Just your average, everyday Roni

30 things you may or may not want to know about me

2011-05-09T17:56:00.002-06:00

Hello there. Here are 30 things you may or may not want to know about me. It took me a long time to think of all these. My mom always tells me I am a strange individual, and I think this might prove it. :) Oh, just one rule, No laughing at me.

1. I am always afraid that I am going to drive away from a gas station
with my car still attached to the gas pump. I have to check at least 2
times before I drive away cautiously... (I know, it is weird but it is
a real fear I have)

2. I HATE driving with cruise control. I feel like I am not in control
of my car.

3. I am afraid of being in cars and airplanes. my mom finds it rather
hard to drive a car with me in it because I freak out. almost anyone
who has had me as a passenger knows this. They call it my car phobia.

4. I love falling asleep to the sound of the washer or dryer going. It
is soothing to me.

5.I love all types of music but I am a country girl at heart.
especially in the spring when it starts to warm up.

6. I am deathly afraid of spiders, snakes, and sharks. ( I bet almost
all of you knew that though)

7. I love to travel and meet new people. I hope to go around the world
someday. (even though I hate flying)

8. I love to quote movies, songs, and other people. I love playing the
quote game where you guess what the other person is quoting.

9. I love it when I am sitting at a table with little kids and they
put their feet on my knee. (I am not the only one that likes it
either. I know other people who love it too. It means the kids are
comfortable with you and like you.)

10. I hate my handwriting. It is awful! I am working on it though.

11. I have a very weird thing about expiration dates. it is really
hard to get me to eat something that has expired or is past the sale
by date.

12. I love doing the dishes by hand. ( not all the time though) it is
therapeutic to me.

13. My nostrils flare for no reason. (Morgan used to laugh her head
off at that)

14. I have at least four keys on my key chain that I don't know what
they go to.

15. I like to kick icicles and ice chunks off of other people's cars
in parking lots.

16.I am very particular about the grapes I eat. I don't like them if
they are dented or too squishy.

17. I hate it when people watch me sleep.

18. I sleep with socks on my feet.

19. I want to learn how to play the guitar

20. I wear white socks to work all the time even though I am wearing
black pants and shoes.

21. I set my alarm clock for weird times. I can't set it right on an
hour. It has to be 6:38 or something weird like that.

22. I like to try new things. I really want to go skydiving. (Which I
am doing this summer! EKK!!!)

23. I have never lived outside of Idaho.

24. I like to meow when I answer my phone (not at work though. That
would be slightly awkward... )

25. I have really sensitive teeth. I can't chew things that are too cold.

26. I love brushing my teeth!

27. I snap my fingers for no reason.

28. I always tap my pen against my desk. it is either do that or
doodle all over my notes.

29. Storms fascinate me. I kind of want to be a storm chaser.

30. I should stay away from blow dryers and lawn mowers.

Hello Again

2011-05-05T21:00:00.003-06:00

Hello all my fellow blogger friends. I know it has been a while since I have posted anything. My goal is to get caught up this summer. I recently deleted my Facebook account and I feel like I don't know much of what is going on in a lot of people's lives. This is good motivation to keep my blog updated so my friends and family can look at it.

Thanksgiving 2009

2010-11-28T21:43:00.005-07:00

For Thanksgiving this year my parents and I drove up to Walla Walla, Washington to spend time with my sister Coralee and her family. We had a blast cooking, shopping, and playing games. It was a really relaxing Holiday. I know this post is short, but I am behind a year on my blogging and want to catch up with some pictures.

Squash & Flowers

2010-11-10T23:24:00.000-07:00

My rose. Sadly I don't even remember who gave it to me...

Flower
Here are some pictures of flowers and Squash from Fall 2009. I thought the one squash looked like a duck so I drew eye's on it. I just thought I would share.

The Squash

Preparing it for dinner

This may or may not be slightly morbid...

Danny's 23rd Birthday

2010-03-24T10:43:00.001-06:00

the icing was sliding off the cake, so it was tipping over. Danny and his fire...

I just wanted to share a few pictures from Danny's birthday. We had a lot of fun and laughed the whole night. I don't know what else to say... Enjoy! I wish you could taste this amazingly awesome cake! Be jealous!

We sure are a crazy bunch

Happy Birthday Dinny!

Dads Birthday

2010-02-28T10:47:00.002-07:00

We had a small party for my papa's birthday. Of course we had Italian Cream Cake and some of our friends came over for dinner and cake.

D + A = LP

2010-02-26T10:38:00.001-07:00

Title Stands for Dana + Angie = Lots of Pictures

Dana and I got together and went out on the big town of Rexburg one night. After our dinner and movie we were sitting in my car talking. We decided to bust out my camera and take some pictures. I kept singing the song "I wear my sunglasses at night" so we decided to but them on for a few pictures. It was only one am and completely dark. We took many more pictures, but here are just a few of them. We kept trying to do different faces. I love our classic pictures.

She tried to hurt me

Mitch is Home!

2010-02-11T10:30:00.002-07:00

Mitch, me, and Bryden. I am not a short person, but they make me look short. I am even wearing high heels...
Mitch got home from his mission in January 2010. He served in Texas. Three day's after he got home we went to his little sisters Baptism. It was a neat experience. The next day we went to his "homecoming" talk and then to lunch at his house. It is great having my big bro back.

Mitch was the first guy to leave and the first one to get home, that is why the boys seem to be lacking in this picture.

My Fishy Friend, Sam

2010-01-13T21:21:00.000-07:00

Samantha Ramona LaRee Taylor Mendez has been my friend ever since she moved to Newdale in Jr. High. She was getting read to move to Arizona with her husband, Robert, so we decided to get together for a quick lunch before she left. We took one last picture and I wanted to share it with you all. We were not matching on purpose. :)

Girls Night

2010-01-10T21:54:00.001-07:00

Our friend Dana was in town for Christmas (2009) so Molly, Jenny, and I decided to get together with her. We all got Fongs and split a Coco Bean Cupcake. We watched a sappy Chick Flick and had tons of laughs. It was good to get together as old friends. Here are some pictures from our girls night. Bethany and Matt showed up for a little while too.
Classic Pictures of us

Christmas 2009

2009-12-25T23:50:00.000-07:00

Teresa and Dustin came up for Christmas. That is pretty much all I can remember, (I know, posting things a year and a half later is not good). I am sure we had snow on the ground and that we played lots of fun games. Here are some pictures of our Christmas Tree. It was full of character, that is for sure.

Food Storage

2009-11-07T11:46:00.000-07:00

the store room

All those boxes were full of food
Each year my mom goes through our food storage and decides what items we are low on. Then we go to the case lot sales and purchase the things we need. This year we really didn't have much time that we just put everything in the store room without organizing it. Finally in November I had time to start working on it and dating all the food. It took a few days but we were finally able to make the room look nice. :) I always love the satisfaction I get after accomplishing that task and how great it looks! Here are some before and after pictures. More to come.

Oh, how beautiful!

Halloween

2009-11-03T18:19:00.005-07:00

Catherine and I practicing makeup styles

For Halloween this year I dressed up as an 80's Punk Rocker with my co-worker Jamie. We had a lot of fun goofing of at work (I mean sitting at our desks, working) and being backup singers to Mindy who was dressed up as Hannah Montana (yes, the 80's mixed with present day). We didn't win the work costume competition but we had a blast!

Having fun

Jamie and I

Rock it!

Straw Maze

2009-10-11T22:00:00.006-06:00

The whole maze crew

Nate and Andrew Roach came to visit for Fall Break (only a Utah thing). Teresa, Dustin and Kylee came also. We went to the "Haunted" Straw Maze in Rexburg, Andrew got lost from part of my group. As he was walking he heard us talking and dove through the bales to catch us and he ended up getting stuck. We saw his arms and we thought it was one of the workers trying to scare us until we heard his voice. Nate and I tried pulling him through the bales. Danny and Brittney had found his legs poking out and were trying to help push him out. It was hilarious! We ended up going through the maze twice and also going through the kid maze. That was really hard, let me tell ya. Later that weekend we all went swimming and had fun playing games. It was a really fun weekend.

the maze giving birth to Andrew

Andrew lets his Snuffles drive

Pigs/Piglets

2009-09-22T21:55:00.005-06:00

Lots and lots of apples

I went with my parents to feed apples to Danny's pigs. The black one is named Batty and the other one is named Spot. I had a lot of fun playing with them. Batty tried eating my shoe and Spot knocked me down. It brought back a lot of fun memories from when I was a kid playing with my own pigs. After feeding Danny's pig we drove to Archer to the Dye's house. Richard Dye has a pig farm. He is who Danny got his pigs from. He had tons of pigs! I was able to hold a cute little one that was only one week old. His mom started squealing for him and he started squealing back. It scared me and so I whipped my head back. My mom happened to catch a picture right at that time. I will post it for you. I decided I wouldn't mind growing some baby pigs again. They are so cute!

This is the baby pig, and the scary picture from the story

Petting the Piggies

Picking Apples

2009-09-20T16:07:00.009-06:00

Danny had way too much fun with the backhoe

It was so hot by the fire!

One Saturday Danny, My Dad, and I went down to the Westover Ranch to help with some projects that needed to be done before winter. They ripped out the shrubs in front and burned them. We also put in some culverts. When we were wrapping up for the day we realized the apple trees were full of apples. We couldn't reach the one's up top so Anne and I got backhoe and Danny operated it so we could get some of the apples on top. Yes, call us hicks, but that's how we roll in Idaho!!!

Getting ready to go up

Me and Anne

Did I mention I hate heights?

Rodney Atkins

2009-09-13T15:21:00.011-06:00

Our tickets. I don't know why but it keeps loading at this angle

The Man Himself ( =

Molly Potter and I went down to the Blackfoot Fair to see Rodney Atkins and Reckless Kelly in concert. Molly's car doesn't have working AC so we rode down to Blackfoot with all the windows rolled down. You should have seen our hair when we got there! it was so tangled! We had fun people watching, walking around and taking lots of pictures. It was such an amazing concert and I love Rodney Atkins even more! The concert was on September 11th which made all his songs about America even more meaningful. By the time it was over I couldn't hear anything because it was so loud. Of course I was wearing my cowboy boots and Molly bought some at DI to wear. After the concert was over we went to visit Samantha and Rob Mendez in their house. It was great catching up on things.

My Hair after the Drive

What?!?

The ice cream cone eating man makes this picture

Happiness

New York

2009-09-06T22:17:00.013-06:00

Playing

Calvin

William

I had so much fun in New York! I love visiting my family and New England is so beautiful. I played with Calvin and William and Natalie taught me some fun recipes and we went to some garage sales. At night we watched Firefly and played Monopoly and Life. I dominated at them a few times, but Karl had a way of usually winning. I had so much fun laughing and being silly. I wish they all lived closer! While I was there Karl and Natalie took me to a biker bar for lunch. Yes, it is true, a real biker bar! it was very weird but we had heard it was in the top 10 best food places in the United States. It was not very good at all! i think I would have preferred McDonalds, but the experience was cool. Oh, the name of it is The Dinosaur BBQ. Also Natalie and I went to a really cool Enrichment where we learned all about using our wheat storage and tons of things we can make with wheat including chili and meat loaf. It was exciting to learn tons of different things. We went to an Erie Canal Museum in Syracuse. I was neat watching the video about why it was built and learn about all the boats and things. Thanks for the amazingly fun trip!!! I miss them all so much!

On a Lock at the Erie Canal Museum

Arrested

I HATE AIRPLANES!!!

2009-09-05T21:48:00.004-06:00

My brother Karl had a free flight he had to use by September 16th so he offered it to me to go to New York to visit him and his family. I was able to get the time off work and fly out for a week. Well, if any of you have ridden in a car or flown with me you know that I am a very nervous traveler. I hate riding in the car or flying on long trips! I go crazy, call me a baby but I do! While flying from Phoenix to Philadelphia I kept falling in and out of sleep. All of the sudden I jerked awake because someone was screaming really loud. I was freaking out because I thought maybe the plane was going down. I opened my eye's and realized that I was the one screaming! Yes ME, in my sleep! I couldn't believe it! everyone was staring at me and some people were getting nervous and freaking out themselves. The man next to me had also been sleeping and when I jerked awake so did he. He had been sleeping with his arms folded so as he jerked awake he smacked me and his friend next to him. He then asked what was happening and I had to tell him, and everyone around me that I had had a nightmare. He let out a big breath and told me I about gave him a heart attack because he thought we were dying! then he told me that was the loudest scream he had ever heard. Boy did I feel sooooo HUMILIATED! I could not believe that I had screamed in my SLEEP of all things. Needless to say, the rest of the trip the people around we kept giving me weird looks and sometimes whispered about me and pointed. I think they were all a little nervous riding with me after that. We had a pretty rough landing in Philly and the overhead compartments were shaking really loud. A man sitting in a seat in front of me turned around and said, "good thing you were awake for that one. I would hate to have heard that scream." and everyone around us laughed. I was so glad to get off of that flight! Needless to say, I don't think I will EVER sleep on an airplane again. Or in a public place for that matter!!!

Photo shoot

2009-09-03T21:24:00.006-06:00

My friend Dana is Majoring in Photography and she did a photo shoot of me to practice. She is AMAZING at taking pictures and such. Thanks Dana! If you would like to look at her Blog here it is- http://aspirephotog.blogspot.com/ She does a FANTASTIC job and I would recommend her for any photo needs you might have.

Provo (P-Town)

2009-09-03T20:25:00.001-06:00

Some pretty flowers at Thanksgiving Point

Catherine Stewart and I drove down to Provo one weekend for our old roommate, Michelle Hudsons wedding reception. We stayed at my Grandpas house with my sister Teresa. We went and spent the evening Jet skiing with my cousin Andrew and his friends. We had a blast! The best was trying to knock the person behind you off the jet ski. I had blood blisters for weeks on my hand from holding on so tight. It was really fun and the water was just right. Catherine and I managed to come away with only a few really bad bruises. That night we played the most awesome game of Quelf with Nathan, Andrew and friends. On Saturday we had lunch with our friends Joe and Erin. I was able to visit my aunts which was fun. That afternoon Erin took us to Thanksgiving Point to tour the Gardens. She has been internshiping there for the Summer. After that we went to Michelle and Stephens receptions. It was beautiful and they looked so happy. They had a fairytale theme that was so cute! I was able to see my friend Daniel there and catch up with him. Sunday we went to church and went to Roaches house for a while. Andrew took me on an awesome motorcycle ride around Provo. I had been having a few car troubles the week before we left but he made it there and back safely.

Pictures from Thanksgiving Point

Erin, Michelle, me and Catherine

Michelle and Stephen Sitton

Andrew and I

Westover Reunion

2009-09-01T20:17:00.000-06:00

The Westover Reunion was really fun this year. I didn’t get to spend a whole lot of time there because I was moving and working, but I was able to sneak in a few hours here and there. It was great to catch up with friends and cousins. The theme this year was Harry Potter so we had a lot of fun Hogwarts School type activities.
-Pictures to come-

Family!!!

2009-08-09T19:38:00.014-06:00

Dad playing with the Grandkid's during the Kitty Birthday Party
(Kylee's idea. She loves those kittens)

Peyton, Winston and Grandpa

So for One week all of my siblings and their families came to my parents house. It was SOOOOO much fun!!! We went to the Sand Dunes, Splash Park, canoeing, had fire's in our fire pit, stayed up way to late, and laughed a whole bunch. The little kids loved going to Danny's house and playing with his animals. It was really great having everyone in my family together again. It has been years since we had all been together at the same time. I think the last time was before Danny's mission. My aunt Jeanne and cousin Melanie and her family were able to come for a few days for the surprise bridal shower we had for my mom. Someone was always in the kitchen either cooking or doing dishes. It was crazy with all the little kids running around, but now I miss them all. I was working on my finals when everyone was here so I wasn't able to spend as much time with them as I wanted to.

Coralee cutting onions trying not to cry: Jumping with the kiddo's

Caleb was so cute walking around in my high heals and wearing my sunglasses

Kissing the frog Natalie caught: enjoying the sun

William at the Beehive Picnic

Eatin' smores (I love Peyton's face)

Family Pictures

2009-08-09T18:22:00.000-06:00

The Daughters (minus Natalie)

My Parents with all the grandkids

So while everyone was at my house we decided to take some family pictures. It was getting dark and they were kind of spur of the moment but it was fun trying to get everyone to look at the camera and smile. Here are the best shots that we got.

Coralee, Josh, Cody, Gavin. Caleb and Peyton

Karl, Natalie, Calvin and William

Teresa, Dustin and Kylee

Danny

The whole family!

Fourth of July Weekend

2009-08-08T18:53:00.000-06:00

This fourth of July was a long weekend for me. I had Thursday and Friday off of school and Friday off of work. Friday I went to Rigby Lake with some roommates and friends. We fried! I should have worn sunscreen, but oh well. Friday night we went to Idaho Falls because Brother Yost, the second counselor in my Bishopric, put on a huge fire work show for their neighborhood. All the neighbors donate some money and the Idaho Fire Marshall has to approve the show and stand by in case of a fire. It was really awesome and worth the drive. Saturday I went to the Rexburg Parade with Tyler and Heather Smith, Danny and Kylee. After that I went out to my parents house for a BBQ. Later that afternoon my roommates and I went to our Bishops house in Idaho Falls for a Ward BBQ and then the Meleluca fire works. Sunday we celebrated two different birthdays. It was a nice relaxing weekend and it was hard to go back to school and work on Monday.

Relay for Life

2009-06-28T19:57:00.011-06:00

This semester I have been in charge of creating a team for Beehive Federal Credit Union to participate in the Relay for Life. It was a very amazing experience. Relay for Life is run by the American Cancer Society. Teams get together and do fundraising to raise money for cancer research. Then they have an all night relay walk. This year it was at the Madison High School Track. I went with Stephanie Vinson and Ansley Bunnel to set up around 2 pm on Friday. After we set up our canopy we went to the store to buy a few more things. We pulled up to the track just as a huge storm hit. We got there just in time to see our canopy blowing across the field. We ran and caught it and took it down. The storm lasted about an hour and a half. We were so worried that no one was going to show up for the relay. The storm blew over and we had sunny skies when it started. My roommates Morgan Roberts and Charlotte Reed were on the team with me. We spent all night playing games, laughing, and walking the track. Someone from your team had to be on the track at all times during the Relay. It ended at 6:30 am. Because of the rain storm we had the air was so humid. Our blankets, coats, and chairs were soaking from it. Some of our friends can and walked with us at 2 am to help us stay awake. We were so wet and tired by the time we got back to our apartment and crawled into bed! Yes, I stayed awake all night. I am very proud of myself.

Two parts of the program really struck me. For the opening ceremonies they had all the cancer survivors walk the first lap. Then as it got dark they told a story about what HOPE stands for and then they lit luminaries in the stadium that spelled HOPE. Then they had everyone walk the track once. While we were walking they changed the word to spell CURE. We only got a picture of the CURE. It was a very touching night and I am excited to do it again next year. It was worth no sleep!

Charlotte, me, and Morgan trying to stay awake. Charlotte did not make it all night.

My friend Patrick Barrus was there on a different team

Fake slow walking, no Morgan is not punching me

This was taken at 3 am. I think our faces all tell a different story of how we felt right then. I would recommend clicking on it to see it big.

HaPpY bIrThDaY!

2009-06-28T14:42:00.015-06:00

Danny has this thing about licking my face

Well, last week I turned the big 20! On Thursday mom mad me a nice dinner and Italian Cream Cake. Then on Friday my co-workers decorated my desk and had a party. That afternoon my roommate Morgan made me a cake and some friends made a trip to D.I. Later on a group of us got together and played ultimate frisbee. I cannot believe I am already 20 years old. I feel so OLD! Now I don't have the excuse of being a teenager. Here are some pictures of the awesome weekend!

Dad told me I had a huge mouth when I tried eating the cake by myself

Some of my birthday flowers!

My desk at work. They made me wear that hat all day

My tub cake that Morgan made me

MORP

2009-06-15T22:52:00.008-06:00

Waiting for our dates

This weekend I went to the MORP dance on campus. It was a Hawaiian theme but we didn't really dress up. It was an awesome night of dancing and games. After the dance we made fruit pizza. Here are some pictures of our fun time!

Me and my date Michael Reed, yes his eye's are closed

Group Shot (I missed the memo that it was a funny picture)

Teton Dam Marathon

2009-06-15T22:19:00.007-06:00

This weekend was the Teton Dam Matathon, more commonly known as the Dam Marathon in Rexburg. Charlotte and I volunteered and we got these amazing bright orange shirts! I have wanted one for a long time... We were stationed in front of the Temple at the last mile of all the races. We became friends with Officer Wright who was on intersection duty to make sure none of the runners got hit by cars. We were starving so my mom brought us some pizza and we shared with Officer Wright. At the end of the day I asked if I could get a picture in his car. He turned to me and asked if I wanted to be handcuffed also and I said YES! I wonder why. So he handcuffed me and put me in his car. It was kind of fun. He offered to drive us home but we wanted to run the last mile of the race. I hope I never have to be handcuffed in real life!

the back of the shirt is my favorite part...

I was trying to be sad but my lip is just to big!

I should have just smiled

Rain

2009-06-15T21:55:00.009-06:00

We have had sooooooo much rain the last few weeks! I am getting sick of it, but I know it is good for the farmers and rivers. The other week the round about flooded in town. My roommates and I were walking to rent a movie and we got soaked. Some policeman was there to stop people from going around several times. There was a jeep that was going crazy. It was my favorite. I got some videos of it spraying people but I can't post it from my computer. I will try to post them later.

water was everywhere!

We were taking a picture when this Exterra soaked me! I was not expecting it. I am kind of glad we caught it in a picture.

This past week

2009-06-07T18:24:00.009-06:00

This past week I have had a lot of fun with my roommates. I am going to post some pictures and write the description under them so you can know what I have been up to.

We had a fun girls night and did each others hair. Some older styles and some not. I love these girls!

Amber and I took Charlotte to Craigo's to try a cookie monster. She decided she liked it better on me. Don't worry, I got some back on her, just no good pictures of it. Lets just say, I refuse to sit by her now when we are eating!

We didn't have a screen for a few days so we would come in through the window. Also my roommate made brownies and our friends would come through our "walk through window" to eat them. It was pretty fun.

This is my roommate Emily Withers. We love these Smug Mug shirts in my apartment. We went to Charlotte's track meet. We decided to dress somewhat alike. We wanted a picture with Charlotte but she was gone. We decided to take a picture with her painting that we did for FHE.

Taylor Swift

2009-05-29T14:27:00.001-06:00

Me and Molly waiting for the concert to start

Singing a song

Tuesday I didn't have any classes because it was a testing day. I went to work that morning and was about to leave at 2:30 when my work phone started ringing. It was my friend Molly Potter calling. She had just gotten 2 free tickets from her brother to the Taylor Swift concert that night in Salt Lake City. We could have to leave within the hour to make it there in time. I debated over going because I had a 5 page midterm paper due Wednesday morning at 9 am that I had not written yet. I decided that I could write it in the car (I got a little bit done...) and finish it in the morning before class. We got a little bit of a late start but were going to make it on time, but we missed our exit so we were a dot late. We missed the opener but that is okay. we had a good 20 minute wait before Taylor even started. The concert was really good. I have never been obsessed with her music, but I do have some favorite songs of hers. there were a TON of little girls there screaming, it was soooo loud! After the concert we stayed a while just watching people and then drove home. We got home about 3 am and I started typing my paper. I was so tired that I went to bed around 4 and woke up at 6 to finish everything. I got an A on my midterm! Taylor put on such an awesome concert! I am glad that I went. My favorite song she sang was picture to burn. The stage had flames in the background, it was amazing!!!
.
Standing by her bus. I just the heart with the hands is her symbol.

West Yellowstone

2009-05-28T13:47:00.001-06:00

It was Seth's idea to be on the ground like that. This is after his show.

On Memorial Day my roommates Morgan Roberts, Charlotte Reed, and Amber Lusk and I went to West Yellowstone to look around and see my friend Seth Nehring in the play Footloose at the Playmill. We had fun going around all the little shops. My roommate Charlotte had never been to West Yellowstone and didn't realize it was in Montana. We took a lot of pictures and enjoyed the day away from homework. We even say some little hills of snow that had not melted yet.

Seth is the Best!

Amber, me, Charlotte, & Morgan at the best Ice Cream shop ever!

Frog, Monkey, Owl, & Bunny hats

Charlotte and I trying to catch the train ;)

Seth looks famous or something . . .

Burley & Oakley

2009-05-20T22:05:00.000-06:00

Ginger, Me, and Teresa at the Rodeo

I am really bad at this whole Blogging game! I feel like I never have time to keep it updated. A few weeks ago My dad, Danny, Teresa, Dustin, Kylee, and I went to Burley, Idaho to visit Neil and Ginger Justesen. It was so much fun! We played with the kids, stayed up all night talking, went to a rodeo, toured Neils work and went four-wheeling. It was a nice weekend break and I love Oakley! Their is something about being our in the country with lots of land everywhere. (yes it is different from Sugar City) Here are some pictures from the Weekend.

Kylee and Boone holding the Sawyer's kitten

Kylee, Danny, Cassidy, Boone, and Me four-wheeling

Sewing

2009-05-10T17:35:00.008-06:00

I am sorry it has taken me so long to post again about my sewing class. I made this pillow to match my room. it was my first time ever sewing a zipper! I think I did a pretty good job. My mom also had me try this new pattern for making a baby quilt. At first I didn't think it would turn out but it did! I love it! it has cute little monkeys on it.. Imagine that... I am so glad I got to take this sewing class. I had a lot of fun. I will post pictures of the curtains I made ones I put them up.

King Cake

2009-02-18T14:44:00.011-07:00

The Finished King Cakes

A few weeks ago I made a new friend from New Orleans, LA. His name is Jason Stancliffe and he was sad to be missing Mardi Gras. (the good parts of it) I guess in Louisiana (and the south) they have a tradition of making King Cakes, especially around Mardi Gras. It is tradition. Jason decided to teach me how to make them and show off his cooking skills. We spent a whole saturday making these wonderful cakes. They are more like big cinnamon rolls (or coffee cake) with dyed sugar on top to make the different colors. Each color stands for something. Gold (yellow) is Power, green is Faith, and purple is Justice. It was really fun learning how to braid the bread and learn a little more Mardi Gras history. I always thought it was bad but it has some good things too. After making the King Cakes we went back to my apartment and Jason tried French braiding my hair. Lets just say he did a lot better job on the Cakes.

Braiding the dough

Showing off the colored sugar

Having fun at my apartment

Trying to Braid my hair

Sewing

2009-02-15T20:19:00.007-07:00

Wow! I realized I haven't blogged in a while. SOThis semester I have been taking a sewing class with my mom. It is really awesome! I am learning so many different tricks that will help me in years to come. I just finished making place mats. I decided to make themed place mats to use in February. They didn't turn out as well as I was hoping but they are still super cute! I am so thankful for the opportunity to take this class with my mom. She makes it so much fun and all the other girls ask her sewing questions because she is a pro!two of the four on our tableThey can be used on either side

Christmas

2009-01-03T21:53:00.000-07:00

Christmas was on the quiet side this year. It was just my parents and Danny and me. We got up and opened our presents. Danny gave some really cool gifts. My favorite gift that I got was my own set of scriptures! I was so happy! I have used my oldest brothers scriptures since I was eight. He got new ones when he went on his mission and his old ones were passed down to me. Don't get me wrong, in seminary I liked having most of the answers written in already, but they were falling apart. One of my other favorite gifts was the gift my dad gave my mom. It was a big metal turtle! I love that thing! He is super cute. I named him Bobby the Tortuga. Of course we had the traditional cinnamon rolls for breakfast and then we watched Karate Kid 2 and 3. It was a very nice and relaxing day! We also got snowed in and Danny spent hours digging our neighbors out.

Bob the Tortuga! Don't you just LOVE him? I like my creepy hand...

they call it turtle love. Mom really likes him too

Danny looking at what Santa got him

Mom is pretty excited with her tool set from Danny

Dad opening his Gomper from Danny

Holding Scarecrow the cat Dad is in LOVE with!!!

Christmas Eve Dinner

2008-12-28T20:57:00.010-07:00

As most of you know, it is tradition in my house to have our big Christmas Feast on Christmas Eve. That way we can just be lazy Christmas day and eat leftovers. Every year we use some of our best china and make everything look beautiful! Well since my mom has been really sick the past few months we had to do everything very simple so she would not over work her heart. This picture will show you just how simple we did things. As a note to my siblings, I hope your jaws do not drop to the floor because you will not believe that Mom actually let us do this!

Yes, no need to double look, we used paper plates and plastic everything else! In the end I was really glad because I was on dish duty Mom added her touch with the Chicken napkins that she got in Europe this summer. Here is a picture of our whole "counter" (dad had the table stacked with student papers)

After eating dinner Danny read to us the Christmas story from two Bibles he got in Georgia. It was interesting to hear. Then we read it out of our Bible. Then we all got together and watched The Karate Kid.

Mom and Danny are making sure the marshmallows on the yam's don't burn!

Fishing

2008-12-03T23:00:00.009-07:00

Shannon, Mom, Me

My favorite is the windblown hair.

Yes, Mom caught this fish! isn't he BIG?

My fishie right after I got him out of the water. I don't think he could see me in my sweet camo coat

Today I went fishing with my mom and Shannon on my lunch break. (it was a loong lunch) We caught 4 fish total. We each caught our own. It was really fun but I wish we would have had a man there to do all the dirty work. My favorite part of the trip was the end. My mom hadn't caugh a fish yet and she was sad. She said it was her last cast so I could get back to work. Well, what do you know? She caught one!!! She was so happy. It was worth all the freezing to see my mom's face. Next time I will have to out fish Shannon, that is my goal. I miss the day's of fishing with my dad during the summer.

Mom and me at the end of a FREEZING "lunch"

Thanksgiving Week

2008-11-29T14:39:00.014-07:00

Me and Danny

The Gals

Thanksgiving was really fun. My sister Teresa came up with her family and stayed the week. On Thursday my aunt Jaquie and her grandkids came, also a few college students. We ate lots of food but had even more laughs. We played games and watched movies. You know you are at the Mortensen house when at least one child (my siblings or me) is on the floor laughing, and you know they are having a BUNCH of fun when three of them are rolling on the floor at the same time! Yes, Danny, Teresa, and I all ended up on the floor. My poor mom, I bet she wonders what went wrong with us. We played some really good games of Scrabble.
Mom was so tired: our wicked awesome Scrabble game

My poor mom slammed her hand in the van door. I felt so bad for her! It is blue and green. Good thing she is strong. Teresa and I tried making up some new walks. I wish that Coralee and Karl could have been here to celebrate with us, but they had fun at their places. I just want to tell my friends and family that I am so thankful for them and I love them! Thanks for all that you do!

Kylee & Roni after making up some walks

I have been TAGGED!

2008-11-22T23:56:00.005-07:00

My friend Samantha tagged me in her blog. What I had to do was go into my photos, then go to my 4th folder and post the 4th photo. Well, in my 4th folder i had 5 folders so I am posting the 4th picture from folder 1 and folder4. Hopefully you understand that.

This happens to be one of my favorite pictures of my dad. We were in Boise at a surprise anniversary party for my sister Coralee. Her husband was surprising her with a trip to Hawaii. Peyton was having a hard time so my dad was trying to comfort him. He would need to get used to us because we were going to watch him and his 3 brothers for the next 10 days! This photo really touches me because you can see the tender loving part of my dad and Peyton is just cuddling to him.

This picture makes me laugh! It was taken during my first semester at BYU-I. I was wearing Arthella's (my roommate) wig and glasses. Everyone who sees this picture says I look like I am 12. They do not believe that I was 18, but its true! Even my own brother Karl didn't think it was me. I had to send him other photographs from the same day so that he knew it was me. I think I should buy me a wig so I can pass as a 12 year old.

Thanks for tagging me Sam! Now I tag:

Holli Child
Jennifer Eckman
Jessie Dallon
Catherine Stewart

And for the rules...

Go to your 4th folder, pick the 4th photo and tell us about it!

A BRIGHT Idea

2008-11-09T21:44:00.008-07:00

After the Delta Phi boys pranked us multiple times in a row we decided it was time to get them back. So after much thought we decided to steal all of their light bulbs. Now, we wanted to get every last one so we recruited Danny's help. We needed a male to be able to pass the "Chastity Line", So today while they were all supposed to be in church we went over to their apartment. We took every light bulb we could. We even got the ones in their fridge and freezer. We tried getting the one out of the microwave, but we didn't know how. We made a sign that said "light bulbs for sale .10 cents" and put it on our door.

We also had a shoe box with only 4 bulbs in it. They were not very happy when they got home from Church to find they were in complete darkness. ( ; Also tonight my roommates and I set up our Christmas Tree that I stole from my parents house. We didn't have anything to decorate it with so we used fake Gerber Dasiys that were on our table. We also accented it with some of the "stolen" light bulbs. Lets just say it is a very unique Christmas Tree.

I don't think anyone has a tree like ours

A little Surprise at work

2008-11-08T23:55:00.008-07:00

Kylee Bug and Roni wearing "nerd" glasses

Thursday my mom drove down to Provo to babysit Kylee while Teresa and Dustin went to Las Vegas for an anniversary weekend. I was pretty sad that I couldn't go because I had to work. Well Friday at work I was busy sorting my papers and Jake (guy in my office) starts laughing, so I look up. I thought I saw my moms head in the door but thought better of it because she was in Utah. I go back to my paperwork and I hear a little girl laughing so I look up and Kylee is running towards me! I was so excited. Because I couldn't go to Provo my mom brought Provo to me! Kylee gave me her school picture to put on my desk so I can look at her everyday. Well, I left work the second I could and Kylee came to play with me at my apartment for a few hours. We built towers with Jenga blocks, ran around, and made Pumpkin muffins. They were good! Today I went out to my house and Kylee and I played with Scarcrow, an adopted cat. He really made me sneeze! Kylee also thought it was fun to fold us up in the hospital bed that moves with a remote. I had lots of fun. Thanks for bringing Kylee up mom! Okay, to be honest mom didn't bring her just for me. Dustin thought Kylee would have more fun at Grandma and Grandpa's house, but I can pretend right?

This is the Hospital bed we were folded in. We are almost bent in half. Can you tell?

Halloween

2008-11-02T10:51:00.018-07:00

Nerd Herd

Erin, Catherine, Roni, Tiana, Rebecca, and Michelle

Halloween this year was awesome! For work I was one of the Halloween Costume Contest Judges so I dressed up like Judge Judy. I had a wig and everything. Then I went to my apartment and my roommates and I dressed up like Cute Nerds. We were all part of the Nerd Herd. We were pretty cute if I say so myself. Catherine and I took a dozen pictures of us. We all went to the "Haunted" Straw maze with some of our friends. It was pretty scary. Our group got separated in the middle of it and Erin and I got our picture taken with a scary dude on stilts.

Bailey and me; Erin, Creepy stilts guy, me; Catherine and me

We went back to our apartment and Jason thought it was pretty funny to scary me. I was so mad! We all frosted sugar cookies and goofed around. It was the best Halloween ever! Lets just say we might be "nerds" again!

Me, Jason's tie, and Jason at the Straw maze; Catherine and I being "nerds"

This photo is bacause my mom demanded I have a Judge Judy shot up

Off-roading

2008-10-27T14:24:00.010-06:00

Okay, I just have to say that I am officially in LOVE with JEEPS!!! Thanks to Jason Dayley. This semester he has taken me on some really awesome off roading trails. Friday Jason and his brother Justin took my roommates and me to the "mountains". Jason had the Jeep and Justin had the Four-runner. Of course we could do a lot more trails in the jeep. A few times I was a little nervous that we wouldn't make it out alive. ( = we stopped and had a nice picnic. We were having some fun and Jason ended up getting us high centered on a trail. Justin was a little ways ahead of us so he didn't know. We tried to get out but we had to wait till Justin realized we were stuck and come pull us out. We thought he might just leave us to fend for ourselves. They had all the food and no one had cell phone service. Saturday night Jason took some of us down to the river bottoms and rabbit hunting. We only saw one rabbit so we just ended up shooting guns into a log. We plan on going again after we carve our Halloween pumpkins so we can have some target practice on them. Lets just say I might have to buy myself a jeep if I ever get rich and famous and need another vehicle for fun!
Catherine, Tiana, and me are in the Jeep while Jason sees how bad he got stuck

New York

2008-10-14T11:10:00.007-06:00

I spent the last week in New York visiting my brother Karl and his family. I had so much fun! I got to play with two of my nephews and have many laughs with Karl and Natalie. Natalie taught me some new recipies to make for my roommates and we did a fun craft. One afternoon we went to a Pumpkin Farm. It was so neat! they had thousands of pumpkins. You just went out in this huge field and picked the ones you wanted and they were only $2.00. They also had a little petting zoo type place. Calvin had lots of fun and William got to ride in the Wheel barrol. We also spent a day in Niagra Falls. It was so beautiful! I would recomend seeing it to anyone! We had a lot of fun getting through security at the border. They sure ask a lot of questions! I was also able to see the New York Temple and visit The Sacred Grove. It was such a wonderful and calming feeling. We played the game Life a few times. Unfortenetly I only won once. I seemed to come in last every time! Calvin and I also got to go flying from a mishap that happened on their new slide we put up. Thank goodness we only ended up with a few cuts and bruises. New England is so beautiful in the fall! I would never get sick of all the pretty sights. I am so glad I had the chance to visit my family!

Just Married- not me

2008-09-23T11:04:00.003-06:00

My roommates and I were very sad that we didn't have the glorious end to our prank that we thought we would get. Good thing girls know how to cook up plans! We decided to "Just Married" all the boys in apartment #8. It was glorious! We were able to fingure out what everyone drove (with a little help) so Saturday night we snuck over to Delta Phi with window markers, empty pop cans, string, balloons, tape, Oreo's, and crete paper. We wrote on all their car windows and strung pop cans from the back bumper, put cookie halfs on their windows, balloons in their cars. It was great! We almost got caught a few times but we were able to finish the job. The next day after church we drove by to see all our work. Jason had taken everything off his motocycle and drove it to church. All the other boys had riden in Taylor's car. Well Michelle and I decided to get Jason's Motorcycle again. Tiana, Michelle, and I waited in Tiana's car for Jason to come out of church and see it. He was shocked! He couldn't believe we got it again, but he just got on and drove it home. As we were following Jason home Taylor was driving behind us. As all the boys were having fun, getting honked at, and eating cookies off the windows (little did they know Michelle had licked them all!) Taylor got pulled over! We witnessed the whole thing. We thought we would have to pay for a ticket because we decorated his car. Taylor didn't have his licence on him, no insurance, and his registration expired two years ago! And he didn't even get a ticket!!! I still don't know how he pulled that one off. He came over to our apartment and told us thanks for making his 22nd time getting pulled over such a great story. He is now on number 23 and only has 1 ticket on record. The "great" 8 have declaired war on #205 so we are watching our backs... and jumping at every noise.

PrAnKs

2008-09-19T14:55:00.004-06:00

Well, as we all know it college towns are full of practical jokers. Erin Clifford, Catherine Stewart, and i went to go visit some of our guy friends from our old college ward. (Catherine and Erin are some roommates) No one was home but their front door was wide open. Now Justin and Jason have lived in the same apatment for a long time and they have this huge Barbie head that sits on top of their TV. They get mad if anyone touches her. Being the mischievous college girls that we are, we decided to take it! So we snuck out with Shenaynay (yes they even named her). The next day all the boys from the apartment come looking for her. We are not the only ones they accused. I think they accused every girl that lives in the Brooklyn Apartments. They were searching the front room closets and everything. They claim they couldn't live without her. A few nights later we blindfolded her and took pictures of her being held captive. We anonymously delivered the pictures with a ransom/demand letter. We demanded a song, dance, and Jason's yummy cookies. The next night we met them in the park. Only half of them were there. Being the naive college girls we are we didn't think anything of it. They had no cookies for us and were "pretending" they had air support to get us back. When we got back to Tiana's car my keys had been stolen! I has so mad! We got back to the apartment to decide what to do to get them back and they had trashed it! All 6 of us girls were screaming which ended up with some concerned neighbors. So we put all the food back in the fridge and marched over to Delta Phi #8 to get our stuff back. We ended up getting the demanded song because they sang "We are the Champions" while we were doing our walk of shame back home.

Sea Side

2008-08-21T15:42:00.002-06:00

Last month I went on vacation with my dad. We drove up to Walla Walla, Washington to see my sister Coralee's house. We drove a girl to Boise that needed a ride. Now I don't want to be mean but she was kind of... stupid? about 40 minutes into the trip she turns to me and asks, "so what are all of the fields for?" I about died! I laughed and said, "Have you ever heard of a farmer?" she nods her head and says, "but do they really need all these empty fields?" I am so glad I am smarter than that! I am glad for the laugh though. I had so much fun hanging out with my sister and we had a pampering day. We even got gel maskes that help you relax. Late one night my dad even made me shave his head. He looks different without hair. We all drove down to Sea Side, Oregon and stayed in a resort. I had so much fun playing on the beach and watching my nephews. Coralee and I had panic attackes everytime Michael Phelps swam a race in the Olympics. Yes, watching Michael was one of the highlights in the trip. We went to Tillamook, Oregon and toured the Cheese Factory. The drive back to Rexburg was the worst! It took 14 hours and the roads are not straight. Mort and I were so tired that Coralee thought we were going to die on the way home. She called us and we were so giddy! My dad is a dork and when we ate lunch he had chips all down his shirt! thank goodness we made it home safely at 2 am!