New Beginnings

My  family has lived in the same house since I was  five years old. Really, it is the only home I can remember. But things are about to change. My family will be moving to a new home in the spring. It will still be in the same city, just a couple neighborhoods over. We will be in a different ward, but still the same stake. I'm a little nervous about the change, but I realize I am fortunate in that my family isn't leaving my hometown!

The house is currently under construction. It's still in the early framing stages. My family has made many many trips to watch its progress and walk through its skeleton. At first, it was hard to envision it as a house, but the framing is nearly complete, and now as we walk through it I find myself imagining what it will be like in a few months, when we call it home. I think we are going to like it there, but it will be hard to give up our old house. That's all I've ever known!

Hopefully this isn't too cheesy, but the whole thing struck me as a parallel to my life right now. For the last six years, I've been at BYU. I've loved it there. But next year I am graduating. In a few short months, I'll be leaving behind the life I know now and moving out into the real adult world.

It's exciting... and terrifying at the same time. I've been scrambling a little bit trying to figure out what the next step of my life would be. PhD? Get a job? Move back to Colorado or stay in Utah? I am a person who always tries to work upstream... I try to plan several steps ahead. But it's hard to plan when you don't have any idea what's coming.

But like our new house, my future is beginning to take shape. I have a tentative plan laid out. I won't be going on for my PhD just yet. Instead I'll be looking to get a job in my field. I am willing to go where the job takes me, but if at all possible I want to stay in the Provo area. I love Provo, and I'm not ready to leave just yet. Shauna is there with me now, and my brother will be coming next year to start at the Y. If that doesn't pan out, I've got backup plans in place for returning to Colorado, including a backup job if I can't find one in my chosen field. If I can't find a job in my field... next year I will consider applying to a PhD program after all.

Life isn't so scary anymore now that I know (sort of) where I am going. Things are going to come together somehow. I'm actually starting to look forward to my post-BYU phase. It'll be exciting to see where life takes me!

A year from now, my family will be safely established in their new house. It will be complete and beautiful and they will have been there for long enough to get used to it. A year from now, I'll be several months into my new life. What seems a little foggy now will have taken shape. Looking back, all my fears and worries will seem silly.

Here's to the future!

Mormon Tabernacle Choir

My amazing roommate Natalia has an uncle in the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, and he sent her a bunch of tickets to their Christmas Concert. :) We got to go last night! Getting there was an adventure. Parking was TERRIBLE. I think we drove down every single street in Salt Lake City trying to find a place to park. We were supposed to be in our seats by 7:30 (at that point they give seats away to the standbys) but 7:30 came and went and we still couldn't find a place to go. I think we were all praying like crazy that we'd still be able to make it somehow. In the end, we did. :) We found a random place to park a few blocks away, ran like crazy women in our high heels, and made it to our seats at 7:59, exactly one minute before the performance began. They were dimming the lights as we sat down. Haha, when we first arrived at the conference center, we were afraid they would turn us away, but the volunteers manning the door were incredibly sweet. "We're so glad you made it! We've been waiting for you! Come on in!"

The show was STUNNING. It was not a typical Mormon Tabernacle Choir show, it was complete with ballet dancers and special effects. Nathan Gunn and Jane Seymour were the special guests. The music was beautiful. If you have not heard the Mormon Tabernacle Choir sing, you should go look them up on youtube. Right now. :)

One of my favorite special effects was snow that poured down from the ceiling. It looked very realistic, but it didn't stay on the floor. What was it? Well, stop now if you don't want the secret to be spoiled... but on our way back to our car, we met a trumpet player and a bassoon player from the Orchestra on Temple Square. They told us that it was thick, foam bubbles. Perfect for faux snow.

All in all, it was an amazing experience! I hope someday I get to go back again.

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas

This week we had our amazing ward party. :) It was a bit of an adventure getting there. For some reason Google Maps and my GPS failed me in my attempt to find it. I ended up driving around in circles for about 40 minutes, but a quick phone call to a friend finally got us there. Fortunately there had been some issue with the catering, and they didn't serve dinner until shortly after I arrived. :)

Santa was there!

Being at the party took me back to the ward party a year ago. It is interesting to think about how much has changed since then. Many of my friends have graduated and moved away, and I miss them. But this year I've had the opportunity to meet a lot of amazing people and make a lot of awesome new friends.

I wonder where I will be in a year from now? I am not quite sure where life will take me after graduation, but it will be fun to find out.

Hair

The blond highlight look was fun for summer, but I decided I wanted to go back to my natural color:

I think Shauna was more interested in getting a picture of her Jimmer poster than a pic of my hair, but that should give you some idea of my new/old look. :) I think I like it!

NCFR

This week I got to venture to Florida to attend the National Council on Family Relations. This is a big annual gathering where family professionals from around the country gather together to share their research. I had heard about it for years, so it was exciting to finally get to go for myself.

Can I just say, Orlando is beautiful? I wish we had more time there to just play around and explore. I will have to go back someday.

This was the view from our hotel window:

Everyone at the conference got an official nametag with ribbons attached. Most ribbons said cool things like "Award Winner" "Legacy Circle" or "Section Chair."

Somehow I ended up with more ribbons than anyone else I saw, but they were mostly for dorky things:

"First Time Attendee" "Student/New Professional" "Student Aide"... the one I was proud of said "Certified Family Life Educator." :)

I spent four hours volunteering at the registration desk. It was AWESOME. So many big name professors checked in... people whose research I've been studying for years... I was a little star struck by it all!

On Thursday I presented a poster on my thesis. A lot of people stopped by. They were all nice and said encouraging things. I felt a little bit more like a professional!

Me and my amazing poster

 After my presentation was over, my friends Lena, JV, and I headed out to Downtown Disney!

Even though it's not actual Disney World, it has the same vibe to it. Just being there made me really happy. I found this awesome little souvenir at the world's largest Disney store (World of Disney):

An antenna topper for my car in the shape of Cinderella's carriage... It says "Disney Princess" and it's the same color as my car! Perfect!

 Overall the trip was amazing and I'm glad I went! Hopefully I can go again next year. Also, I need to go back to Orlando sometime and really check out all the sights... Disney World... Harry Potter World... Sea World... All of it!

But even though I had fun, I am ready to be back home. :) I was surprised how much I missed Provo while I was away. Turns out Provo is a pretty cool place to be!

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween everyone! I hope you got out there and partied! :) We did. Shauna and I were both brave and wore our costumes up to campus for the first time. It might have been my imagination, but I swear there weren't as many people dressed up this year as there are usually. I felt like wearing a costume made me act a little differently... I felt like I had to be super extra cheerful to match my costume. :)

 Here is Shauna as a mad scientist.

 I was a rainbow unicorn. :)

For FHE, our group watched Monster House (great movie!). Then we went reverse trick or treating with a big group of people. It's a great alternative to regular trick or treating if you're in an area (like university housing) where people won't have candy on hand. You knock on the door, yell "Treat or trick!" and then throw candy into their apartment and run away! :D Lots of fun! I definitely recommend it.

Drinking Fountain

Guess who just installed a drinking fountain in her own home all by herself? (well... Shauna helped too.)

Best of all, it looks just like Shamu!

Voila! :) My inner six year old is very very pleased indeed.

Single Flower

My roommate Natalia and I went on a walk today, and we stumbled upon this beautiful flower, still growing strong in the middle of October:

It made me really happy. :)

Life in Provo is going well. Things have just been super busy. This semester reminds me of my very first semester in grad school, when I was stressed out all the time. My second semester was much more lowkey for some reason, for which I am grateful. This semester is crazy, but fortunately I have better time management skills than I did a year ago, so I am getting by.

I am loving having Shauna at school with me. She's been my best friend for forever and it's great having her around to do stuff with all the time!

On the Family Sciences

Dear Friends,

My undergraduate major was called Marriage, Family, and Human Development. It is a wonderful major but one with many unfortunate misconceptions. Let me clear a few things up for you:

1. MFHD is not "the official M.R.S. degree" at BYU, nor is it the Mommy Prep degree. This is not a major people do to kill time before they get married and start life as a stay at home mom.
2. It is not Home Economics. When I tell people my major, they often say "Oh, you must be good at cooking and sewing!" Actually, my program doesn't include a single cooking or sewing class.
3. There is a reason it is called Family Science. Family science is a hybrid of both psychology and sociology with  a family emphasis. It is a science in the same way that psychology and sociology are sciences.
4.  MFHD is not an easy program. Our program is very research heavy. Students must conduct research, study research, and learn to write research papers really well. Our professors are usually family therapists, so they are kind to us, but they are also scholars and they are used to reviewing papers for scholarly journals. They make sure that we are doing high quality work (particularly in the upper level courses).
5. In some ways, studying people and families is more difficult than studying "hard core" science topics (physics, chemistry, biology, engineering, etc etc). Each individual has their own life story. They are faced with their own unique family circumstances and challenges. They bring to the table a unique blend of personality traits, abilities, relationships, and experiences. No two people will react to the same situation in the exact same way. Also, most human emotions and experiences are difficult to capture in a quantitative way. We have to get creative in our efforts to study families and individuals. There are limitations to what we can do that we are constantly having to work around, but that doesn't mean our efforts aren't valuable.
*disclaimer: I'm certainly not saying that our major is harder than physics, chemistry, biology, engineering, etc. Students in those programs face difficulties that we don't have to deal with. But don't discount our program just because our difficulties are different than yours.*
6. MFHD can lead to careers. Many students (like me) go on to graduate programs and pursue careers as educators and therapists. A bachelor's degree in MFHD can yield jobs too. The fact is, families are important and there are many jobs out there designed to deal with family issues.

Friends, I love my major, but I wish more people would take it seriously. Just because it has "Marriage" in the name doesn't mean I am "one of those girls" who came here just to get married. Just because the emphasis is on families doesn't mean the only career track it offers is in parenthood.

Please treat our program with respect, and we'll do the same to yours. We're all here to learn, aren't we?

Love,

Shelece

Forget-me-nots

President Uchtdorf gave this talk last night as part of the General Relief Society meeting (a yearly meeting for all adult female members of our Church.) All of the speakers gave amazing talks, but this one particularly spoke to me. I especially like his "Golden Ticket" story. :)

Decoration Dilemmas

I am not a decorator.

This became apparent at a fairly young age, when I was given a locker in middle school. Other kids personalized theirs with posters, family photos, mirrors, wrapping paper...

Me? I never put up anything. Oh, I always meant to. Just about everyday when I opened the dang thing or when I looked at my friends' snazzy decorative lockers, I'd think, "I really should decorate my locker. That'd be fun." But I was always too busy and too poorly motivated to do anything.

One of my friends went off on a rant once about people who didn't take time to decorate their lockers. "That's the only thing we can make our own in this place. Why wouldn't people take advantage of it???" Well... As I got older I tried harder. I did put up things in my locker occasionally, and when I got a lockermate, she helped improve things.

Then I came off to college. Over the years I have been blessed with many talented roomies who love to decorate. I watch them arrange things and drool over Crate and Barrel magazines and I've pondered how one  day I need to be more into that. You know, when I have my own place and more disposable income, or something. Hopefully when I get to that point, I will be more into things.

For now, I've been trying slowly to build up my talents. Like today, when I went to the poster sale at the Bookstore. I have a lovely large blank wall in my room, I figured some posters would be just the thing to brighten it up! Except there was only one poster that really appealed to me, and it was pretty small.

Pretty epic, right? I love it! I was excited to come and set it up in my room. But... there was an awful lot of space on that blank wall, and I've never been particularly good at knowing where to place things so they look good...

So basically I think what I've done is highlight all the empty space that I have left, instead of making it seem like there's less of it. Clearly some rearranging is in order. I'm thinking I should probably have put it lower down, maybe just above the bookcase or something. We'll see. I'll play around with it! I also feel like I need to get more posters to help that wall, but I don't want it to end up cluttered either. Also... my days as a college kid are numbered. Posters are fun for a college kid's apartment, but once I'm a real grown-up out there, they probably shouldn't be my main decorating tool.

Oh well. For now I have gone ahead and purchased another poster to add to my collection. Is this adorable or what? And so appropriate for BYU! :)

Never Forget

Ten years ago today I was a thirteen year old girl in the 8th grade. I was already in school when the attacks happened. I think admin must have asked our teachers to keep the unfolding events under wraps, because none of my teachers mentioned anything. Not one of them turned on a TV. Throughout the day, though, more and more parents arrived to take their kids home early. We knew that something must be going on, but we weren't sure what. Rumors came of an airplane hitting a skyscraper... but no one really seemed to understand the devastation (at least no one that I talked to). I was confused. In my mind I pictured a tiny two person plane, a Cessna or something, hitting a skyscraper and maybe destroying a room or two. Certainly such an accident would have killed a few people, but I couldn't understand why it was such a big deal. Why were people so afraid?

After school, both of my parents were waiting to walk home with me, which was unusual. They explained to me that two planes had crashed into the World Trade Center-not little planes, but huge airline jets. At that time I had no clue what the WTC was. My dad described it as a huge building with over 100 floors. He said that on any given day, somewhere between 20,000 to 100,000 people were in the twin towers. (Or at least that's what I remember). He also said that the Pentagon had been hit, and that a fourth plane had been hijacked, but the people on board had overthrown the attackers and then crashed.

When we got home, the television was on. My memory is a little fuzzy, but I don't believe the towers had fallen yet. At least one of them was still standing. I do remember watching a news reporter prepare to interview a woman on the streets of New York, a woman clutching a baby in her arms. Just as the interview started, the tower came down (or something to that effect. Again, my memory is fuzzy). A cloud of debris swept towards the camera. The interview stalled as everyone turned to look. The news reporter called for the woman to protect her baby. Everyone ran for cover.

I couldn't pull myself away from the TV. It felt traitorous somehow not to watch, to try to block out the suffering.

The next day school was canceled because one of the schools in our district was located on a military base, and the base was on total lockdown. For days after, armored planes patrolled the skies above us, protecting us. I couldn't see them, but I could hear them. It was comforting but at the same time terrifying that they had to be there at all.

As a 13 year old, I couldn't fully process what had happened. I remember asking my father if he thought this one would make the history books. "Yes! Of course!" At that time I viewed history as something that had happened long ago; this was the first time that it really hit me that history is made as we go along. History is something we are all a part of.

Looking back now, ten years later, it's amazing how many of the frightened emotions come flooding back. We didn't understand what was happening or if we should expect further attacks. All we knew is that our country was in danger. We were united in a way I hadn't ever experienced before.

Let's all take a moment today to stop and remember those who passed ten years ago. We should never forget. We can never forget.

Best Year Ever

Welp, I am back in P-town, getting ready for another epic year to start on Monday. And I determined to make my last year really count! I am going to make this the best year I have ever had! (*knock on wood*)

So far things are shaping up pretty well. My little sister Shauna is rooming with me, and also Kelly, one of my roomies from last year. I only have one new roommate, Natalia, and already I can tell that she is an amazing girl. I think we will have a lot of  fun. :) Can I just say that it takes off a TON of stress to live in the same place two years in a row? It almost felt like coming home when I moved back here.

And as proof of how awesome my ward is, a large number of people from last year have stuck around. :) In fact, at least two people have moved BACK into the ward after being away for winter semester-I think they ventured out there and then realized what they were missing back here. Also, a few of the newbies in the ward are people I already know from my years here at the Y. So again, coming back to the ward was like coming home. Of course there are lots of new people here too that I am excited to meet. Even the bishopric changed over the summer! Hopefully Shauna and I will make a lot of new friends this year.

I have had a lot of good times at BYU and made a lot of good friends, but last year was probably my best year. It looks like this year will be very similar, but better because I have Shauna with me this time. :) I'll try to be a good girl and keep this blog up during the school year, but no promises! I'll be too busy out having fun. ;)

Just a little earthquake

Last night, around midnight, I should probably have been asleep. Instead I was playing with my dog. We were hanging out in my bedroom. I left to go get something, leaving the door open just wide enough for him to fit through.

(This is my dog. Isn't he cute? <3)
Well, apparently he tried to get out, and somehow accidentally closed the door. I could hear him scratching to get out. I called to him that I'd be there in a minute. Usually, if he hears that, he'll calm down because he knows you've heard him and you'll be coming back. But instead he just scratched harder, over and over again. He was desperate to get out of that room! I finally made it back to let him out, and he headed upstairs.

I didn't think anything of that until I heard him barking hysterically in our front room. Right away my mind turned to my parents and siblings, all of whom were trying to sleep upstairs. Usually Max (my dog) knows better than to bark at night and wake people up. I was a little bit upset with him for being so loud. I should have paid more attention, I guess. He was doing his "trouble" bark, like something was wrong.

I went to find him and ran into my mom, coming to do the same thing. She was concerned because she recognized his worried bark and wondered if something was wrong. But he calmed down pretty quick. He noticed my mom left her door open and tried to hide in her bedroom, but we managed to coax him back downstairs.

My mom and I were standing in the kitchen talking when we heard a strange rattling noise. It sounded exactly like the sound Max makes when he shakes his head and his ears slam together. But I was looking right at him when we heard it and he wasn't moving. This took us back a little. We wondered if maybe there was another animal outside and that's why Max had freaked out? Then we heard a strange creaking noise behind us-much like the noise made when someone walks through our family room. But we could see in the family room and no one was there. This was starting to get a little bit creepy. We heard another burst of creaking that seemed to extend farther through the house, but when it faded it was replaced with the sound of footsteps upstairs. We relaxed and I figured we'd just been hearing someone moving around upstairs. We both went off to bed.

My dad came down a couple minutes later to explain why Max had freaked out: we'd just gone through a mini earthquake. My dad had been in bed, listening to my mom and my conversation downstairs, when all of a sudden the bed started shaking. It didn't shake very hard, and he says it lasted about half a second, but he felt it when we were hearing the strange creaks in our house. My dad figured the quake was so minor it wouldn't even register on the Richter scale, but he did a google search anyways to see what he could turn up. Sure enough, around the time he felt the tremor, a 5.5 earthquake happened a couple hundred miles from here. He thinks that we felt the very edge of that. He also thinks Max freaked out to warn us because he could sense it coming, with that awesome sixth sense that animals seem to have.

Anyway, that's my little earthquake story! Glad it was only a little one. I'm an even bigger fan of dogs today now that I know they really can warn us of danger.

Stupid Biased Dictionary

*Exploring the wonders of an online dictionary*

Shauna: *types in Shelece* "No results found. Did you mean 'shoelace'? Hi Shoelace!

Shelece: *doesn't bother typing in Shauna* Shauna.... No results found. Did you mean Sauna? Hi Sauna!

Shauna: *types in Shauna* No, actually it says the closest result is Shaun.

Shelece: What? But that's not a word.

Shauna: Shaun-a male given name, form of John.

Shelece: *types in Shauna* What??? That's not fair! Your name is practically in the dictionary???

This is what comes from having a name that was randomly made up.

Nostalgia

Today I am suffering from a particularly strong case of nostalgia (dang, that is a hard word to spell!). I am missing a time not so long ago. Logically I can look back and remember that it was not perfect. There were still many challenges to be faced, and even the best parts of life came with difficulties too. Emotionally, though, looking back at that time I feel as though it was perfect in a way that can never be beat. I am longing to go back and relive that time. But I know that if I did, it wouldn't be as wonderful as I remember, and anyway, going backwards is impossible. I'm reminded of a devotional Elder Holland gave at BYU a couple years back called "Remember Lot's Wife." One of my facebook friends reposted it recently and it was really good for me to read it again. One quote in particular stood out to me:

"Faith is for the future. Faith builds on the past but never longs to stay there. Faith trusts that God has great things in store for each of us and that Christ is the 'high priest of good things to come.' I pray you will have a wonderful semester, a wonderful year, a wonderful life all filled with faith and hope and charity. Keep your eyes on your dreams, however distant, and live to see
the miracles of repentance and forgiveness, trust and divine love
transform your life today, tomorrow and forever."

I know I need to keep going and trust that my best days are still ahead. Life gets better as it goes along, doesn't it? It can, at least, if we choose to perceive it that way.

But for today, I think, I will let myself dwell on the past a little bit. Maybe remembering some of the good times I've had will help me build better times in the future.

Change

I've tried to start writing a blog entry a couple times today, but I never get past a sentence or two before I stop. I guess I am feeling like I don't have a lot to say that would be interesting to other people... This may end up being more of an introspective journal piece.

The summer is rapidly winding down. It always makes me a little sad when I stop working for the summer. Last year I was particularly sad because I thought it was my very last summer working at my dad's office. Then I came back this year! And I think by far this has been the best summer. I will miss my job. The funny thing is... this probably WAS my last summer, for reals this time, working for my dad, but it doesn't feel that way... I guess the fakeout last year left me skeptical that things are really ending.

Normally as I approach a new school year, I get really nervous. I don't like transitions. It's hard for me to leave my family and go back to school. I think part of this is because my BYU friends have a pretty high turnover rate... When I'm going back to school, my BFFs from the year before have usually graduated/moved/gotten married/left on missions.

But you know, this year I am actually excited to go back! A lot of my friends will still be there! I love my grad program and I'm looking forward to delve back into it. I am moving back into a ward I love too. I'll be in the same apartment as last year and I am even keeping one of my roommates. Best of all, my little sister will be living with me this year! :D:D:D

At the same time, there will be lots of changes. As usual, a lot of my close friends from last year are no longer in Provo... even those who are still in Provo have moved out of the ward. While I was gone during summer term, the bishopric was released and a new one put in. While a few people will still be around from last year, most people in the ward will be completely new. Most of the second year students in my program have graduated and gone and there will be a new group of first year students arriving.

I am looking forward to meeting new people and making new friends, but a part of me is nervous that I won't make as many friends this year. This is nothing new... I worry about this every year and things work out! I guess I just need to relax.

Beyond this year, big changes are ahead! If all goes well, I will graduate from BYU in April. I'm not really sure what will happen to me after that. I am considering all options that are possible: jobs available, PhD programs... I am also thinking of serving a mission. Everything feels so up in the air. It's hard for me not knowing what's coming next. I'm not even sure where I'll be living a year from now!

I guess all I can do is pray and do my best to figure out what my next step will be. At some point things will become clear. Certainly a year from now I'll have a much better idea of what direction my life is taking (I hope!). I need to try to view this as exciting instead of terrifying... my family members keep reminding me that this is supposed to be an exciting time of life.

Anyway, those are some thoughts on my mind right now. I guess in sum, right now I am looking forward to the future and excited for this last year... but at the back of my mind, I know that so many things are uncertain, and I feel like I should be much more concerned than I am. Oh well. If I'm happy, I should just be happy right? Maybe things will work out more easily than I'm expecting. And if not, I guess it doesn't really help to be stressing out in advance.

Lessons from Work

1. I LOVE working with people.

When I first started working as a deathly shy 17 year old, my job terrified me because I had to spend so much time interacting with strangers. Every year that's gotten better and better. But this year was the first time it really hit that not only am I not afraid of that anymore... interacting with the public is actually my favorite part of my job! I like helping people. I think I've actually gotten pretty good at it.

That is some food for thought. Up till now, my career plan has focused on working with internet companies/publishing companies in my field, because writing is another passion of mine and that way I can be a writer in my field. Also, I'm a big believer in the power of the internet. I feel like online marriage and family education online has the potential to reach a greater (or at least different) audience than traditional family education. It's beginning to look like the majority of marriage and relationship education (MRE) is going to be disseminated through the internet, and I definitely want to be a part of that revolution!

But... if that's ALL I do, I won't be directly interacting with the public. I think I will miss that. That means maybe I need to reconsider my job options a little bit. There are jobs out there that would let me write and teach in a classroom too. Maybe I need to pursue that.

2. I can rock a pair of high heels ALL DAY LONG.

Let's be clear: I am no stranger to high heels. I've worn them to Church every Sunday since I was a kid, and of course for things like presentations at school. But I've never had to wear them for a super extended period, until this summer. The first week or so, I'd come home with throbbing feet. But I kept it up, and you know what? High heels don't even hurt anymore! I can wear them for ten hours at a stretch and not feel a thing. I've conquered the world of high heels! Somehow, that makes me feel like more of a woman.

Scribblers Alumni

Once upon a time in high school, I founded a creative writing club called Scribblers. All of my best friends helped me run it (we were the Council of the Elders), even the ones who didn't like to write. The club was a BLAST. A lot of my favorite high school memories center around that club.

Anyway, today I found out that TWO of the (former) little freshmen members are now pursuing serious careers in creative writing. One is looking into getting his MFA at the University of Montana, and one is working on sending in his first novel for publication. That made me really proud, to hear of Scribblers Alumni out pursuing writing for real.

Which reminds me... one of these days I really should finish that book I've been working on since I was 11. It's time!

Renaissance Festival

Today Joey convinced me to go to my very first Renaissance festival! :)  I wasn't sure what to expect going in, but we had a blast!

I got to eat a pork chop with my bare hands!

We watched a joust! (The good guys won).

We posed with a knight!

We got to be royalty!

I got an awesome flower garland! (Thanks to Joey for being patient while I spent a million years deciding what to get for my Renaissance souvenir. :)

We posed with a water wheel!

I played with baby dragons (freshly hatched!)

We made wishes!

And we admired the renaissance wildlife.

All in all, I had a wonderful time! :) Thanks Joey! Hopefully we can go again next year.

Breckenridge!!!!

How the heck is July almost over and I have yet to post a blog entry??? I was being so good about that in June.

This last weekend my family and I went up to Breckenridge for a few days. Obviously, not to ski. They have a fun park out there that you can visit in the summer.

We rode on the ski lifts!

We stood at the top of the mountains and admired the view!

We rode the Alpine Slides!

We got to try out a roller coaster that went on the mountain! Which, coincidentally, was the best roller coaster in the world for me. You go in individual cars, with brake and speed controls... so when you get scared, you can slow down! Course, my sisters were usually the ones driving, so I couldn't slow down... But it was still great!

We also spent a lot of time hanging out at the pool and the hot tub in our hotel.

It was awesome and I'm glad we got to go!

Dance Dance Revolution!

I have been meaning to put this up for a while. :) A couple Saturdays ago Joey, Lori, and I went to the regional YSA dance up in Highlands Ranch. We had a blast!

Here's some pictures of the highlights:

Hair again

So today my lovely little sister introduced me to a photo editing program that allows me to change my hair color. I came up with these wondrous creations:
Blond:

Redhead:

Pink!:

Conclusion? Maaaaybe I need to stick with my blond highlights/natural color. Although that pink hair is pretty hot. :)