Tail End of Summer

Hi friends.

Gosh,

Summer has reached its end and for the fifth summer in a row, I am ready for school to start. I guess you could say I like the challenge that the fall brings. Every year while everyone is dreading going back to school, I can't wait for school to start. Don't get me wrong, I am dreading school (I signed up for Business Calculus. I am scared out of my mind). But I love what fall has to offer. Fall semester means that I am one semester closer to graduating. Fall is basically the "New Year" with 9 months of experience. I love that fall gives a promise of new beginnings. Let's not forget it won't be too hot for me to wear sweatshirts, cardigans, and slippers.  

Just like every other person, I love summer. I love having those months to relax and focus my energy on one thing. During school life gets crazy and juggling events gets tiresome after awhile. But after the months of relaxing, I feel energized and ready to take on the extra challenges. I don't know if it is because I have had so much time to myself or if this is me simply growing up. 

Two years ago I started this blog. It has been quite the adventure, hasn't it? I just feel like life is blowing by!
Let's not forget I am going to Flaming Gorge in two weeks! What another crazy thought!

Murray Park Sunset

Charmed Arm

I joined the charmed arm club in June.

I caved and bought my first Alex and Ani bracelet.

Each bracelet comes with 'positive energy' and a meaning card.

My bracelet is called "It Is What It Is" and it is perfect for almost every life situation.

The meaning card says:

Sometimes life hands you the unexpected. Embrace these twists and turns as a divine blueprint that will lead you to your destined path and remember to appreciate the journey. Life is unpredictable. Life is an adventure. Life is a blessing. It is what it is and what you make it to be. 

I love my first bracelet and I can't wait to add to my collection.

 Spontaneity - Blessing - Destiny

Joe's Valley

animal, trees, Keshia Mom & Meme, Jen & Meme, Heidi, flowers, trees, flowers, game night

Joe's Valley is one of my favorite places.

I love it for countless reasons but a few would be:

-the weather is perfect (maybe high 70's if you're lucky)

-not too many snakes (I saw one once... gross)

-biggest family reunion ever

-no schedule except breakfast is between 8 and 9:30 and dinner is between 5 and 6:30

-it is okay to not shower for a week. baby wipes. best invention.

-shooting stars

-non-stop reading

 Of course most of these things on this list you can do at any other location but Joe's Valley carries so much history. And that is something you can't recreate.

Just ask me about Fake Joe's Valley-- just not the same.

Moments With Marnie

I don't think I have written a post explaining how life gave me Marnie. So this is my post. Many years ago a new girl came to my school. It was sixth grade and we were blooming in the awkward stages of life, let's be real, I was just beginning the awkward stage. Of course she made friends with the popular group and we went on with our lives. 

Eight years later I applied for a third job at Deseret First Credit Union. At the time I thought I was crazy but turns out life was pointing me in the right direction. Working together has made me wonder where this girl has been the last eight years.

For example: I was surfing Facebook and saw an article that Krispy Kreme was celebrating 78 years. Number one, that is reason enough to eat doughnuts. Number two, Krispy Kreme was basically giving away doughnuts. All you had to do was buy one box of an assorted mix doughnuts and you get a box of glazed for 78 cents. When I saw this I got excited. I wanted to celebrate this blessed day. Immediately I sent the article to Marnie and this is the exact conversation.

Heidi: Are we busy this Friday?!?

Marnie: we are now!!!!

Heidi: 24 doughnuts for cheap.

Marnie: let's go. haha

Stating it simply, Marnie totally understands my love for carbs aka doughnuts. And our love for pizza and Disney are completely different blog posts.

When the fascinating day arrived we drove to the closest Krispy Kreme, which happens to be an estimated 23 miles away. We pulled into the parking lot, which is tiny, and there were spots that were opening but cars were sneaking in left and right so we decided to park across the street and we walked over. Let me just say, I have never felt so dangerous running across six lanes of traffic. When we walked into the building, this is what we found. So many people that we might as well be waiting in line at Disneyland. I am fairly certain with all these people that Krispy Kreme was breaking the fire code, but whatever.  We only waited in line for an hour and forty five minutes and it was definitely worth it.

Marnie & Heidi

We had to buckle in the doughnuts to protect them. Obviously.

'Merica

I love the Fourth of July. I am still trying to decide if I like the holiday because of the actual holiday or because it is the door way to Joe's Valley. To be honest, it is probably both. This year the Klopfer Family joined us to celebrate. We watched the Murray Parade, because tradition. But my favorite part of the day is fireworks. If you can't tell me your favorite kind of firework, then we probably aren't very good friends (except Marnie, I will forgive you. haha). My favorite kind of firework is the kind that look like glitter. There are examples below :) 

So, happy birthday America.

Heidi, Madison, Makenzee

Life is Fragile

In 2010, a student from Murray left this earth. The statistics say that every graduating class will have a death of some sort. My class just happened to come across that death early into our high school career. This past week, we lost another member. Now I don't feel qualified to write an amazing story about Artem Milne, for I didn't know him especially well. But what I can say is that I worked with Artem for over a year and at least I have happy memories to remember him by. I have a few memories that I would like to share. 

Any one who knows me, knows that I can feel uncomfortable driving at times. I just don't trust other drivers and so I don't tend to "experiment" or do things that I don't trust. One of these things would be backing up into a parking stall. I am fine with backing out of one but for some reason, I have never fancied the art of backing in. Artem made fun of me one day for never backing in. I explained how I had never done so before. He told me that he would talk me through it. It took a solid five minutes for me to fill satisfied with my parking job. But now, every time I back up, I think of Artem and that very first time. 

The second memory I have of him is every time my boss needed his car washed he would asked two cadets to go. One day he picked Artem and I. As we were driving the two blocks to the car wash, we almost get in an accident for a person ran a red light (slightly ironic, for we were in a undercover cop car). After the scare of almost wrecking my boss' car, Artem said "if we get in an accident, we will tell him that I was driving." At that moment, I knew that Artem was one of the better guys in this world.

Even though I wasn't extremely close to Artem, I still felt comfortable enough to say hello to him every time I saw him Whether this was in the hall way at high school, or on the street down at college. Even if we weren't besties, he still acknowledged my presence. (Which is more than most human beings do these days.)

I think we forget how temporary our lives are here on earth. We get so caught up in our day to day activities that we forget that there is an end to this earthly madness. The news is filled these days with accidents and deaths. It is tragic that so many have to leave this earth so young, and unexpected. Really, after writing all of this, I have one request: live your life. Don't let it pass you by. It is cliche, but it is entirely true. You shouldn't be living in slow motion. Seize every moment. Tell the ones you care about how you feel. Don't assume that they know. Even if they do know, it will always brighten someone's day just to hear it said out loud.

Life is a gift, that is why it is call the present.

Confidence and Courage

As of late, my life hasn't changed. I wake up each morning, do something around the house, go to work, and then come home. Because of the lack of excitement, it means lack of blog posts. But this past week I have managed to break that routine. I have seen friends from high school that I haven't seen in months or even over a year. I have seen a movie in the theaters, eaten out most nights, and tried to make a memorable summer. 

On September 25, 2014 I wrote a post called Vulnerability (click link for a refresher course). This was a post about how I see myself as an individual. Because of the feelings expressed in that post, I have never felt comfortable approaching a man and asking them on a date. It gives me anxiety because I am the Queen of Over Thinking -that is a whole other blog post. Fast forward to April of 2015. My company announced a Company Party to be held at a Salt Lake Bees Game. They also mentioned you would being a plus one. Well, I decided it was about time that I have some stones (Reba reference, any one? any one? okay, no). I RSVP'd for Heidi Anderson plus one. Quickly after doing that I freaked out. I calmed myself by saying that if all the boys I know say no then I can just talk one of my siblings or cousins. Or I could just skip the asking a boy part and go right to playing it safe. I started to ask my siblings what they were doing the night of June 13th. To my surprise, they all had plans. Rude. Now I had to fulfill my original plan. I will say right now it worked to my benefit. I pondered who I could take as my plus one. I picked a boy, and stuck with it. My co-workers thought I was going to chicken out before asking him because there were some obstacles. This "Plus One" business became more than just a date. It is a mile stone in my life because I did something I didn't think I could do, and every one else knew I could do it but whether I actually did it was another story.  I ended up asking Preston, everyone say 'hi Preston.' I can honestly say I had a fun time on this date. I may have over thought the entire night the week before. I was so nervous that all my friends probably got sick of hearing my nervous rants, but that is okay. The actual date went like this: We ate dinner, watch the baseball game, and thoroughly enjoyed some fireworks. I won't go into details about the night because that isn't what this post is about. This post is about growing self confidence. This post is to show women (even though I still feel like a little girl) that it is okay to ask a boy on a date. So what if he says no, move onto the next boy. Instead of waiting for him to notice you -lets be real, boys need a push in the right direction- take the future into your own hands and ask him.

Grow some stones. Big brass ones. (Reba again, anyone?)

Fireworks, Preston, Heidi, and SL Bees

*The inspiration for this post actually came from my sister. She came into my room saying that she was going to ask the boy she is crushing on on a date because I inspired her. I am the one that gave her confidence. That was a pretty great feeling.

Nights Worth Remembering

Life is meant to be lived eating food that is freshly baked, giggling at silly things, and singing till your throat hurts. All you need to do is find people to do those things with. I like to think I have found my people. Life brought us together, and we bonded in unimaginative ways, yet here we are, simply enjoying what life has to offer.

Every time we hang out we try to get the best photo of all three of us. Obviously, we are still working out the kinks.