for updates on me, and if you want updates on Brin go to her blog by clicking here.

a blog of my own...

yep i did it.

i made my own blog.

no more sharing with cath!

brinleeb.blogspot.com

see you there! [:

i did it...

i made it through the summer in alaska.

and i didn't come home early.

so this is my moment to boast to everyone who told me i couldn't do it.

because guess what,

i did.

ok i'm done now.

the point of this post is to show how alaska helped me.

first off it taught me that i can do hard things.

don't get me wrong, i said i can do hard things, not that i like to or want to. trust me alaska isn't my number one job choice for next year. but if i had to come back i could do it.

and now i know that i can do a lot of hard things.

things i never thought i could do before.

i thought about coming home at least once every single day.

and trust me i wanted to so badly.

but i didn't i made myself  find something good about alaska every day,

and in the end i ended up having a fabulous time.

alaska taught me that i love my family more than i ever realized.

[confession time]

when my parents dropped me off at the airport to come to alaska i was so mad at them that i refused to cry in front of them. 

everyone knew that i was terrified to go but i refused to let my parents see that.

the moment i couldn't see my parents anymore i bawled.

i sobbed on the first plane ride.

sometimes when i would go running i would just start crying because i missed my mom and dad so much.

and once hunter called me and mack called me later that day and i started crying because i missed them so much.

so hunter and mack you truly do not realize just how badly i missed you this summer.

pathetic but i'm crying right now as i am typing this because i miss them so bad and i am so close to being home.

alaska made me realize that my mom is my best friend.

my brothers are there for me when nobody else is.

i could be perfectly happy if my dad was the only guy i ever had to have in my life.

i realized that it's ok to randomly call hunter because i want to talk.

random skype calls from my dad are the best.

and i actually like the fact that other people think it's weird how much i tell my mom.

other things alaska taught me:

you can get sick of french fries.

the sun is awesome, but it needs to set and disappear at night.

seagulls are of the devil.

public bathrooms will never be ok.

i hate when people stare.

alaska made me realize who i am and what i believe.

my testimony has grown so much and i know what i want in life.

i've seen problems that i never want to create in my life and i've seen things i would love to bring into my life.

i know that heavenly father hears me.

he does what is best for me.

and he protects me.

alaska was a good experience for me,

and to be honest i really enjoyed it.

i met people i will never forget.

i laughed and i cried..

don't worry i laughed more than i cried.

i found out who i was.

and most importantly,

i was O.K. in the A.K.

........and i did it! [:

gibson wins...

remember how i said preston and tami tried to get me wet but i was too quick and got away?

well ever since then there were a few people who were determined to get me wet...ok drenched before i left.

i had been doing a great job at avoiding these certain people or coming up with excuses like i had my phone or camera in my pocket so that i wouldn't get wet.

then on my very last day of work i found out that i had retorts. 

blah.

now meet gibson.

gibson works up in the retorts. basically his job consists of pushing a lot of buttons and sitting around.

he had gotten a hold of a tiny squirt gun where he found a lot of pleasure in squirting me while i was trying to work. then one day he sprayed me so i kicked water at him and i nailed him right in the face.

so then i was one up on him.

so the next time around he snuck up behind me and got me in the face with his squirt gun..

so then i stole his squirt gun.

i thought i was pretty cool and that i had won.

it was my LAST day of work.

we were on the LAST retort.

and i was pulling my LAST busse out of the retort

and then it happened.

i was in the middle of the retort pulling out a busse. 

the door i was facing was locked and closed.

the next thing i know the retort comes on and water starts spraying EVERYWHERE!

i start screaming bloody murder thinking that i was locked in the busse and that it had turned on.

for like 3 second i really thought i was going to be cooked to death in the retort.

i turned around and saw that the other door was open and then it all hit me,

gibson had turned the retort on to get me wet!

and trust me, he DRENCHED me!

it was seriously the funniest prank i have ever had pulled on me!

i ran out of the retort found gibson and gave him a huge hug to get him wet but i was wetter.

and gibson won.

so kudos gibson, 

you trashed me.

and it was so funny!

now here is adel.

adel watched the whole thing and found it all hysterically funny.

he then plotted out a way to drench homer as he was pushing a busse.

and he succeeded.

needless to say homer and i were drenched when we got done.

thanks adel!

what a fun way to spend my last day in alaska.

i also pulled an all nighter with tiff.

oh how i'll miss her!

we spent our night having a grey's anatomy marathon.

and it was fabulous.

garth came in to join us and we became a bit squished.

but it was so worth it.

and our all nighter worked.

today when i got on my first flight i was so tired i fell asleep before takeoff and so i didn't even have time to get scared!

mission accomplished!

and as for today,

homer and i are quite thrilled to be coming home.

can you tell?

that darn magnet...

for those of you who were not able to imagine the magnet closing on my fingers i was able to sneak a video of the magnet in action. 

i was going to be really realistic and stick my fingers in there again so you could get the whole effect,

but i decided to not relive that again.

anyways this is a video of the magnet when it closes.

just vision my fingers in there.