GiRlS jUsT wAnNa HaVe FuN!!

So last summer I bought my first car. I love having my car and being responsible and having to pay for it (maybe I don't like that very much). But, One of the major things that is different since I got my car is how I get to and from school in Utah. Before getting my car I would just fly out to Utah and be with out a car for the whole year. Now that i have my car I get the great opportunity of driving across the whole country and having a car with me. Last summer when I went out to school my Mom and Sister went with me and we had alot of fun.

My beautiful Mom and Sister at Tory's wedding

Then coming home this summer, my Uncle and soon to be Aunt flew out and drove back with me. We had alot of fun too. We got to stop in Iowa for Bryn and Tyler's wedding reception and just really had a great time.

So that brings me up to this summer. Who am I driving with you ask? That's my FAVORITE question of the summer. On August 26th I will beginning my cross country adventure with 2 of my favorite people.....

Alyssa and Josalyn!!!!!

I have known Josalyn and Alyssa since the day I moved into my apartment my freshman year of college. We have been friends ever since.

In less than one month both of these ladies will be flying to Maryland to see me!!! Then we are going to New York and having some fun with my Uncle in the Big Apple.

Then we'll come back to Maryland and have some more fun. I'm so excited to get to show them around my home stomping grounds!

After all of our fun here in MD we will begin our big voyage to good ole Provo, Utah. We plan on stopping in Kirtland, Ohio to see some church sites. We also plan on having a BLAST spending time with each other. I CAN'T wait for them to get here!!!!!

Alyssa gets here in 24ish days

Josalyn gets here in 28 days

Concrete Jungle Where Dreams are Made of!

I had the great opportunity of completing a 100 hour internship with Thomas Preti Caterers in New York City. It was SOOOOO much fun! I loved every second of it. While I was there I stayed with my Uncle Jon and just had the best time. He was the best host and we had a blast. While working with TPC I was able to help with a tasting, a Sex and the City 2 party, a venue walk through, a wedding, a promotional event, and a HUGE event at Pepsi worldwide headquarters. I got to taste delicious food the whole time I was there and loved all of the people there. It was just so much fun!! Here are some pictures of some of the things I got to do while I was in the city. Enjoy!

This is where the Pepsi event was held. It was in a huge Air Conditioned tent! The theme was vegas so everything was sparkly. It was cool to see everything go up so fast.

The hot pink table cloth!

Here's a behind the scenes look at what was going on. Here they are preparing salads for 650 people. The event included a plated dinner which was served to every guest in 15 minutes! It was pretty awesome to see how everything worked! I couldn't have asked for a better experience.

While in the City we went to see Shrek 3D in IMAX. I can't remember the last time I went to and IMAX. We had alot of fun. This is me with my Uncle's roommate, Joy. She is so sweet and I had alot of fun with her while I was in Manhattan too!

Me and Uncle Jon :)

For one of the days that my Uncle and I were both off of work we took this speedboat called the BEAST. It was alot of fun. We rode around the tip of the island to the Statue of Liberty and then back. We got SOAKED with gross river water but it was still alot of fun!

Me and My Uncle Jon about to leave on the boat.

This was at the wedding that I helped with. The venue has a space on the roof where the ceremony was held and dinner was downstairs in loft. It was beautiful.

Another view of the room.

Here are a couple of people that I worked with. We attended a promotional event at the central park zoo so we took this picture for proof that we were there!

Here's the website of the company that I worked with: www.thomaspreti.com

As you can see, it was a fun-filled 3 weeks. It was a a GREAT experience that I never would have been able to get anywhere else. I am sure that I am in the right major now. I just loved every second of being there!

“I’m happy to be alive today”

A week or so ago I was in the Wendy’s drive-thru and there was a nice man working at the window. He asked me how my day was and I said “great!” Of course I responded and asked him how his day was and he said “I’m happy to be alive today!” in an eager voice. I thought that that was the coolest thing. He was just so happy to be alive. A couple weeks ago my family lost a close friend, Samantha Rankin. She was 21 and I had grown up with her my whole life. She got a rare blood disease and died unexpectedly. Her funeral was probably the hardest thing I have ever had to experience. I’ve learned though that out of every awful thing comes something great as well. After Samantha’s passing it really made me think about my life and how grateful I am to be alive today. At any moment, my life could be taken from me. I want to know that I loved every minute of my life and could eagerly say at any moment, “I’m happy to be alive today.”

Samantha Rankin, Age 21

A Day in the Life of A Researcher

So one of my jobs this summer is doing research for BYU at the Library of Congress. It is definitely a brand new experience for me. Having this job means that I have to commute into DC 2 days a week. This requires me to drive 30 minutes in traffic to my Grandma's house, then she takes me to the Metro and I ride on the Metro for 30 minutes into the heart of DC. It's actually alot of fun to experience the business part of DC instead of the tourist part that I am used to. I see all different kinds of people. Sometimes I just wish I knew where everyone was going and what their reason for riding the metro is. For some reason I am really intrigued by that.

Well the other day as I was sitting at work I got a little sidetracked and got to thinking that it might be fun for all of you to see what I get to see everyday at work. (if anyone really reads this...) So... here it goes. This is my life as a researcher.

I start my morning off by approaching this beautiful building right off of capitol hill.

Then I go into a room with a couple of these dinosaur machines.

And read through reel after reel of phone books from previous years....

While looking for information that I need I tend to come across funny things....

Then for lunch I get a great view of our nation's capitol! It's beautiful!

On my way to and from my research room I get to roam these awesome halls. I love the old architecture of the building.

My days in DC are always very long. I sometimes wonder what the heck I was thinking when I agreed to do this research. But overall, I am really grateful for the opportunity and the job for the summer. Atleast you have get a little peek at some of the highlights of my days in DC!

Hot and Cold

There is alot of hot and cold in my life right now...

Literally, the weather has gone from hot hot hot one day to very cold the next. It's weird and I don't like it. Just pick one and stick with it.

Also, Everday is hot and cold. I start the day off really glad that I am home and working and able to save money but at the same time I really really miss my friends and school in Provo. I can't decide how to feel.

I also can't decide whether to go to my family ward or to the singles ward. When I came home this summer I was sure that I was going to the singles ward. Now I'm not so sure any more. Staying in the family ward sounds so good to me too. I just keep going back and forth.

At this point in my life I just feel like the Katy Perry Song Hot and Cold, "You're hot then your cold, you're yes then you're no. You're in then you're out, your up then you're down."

I'm so used to always knowing what I want to do right away that this hot and cold business is really bothering me.

I'm sure I'm being over dramatic but that's the way I feel.

Aside from my venting, here are some pictures from the past couple of months that I never uploaded. Enjoy!

My sister is all grown up now. She went to senior prom as a junior this year.

On my drive back from Utah we stopped at a wildlife safari as a break. It was alot of fun. These are some of the animals that we saw on the safari.

During the last semester my sister came to visit me in Utah. While she was there we had a girl's night out during priesthood session. We went to comedy sportz and it was so much fun!

One ward activity that we had this semester was broom hockey. They rough up the ice rink and we get to go on in our shoes and use "brooms" to hit a foam ball. I didn't play for long but it was so funny to watch.

Here's my friend Scott being himself!

My New Goal

So I've made a goal for the summer. I want to update my blog every week. We'll see how it goes....

So just a quick update:

I just finished my 6th semester at BYU. I can now say that I am a SENIOR in college! That's a weird feeling. It seems like just yesterday I was leaving home to start my freshman year. Now I'm almost DONE!

I am home in Maryland for the summer. My Uncle Dave and his fiance Katie flew out to Utah to drive back with me. We had a blast on our trip. The weather definitely didn't cooperate with us but we made it through. As we were on our way across the country I stopped in Anamosa Iowa for my old roommate Bryn's 2nd wedding reception. She got married in December and had a reception in Utah then. Now she had one in her hometown which I was privileged enough to attend. It was fun seeing where she grew up and meeting some of the people that she has always talked about.

I've been back in Maryland for almost a week now. I took this week off and just relaxed. I needed a break after the busy semester that I have had. This summer I am working 2 jobs part time. One job is through BYU. I will be doing research for the Sociology department at the Library of Congress. That means that I get to experience taking the metro to work a couple days a week :) My second job is with the same company that I have worked with for the past couple of years. I will just be helping organize things around the office 3 days a week. I am very grateful for both of my jobs. They will help me to save money for the fall.

Also this summer, I will be doing a 3 week long internship in New York City. Since my Uncle works for a restaurant in the city he has become very familiar with a few event planning companies. He contacted one of the companies and they are allowing me to come and work in the city for 3 weeks. It will be a great learning experience and will help to build up my resume. I'm very excited and nervous at the same time!

I have a very busy summer ahead of me but that's the way I like it. I hope to still fit in some babysitting jobs every now and then! I have so much fun doing that and miss it while I am at school. I miss all my friends from school all the time while I am home. But, I am sure to keep in touch with all of them and can't wait to see them all again in the fall! I guess I'm a workin lady now.

Another Season, Another Sport

Now that football season has ended with a BYU win, we move onto the next sport, Basketball. I don't know as much about basketball but just love to watch any BYU sport. This past week I went to the season opener against UNLV. Last year that was the only home game that we lost. This year was a little different. We beat UNLV at home
77 - 73. It was a close game but it was alot of fun. There were a ton of fans there and it got to be really loud at the end of the game. The next home game is against Colorado State and my guess is that we are going to win :)