Lesson Learned

I have NEVER been a pet person. 

Something very very bad came over me the other day... 

I was at Walmart by myself up here in Logan, buying some stuff to put in a 'Holiday Survival Package' for Jordan. As I was leaving, there was a girl standing in the parking lot holding five little kitties. So I told her, "oh those are so cute!" and she asked me, "well do you want one?" hahahahahaha I told her, "no." obviously. So I got into my car and put my bags down and she walks up to the window and asks me if, 
"I just wanted to hold one?" 
So I said sure, no harm in that right? I don't know what happened after that but somehow I was driving home with a little kitty on my lap.

Well 'Mr. Kitty' was super cute for about one night. But we had a few problems...

No litter box, no cat food, and NO PETS ALLOWED. 

And since I was the one who brought him home apparently he was 'my responsibility.' 

We stuck him in the bathroom at night and laid down newspaper and one of my towels... come morning we find out that of course he decided to poop ON the towel. So after throwing that away, and scrubbing the floors, back to Walmart we went to find him a new home.
 It was actually really easy thanks to how cute he was. Mr. Kitty is now happily living with a biker dude, leather jacket, pony tail and all haha. He fell for the same trick I did and I could NOT be happier to get rid of that dumb cat haha. 

Had to learn it the hard way, but at least now I really know that I will NEVER have my own creature, ever. 

     

The 

"Holidays away-from-home"

Survival Kit

Gingerbread house kit
making gingerbread houses was one of Jordans favorite Christmas traditions with his family
white chocolate peppermint popcorn

definitely my go-to treat, i've made for him a million times! The peppermint mixed it up a little bit for the holidays :)

hot chocolate, marshmallows, HC mugs.
for all those late night 7-11 visits we would go on!

Ava is a babe.

All I had to do was promise her some chicken nuggets and 7-11 hot chocolate for her to let me take some pictures of her.

she's a smart girl!

Might as well make a profit off your good looks right? 

she is such a doll, it was well worth my investment.

Isn't she a babe?

12 days of christmas

 'Elder' style

On the first day of Christmas my true love gave to me, peppermint candies! To break in the season, and bring in some cheer. I wish the holidays lasted all year!

On the second day of Christmas my true love gave to me, two handsome ties. One red, and one green you’ll be the cutest missionary ever seen!

On the third day of Christmas my true love gave to me, healthy snacks to fill your tummy!

On the fourth day of Christmas my true love gave to me, a book full of hymns! But not your regular ones that are sung, in this book you play the hymns with a strum!

On the fifth day of Christmas my true love gave to me… FIVE CO-ZY SOOOOOOCKKKKS.

On the sixth day of Christmas my true love gave to me, 6 items that go on your tree.

On the seventh day of Christmas my true love gave to me some tools to help ‘exercise’ your body!

On the eighth day of Christmas my true love gave to me, a photo-album. A place to store all the pictures I send, this way none of them will bend!

On the ninth day of Christmas my true love gave to me, a stocking full of love for my missionary!

On the tenth day of Christmas my true love gave to me, a picture book of all your friends and family. We all miss and love you very much, but we’re grateful the hearts in Mexico can be touched.

The eleventh day of Christmas falls on Christmas Eve! This night without you is hard to believe! Your true love gave you some p.js for your mission; so even while your gone there can still be tradition!

On the twelfth day of Christmas my true love gave to me, a calendar with twelve months!  Twelve months to serve, learn, and grow. It’s going to be a great year, I already know!

AND... a month and a half before christmas,

it's off to Mexico!

Shout out

If you haven't experienced 'Happy Birthday' Hepworth style...

you haven't experienced it at all!

SHOUT OUT!

To my beautiful sister Julia who just turned 17 in October!

Julia has always been a friend to EVERYONE, she is the least judgmental person and accepts you for who you are! She is always happy, and always looking for a party. She loves people! Julia has such a good heart, she truly cares for people and is so loving. She is a beautiful dancer! And not only is she the most beautiful girl I have ever seen, her insides are just as pretty :) Love you JuJu!! Thanks for being such a good friend and ALWAYS sharing your clothes with me. I love our midnight-snacks chats when we think we are SO 'hung-hung' and i've loved growing up with you. Your the best! 

Also....

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JAKE! My one and only little bro turns 14 today! I cannot believe it. This kid is a stud! He has grown up his whole life being the middle child with ALL sisters... what the luck. But somehow he has put up with all our teasing and all the girly drama. Jake is a sweetheart! He is SO cute with little kids, and they all love him! He is a hard worker, and is preparing to be a missionary! Jake is so athletic, i'm telling you he is SUPER fast, like, vampire status. He has a million friends, I swear! Everyone likes being around him, and I can see why! He's been such a good friend to me, and i'm SO grateful to have him as a brother :) Love you Jakey! 

falling

for

fall

For the past few years I have always said that my favorite view in the whole world is when you are at the top of the over-pass on 200 North, (by my house) looking west; out at all the trees in the summer.  Seriously if you haven't ever stopped to enjoy that view, you NEED to! The trees are so lush and there are so many in West Kaysville. I love it. But driving home from school this morning, I discovered that nothing is prettier than the fall colors through the Logan Canyon. AH gosh they are to die for. Rich burgundy, red, green, golden mustard. It was so pretty. I love fall! 

Boots, scarfs, head bands, knitted sweaters, layering. :) 

Can't wait for hot chocolate.

I'm definitely falling for fall.

FIRST'S

Today I'm going on my third week up at USU, the past 2 have presented a ton of FIRST'S for me. On the FIRST day of school my classes started at 9:30. My professor has a British accent, and he dismissed class 40 minutes early... keep in mind that class is only 50 minutes long haha. I'm still not sure what the criteria for that class is... My second class is math. Intro to Logic and geometry, it's a lot more confusing then it sounds! I've always been okay with formulas, but now the whole purpose is to figure out WHY the formula works. My entire class has 1 boy in it... I guess that's what I get for going into El Ed though. On this schedule classes end at 11:20, it's great! This was also my FIRST day of being 19 years old. Yup, my birthday was on the first day of school! But I have the best family ever, my mom and sisters drove up from Kaysville, brought me flowers, cake, presents, and took me to dinner! 

They made my day! Plus when I got 'home' (or back to my dorm) My friends got me a present and flowers and cupcakes and balloons they seriously made my day pretty special. I love em!

The FIRST Sunday I stayed up here was my FIRST time going to a singles ward! The rumors are true... sacrament meeting has never been so quiet in my whole entire life! You could hear a pin drop... and if you had to sneeze or hic-up it felt like the entire congregation would just stare you down. Other then that I have really enjoyed going to my ward, the kids who go are there because they WANT to be. Mom and dad aren't here waking us up in the morning and threatening us if we don't go to church. I love the spirit that that brings! Everyone has such good input and in all my classes everyone participates willingly. I'm going to learn a lot I can already tell! And I made my FIRST Sunday dinner all by myself :) (mom sent me up with a pan of dumplings she had already prepared, I just had to pop them in the oven) but still everything else was on me! I felt pretty accomplished... I might become future wanted-wife-material someday after all! (After I get over my issue with raw meat) 

I attended my FIRST USU game as a student, being in the student section was so much fun! There is a lot of spirit going around. And last Friday USU beat Utah for the FIRST time in 15 years I think?? That was probably one of the funnest games I've ever been to! I'm developing some school spirit myself... It's definitely contagious. GO Aggies! 

I packed up some of my new-founded school spirit and sent my FIRST package to Mehico! Elder Carver is already going on his 4th week living across the border! On account of me being a new student, and an Aggie an all, I sent him a little 'Utah State' package. This is a learning experience but I found that if I keep his packages under 4 lbs, they are actually semi-affordable. Now I just have to pray that it gets to him, and the Jesus stickers I put all over the box will scare off any thieving Mexicans! 

This week he will be gone 3 months, time is starting to pick up! I'm just happy that he is having this experience, I know he's learning so much! He loves it! Mexico and the people. He says it's definitely as hot as people say and he sweats 24/7. So far he's only been sick a few times and had only one pit-pocketing run-in. If you asked him what his favorite food is, I guarantee it wouldn't be menudo (cow stomach) He has his first baptism on Saturday. I'm so proud of him and love hearing from him! 

Also, TODAY marks my little sister ALivia's FIRST day being 12! It's her birthday today! Let me just say some things about Livi,She is an angel. Always the one to jump up and help someone out! She is peaceful, she has always just done her own thing and is SO organized with everything! She is kind, sweet, and funny. She is one of a kind! She definitely has her own personality and is so quirky and cute! She has attitude and you'd be surprised how feisty she can get sometimes haha (probably why I've been told my whole life that she is a mini-me) I love her stinkin guts! She is BEAUTIFUL. Drop dead gorgeous. I'm jealous of how naturally pretty she is. And I can't believe she is 12! She is going to love Young Womens so much and she will add such a sweet spirit to the lives of all the girls she's going to meet. She has always been one of my best friends, and I miss her a lot! I hope she has the best day today, cause she deserves it! :) 

SO delighted.

New Roomies! When I moved up to the dorms two weeks ago I already knew 3 of the 5 girls I'd be living with. But since living together is a new thing for everybody I made all the girls a little home-welcoming gift.

IBC cream soda

straw

gum

sucker

nail polish 

"I am 'SODA' lighted to be roomies!"

Let me tell you, living with five other girls (your same age) definitely is a new experience. It has it's ups and downs (lack of sleep) and all of us are going to get to know each other on a whole different level! Even those of us who were already best friends. We've already laughed, bawled, been sick, and yelled together. They've already seen me at my worst haha and I'm grateful they are forgiving. Not to mention, mother nature has a way of making things interesting, we all seem to be on the same schedule, (if you know what I mean) haha so that's gonna be fun! But honestly I couldn't ask for a better group of girls!