Peel into the Life of Hannah Banana

Allan Family Christmas Letter 2011

2011-12-14T18:30:00.000-08:00

Hi Friends and Family!

Kenneth and I have decided to start the family tradition of updating you all on our family life. We really wish we could mail a letter and card to you all, but alas, blogging is cheaper (something we like). :) Though it may be through our blog, we hope you know how much we love you all and hope you are doing wonderfully!

Kenneth and I are celebrating our 4 month anniversary this December! Time just seems to fly by right now. We of course love being married and still can't believe we are sharing our lives together. We are frequently asked, "How's married live?" And we both answer with some cute comment like "Marry-ish" or "We're still married!" but we both know that we couldn't be happier and our lives are better and more wonderful because we are together.

Right now we are living in a wonderful apartment less than a mile from both of our parents' in Salmon Creek. When we were deciding on where to live, it didn't take long for us both to know that we wanted to be close to family. So close we are! We hardly have to make dinner for ourselves! ;) We attend the same ward as our parents and love taking up a whole row in church with our families and the Simpers and confusing everyone with how we're all related. Between our non-synced schedules (our weekends do not align) we love to try and beat each other in games, go on dates, play with the Simpers, watch movies, be with family and be with each other.

Kenneth is finishing up his bachelor's from Washington State University-Vancouver in Political Science and will happily graduate in August! Soon after though he will be back at WSU-V working on his Masters in Business Administration. We both are very excited about the program and know he will love it. He is of course excelling in all of his classes while working on campus in the Science Department. His dream for flying helicopters is still real, along with owning his own business. So pilot training will come after his MBA. He is also serving as Young Men's Secretary in the ward and becoming more involved in the community as a Eagle Scout adviser. Most of all he is a wonderful and amazing husband and provider who keeps me laughing!

I am loving being a wife and homemaker! Nothing makes me happier than decorating, cleaning, and organizing our home. I have been putting my Family History-Genealogy degree to use by working full time at the Oregon Historical Society's Research Library in downtown Portland, where I work as a Reference Assistant/Librarian. Besides answering reference questions, I am assisting people in their genealogy and have begun genealogy workshops and newsletters at OHS. I too am serving the youth in the ward as the Young Women's Music Director. Kenneth and I love both serving in the youth together.

So that's the Allan Family right now! We are excited for all the promises of the next year and look forward to our eternity together! We also want you to know how much we love each of you and keep you in our prayers. Thank you for being such a support and example to us. We hope you have a wonderful Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Happy Holidays!

- Kenneth & Hannah

Engagements

2011-05-26T21:05:00.000-07:00

Well here they are! A few of our engagement photos. We had a blast and got the first beautiful day of the year. (It started raining the next day.) Thank you to the Curnows for the beautiful shots!

Enjoy!

Finding Zion

2011-05-02T21:19:00.001-07:00

Lately I've been reminiscing about the past, walking down memory lane, thinking about where I've been, where I am now, and how I got here. Kenneth and I often talk about our memories of the past 5 years and look back in awe. I sometimes can't believe it. It seems like yesterday that all my dearest friends and I were playing volley ball together after FHE, or eating root beer floats after a CES Fireside, or sitting in a classroom listening to Bro. Norton give an Institute lesson. And now we are not only still close, but we are literally family! Amazing!

(My YSA Zion 2008. Yep, that's Kenneth in the back!)

Recently, my mom resurrected her blog called Mona's Gospel Musings, after having been in London in the past year. She is now posting all her stories, feelings, and experiences as a Relief Society President in the Staines, London ward. Her latest post called Finding Zion, talks about her new definition of "Zion" and has added to my recent pondering on this very subject. I highly encourage you to visit her blog (she will post weekly on Sundays) and muse with her and others on gospel topics.

Here are my comments on this week's post:

I love this post and all the comments so far! I have always loved the feeling of Zion. Ever since I was a child, I loved spending all day at church and in the church building. The building itself became a second home to me. And today, my favorite Sundays, or any day for that matter, is when I get to be busy serving and being with my fellow saints. Large groups of saints really touch my soul. My heart swells with awe, joy, and excitement anytime I partake in a large CES Fireside, a regional conference, stake conference, etc., especially when everyone sings a powerful song like "Redeemer of Israel," or "Spirit of God." I cannot help but weep with the feeling of unity and the strength of the church.

Similarly, outside of my family, my greatest and closest relationships come from the people I experienced Zion with. While living in Florida, most of us didn’t have extended family around, so what did we do? We created a family with our wards. We all through our efforts into raising each other’s family in the gospel and church. We sat across the plastic tables at Christmas potlucks discussing the scriptures, family troubles, politics, etc. We drove each other’s children and friends to mutual and seminary. We taught each other how to cook, sew, and budget. We worshiped, prayed, and fasted together. We served in every capacity and beyond. Now we are tied together as sisters and brothers, in a bond that has crossed time and distance. Likewise, my years as a young single adult in Vancouver fostered relationships with friends that became my greatest support and facilitator of joy. My relationship with members of Zion has strengthened my connection to the gospel and church, than any Sunday School lesson.

Zion, or the feeling of Zion, is something that I have been trying to figure out how to describe in words. I can feel it in my heart, but I can't describe it. Maybe that says something about the true meaning of Zion - it starts and ends with the heart. Our heart connects to God and to others. We can, are, and should be all different, yet there is one thing that ties it all together - Christ. Like the spokes on a wheel, each line comes from different directions but points to one center. Christ is our center. And as we all focus on Christ, and work together in love, THEN we experience Zion.

There is no greater joy than being in Zion. There is no greater joy than raising and being in a family that is tied together in the unity of Christ and love, and then coming together with fellow saints in the unity of the faith. And there is no greater joy than serving in Zion. When we can look past the differences and focus on the similarities or the common dedication to Christ, and work TOGETHER to raise each other up, then we can become as Christ would have us be – his people.

Take a look at my mom's blog at www.monasgospelmusings.blogspot.com

Also check out her Romance blog (focusing on building spouse relationship through romance) at www.monasmusings.com This blog also describes her adventures abroad in Europe!

Easter Weekend

2011-04-26T22:03:00.000-07:00

Kenneth and I were able to spend FIVE WHOLE DAYS together last week. That makes a total of about eight days we've seen each other during our 4 1/2 month engagement so far......yeah..... But the worse is behind us. I'm back at BYU for my last term (2 classes and a huge work project). We have a trip to Orlando coming up soon and then in June, Kenneth will come rescue me from the depths of Provo and we'll drive all my stuff back to home sweet home - never to leave again!

Here's a look at a few things we did this past week:

Visited the Temple

Toured the Washington State Capital and Olympia. Kenneth just finished an internship as a senator's aid this past semester. It was incredible and he did an amazing job!!

Visited our brand new nephew (little Benjamin Allan) born April 23! I almost kidnapped him, but the security band around his wrist would have set off an alarm....not to mention the 911 calls from his parents. ;)

Spent "Easter Saturday" with my wonderful sister Ashely and our beloved Simpers!

Kenneth stole my Easter Egg basket and threw all the eggs to the kiddos. "Eggs for everybody!"

Happy Easter from the soon-to-be Allans!

Stay tuned for engagement photos!

Eternity Isn't Long Enough

2011-02-24T08:15:00.000-08:00

Hello Friends!

Well, if you haven't heard my announcement from some other means, here you go: I'm engaged! But more than being engaged, I am marrying my best friend and most constant love.

Here's my attempt to explain the story:

Kenneth and I met over 5 1/2 years ago in Vancouver, WA when my family moved there from Orlando. The Allan and Zabriskie family quickly became good friends through all the stake activities and choir. (How can you not when together you create the bookends of the alphabet?)

Kenneth and I really don't know how it all started and that is sort of a representation of our friendship. We have always felt like the best of friends, though we know we started hitting it off in the Young Single Adult program (Family Home Evening, Institute, Hannah Parties, etc.) From our earliest memory, we have always been drawn together like magnets, making our way to each other in a group without even realizing it. Our happy spirits, similar humor (Kenneth is the funniest man alive!), competitiveness, and desire to lift those around us, made us playmates and best friends for a long time. If you knew us then (and some of you do), you would have known that Kenneth and Hannah go together. At YSA activities, if you had one, you had the other (and you better not get in our way when it came to any game; we left everyone else in the dust).

As the memories started accruing and our knowledge of each other expanded, our hearts became closer together. The semester I started at BYU (2008) we decided to try and date long-distance. However, the Lord had a different idea, and we had to stop. Our friendship ran so deep however, that neither one of us could stand cutting off all ties, and we continued to stay very close. Whenever I came home for Christmas or Summer break, we spent every possible minute together, not missing a beat, in fact, our relationship grew every time.

Little did I know that although I had shut the door on our romantic relationship, my wonderful, amazing sweetheart, waited patiently and constantly on the other side. He gave me plenty of signals and stayed ever so perfectly close so when the time came to reopen it, I knew he was there. And open it I did....all the way!

Over last Christmas break, on a wonderful Sunday night, we rekindled our love, or at least I did. He had always been waiting for me, and all I had to say was "I love you." The rest is history. How can two best friends, now strong lovers, wait to share eternity with each other? We are getting married August 13th in the Portland, OR Temple. It is not soon enough.....and eternity isn't enough time to spend together.

Hello!

2010-11-14T20:58:00.000-08:00

Hello all!

So, I know I didn't finish, or write anything for that matter, about England. Forgive me! Blogging is not one of my strong suits or top priorities. haha But hopefully you all were able to experience one of the highlights of my mortality through facebook or another means. It was to amazing and wonderful and monumental beyond words. I will forever be changed. :)

But to keep you updated on life right now, I'll post something small.

I am in my last year of school at BYU. It is very hard to believe. I've worked towards BYU since I was twelve, so it is hard to imagine that it is almost over, relatively speaking. I am still figuring out what I will do when I'm done (what Senior doesn't!), but I have some strong new ideas that I am firming up. Right now the plan is to get a masters in Public History. I am very excited about it and am looking forward to the future! I will let you know the rest of the plans once they are cement. :) So besides all that, school is going very well! Busy and stressful as usual, but that is what college is, right? I have had so many opportunities this year, it has been incredible! I feel extreamly blessed!

Outside of school, things are going dandy as well. I LOVE my new house I'm living in (upstairs, no basement!), my roommates are FANTASTIC and I love them dearly! And I am surrounded by amazing friends and family 24/7. This past month our family flew down to Orlando for my brother, Christopher's wedding to beautiful and wonderful Heather! We love her dearly and are so excited for her to be a Zabriskie! Watch out for the new Zabriskie sisters quad! :)

(Heather, Me, BriAnne)

So life is fantastic! Sometimes I get down or tense about all that needs to be done and about finishing the school year, but the Lord constantly reminds me that my "future is as bright as my faith."

So that's Hannah Banana right now! I'll try to keep you more updated. :)

Let me know how YOU are doing!!!

Cheers!

Oh! And P.S. You can keep updated on all England things through my mom's blog at www.monasmusings.com. Check it out ASAP!

Trip to Shropshire

2010-06-14T07:40:00.000-07:00

This past week I traveled from London to Shropshire to do some personal family history research as part of my internship. I first traveled to Ludlow where my ancestors, James and Ann Price, lived. After having researched this line for about a year now, this trip was very special to me. I stepped off the train onto the abandoned platform, and as the train faded away behind me, I was left with just the sound of birds chirping around me and a sign saying "Welcome to Ludlow" in front of me. I couldn't believe I was there!

I then toured the remarkable, fantasy-like town, stopping at all the important landmarks and strolling through the streets and "shuts" (a.k.a. "allies"). It was incredible to walk where they walked and to witness what life was like for them. It gave me a whole new perspective and appreciation.

Here is a picture of me on the street where my ancestor's lived, a shot of the town, and a picture of me in front of the St Lawrence Ludlow Parish Church.

I then took a tour of the castle ruins still standing from the 12th century! (You know a castle is old when people in the 1700s called it "a relic.") I climbed the tiny, warped, muddy stairs up to the top of the castle tower and was blown away by the vista before me. I instantly fell in love and have claimed Ludlow as one of my all time favorite places in the world. It is remarkable to believe my ancestors left this for the promises that awaited them in the New World.

Lastly I spent three days at the Shropshire Archives in the medieval town of Shrewsbury. This was another marvelous experience that I could not have had anywhere else. Not only did I gain a better understanding of my ancestors' world by researching primary documents, but I also learned a lot about different types of records: how they look, what they contain, how they are useful, etc. I also gained a better understanding of the archive process and how best to maximum my time there. I could not have asked for a better experience!

Well cheerio for now! (more pictures soon to follow!)

The Mother Land

2010-06-01T04:54:00.000-07:00

Well as you have probably guessed or heard elsewhere, we finally did make it to England!! After 40 hours, 3 plane rides, many car rides, and 1 hotel room, we were able to step foot on the Mother Land.

Being now on day 4, how I would describe England is.....FANTASTIC! It is absolutely fantastic! There are no words to describe the scene here and the feelings it creates! I am in awe 24/7, and like a little child, eating everything up and not wanting to miss anything.

Friday we flew in and didn't do much but eat and sleep. :)

Saturday we went shopping to outfit our temporary apartment until we move into our real apartment in Kew in July. In the evening we drove into the city of London for the first time (we will never drive in again! SO scary!) to see a production of Macbeth at Shakespeare's Globe! London is incredible! just like Mary Poppins, Oliver, My Fair Lady, etc. There are streets after streets, and alleys after alleys, of classic English architecture. I've never seen anything like it. It's fantastic! The production of Macbeth, though rather gruesome, was very fun! We enjoyed every minute of standing IN the rain, IN the Globe! After the show we drove around town. Everything was lit up, and when I saw "London Bridge," St. Paul's Cathedral, Big Ben, and the Eye, I almost cried. I couldn't believe I was actually there!

Sunday we had a wonderful day at my parent's ward in Staines! I love the British people so much (not to mention their accents)! They are so friendly and clever. Their sarcastic humor keeps me laughing. We also drove around Kew and walked around Richmond (our soon to be home). It was GORGEOUS! Arches of trees hung over every street, shops lined the walkways, and trails & bridges followed the river. I quickly fell in love!

Monday we took the train into the City to visit Westminster Abbey and the British Library. It was a remarkable day, to say the least - full of the great historic people of Britain and their works. Westminster Abbey is one of the most incredible places in the world. And we cried together as we stood in all its magesty and splendor next to the grave of Handel, William Wilberforce, Charles Dickens, etc. etc. I can still close my eyes and picture myself there. I will never forget it.

To give you an idea of the impact of day, here is a list of the things we saw.

Westminster Abbey (this is only a FEW. To see a full list of what is in Westminster click here):
Burials:

King Edward 1
King Henry V
King James
Mary, Queen of Scots
Neville Chamberlain
Charles Darwin
William Pitt
William Wilberforce
Robert Browning
Charles Dickson
Sir Henry Irving
Rudyard Kipling
Muzio Clementi
George Frederick Handel

Memorials:

Jane Austen
Shakespeare
The Bronte Sisters
Winston Churchill

People:

Bro. Staheli (the BYU University Singers conductor. They are here on tour here.) :) haha

The British Library

a "common place book" of John Milton
Charlotte Bronte's original manuscript of Jane Eyre
Jane Austen's notebook
Jane Austen's writing desk
Oscar Wilde's 'The Ballad of Reading Gaol"
Manuscripts dating the 10th Century
Leonardo da Vinci's Notebook
the Magna Carta
a letter written by Charles Darwin on the Origin of Species
Captain Scott's diary
scribbles by the Beatles
Handel's Messiah!!
Mozart's marriage certificate
original scores by Mozart, Beethoven, Hayden, and Schubert
and more!

So as you can see, the day was incredible and full of history that has not only affected England, but the world! Thank you to these remarkable people, who have given of their talents and strengths to make our lives what they are today. May we too always strive to fulfill our divine missions on this earth.

Pictures:

Chicago, Chicago, a Wonderful Town

2010-05-27T08:06:00.000-07:00

Well, our adventure has begun! And what an adventure it's been. We left the house 11am yesterday, drove to the airport, checked our 11 bags! (and that doesn't include the 6 other bags we carried on), got aboard our plane, sat down, and......waited....and waited....and waited.

We had a mind to go to London. Chicago's weather had a different idea.

"There's been a lock down at the Chicago airport due to severe weather. We will now take you to a holding area where we will stay until everyone dies a natural death." (See Brian Regan on Airplanes)

Two hours later, we were on our way. So was our flight to London.

Upon our arrival in the Windy City, we raced out into the terminal to meet one of the, quote: "many gate agents to assist you." Yeah right. And so much for the United banner "Untied: #1 on On-Time Arrivals," under which a mile-long line was forming to talk to the THREE customer service agents.

"Angry people here! Livid people here!"

My mom and I quickly jumped into the mile-long line while dad raced to the front to use his Global Services status. After a long conversation on the phone and 6 pretzel sticks from Auntie Ann's, we bravely followed my dad's signal to step out of line.

We had to spend the night in Chicago.

Oh well. Now I can add Chicago onto my big-cities-I've-been-to list.

Now If I could only get to London....

to be continued

England, My England

2010-05-19T14:47:00.001-07:00

Hello Everyone!

So I finally got around to fixing up this place. What do you think?

I am now one week away from flying to England! Wow! It has come up so fast! For those of you who do not know, I am going to London this summer for an internship. I will be taking digital images of old documents at the National Archives which will be used for the Immigrant Ancestors Project, who I work for, at BYU. I will also be doing some family history research up in Shropshire. It is all very exciting!

The other exciting part about this trip is that I will be going with my parents! It is the ultimate home school field trip! My dad has a corporate assignment there for 1 year. So I will be living with them, and together bumping around England, France, Germany, and where ever else we can convince my Dad to go! (Right now he is saying sure to anything!)

SO!.... If you want to keep up with my travels and grand adventures, this is the place to do it!! Also, you can follow along at my mom's blog: Mona's Musings: With a Hint of Romance.

Cheers!

New Look

2009-09-14T20:56:00.000-07:00

So I'm trying to fix my blog look - though I don't post a lot. :) So excuse the mess as I experiment. Thanks! Cheers!

Ward Ultimate Frisbee Night Effects

2009-08-11T22:55:00.000-07:00

When tall and strong guy's frisbee throw meets crazy and defensive girl's arm:

Ice anyone?

Camping Trip

2009-07-19T23:50:00.000-07:00

Check out crumbcrunchers.blogspot.com to find out what I did this week! (FYI: I took the pictures!)

4th of July Weekend

2009-07-06T18:43:00.000-07:00

Wow, it's been a long time since I last posted. I'm home for the month of July. Feels great to be in Washington with my family!!! This weekend for the 4th I went up to Seattle to visit my "adopted family" the Knowles. We had a fantastic time!
Here are some pictures of their 3 youngest out of six children. (Their eldest just went into West Point this summer!)

Thaddeus (I call "Mr. Thaddeus)

Abigail

Eliza

On the 4th we.....

Played with chalk.
(My kind of place!)
Danced the Thriller too many times to count.

Ate ice pops and treats till our bellies would explode.

Made silly faces...but that's not anything new.

Basked in the sun by Lake Washington on with a perfect sky, children laughing, sailing boats gliding by, and eagles soaring above. Couldn't get any better!

Tried to look cool. (Thaddeus was good at this.)
Or act like a model.

And played with glow sticks before a fantastic fireworks show on the water.
Thank you Knowles for a fun trip!!

Help! Tickle Moster Loose!

2009-04-27T15:54:00.001-07:00

I was attacked during my visit in Washington by the Tickle Monster. Careful! He's said to be on the loose and very clingy. If spotted please inform the Tickle Police (aka his parents).

There's No Place Like Home

2009-04-21T10:03:00.000-07:00

Well I did it again! I finished another semester at BYU. This one went by super fast. It was a fantastic semester. I did have some hard times, but overall it was a wonderful experience. I made new friends, learned wonderful things, doors were opened, and I grew. Great, great semester!

But now I am home! Well, only for the week. I'm going back for spring and summer terms. But, as I once said to someone visiting, I am basking in the silence of the trees. It feels SO good to be here, in the security and spirit of my home and family. I miss Washington so much, but I know that Utah is where I'm supposed to be right now.

We're having amazing weather here of course! It's a well kept secret about Washington. (Everybody just thinks it rains all year. ha ha. They don't know!) But now you do! :) But I've been enjoying lazy walks, naps, and days in the sun and cool air. (Unlike Utah's weather where it snowed a foot before I left!)

Here are some pictures I've taken so far:

Mount St. Helen's itself! (On a clear day, like this one you can see all 3 mountains - Mt. St. Helens, Mt Hood, and Mt Adam's)

Washington Forests! They're the best!

Can I sleep under this?

Or this?

Or how about this?! We live in a very historic part of Washington, right near Fort Vancouver. This house is part of a street of houses called "Officer's Row." Across the street are the barracks where all the soldiers slept. I love this particular one! It's my dream house! :)

Awe, the color!!

I've always loved taking pictures of flowers.

A girl and her dog!

I'll let you guess who won. :)

So, that's all for now. Have I converted you to Washington?

Setup of a College Student

2009-03-16T21:23:00.000-07:00

Need I say more....?

"Oh these are the essentials?!"

Creation

2009-02-23T22:02:00.000-08:00

For this February visiting teaching message this particular quote stood out to me. It made me shout for joy and say, "yes! yes! yes!" Maybe because it's from Sister Beck, who i absolutely love!

“I have a testimony gained from pondering and studying the scriptures of a plan of happiness given to us by our Father in Heaven. That plan has a part for His daughters. We have the female half to take care of, and if we don’t do our part, no one else is going to do it for us. The half of our Father’s plan that creates life, that nurtures souls, that promotes growth, that influences everything else was given to us. We can’t delegate it. We can’t pass it off to anyone. It’s ours. We can refuse it, we can deny it, but it’s still our part, and we’re accountable for it. There will come a day when we will all remember what we knew before we were born. We will remember that we fought in a great conflict for this privilege. How do we meet this responsibility? We daily put our energies into the work that is uniquely ours to do.”

Being a woman in Zion, in these Latter-days, is SO wonderful!! Yet, few people see the joy and beauty of it. It is our calling. It is who we ARE! We cannot escape it. If the gospel of Jesus Christ is true, than our divine role and responsibility as women is true and real. It MUST be want we do and want to do! It is where we will truly find our greatest joy.

One of the greatest blessings and callings as a woman is that of creation. We have the wonderful talent and gift bestowed upon us to be creators. Not just in art, music, etc., but in the daily activities we engage in. Anything we do to create joy, love, unity, peace, beauty is of God and an exercise of our role as women. This role fills me with such joy and determination. I want to just devote my life to creation and to the Lord's work. We have such a potential to do a marvelous work. Work we cannot even comprehend. As we devote our lives to God and His will, it will become our will too, and we will find great joy in our journey and see great results of it!

And while we are on the subject of creation....my mom has created a blog called "Mona Musings." It is marvelous! (And I am not just biased.) She posts on it every Sunday, and writes beautifully about many things. (She just recently wrote about the topic of creating.) All the posts have something that strengthens people, marriages, homes, and families. It's like going to General Conference - you'll find a particular topic that sticks out to you and effects you in some way. So check it out and become a follower! As she used to say when we were kids and she asked us to do something - "I'll love you forever!" ;)

Matters of the Heart

2009-02-20T17:36:00.000-08:00

Last Thursday was my BYU stake's Enrichment Night. Can I just say right away how much I love Relief Society and especially associating with the sisters? Relief Society is surely an inspired program from the Lord. From my first day in Relief Society I have enjoyed learning from the sisters around me. Their ages range from 18 to 95 and I love each one of them. There is SO much good that Relief Society does, and can do, that we ourselves do not full realize.

So at Enrichment we had different classes all having some relation to the "heart." Of course I immediately chose the card making class as my first one. My creative juices were already flowing months before, when the event was announced. Here are pictures of the ones I made.

These next cards I made at Super Saturday at home in Washington a year ago. (Super Saturday is an ALL day Enrichment making crafts!) For Hannah - crafts + Relief Society sisters = JOY!

Hope you liked them! You might find one in your mail box! :)

Christmas in the Northwest

2009-01-10T12:16:00.000-08:00

So sorry i haven't written for awhile! Lost of catching up to do! It's never to late to talk about Christmas is it? Christmas Break was probably the best break I've ever had! Here are some of the fun things I did.

Lots of Sushi! Utah's lack of oceans doesn't provide the greatest sushi. So we had to get our fill while back in the great northwest! We also took a trip to our favorite sushi restaurant with my brother Christopher (he snuck his face into this shot :) ) and our good friend Phyllis. It was her first time, so we had to give it to her slow. :)

I have two older brothers, but some how I ended up shoveling the snow. (How does that work?) No, the Flordiaian in me thought it was fun.. There was a day too where my WONDERFUL friends came and rescued us. All I had to say was "Hannah Party afterwards" and they all came rushing. We had a blast shoveling snow together and dodging snowballs. My friends are the best and we made such wonderful memories this Christmas! Thank you guys!

(It was also fun to cut away the ice. This gives you an idea of the snow situation. It snowed 6 inches, froze about 2 inches, then snowed another 6 inches. Crazy for Washington! Luckly it only happens every 5o years!)

After lots of hard labor shoveling, I had to do some relaxing! (Lots of movies, games, and popcorn) It was sooo nice to do nothing! :) One time I actually laid on my bed and colored in a princess coloring book while watching a Western! What more could a girl like me ask for!

I don't have the right pictures to show the rest of what I did, but I spent a lot of time with my family - the best part of it all! We had dinner parties, watched old hysterical sci-fi movies, got stuck in the snow, played games, went to church, sang hymns, and the list goes on. I am so grateful for my family and their love for me! How did I get SO blessed! :)

Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow

2008-12-21T15:56:00.000-08:00

And I'mmm back!

Life has been so crazily busy, with finishing my first semester at BYU, that posting on my blog has not been at the top of my list. :) But, I am finally done with finals and SO happy for the break! It was a tough semester, with 15 hard credits and 20 hours of work, but I made it through with the help of the Lord, my family, ward members, and friends! I thoroughly enjoyed it! I learned SO much I can't believe it! And I am also grateful for all the new friends I have made and all my old friends who are still a support. The very next day upon coming home I through a long awaited Hannah Party. It was a blast and SO fun to be surrounded my my old friends! We rocked around the Christmas tree, playing some rockin' games! (Nobody plays Signs like my Vancouver friends!)

They all departed just in time. For what I thought I had left in Utah, followed me home.....SNOW! The snow has not stopped coming down since Friday night. Yesterday we got about 6 inches. Then it froze over night and we got about another 2 inches today. I have never seen anything like it. My Floridain/Washington eyes still can't believe it. It literally looks like Narnia wonderland. I love sitting on the couch looking out the 10 windows in the living room, watching the snow fall gently down. Though we are snowed in for who knows how long, it has been very fun!

I have the best family in the world! We've been just cuddling up and watching movies, singing, reading, crocheting (i have made 3 scarves already!), playing games, cooking, playing in the snow, singing in the snow, and just laughing and laughing. What a support! I am so grateful for my close relationship with my family and for this time that we are having together - so very fun!

Here's some pictures (though they don't do it justice)!

Happy Election Day!

2008-11-04T07:22:00.000-08:00

Hey everyone! Today is a special day and an amazing opportunity for all citizens of the United States of America. Today is the day! So....

Homecoming!

2008-10-12T20:14:00.000-07:00

So this past week was BYU Homecoming! Gooooo Cougars! Britany, my cousin, and I kicked off the week at the Homecoming opening event. It was in the huge Marriott (basketball) stadium. When we got there the marching band was playing. It was SO fun and full of the school spirit! There last song before the event started was the cougar song, "Rise and Shout the Cougars are out!...." And that's all I know of it! :) lol Britany and I rose with everyone else and started to sing along. Which then turned into "da da da da" cause neither I, nor Britany, knew the rest. We laughed and laughed as we stayed one beat behind everyone else, and then determined we needed to learn it all, so no one would kill us.

Then during the week I was cold, so I put on my red vest, but then realized I might get tackled for it during homecoming week. (Red is University of Utah's colors if you don't know). So I sneakily hid my vest under my BYU sweatshirt. ;)

Saturday was the end of Homecoming, and Grant, Bri, and I wanted to celebrate! (Oh! And BYU won the football game! Goooo Cougars!) We celebrated by going to a Mexican chain here, in the freezing fall weather of October. (Snow included!) After dinner we had planned on going to one of the dances, but decided not to, and spent $7 instead of the $30, on......Mad Libs! :) Yes we did! We took it home and played it in the warmth of Grant and Bri's apartment. We laughed ourselves silly. It was a very fun night! And I am so grateful to be close to my best friends, Grant and Bri! Thanks guys!

New Blog

2008-10-11T00:07:00.000-07:00

Hey all!

So, I decided to create a blog that's all the fun stuff I'm doing right now. I have a blog for the spiritual side, but I wanted to post some fun things to keep you up to date. (Tho I don't know how often I'll update it.) :) Anywho, so this is just an opener for my new blog. Enjoy!