i get high with a little help from my friends.

every christmas since graduation,

 the brat pack has gotten together

and had a reunion of sorts.

2008.

temple square. party at the gateway. 

  make fun of beth getting hit by a car.

confession session.

2009. 

mario kart party at beffie's.

confession session.

new years eve party. 

2010.

head to ali's house in logan.

{view from kitchen}

eat sushi & aggie ice cream. 

{failed group shot}

spy/take ninja pictures. 

{rest are too ninja to share with the inter-web}

shop for breakfast foods. aka cereal.

discovered this classy brand: 

play quelf. watch elf.

{best.game.ever.}

confession session.

realized hil and i both wear our shoes fancy ways.

{over-sized sweats tucked into cowboy booties

and fuzzy socks that make feet too big to fit into flats}

oh, kids, i love those girls.

i look forward to these little reunions every year. 

they're the highlight of my holiday break.

note to self: next year bring an actual camera to document such greatness.  

the ultimate pizzle while great, does not substitute for an actual camera.  

mysterious

i felt like this deserved it's own post.

on saturday, whilst i was shopping with madre and ash-bash,
i realized i needed gum.

i went back to where they sell the three packs and saw that stride was doing a 2 for $4 deal.

i immediately jumped on that. 

unfortunately stride spearmint,
{one of my three addictions. see others here & here}

was no where to be found. 

so i settled on another greenish looking color and the new stride mystery gum flavor.

i'm going to be honest with you right now and you're probably not going to like it.

it wasn't as exciting as the commercials make it out to be.

and i'm not the only one who agrees.

the entire bp {minus ali, plus karissa} tried a piece.

we are familiar with the gum world.

we love only the best of the best {stride and 5}.

and here's what we had to say.

the flavor doesn't last long.

the paper each individual piece is wrapped in reminded us of the zebra gum from our childhood.

i felt that the gum got a weird texture after being chewed for a while.

when i said it was fuzzy-ish i just got weird looks.

can you please go get some and tell me what you think the texture turns to?

now as for the flavor...

well, i can't tell you.

if i do, a british man on an ostrich will come and attack me.

so, you'll just have to go out and buy you're own.

or you can swing by my apartment and use the secret password

"i want fuzzy gum"

and i'll give you a piece for FREE!

what a deal.

you're welcome in advance.

love always,

your favorite gum connoisseur

{photos via: here and here}

discoveries.

this weekend i went home.  home is so, so good right now.
friday was family day.  i caught up with james. watched a movie with daddy.  did the dishes.  talked with my  mama.  and saw ashley for five seconds.

saturday i went to costco with daddy.  i got new contacts and went to buy my craisins, granola, and v8 fusion buuut apparently costco has a new rule.  you can't make a purchase with a card that has a different name than the costco member.  what a dumb rule.  i wasn't happy.  so i said, "really?  that's dumb.  i don't want it then."  and i left.

after costco i went to kohl's and target with mommy and ash.  i got some really cute skirts and dresses that i'm really excited to wear.  after galavanting "around town" (if you can call c-ville a town), i fixed my face and played with the bp.

hill, beth, scott, tamsen, karissa {beth & scott's cousin} and i went and got rainbows from the one and only pace's. peach with a little extra syrup. they were heavenly.  on the way there we rolled down the windows and blasted the rocket summer.  after rainbows we headed to open mic night to hear tamsen's brother play a little diddy.  we rocked out to harry and the potters and reminisced about the concert. 

at open mic night we explored a little bit but i got scared when the motion-censored lights came on and scott said i ran fast and looked like a scared little kid.  but in my defense, we climbed over the little fence blocking off the first floor, and i wasn't sure if there were cameras up there.  and if there were cameras, i had to hide my face.  i also sat in my very first stair chair.  i turned it on, but it didn't work. pity.

after open mic, i decided that we should drop by and surprise khyrie.  so we did.  we kidnapped her from her casita and we all went to island view park.  we played on the swings, talked, laughed, and mocked {each other, don't worry}.  it was almost like that perfect summer i told you about.

oh and sunday was mothers day. i love my mommy.

all in all this weekend was golden.
mmm mmm good.

the only good even.

last night i got to talking with my bff jill.

we talked for a while about the best summer centerville ever had.

it was the summer of oh-six.

actually, that whole school year (05-06) was the best.

but that summer?

was golden.

i'm going to spice this up with some old skool photographs in a bit

but i just want to let you know how we ruled c-ville.

frequenting our local pace's for rainbows.

epic prank wars.

my car got saran wrapped at least 4 times that summer.

soap messages on the driveway.

swimming at beths' aunts pool.

toilet papering houses.

getting tortilla-ed.

playing with chauncey/harry {aka: the cutest puppy ever!}

packing peanut battles.

baseball almost every night in the sandlot.

cruising in the saturn, windows down, sunroof open, blasting some trs.

climbing roofs.

jumping on trampolines.

converse club.

visiting the big foot trail.

going to the drive-in.

scaring khyrie on the ted bundy trail.

no drama.

going to concerts.

harry and the potters!

pizza eating contest.

dee's at 1:11 in the am.

secret sleepovers.

fighting for the middle.

king kukamunga.

riding the tandem.

d-bar runs.

island view park.

castle park.

cemeteries.

movies.

golden i tell you.

it has been my favorite summer of all time.

i honestly don't think it can ever be topped.

EVER.

WARNING:  not all of these pictures are attractive. not all of these pictures are from that summer. i'll load up more appropriate ones when i go home this weekend.

Sleep: A Long Lost Love

It's 5:05 AM on 11.11.2009 and I'm grateful.
Here is what I am grateful for {in no particular order}

1. The Gospel/Jesus Christ/Heavenly Father
   
2. My family
1. James - making me laugh when I want to cry because of his strange gee.gee obsession
2. Ashley - for her sick "man" voice and making me laugh
3. Khyrie - for email "yelling" at me for not sending her updated MLIA's, talking to me, and convincing me to come home for the summer
4. Grandma - for never giving up {even when I have}
5. Mami - for always making sure I am okay, for calling me multiple times a day, for being strong, for listening, for being there
6. Papa - for making me laugh, for making fun of how much laundry I have every time I go home, for believing in me, for listening and giving advice
3. My testimony
4. The scriptures
   
5. The Atonement - the fact that Christ has suffered every single shade of pain I have experienced
6. Incredible friends who listen and share
7. Music {today was a Damien Rice, Coldplay day}
8. My guitar and voice box {I played today.  It felt right}
9. The BP!!  
10. Camo & Scott being home
    
11. Technology 
12. Burts Bees!!
13. Water
14. The gym
15. My job
16. The opportunity I have to attend BYU and learn
17. My phone {so I can talk to those I love}
18. All-nighters
19. Court, Sid, Aimee, Jen, Karen, Jess, Andrea {for always listening and for sharing.  Redundant...I think yes}
20. Nightly visits from Gordy
21. Random visits from Craven
22. Hilarious voicemails from Alex
23. Freshman friends
24. Letters
25. Actual letters that, when strung together, make words
26. The written word
27. My ability to write
28. My ability to read
29. Books
30. Contacts
31. Every person that has impacted my life
32. Trials
33. Experiences
34. Ecclesiastes 3
35. My apartment
36. Clean clothes
37. My bishopric
38. The Riveria
39. Centerville
40. Ginger
41. Alarms
42. myplaylist.com
43. This blog
44. The fact that I'm weird
45. Weezer
    
46. "Spaceman" by The Killers
47. Nature
48. Pictures
49. My heart
50. The ability to feel
51. The ability to express those feelings through word and/or song
52. The Festival of Colors
53. Acting
54. Poetry
55. Glee
56. Campus so close to my apartment complex
57. Good friends
58. The Spanish Language
59. ASL
60. Eric Johansen {for teaching me to love Drama}
61. AdVance LA {for believing in me enough to sign me}
62. New Play Project {for always taking me back}
63. "Fix You" by Coldplay
64. "The Scientist" by Coldplay
65. "Yellow"  by Coldplay
66. "Cannonball" by Damien Rice
67. "Delicate" by Damien Rice
68. The Black Eyed Peas for their funky beats
69. Covers
70. gmail
71. Photography
72. Arrested Development
73. Flight of the Conchords
74. The Office
75. Hot Rod
76. Nacho Libre
77. Film 102 with Tom Russell
78. Parker, Jake, Brandon, Jeff, & Lauren and that night we "broke the rules" and watched movies until 5 AM = best night of Freshman year
79. Moe and ANTM
80. Melia and G.G. {both the show and real life}
81. SCUBA
82. Mexico 2009
83. El Rojo
84. Homeland Security for letting me back into America
85. Mrs. Bean
86. Thanksgiving break
87. The thought of going home for Spring/Summer
88. Rollercoasters
89. Overcoming fears
90. Lists
91. Hammocks
92. Brown skin
93. Ballet flats

Okay..I'm done with my list now.  But I'm trying to find daily things I am grateful for.  I like it.