Spring Semester 2014.

     I know I have been horrible at updating my blog and I am sorry!

    So here is a quick update on what is going on in my life. I have finished yet another semester at BYU-Idaho. It was another really great semester. I enjoyed all my classes and survived my first semester working part time and being a full time student. Luckily I have a great job so it made it easy. I am surprised each semester at the amount of great new people that I become friends with. This semester was filled with making some of my best friends. In between work and school we found time to have lots of fun; hiking, taking long drives and getting lost, floating, motorcycle rides, getting the car stuck, Benson turned 1, night swimming, Parker opened his mission call, off roading, shooting, getting scoped, road trips, boating, white water rafting, etc. We had a lot of fun and this semester will be missed, however I am looking forward to the start of a new semester this upcoming fall.

     I have created a slideshow of some of the pictures from this past semester. It is so fun to look at these pictures and reflect on the memories that come along with them!

Spring 2014 by Slidely Slideshow

Called To Serve.

     Today my brother received his much anticipated mission call. We have been looking forward to this day for a very long time. 

     Luckily I was able to come to Utah this weekend to visit Matt and Sarah, so we were able to be together and FaceTime with Parker as he opened his call. 

     We all made our guesses as to where he would be going, I said Virginia or Jamaica, everyone else had their own guesses. Well none of us were right, or even close.

    He opened up that big white envelope and it read, the Tuxtla Gutierrez Mexico Mission. Parker reports to the Provo Missionary Training Center September 17th, where he will learn spanish and prepare to serve the people of Mexico. 

     I already know that my brother will be an amazing missionary. He is one the hardest working kids I know. He is loved by everyone he meets and brings a smile to everyones face. There is no doubt in my mind that he will touch the lives of many people. He is going to bring so much light and love to the people in Tuxtla Gutierrez, Mexico. It is weird to think that in a few short months he will be leaving for two years, but I am so proud of him for the decision he has made to serve the Lord. He is a great example to me and cannot wait to see him grow even more throughout his mission. 

Getting' Our Country On.

     I used to love country music, then I went through a phase where I hated it, and ever since I've lived in Idaho I have come back around to loving it. Last night I went to my first country concert. Scotty McCreery came and played here in good ole Rexburg. I remember watching his American Idol audition back in 2010 and when I heard him sing "Baby lock them doors and turn them lights down low" in that deep voice of his I knew he was going to be my favorite. It also didn't hurt that he was absolutely adorable, and let me tell you he is all that and more! As a 20 year old whose rise to fame was very public, you would think Scotty would get caught up in all of it. After his show last night I can attest that that is not the case. He is one of the most down to earth and respectful performers I have ever seen. He was so personable with the audience, in between songs he would just start talking and had conversation with the audience. Honestly with that accent, I wouldn't have cared if he had talked the whole time;) He sang his songs new and old, and even threw in a few covers. It was truly a great show and performance. It got me so pumped for this summer, driving around the back roads of Idaho with the windows down, blasting some good ole country music!

Katelyn, Anna, and I before the show

   

Festival Of Colors.

     This weekend Anna and I headed down to Utah for the Festival of Colors at the It was Radha Krishna TempleSpanish Fork. It is a festival known as Holi Krishna. It is a celebration in the Hindu culture and religion. It is a celebration of love and peace. There is music that reflects the Hindu culture and every hour there is a color throwing.
 
     We had never been because we were always off track but since we are in Rexburg for the winter we decided we would finally make our way down to it, and met up with Justin and his roommate Mitch.  The Festival itself was really fun. It was interesting being able to experience such a different religion. It just goes to show how diverse our country really is. We came out of it a mess and barely breathing but it was worth it!

           

Future Librarian.

     Thanks to some great friends and a ridiculous video resume I am officially an employee of the BYU-I David O. McKay Library!! I will start doing training next week and will start at the beginning of next semester. I am super excited to finally have a job and will be working alongside two of my best friends. It is going to be an adjustment working, taking classes and enjoying the summer weather but I'm ready for it.

     Here is the video that started it all.

Courtney's Virtual Resume

Embracing My Inner Hick.

     Here in Idaho, a typical pass time is to go out to the Butte and go shooting. It has finally gotten warm enough that we have gone out at least once a week for the past few weeks. Of course Anna and I had to go all out and found camo hats for only $3! We wear them every time we go shooting. We are embracing our inner hick.

     Brad has 22 shotgun and Bryce has a riffle. I prefer the riffle over the shotgun. The shotgun is too big and too loud. Its fun to shoot but scary. Once I figured out how to handle the gun it was easier to shoot. I rarely hit the clay pigeons with the shotgun and when I do I get extremely excited!haha With the riffle we just shoot targets and I hit those a lot more frequently.

     Today was a beautiful day and now that it's staying lighter later, thanks to day light savings, we were able to go out again. Bryce brought his camera and got some really fun pictures. 

        

  

I hit this one!

  

Somehow we always get a picture of us laughing at something random.

     

The gang: Brad, Anna, Me, Bryce!

Back At It.

     Im back here in Rexburg for my first winter semester. I am off track and have no luck on the job front. I have had a lot of free time which I am enjoying but I am ready for the spring semester to start. It has been fun having time to really do whatever I want because Im not taking classes.

     I was able to go to Chicago for ten days to watch the Boswell boys while their parents went to Hawaii. It was so much fun being back home. The boys were so awesome and so easy! It was a nice break away but it was so much colder there than it was in Rexburg, like a good 30 degrees colder. We have actually had an unusually warm winter here, which lets be real I am not complaining!

     This week Brad, Scott and I found some super cheap tickets to a Utah Jazz game and a BYU basketball game, so we road tripped it to Utah mid-week... Oh the joys of having other friends that are off track as well! Both games were extremely fun. The Jazz were playing the Brooklyn Nets. Both teams were pretty equal in their playing abilities and it was a fun game, unfortunately the Jazz lost but it was still fun to be there.

     I stayed with Sarah and Matt which is always fun! I love being able to live so close to them and that I am able to come down and see Benson. He changes each time I see him. He is getting so big! The next game was the BYU game which was an absolute blast. They played Gonzaga. Brad is from Washington so he was totally rooting for the zags. Scott and I were BYU through and through. I loved being in the Marriot Center. It really made me wish I went to a school that had sports teams. Don't get me wrong I love BYU-I but the sporting events are so much fun! The game was awesome and pretty close in scoring the whole game and luckily BYU pulled through with the win. Scott and I were ecstatic, Brad on the other hand was a little grumpy..haha.

Blind As A Bat.

     Well it turns out I have the vision of an 80 year old. I finally went to another eye doctor after months of really not being able to see much in the distance. I have had glasses for my far sightedness for a few years now and have noticed that my near sightedness was progressively getting much worse. I knew I was going to need a new prescription.

     After the eye doctor did all his tests the first thing he says to me was, "Well you're blind as a bat!". Very comforting...haha I knew my eye sight was bad but not that bad. I guess it was more than a little dangerous for me to be driving. Ooops!

Might as well have been me the past 9 months.

     So I am now wearing multi focal contacts and I also have progressive lens glasses. All I can say is that I got the short straw when it comes to my Dad's horrible eye sight.