I'm No Longer Living Out Of A Suitcase.

     After three weeks of traveling I am finally back home! It has been so fun going all over visiting family and friends. Our three week vacation started out in Utah. I drove down from Idaho after school ended and met the family. We were able to spend time with Sarah, Matt, and Benson. They moved into their own house so Mom, Sarah, and I had fun decorating the place. It looks so cute! Of course playing with Benson was so fun. He is starting to get so much bigger. He is really developing his personality. I loved seeing my Grandma and Grandpa one more time before they moved back to Arizona. Jill and Nana came up too! I hadn't seen either of them in a long time, so it was great to spend time with them too. The whole family came in town for a very special occasion. Benson was blessed. It was truly a great day.

     The next part of our vacation landed us back home in Chicago. Parker, Mom, and I drove from Connecticut to Illinois. We did it in two days so it really wasn't that terrible. Dad, of course, got the great pleasure of flying. 

     Our purpose of going to Chicago was not just to see our friends but my best friend since the day we moved there, Justin just got home from serving his two year mission in McAllen Texas, and Parkers best friend Scott was leaving for his mission to Fresno California. The funny thing is these two are brothers so it was cool to welcome one home and send another off. We were able to do a lot and also just hung out like old times. We played cards, went to all our favorite restaurants, played just dance, Justin and I went to a White Sox game, and of course we went into the city. I was also able to see one of my old roommates Jenny who is serving her mission in Chicago! It was such a great trip. 

       

    

     All of the travel has fun and it was great seeing family and old friends, but let me tell you it sure is nice not living out of a suitcase anymore! I am home for about three weeks and then am headed back to school. I am just going to relax and enjoy the weeks I have at home with my family.

End Of The Semester and a Photo Dump.

      Well I cannot believe yet another semester has ended. It never ceases to amaze me how fast time flies! I will be starting my junior year next semester. That is just weird to me. Well I think I have said this multiple times on here but this semester was honestly the greatest semesters. There were a few ups and downs but overall it was amazing!
     It was a weird semester because so much had changed over the winter. Most all of my friends had left to serve their missions and Anna was leaving for Mexico for the first half of the semester. I was going to be all on my own. I actually really enjoyed it. It was a great way for me to be my own person and really break out of my comfort zone. I was able to make so many new friends and do so many fun things. The Spring semester is definitely harder to stay focused on school because all you want to do is be outside but somehow I did it! I finished off the semester well so thats always a plus. Im excited to get back to school again this fall and see what it has in store for me!
     These are just a few pictures of what I have been up to the last few weeks of school. Of course it was stressful studying for finals and packing and moving my stuff to my new apartment but I still made time to relax and have fun.

The view outside my apartment. Most nights in Idaho end up looking like this!

Day Trip to Yellowstone National Park

Paddle Boarding at Rigby Lake

 

Sunset Hike Up "R" Mountain

Jess's Wedding Reception

     It was truly a great way to end the semester! Now my seven week break consists of travel. I will be in Utah with the family for my nephews blessing and then Im heading to Chicago to welcome Justin home and to send Scott off. It will be so fun to see them all again. Then back to Connecticut for a short break home. And then right back to good ol' Rexburg. It is going to be a great summer!

Color In Motion 5k.

     Over the winter break I noticed that there was going to be a color run in Rexburg. I was so excited because it is rare that something big actually makes it to our little college town. So I called up my roommates and we decided to sign up for our very first 5k.

     So race day comes along and lets be honest none of us actually trained for it. So we decided we would just kind of run/walk the whole thing. It was only a 5k so only about 3.1 miles. We started off the race so clean but once it started every few kilometers we were blasted with colored chalk. It was a blast! We ended up finishing in about 35 minutes. We were pretty proud due to our complete lack of preparation.

Before the race.                                           

After!

4th of July.

     The Fourth of July is one of my favorite holidays. The weather is always amazing, you are outside, fireworks, and of course celebrating the great United States of America! I cannot remember a year when we didn't celebrate. Unfortunately Rexburg is too small of a town to actually have fireworks, so you have to go elsewhere. Last year a bunch of us went to Idaho Falls to watch the fireworks over the river but this year Anna and I decided to do something different. 

Stadium of Fire! The Stadium of Fire is in Provo, Utah and is a huge concert and fireworks show at Lavelle Edwards Stadium. This year the performers were Circ De Sole, Carly Rae Jepsen, and KELLY CLARKSON!

   Anna and I drove to Utah Thursday morning and stopped to see Sarah, Matt, and Benson. It was so fun to see them! Benson has changed so much. I can't believe he is already a month old. Then we ventured into Provo and basically waited around all day until the stadium opened. Finally we were allowed in, we were so excited! It was so fun to see all the performances but the highlight was definitely Kelly Clarkson. Anna and I have both been huge fans ever since her American Idol debut 11years ago! It was a trip hearing her perform a few of her old songs. She is seriously a power house! Her performance was incredible! I am so glad that we got to experience the Stadium of Fire, it is definitely something I would love to do again. It was a great day to remember how lucky we are to live in such a blessed land.

Carly Rae Jepsen

Kelly Clarkson

Bridge Jumping.

    I have hear about people bridge jumping since my first semester here in Idaho, but I had never had the opportunity to go. Also I have been to scared to go. Im not the biggest fan of heights. Well the past few days have been in the high 90's and all we have wanted to do was be in the water. So Monday our friends invited us to go bridge jumping and we took advantage of the opportunity to go with some more experienced jumpers (a.k.a locals). I was still super nervous because from the bridge it was a good 15 foot drop to the water. Everyone immediately started jumping with no problems so I figured I would be okay. I just got up and jumped I couldn't just stand there or else I would continue to psych myself out. It was such an adrenaline rush, I loved it!!!

    The jumps don't go without a few battle wounds. I somehow bruised the palm of my hand on impact, one of our friends over extended their flip and back flopped pretty hard and then the third time I jumped the pressure from the water was so hard that I ended up hurting my ear to the point where I thought I ruptured my ear drum. It was pretty bad later that night but luckily Nurse Anna diagnosed it as swimmers ear and a few over the counter ear drops and orange juice later I was totally fine. 

     So the next day we decided to go jumping again expect this time to a different bridge. The bridge was pretty much the same height as the one the day before. I didn't know if I was going to jump just because I didn't want to hurt my ear again, but I couldn't resist! So I took a few jumps, the water was like pool water and felt divine on such a hot day! I didn't get a video of me jumping but this is Matt and Kelly jumping on day 2. This gives you and idea of what the bridge and jump was like.

Then we ventured to Fun Farm, another bridge, which was a lot higher than all the ones we had been to. It was so scary. None of us wanted to jump but our friend Dane decided to show off his manhood and jump. Lets just say we were all thoroughly impressed! I got the jump on video as proof he actually did it! 

     We can all now say we have experienced the fun of Idaho Bridge Jumping. 

Photo Dump.

     It has been crazy busy these past few weeks but it has been full of fun. So here are a bunch of pictures that basically sum up what I have been up to.

Going to the lake

Throwing parties

Celebrating birthdays

Enjoying the heat

and I guess going to class fits in there somewhere too.

              

  

Seriously this semester would not be the same without these people! I am so grateful for the friendships I have made. 

My Nephew!

     My first nephew was born Friday May 31, 2013. Benson Asay weighed 9lb.4oz and was 21in. long. He was a big baby! I am so excited for my sister and brother-in-law. Benson has been long awaited and it is so fun having him here. They are both great parents already! I was able to go down and meet Benson for the first time last weekend. It was so much fun! I love him so much already. I love that I live close enough that I can visit and see how much he will change over the next few months.