breaking dawn

At dawn on Saturday August 2nd, I know exactly where I will be: on my couch, with bleary, red-splotched, drooping eyes and barely enough energy to hold up THE book of the summer--Stephenie Meyer's very own "BREAKING DAWN." I am so super excited about this. I had a book on reserve until I realized that I would not be in Provo when it came out. I will actually be in California. And so, I am planning the wonderful midnight excursion with my sister and we will buy the books to entertain us for the following day. (But to be honest, I know that i'm going straight to bed and not staying up until all hours of the morning reading it at the fastest speed possible, because I will be trying with all the will power in my body to postpone those wonderful pages until I am on the plane headed toward the beautiful, tropical island of Oahu). I considered the ups and downs of my decision and realized that if I kept the book for the flight, the six hour trip would then become one long adventure of vampires and werewolves. What could be better?

I have enjoyed the spoilers/quotes Stephenie Meyer has slipped to the public--read to me by my kindred spirits at work who, like me, enjoy Edward and know that our lives have truly been altered because our standards of true love have been changed forever and no real man could ever live up to our expectations. So sad that a YA book could do that to all girls from ages 10-25. Who knew that Stephenie Meyer could be so talented that she could have her books appeal to such a range of ages!

As for Team Jacob versus Team Edward, we all know, deep in our hearts,(even the slightly manic ones who actually believe that Bella will end up with Jacob--haha, that's funny), that Stephenie Meyer could not end the book any other way than having Bella become a vampire so that she can live throughout eternity with her true love. And the only way that Jacob can be truly happy is if he imprints on someone--and my lucky guess is that it is Leah. Who else would it be? It would be perfect! And then the ending would be happily ever after--which is the only worthwhile ending to any story. And sadly, I know that if the book doesn't pan out this way, I will be forever aware of the fact that my imagination is superior to that of Stephenie Meyer. =D Just kidding. Even more pathetically, I know that I could never write a novel of this magnitude. She should be proud.

mission accomplished

One of my goals for the summer was to float down the Provo River. I was planning to go last weekend, but it didn't happen for me. So when I got home early from work on Saturday, there was a surprised waiting! Some boys in my ward were piling up some tubes in a truck and had an extra one! They invited me and I ran inside, changed into my bathing suit and went! It was sooo much fun! My legs got beat up a bit from the rocks in the shallow parts of the river. But for the most part, we just enjoyed lazily floating down the River! I want to do it again!

Laie Beach Retreat

I will be sitting in the sand in front of my beach house on the North Shore in 5 days and counting. Already, I am anticipating all of the things that I get to do! BYU-Hawaii, the Temple in Laie, the Polynesian Cultural Center/Luau, Waikiki shopping, Pearl Harbor, the Dole Plantation, hiking, sunbathing, snorkeling, the Aloha Swap Meet and many more things! I'm excited to get tan, and I'm excited to spend two weeks with my entire family in Oahu! Nothing could be better!

"Patriotism is not short, frenzied outbursts of emotion, but the tranquil and steady dedication of a lifetime." - Adlai Stevenson

So my family came into town for the 4th of July. It was quite fun, considering how interesting my family can be. My brother and cousin Sadie decided to make Ratatouille for fun. With the help of Sadie's three younger sisters, they created the masterpiece. All the adults loved it, and the chefs that actually created it, had one bite and put it down. But I found out that I love this "peasant meal."

We also ended up at Seven Peaks on the 4th of July and had a lot of fun going down slides. Although I question everyone's sanity (including my own) in entering the wave pool. To be honest, those waves are nothing like the ocean. And second of all, that water is way too warm to be blamed on the heat of the late afternoon. It doesn't taste like chlorine either--which makes me wonder a little bit about how scared I should be that I actually entered that water.

My family always gets together in the cultural hall of whatever church building is closest to whoever's house we are congregating at. So we ended up in a cultural hall somewhere in Springville and enjoyed the time playing basketball, eating, and, yes, karaoke singing. It is a big tradition in our family to have Karaoke contests with my grandmother as the judge. Of course this time, it wasn't so much as a contest as it was a glorious performance. We (aka everyone but me--because I was working), sang Coldplay's "Viva La Vida" for my grandmother. When I mean everyone, I mean everyone. It is my aunt Anne's favorite song right now. And you know this if you know her at all. She has all of my cousins, ranging from age 3 to age 23, loving this song. And so therefore, they sang and danced to the song for my Grandma Ogles. It was quite entertaining, I was told. My grandma made them do it twice because she loved the performance so much. Ultimately, my family is a typical crazy-fun family and I thoroughly enjoyed having them here in Utah for Independence Day.

Walk to Cure Diabetes

This year, I'll be taking part in the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation's Walk to Cure Diabetes along with a half-million other walkers across the country. Our goal: To raise $100 million to help fund research for a cure for type 1 diabetes and its complications. I'm doing this on behalf of several family members, cousins (like my cousin Sadie, picture at left), aunts and uncles, who suffer from type 1 diabetes.

I am walking at 9:30am on Saturday, September 20th, if any of you would like to join me! Or if any of you would like to donate to find the cure, click on the title of this post and it will take you to my JDRF Walk for the Cure website where you can donate money! Even the smallest amount will add up! Anything you give will make a difference!

3 inches at a time

So after 6 weeks of hard work with Jess Brereton--my personal trainer, now great friend--I have lost 10 pounds. Exactly 10. And about 3 inches everywhere. Lol. I have worked out twice a week with Jess doing hardcore weight training for an hour for each of the sessions. And then the rest of the week I'm supposed to do at least one hour of cardio. My eating habits have changed as well. I'm quite proud about that part. I now eat like a skinny person. =D AND my body is no longer addicted to the energy taken from starch carbs (breads, pastas, potatoes, bad sugars like chocolate and sweets). Some days, I don't even have any carbs. Which isn't necessarily the greatest either. But it just shows that my body is no longer addicted to it. YEAH! It's hard though. The other day I went out for ice cream with my grandparents, my uncle and my cousins (who I haven't seen in about 6 months). Of course, I haven't had ice cream in about a month, so not only is it a temptation, I now am in an ice cream shop and I have to say "NO." This would not be so hard if my 10-year old cousin, Harrison, was shoving a spoon of ice cream in my face the whole hour chanting, "Are you jealous? Are you jealous?" Little kids can be so vindictive sometimes. I about died. But I never gave in! Woot! And I know that it's these small victories that lead to me losing 3 inches at a time. =D

be careful what you wish for

...you might just get it.

I went to see a movie with my friend Allyson on saturday night. I love her dearly, and in the car on the way home, we had a discussion about the uninteresting lives we lead and how sad it is that we don't have more exciting lives.

After I dropped her off, I went straight home. And turning left into the parking lot of the housing in which I live, I heard a crunch and realized with instant fear and panic that a moped had just hit me. I stopped my car and got out to see her laying on the ground--without a helmet. Gratefully, she sat up and was up and walking within a minute of the crash. Her moped is completely destroyed and my car has a nasty dent and millions of scratches on the back right door. I didn't even see her! If you own a moped or motorcycle--wear your helmet! Don't be stupid! No one ever sees mopeds or motorcycles! They are incredibly hard to see! So don't be stupid! Needless to say, it was a very stressful situation. It took about an hour to fill out the paperwork and I was shaking and crying the whole time. But I only got a traffic violation for failing to yield while turning left.

Coincidentally, the first thought that popped into my head as the police told me to go get my insurance and registration was, "Why did I want a more exciting life?"