tara marie

detour

2010-09-17T11:18:00.001-07:00

we have a new blog!!! posting on it is still in process...but check it out. it should be up and running within hours. :)

lecheminantlife.blogspot.com

...the soon-to-be Tara LeCheminant :)

2010-04-18T20:20:00.001-07:00

I'm alive! I know I haven't posted anything for months and months, but I'm back to the blogging world...and with great news. I'm engaged! :) I'm not going to write too much, but just wanted to post some pictures of the two of us and show off my adorable Ryan. We are so happy and are getting sealed in the Salt Lake Temple on June 26th! He is my everything and reminds me everyday why I'm in love with him. I'm the luckiest girl in the world...

I finally found my prince :) Everyday is a fairytale with him...

New Orleans

2009-09-21T11:21:00.000-07:00

I don't have too much time right now (I'm "studying" at the lovely library) but I thought I'd post a few pictures from the wonderful weekend I had with Mom and Dad and the New Orleaners. :) It was a blast visiting Dust and Linds, and Grace is cuter than ever. You should all be jealous of our trip...especially since we got to witness the cougars dominating Tulane. But we won't mention BYU football for the time being. (tear, sniff sniff).

our rental car... :) it was sweet. thanks, daddy.

Gracie was an adorable cheerleader

The Gang

If you haven't heard Grace's tiger noise, you need to soon. It's adorable. Mom and I decided this costume had to be purchases for her... ha ha.

Thanks again, Dustin and Lindsay, for letting us come crash with you for the weekend! It was a blast! And thanks, Mom and Dad, for letting me talk you into going down there. I love our trips. :)

confessions of a movieholic

2009-08-19T08:48:00.000-07:00

I have a confession. I absolutely love Sandra Bullock. Not in a weird way - but I think she is a great actor (the term "actress is apparently now politically incorrect because it differentiates between men and women...lame) and she does an incredible job in her films. She is the lead actress (I don't care, I'm still using it) in my all-time favorite movie While you were Sleeping, and I love just about everything she stars in. I saw this movie and thought it was great (minus the scandy part that seems to make it's way into EVERY so-called "good" movie these days). But that's not my full proclamation. My real confession regarding this heart-throbbing romance is that I went to the theater to see it with me, myself and I. Yep, ladies and gentlemen...that's right. I went to a movie ALONE. It's something I've been dreaming of doing for quite some time, and the opportunity presented itself nicely one evening when I realized my schedule was more than free. What a blessing ;) For those of you who are thinking I'm completely crazy to solo a movie, maybe try it out for yourself. There's something liberating about walking out of a good flick by your lonesome, realizing that although you haven't yet found your fairytale ending, someday it'll come. And even if it doesn't, at least you have enough guts and security to fantasize about it in a movie theater by yourself. How's that for liberating???

Oh, and another quicky confession...while we're on the topic. I find Ryan Reynolds (pictured below) quite sexy and irresistable. Oh how I'd love to be Sandra Bullock for a day. Spending time with this beautiful man. Someday...someday.

Shouldn't these be on a billboard???

2009-07-22T06:41:00.000-07:00

Apparently I'm now an avid mountain biker. Or so it appears, right? ;) These are just a few more photos from the adventures in Moab this past month that I just got. Kinda cool.

TIMPANOGOS TREK

2009-07-20T19:33:00.000-07:00

After living in Provo for over 3 years now, I finally had the opportunity to hike Mt. Timpanogos. I'd been anxiously awaiting this time for quite a while, and last Saturday morning the plans were finally put into action. I went with my friend Chad and some of his cousins and friends. After getting lost on the WAY to the parking lot (not a good sign) we started the hike a little before 6:00 AM. It was a BEAUTIFUL morning and the scenery was almost too much to handle. Wildflowers everywhere, along with clear streams and blue-blue skies. Wow. All seven of us made the trek in fairly good time, considering the occasional snowy trails that caused some slowing-down. :) We made it to the saddle (up the mtn, but not the summit) in about 3 hours, and took a break for some pb&j. After eating, Chad's cousin Roman took his girlfriend aside (Shaley) and proposed to her with the beautiful view...adorable. We had Martinelli's to celebrate and then continued up to the summit. It was absolutely BEAUTIFUL, and totally worth it. Despite the fact that I may have gotten a bit dehydrated and suffered some heat stroke afterward, I would most definitely do it again. If you live nearby and haven't hiked it yet - do it! It's pretty long, but you won't regret it. :)

Yep. This is what we climbed. All the way to the top of that peak. And this was after we'd already hiked over another mountain and through the valley. Dang.

Super-Chad carried 2 backpacks most of the way up - all the while, serving as our team leader. What a guy.

View from the saddle.

Roman and Shaley - right before he popped the question.

Making the final ascent to the summit - so fierce. Chad's eagle bandana pulled us through (that's quite the story...)

The top...

Me and cute Shaley.

Notice the orange bracelet. Candice and Rachel brought "team bracelets" for each couple/team for the hike. It was awesome. I believe team Chad-Tara dominated :)

The whole gang, chillin' up top.

We found a sweet hill to slide down that already had a bum-trail for us. Possibly a main highlight of the adventure. We got some serious speed, and stopping became a problem for a few of us. Just the perfect thing to cool off, though. :)

That hill...from far away.

Sidenote: My favorite thing was probably Chad's occasional challenge he'd yell at the mountain..."Is that all you've got, TIMPANOGOS!!??" Ha ha. Needless to say he kept us all entertained. What a day. :)

A few things worth blogging about...

2009-07-16T17:24:00.000-07:00

I know my blogging has been somewhat lacking, so I thought it was time for a quickie-catch-up post. Here are just a few things I believe are worth a post…

1. Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince came out in the theaters late Tuesday night and I happened to have a ticket to the 11:59 showing. My two roommates and I carpooled with Chels and Brian to meet Cami in Draper for the (almost) midnight movie. Loved the movie…love-loved it! Chelsie and Brian designed our attire and I talked almost everyone into drawing scars on their foreheads. We’re pretty hard-core. P.S. For those who’ve seen the 6th movie, imagine walking out of the theater wearing what’s written on our shirts. Not the best feeling.

Harry decided to show up to the premiere. What a champ.

Apparently Voldemort was near - Cami's scar was hurting.

Couldn't stop laughing when "Dumbledore" sat next to Brian - the picture seemed necessary.

2. I’ve lived in Utah all my life and had never been to the Southern / Eastern beauties of the beehive state…until just recently. I made a trip with some friends to Arches, Goblin Valley, Canyonlands, and Monument Valley - all of which are must-sees. (Especially Canyonlands.) This trip was also the beginning of my “modeling” career. More to come. :)

I loved this place...

Canyonlands...you people need to go here.

Famous "Forrest Gump" road - recognize it?

3. Today I learned a new word. Auspicious. It means promising success; propitious; opportune; favorable. Use it. I’m going to.

4. Last night my friend Kelly and I made a quick trip to St. George to run a 5k in memorial of one of our teammates who passed away last year. Regardless of the fact that neither of us were in shape for it, we had a blast. Possibly due to not getting pulled over while making the trip in under 3 hours. Possibly because we landed a sweet deal with the cheapest hotel, which included a king-size bed. Possibly because during the race some man standing in the street gave each of us an otterpop. Or maybe because we went to Denny’s after the race and each ate a delicious “moons over my hammie” (or, as the waitress called it, "moons over your hammie"). All were great contributors to our successful trek down south. Oh, and by the way - it’s HOT down there. :) Our race started at 11:00 PM and it was still blazing. Crazy.

What a surprise to find that we both brought the exact same outfit to run it - courtesy of BYU athletics. Our shoes are even the same. Kinda funny. Kinda not.

We finished...otterpops in hand. :) Looking like twins.

5. I’m officially getting paid to blog. What a great feeling. Somedays I truly love my job.

K-razy Kickball!!!

2009-06-19T20:32:00.000-07:00

I almost forgot to mention the exciting happenings that took place last week. My intramural co-ed kickball team won the upper division championship for the 4th year in a row! Unfortunately this is only my first year playing with them, but it was a blast. Usually it's an easy thing for them to do, but this year was totally different. We played in pure mud and I slid (if you can call it that...) for the first in my life. Thank heavens for cleats. Anyway, we had a forfeit early in the tournament, so we had to beat the team twice in a row...which we barely did. We won both games by one run, and it was honestly one of the most intense sports activities I've ever been part of. Ask Mom and Dad...they were about peeing their pants while watching. It started pouring during the last few innings, but it made it that much sweeter to win. Especially the gigantic rainbow that appeared shortly after. Way to go, Thundercats! I can now officially say I've won an intramural championship t-shirt!

(notice how dirty we are)

(lookin' tough)

(We reenacted our sliding abilities...bad idea. We were even MORE soaked after that. What a way to ring in the victory though, right?)

(Finally getting our shirts. Number one, baby.)

Summertime in San Diego

2009-06-19T16:46:00.000-07:00

I know I'm a little late on this post, but I finally got my computer up and running to allow for some serious blogging. (I'm not kidding...this is going to be quite the post.) A few weekends ago my parents and I flew out to California for a little vacation. It was definitely a quickly-planned trip, but we found cheap airfare and decided to go for it. We rented an adorable beach house right in Mission Beach, equipped with 2 bathrooms and beds to fit 6! We flew out Thursday mid-morning and arrived around noon in the San Diego airport. Naturally, the next step is to get the rental car, right? We figured it would be a quick trip and then we'd be off on our adventures, but Dad ended up waiting in line for over an hour! Apparently everyone else thought Budget was the way to go as well, because everyone and their dog was there. We FINALLY got our car (a Suzuki, which, by the way, has the WORST turning radius known to man) and found our place. We then found a little cafe on the beach for lunch, walked the streets of Mission Beach and did some shopping. I, naturally, found a pair of $5 sunglasses (I collect them) and a few other items worth purchasing. We went to the Belmont Park there on the beach and Dad and I rode on an awesome rollercoaster! The place was dead, so we were the only two on it, and chose to sit in the last row. Definitely more of a thriller than we were anticipating, but it was a lot of fun. We then went to Ralph's, which is the grocery store nearby, for the first of many trips. (Mostly for Hostess powdered donuts, I might add.)

The next morning we got up early and went to breakfast at the most incredible cafe known to man. We shared an order of strawberry-banana pancakes and french toast, which we couldn't even finish. Their orange juice was to die for, freshly squeezed just hours before we had it. Mmmm. We then made our way to the ever-so-famous San Diego Zoo. This was one of the main reasons I wanted to go to SD, so I was quite excited. When we got there we took a bus ride through the zoo and got to see most of the main places for animals we wanted to go back and visit. They had just about every animal possible, including meercats and creepy smiling lizards (see photos below).

My favorite part of the zoo, however, was the giraffes. Anyone who knows me probably could have guessed that, but I couldn't wait. We spent quite some time next to them and I think Dad was starting to wonder what my fascination was. I loved every minute of it, though. :) The SD Zoo was just as wonderful as I'd imagined.

(possibly my favorite picture...)

(classic)

After the zoo we had time to go back to the beach house for a sec and then we went into the city. We did a little shopping along the streets while we scouted out the area for a place to grab an early dinner. Mom and I managed to find an adorable boutique with some stunning rings we couldn't pass up. :) Then Dad and I got some Padres hats to help us blend in with the crowd before we hit up the big game. We went to dinner at a nice restaurant a few blocks from the stadium, and Dad claims they have "the best fish and chips I've ever tasted". He even made me have a bite, and they weren't too bad.

The game was a lot of fun, regardless of the final score (the Diamondbacks beat the Padres 8-0). We had great seats and enjoyed the "baseball" atmosphere. We even bought some nachos and popcorn, and stayed just long enough to sing "Take me out to the ballgame" during the 7th inning stretch. We left a bit early to beat the crowds and get back to our place for bed. We were exhausted from a long day in the sun and wanted to relax a bit before bedtime.

The next morning we got up fairly early and headed to the beautiful San Diego Temple to do some baptisms for the dead. We made an appointment but tried to squeeze in a bit earlier. Apparently it was during the Spanish sessions, which meant there was a ton of youth from Mexico there at the same time. It was packed, and it took me at least 45 minutes to shower, but it was a great experience to have Dad be the one to baptize me there. I absolutely love that temple. :)

After the temple we ate a late breakfast at Starbucks (some things don't apply on vacations, right? Ha ha) and then headed to the beach. It was a beautiful day and each of us just brought our books out to read and get some rays. Mom and Dad both got scortched (especially Dad's legs) while I tried to work on my tan. It was extremely relaxing, and Mom and I decided we could sit there for the rest of the weekend and be totally content.

After we spent a few hours on the beach we went back and got ready for the evening. We went into the city again and found a HUGE outdoor shopping mall, which Mom and I did some damage in. We then went to see "Up", which we all loved, and then went back to Mission Beach to grab a late dinner. We ate at a delicious restaurant called "World Famous" and even got valet parking (which really meant they just left our car right out front of the restaurant and then gave us the keys about 10 minutes into dinner because they were off to eat...weird). We had some great conversations that night over our "world famous" food, but unfortunately the kitchen closed before Dad could order the sought-after dessert. So sad. After dinner we made our third trip to glorious Ralph's and the door-greeter basically called us by name as we walked in. We got some stuff to make our meals for Sunday and a few other things...including our 3rd box of powdered donuts.

The next morning was Sunday and we had some delicious yogurt and orange juice before heading off to church. We actually went to the same ward my parents went to when they lived in SD while Dad was going to law school. Although Mom claimed to recognize someone, I don't think she really did. :) After church I drove around following Mom and Dad's directions to get to their old apartments. We found one with ease and I made them get out of the car so I could take a picture of them in front of it. It was the back of it, but still...a sentimental photo. We then got on the freeway and tried to find our way to another one of their apartments (government housing). After driving around for about 45 minutes, we decided we needed a map and some younger brains (no offense, parents). :)

We got back to the beach house and Mom and I put our feet up while Dad made a delicious lunch consisting of eggs and hashbrowns. Sooooo good. We all took long naps and enjoyed the down-time a Sunday allows. Mom and I both woke up before Dad and decided to walk to the beach and sit for an hour or so. Once again, it was extremely relaxing and beautiful. I found myself enthralled in "people watching" and taking pictures of the beautiful ocean.

(you can kinda see Mom's sunburn in the photo...) :)

We figured that Dad might start to worry, so we headed back to our place to recooperate for a bit before heading back to the beach to watch the sunset. We read for a bit and then got our jackets and beach chairs (thanks to Mom) and headed back to the ocean. I took a billion pictures of the sun setting over the waves, but I'll only post a few. It was the perfect way to spend our last night in California and I was trying to soak up every minute of it. After the sunset we went back and made delicious hawaiian haystacks for dinner. We hung out a bit and then popped in "While You Were Sleeping" to wind down to (my all-time favorite movie). None of us made it through the entire thing before falling asleep.

The next morning we got up and went back to the delicious Mission Cafe for breakfast. We, once again, couldn't finish our breakfast, but it was as yummy as we'd remembered. After stuffing ourselves we rented some beachcruiser bikes and rode along the boardwalk for about an hour. It was a lot of fun, and I think Mom and Dad enjoyed it just as much as me. :) After that we packed up our stuff and headed to drop off our car. It was the perfect amount of time for a little getaway, and I had a blast with my parents. We got to the airport with time to kill, but of course had to wait for Dad to get frisked by the creepy old man with the wand-thingy. Due to the metal in his knee, he ALWAYS has to get checked. It's kinda funny, as long as you're not rushing to catch a flight. Mom and I had a good laugh while watching him. We finally got settled on the plane and Mom whipped out something she'd forgotten she had in her pocket...a paper toilet-seat cover. She brought it for a purpose, which I don't feel inclined to share, but know that it was hilarious. Dad about switched seats when he realized everyone was looking our way. Oh well - we didn't mind.

Thanks again, Mom and Dad! The trip was an absolute blast, and I've realized that traveling with just the two of you is a lot more fun than I'd anticipated. :) We'll have to do it again sometime. I love you guys!!!

Familiar Face???

2009-05-14T10:39:00.000-07:00

Adam Johnson

Does this man look familiar to any of you...? I realize this is a glamor shot of sorts, but look closely. Do you recognize him? The reason I ask this question is because this very man showed up at the info desk window a few hours ago to pay for a bodpod test. After practically staring him down for a few long seconds to figure out how I knew him, it suddenly clicked. This very man is a movie star from the ever-so-popular movie CHARLY, and plays the role of Mark, Charly's old boyfriend. Little did I know that this job would land me opportunities to meet celebrities in the Mormon world... :) He made conversation with me for 2-3 minutes and when he saw that I was reading the Twilight series (I know, I know...) he said he's planning to read those books too! I couldn't help but laugh. This post is just a reminder that A. famous people are roaming the streets of Provo and B. I am not completely alone in having an odd desire to finish the Twilight series.

flying softballs and awkward encounters...

2009-05-08T05:33:00.000-07:00

HELLO AGAIN, dearest bloggers. I understand this post is more than overdue, but I figured I had to start somewhere. I'm sure I'll be the only reader for my own blog now since I refrained from updating for so long (although Cami will most likely read this...she seems to have a lot of extra time...ha ha) but I still feel the urge to update the world on my "dream life" these days. The most important thing right now is that school is officially OVER and my true summer is in full swing. It is definitely a relief to give my brain a rest after almost 2 straight years of school, and therefore I'm trying to avoid using it at all costs. The two jobs I'm working make that process fairly easy, since I'm working for BYU Intramurals and the information desk here in the RB. While these two jobs may sound strenuous and near impossible (ha ha) they are quite far from that. I actually really love both jobs and am glad I have 2 different ones to keep things interesting.

Intramurals definitely keeps things fun. Spring term is possibly my favorite due to the sports involved and the position I work. During fall and winter semesters my title only enables me to supervise, but during spring and summer I also get to officiate. I both supervise and ref softball and coed kickball (the best...) and the warm summer nights make things even better! I've only worked a few shifts so far this week, but I've already had quite the experience. I was umping in the field for a men's softball game and was positioned between the pitcher's mound and second base. There was a guy on first base and one up to bat, and a fly ball was hit toward the short stop and quickly thrown to 1st base to get the runner out. After turing to call the "out", I spun around and dropped to watch and cover 2nd base, since a force-out could occur there as well. Right as I bent over I got drilled with the softball, right in the middle of my back - making a very audible THUD. At first I wasn't sure what had happened, but I could hear everyone on and off the field laughing at the situation while a few people came up to ask if I was ok. When it was determined that I was fine, the game went on, although I don't think the laughter ever stopped. Thankfully it was a softball and didn't do too much damage, but it definitely felt like someone kicked me square in the back and actually left a good-sized welt when I checked later that night. I'm going to do my best to avoid encounters like this in the future, but no guarantees will be made...what can I say? My job is dangerous and can only be done by those willing to take the challenge. :)

Speaking of challenging and dangerous jobs...I'd now like to talk about my second job - the RB info desk. It doesn't sound too bad, right?? I sit in a small room about 7 ft by 10 ft with a window open to the hallway and answer phone calls, process transactions and give out wristbands. When I'm not doing that, I can check my email, listen to pandora (which I've recently discovered and LOVE), blog (yes...I'm at work right now), watch movies, read, and anything else I can access from a computer. This job seemed to fit my perfect job description because I really want to read a lot of books this summer, and I figured this would be the ideal job for that. What I failed to consider, however, was the vast number of bold and somewhat strange males that walk this campus...and visit the info desk. Generally it isn't much of a problem, but occasionally if the line isn't too long, a guy will sit and chit-chat for a while. Seems harmelss, right? For the most part it is, but it begins to wear on you when you realize that you are stuck in a small room with nowhere to go, and a young (or old...) man is parked in the hallway in front of your window! Definitely a dangerous situation for me to put myself in. Ha ha. I'm working my 4th shift at the moment and so far this past week I have been asked out 3 times. :) The stories are pretty funny, but I won't bore any readers with them in case they are only amusing to me. You would be amazed, however, at how many guys fail to find it awkward to stare at me and then say, "you have REALLY beautiful eyes!" or, "do you whiten your teeth???" Ha ha. I try not to laugh, but I can't help it. Anyway - I really do love this new job and I'm excited for what it'll bring...regardless of if it's a few weird dates, a boyfriend, or just some extra cash. :)

The last update in my life deals with the wonderful Relief Society program we have in the Church. Brace yourself for this one, but I was called a few weeks back to be one of two relief soceity presidents in my BYU ward. I'm sure this news shocks you just as much as it did me...but it is somehow truth. It has been quite a challenge to learn the ropes of running a relief society, even though it's a student ward, but I am enjoying it. It definitely keeps me busy (especially on Sundays) but has already been a huge blessing for me. I'm still very new at it, and need a lot of help and guidance - so I'm hoping I'll survive this summer without messing things up too much. The sad part is I won't be able to go home for Sunday dinner as much with my new busy schedule, but I'll have to make due. Maybe I can try to get a dinner date from my RB job for Sunday night dinner, eh? ;)

All in all, things are good. Chels and Brian just got married this past week and we had our annual Anderson Family Reunion directly after. I have some pictures of that to post later on, but I don't have access to them on this computer. Anyway - regardless of what you all may believe, I am actually alive and doing well. I plan to update this at least once a week with my new "busy work schedule" here in the RB. Get excited for another phenomenal post in a few days... :)

MagMyPic

2008-12-31T10:37:00.001-08:00

Create Fake Magazine Covers with your own picture at MagMyPic.com

Thanksgiving thoughts

2008-11-24T14:55:00.000-08:00

Due to the Thanksgiving season I have been thinking a lot lately about things I am grateful for. Of course I initially came up with the usual things right off the bat, but when I took some time to really think about everything I have been blessed with, I was overwhelmed. Every year during this time I vow that I will forever be thankful for what I have, but once winter is in full swing it’s hard to be grateful for the cold. :) I just thought I’d take a minute to share a few things that I am extremely grateful for, regardless of if they are the standard blessings we recognize in our lives.

I am so grateful for flowers. Daisies are definitely my favorite flower, and seeing them instantly makes me smile. All flowers are beautiful, however, and seem to brighten this bleak world.

The colorful leaves are another part of nature I have fallen in loved with. I often find myself wandering through campus looking up rather than forward, amazed at the beauty of the trees. I love the crunching noise they make when they get stepped on, and they way they randomly fall from their branches. If I could pick my favorite season – one to have all year long – it would definitely be autumn. It’s simply gorgeous.

Another blessing I’m grateful for is the opportunity to receive an education. As a college student I often find myself slacking a bit in school, not realizing how lucky I am to be attending BYU. It is only recently that I have discovered my love for learning, and I’m glad I am able to attend such a prestigious school. Regardless of their football record, I’m still a Cougar through and through. :)

Music is another blessing we all have that often goes unnoticed. I did not realize how often I listen to music, and how quickly it can change one’s mood. It allows us to relax and contemplate, or dance and laugh. What a wonderful thing to have in our lives, eh? Mmm…I love it.

I am thankful for the country in which we live. I am only beginning to recognize the never-ending opportunities America provides for its citizens, and I feel a responsibility and an excitement to make a difference. Although I still feel a little unsettled about the upcoming Presidency, I will put my full support in Barack Obama’s hands and pray that we can all stick together. It worries me a bit with how divided our country has become, and I hope we will be able to remember our heritage and unite as a people again. I love our country and I feel so blessed to have the freedom we are all granted. God bless America.

Another thing I LOVE and am grateful for is the delicious combination of Oreos, peanut butter and milk. My roommates can testify that it’s my favorite snack and they think I’m crazy for eating it, but it truly is the best. Try it out. :)

Well this list could go on and on with the little things I am grateful for, but I’ll wrap it up by talking about my Savior. I am so thankful for all He did for me. I was extremely fortunate to visit the places He has lived and walked, and my love for Him grew more than I could have imagined. What a blessing it is for us to have that knowledge and testimony of Christ. May we all remember what is truly important this season…and after this season. We have all been given so much we often take for granted, so I’m going to do my best to remember all I have. Happy Thanksgiving!

Pumpkins, Spam and Flower pots...

2008-11-02T08:05:00.000-08:00

Well, well, well...I guess I slacked again on blog-posting, eh? What's new? It's definitely gotten to the point where SO many eventful things have happened since my last post that I don't even know where to begin. I'll give a quick (or maybe not-so-quick) recap of the last month or so, though, starting with...

*the crazy weather!!! Can you believe it's the beginning of November and it's still nice out? I absolutely love, and have begun to realize I could handle it only snowing in Christmas. (If only, right?) The main reason I'm loving the warmness is because I still work outside a few nights a week...and it gets pretty dang cold. I love my job, but sometimes it doesn't make sense to stand out in the cold for 5 hours watching girls TRY to play flag football or yelling out the time of the game. The best nights are when we're fortunate enough to have a kind soul bring hot chocolate. Love it. :)

Me and Melia loving the hot cocoa...bundled up like crazy.

Sometimes we run laps around the field at half-time to thaw out. We look like nerds, but we'll do anything to survive. :)

* Last weekend I was able to go home and hang out with the family. It was definitely an eventful weekend, full of plenty of pictures and laughs. We first went to the pumkin patch with the two little ones and had a great time. My nephew, Spencer, face-planted a few times due to the multiple vines and roots throughout the place, but he toughed it out and was able to pick a pumpkin. Abbie just liked sitting in the wagon...one day she'll be walking. ;)

Abs...so cute.

Me and Cam...sometimes we're too alike for our own good.

Ali, Spencer and Mark...just imagine a little boy giggling like crazy, because that's exactly what was going on. (This was after the nose dive into the dirt).

After the pumkin patch we watched a little of the BYU game (GO COUGARS!) and then the girls went to dinner together. We went to a new place called Boston's, which I would highly recommend. It was fun to get away and have some "girl bonding" time...

Cami, Mom and Ali

Bev, Me and Chelsie

After dinner (I know this is a long story, but I have to continue...) Cami and I ran a few errands and then she talked me into highlighting her hair. I'm not sure if she was aware that I hadn't ever done this before, but I tried to stay confident and told her I knew what I was doing. It took about 45 minutes just to pull her hair through the cap (it went a bit faster because Mom helped too)...and then I started painting. Who ever though coloring hair was such an art? I loved it, and it turned out great.

She definitely didn't know what she was getting herself into at this point...

After I had just finished her hair. It was almost midnight at this point and I needed to fill up my car and run to the store for Mom...so Cami came with me like this. :) She just sat in the car, but apparently she got some great looks. I don't have an "after picture" right now, but the result was a success. Anyone else need a hair-dye???

*I don't think I've mentioned this yet, but I'm dating a guy named Rich. He's a lot of fun to be around and always makes me laugh. He's finishing up his Masters in Public Health here at the Y and will graduate in April. Because of my work schedule and both our crazy schooling, we spend a lot of time throughout the week studying together. We still manage to fit in some fun and exciting things here and there, though...

Utah Jazz game. We lost by only a few points and my favortie boy Matt Harpring was MIA, but it was still a blast. Great seats, thanks to Rich's work.

Carving pumpkins...

And of course attending BYU football games. :) Apparently I should've worn a coat to this game...it was freezing!

*Can I just say I absolutely adore my roommates? There's only four of us living together and it's so much fun. Our schedules definitely conflict, so we're rarely together...but when we are we have a great time. I love you, roommies :)

Me, Ashley, Kate and Maggie

*Another highlight was Halloween. It is definitely one of my favorite holidays...especially for track practice. We always get all dressed up and then take a bunch of pictures together - and this year was the best. I don't know where some people come up with their costume ideas, but they're great. :)

Posing in the weight room before we started the work-out.

I was a cat and Katie was a fish...it only seemed fitting.

Later that night Rich and I went to my stake party and then a few other places. We had a great time, and definitely got some weird looks due to his costume choice. We had to get creative because we wanted to have "couple costumes"...but obviously it was a stretch. It usually took people a few seconds to understand the correlation, but it worked. :)

Yes...he really was a can of spam. :) As for that night, however, he was merely catfood.

One of the many "Super Spam" poses he did througout the evening. What a character.

I think it fits me better...

Whitney, Kate and I at the stake party. Can you tell Whitney's from Texas? Sheesh...

Halloween was a blast...even if our costumes didn't go together as well as planned. I'm sad it's over. Especially because I loved wearing fake eyelashes. Anyone ever tried them?

* The last thing I'll post about is last night...Rich and I went on a big group date with his roommates and friends. We went to Trafalga (Tra-fall-ga...you know I'm right, Rich) and played a little mini-golf - so fun. We decided to keep score, and I was determined to beat Rich. He'd had a few bad strokes, off into the rocks or the dirt...and we were following the "play where it lies" rule. Anyway, on the second-to-last hole I was up by a considerable amount, but had an unfortunate first stroke. To make a long story short, I ended up out in the grass across the sidewalk from the hole. With my first attempt to chip it onto the green, a guy came flying down the stairs out of nowhere, right in time for my ball to hit him in the ankle and roll back to where it was. Ugh. What are the chances, eh? After laughing like crazy, I made my second attempt...this time the ball got across the sidewalk but hit a crack in the cement, sending it flying backward - right into the flower pot next to me. Wow. By this time I have quite the audience, and I had to hit it out of the pot...embarrassing. I ended up getting a whoppin 6 strokes on that hole, which moved me comfortably into last place. Rich supposedly beat my by one stroke, but I still claim interference with the running man...so it was tie. Agreed?

The gang right after we finished. These are the stairs that led to my destruction...

Unbelievable. See my pink ball? I also managed to detach the flower in my hand from the plant on my swing, so Rich thought it fitting to keep it as a token of remembrance. Lame. I should've won.

Where did August Go??? And half of September?

2008-09-19T14:10:00.000-07:00

Well...I doubt anyone is even going to read this post because you all probably think I'm dead by now, but lo and behold - I'm FINALLY updating again! I know that I probably won't be justified by coming up with excuses because, in the words of dear Coach Buhrley, "Excuses are like behinds, everyone has one and they all stink." Although that is generally true, I have been unbelievably busy this past month or so. This is going to be a marathon-of-a-post, so bear with me. I'll try to give you a little glimpse of what I've been up to recently...so here goes.

First and foremost, my last few weeks in Jerusalem were nothing short of incredible. I celebrated my 20th birthday, so a few friends and I went out in the city to celebrate my newest decade!! I'm no longer a teenager, which is crazy, but wonderful. We got ice cream at McDonald's and enjoyed the night-life there. The last few days we focused on the last week of Christ's life. We walked the path from Gethsemane to Golgotha, and the spirit was incredible. It was unbelievably hard to leave the Holy Land, and I'll never forget the experiences I had there.

The big 2-0!!! Woot woot...

Me and the girls at McDonald's for the last time

My birthday present to myself...my first tattoo! Ok, so maybe it was just a stamp-roller someone had, but it served it's purpose of making me feel like an adult. Don't mess.

This is believed to be the actual street the Savior walked up to be questioned and charged. Definitely a crazy thing to realize, but I loved it.

This was our last day in the city, and a bunch of us met up at the Dome of the Rock. It was one of my favorite days there, all of us moving from site to site as quickly as possible to fit everything in. I miss looking out my window and seeing this beautiful building...

After Jerusalem I met up with my parents and Chelsie in Barcelona for a few days. We bummed around there and then got on a cruise ship around the Mediterranean. Although it wasn't the most relaxing trip, it was better than I could've imagined. We got to see Malta, Sorrento, Rome, Florence, Pisa, and Villefrance. Woot woot. We didn't have a lot of time at each place, but we saw incredible architecture and took some hilarious pictures. Although I was a bit homesick by then (or shall we say "America-sick") I enjoyed every bit of it. We had some trouble with our flight connections on the way home, and lost a few bags in the process, but we got everything back and finally made it home!

Chels and I all "dressed-up" for dinner one night. We may have had a photo shoot in the lobby of the boat...but we enjoyed it. The food on the boat was incredible, and I even tried 3 new dishes, including 2 different kinds of fish!

All four of us in beautiful Malta...are we a good-looking group or what?

Notice anything "Eurpoean" about our tour guide...? Ha ha. I couldn't resist

One of the many gelato stops we made...this was in Florence, which was possibly my favorite stop of the cruise!

Me at the Vadican - I LOVED this place too. The artwork was incredible inside, and the Sistine Chapel was everyting I'd imagined.

Another Italian tour guide we had - does anyone else feel like he resembles a certain character from "The Wedding Planner"? ...Mosimo? Ha ha. He had the exact accent, and was kind of a creeper - Chels and I were dying, we had to get a picture with him.

After the cruise I came home and tried to get everything back in order. Our house flooded a few days before my parents left for Europe, so there was a bit of fixing up to do. My parents are still in the process of re-doing the upstairs, and it's been a great excuse to paint and get new carpet up there. :) I spent some time with Aaron (who I'm actually no longer dating) and he taught me to wakeboard. I'll admit, I was a bit skeptical of myself, but I got up and was doing great on my second try...I even got in and out of the wake. :) Definitely one of my new favorite things, so I can't wait til next summer for that. Anyone who has a boat...can we be friends?

I've been offered to be sponsored by multiple companies, but I'm keeping my options open for now. ;)

Another updateable (totally not a word...) event was the now-annual Colors Concert up at the Sandy Ampitheater. I met up with my family there, and Hydee was kind enough to be my date. :) It was a beautiful night, and the music was as great as expected. Afterwards Hyd and I went back to her house off 90th South and had a slumber party. Her husband was at his brother's for the weekend, so it was fun to have a little girl-talk and look at her wedding pictures. We also put mud-masks on our faces, and it was my first experience with it...definitely comes highly recommended by me!!! It was a great weekend - thanks for letting me come stay, Hyd.

Us three hung out together...all without our men. (Well - the other two actually HAD husbands to be missing, and I was getting used to single life). It was a party... :) Colors is the BEST.

Post-concert facials...

Well - that's about all the excitement one post can handle these days. I don't have a lot to update anymore except for school, work, and track. I changed my major from PE Teaching and Coaching to Home and Family Living, with a minor in Coaching. Definitely a great move for me, and I'm loving my classes now. Track is going well, and we have a lot of promise this coming season. I can't wait to tear it up, so keep praying I don't get injured or sick again. ;) I'm working for BYU Intramurals again, supervising volleyball and football. I love the social scene, and watching the games while getting paid isn't a bad thing. I'm easing back into the social life here, and I'm surprisingly enjoying it. BYU football has been incredible, and I'm still in awe from last week's blow-out. Congrats, cougars...and let's plan to destroy Wyoming tomorrow!

Tara-the-slacker

2008-08-02T04:59:00.000-07:00

Hello again! Sorry I’ve been such a bum about updating lately, but for some reason it’s been difficult to find the time to do this. I’ve missed a lot of stuff on this blog, and it’d take me forever to completely update it, so I’m just going to hit the high points by listing 10 things I’ve done in the past few weeks. Mind you, I’ve traveled to Jordan and Bethlehem, and am currently in Galilee…so there’s a lot that I’ve seen and done. I’ll try not to leave anything out!

1 - First and foremost – I saw another “wonder of the world”…Petra. Rack your brains back to the last time you watched Indiana Jones and you just might recognize this place. It’s the fortress where he has to pick the right cup at the very end of the movie. Ha ha. I was amazed to see how big it is. You hike for about a mile down, not seeing anything but mountains, and then all the sudden it opens up and there it is. I loved it. There were a bunch of other ruins, but this temple was my favorite.

2 – I have now ridden a donkey! We got to take a little ride up this huge canyon in Petra, but it definitely wasn’t what I was expecting. There were definitely times when I thought I was for sure going off a cliff (since my donkey would trot about 6 inches away from it) but I made it safe and sound. Mine must’ve been some sort of Olympian, however, because He literally ran up the entire thing, leaving me at the top by myself for a good 5 minutes before my friends showed up. And the best thing about it – it was $5! :)

(See these stairs? There was 900-somethin of them, and my donkey ran up the entire thing! You would've been scared too...)

3 – Funny story. I’m not sure if this is a good or bad thing, but I was told I looked like a sister missionary by a few people. I’m not sure if it was my mid-calf length skirt, my need for makeup, my carefree hair, my baggy shirt, my lack of romance, or my “constant smile” – but I’ll take it as a compliment. Ha ha. This picture was right after the first comment, so you can all be the judges. :) Do I look ready to serve a mission?

4 – I decided it was time to dye my hair, once again. Mom talked me into bringing some dye from the States, and it definitely came to good use. Paige dyed my hair, and then I decided to use my straight iron for the first time. Clearly I forgot what I was doing, because I plugged it right into the wall instead of using a converter. Minutes later my apartment was smoking, and I barley turned off the thing before it started on fire. FYI - American straight irons definitely don't work the same in Israel. Sorry Mom. ;)

5 – After Jordan we came back to Jerusalem to what’s known as “lock down”. I guess there were a few other “terrorist-related” attacks, and the city wasn’t the safest. Needless to say we came up with some crazy things to do in the JC for those 3 days we weren’t allowed to leave, but it was fun.

(One of the crazy things that went on while on lock down. Strange talents were discovered...)

6 – Bethlehem was an amazing place, and I really loved the feeling there. We went to a church built over what is believed to be the stable where Christ was born and sang a bunch of Christmas songs together. It was really powerful, and I realized how terrible the conditions were at the time of his birth. We went to a shepherd’s field after and had a big program about Christ, which was possibly my favorite thing here. Wow.

7 – I got attacked by a bug in my bed a few weeks back…bad experience. I woke up to bites all over my knees and ankles, and later that day I found the source of it all. This little critter pictured below fell on the floor when I shook out my sheets. I now look under my covers every night…I hate bugs. :(

8 – Galilee is amazing. We’re staying in a little kibbutz right on the shore of the Sea. We’ve taken a bunch of pictures playing in the water, and the sunsets are unreal. The pictures definitely don’t do it justice, but they still look pretty cool. I absolutely love it here, though. The spirit is so strong. With the humidity included, it's around 110 degrees everyday. Quite miserable, to say the least, but it's nice to cool off in the Sea of Galilee after that. :)

9 – Not so much a highlight, but I happened to break my camera (just like Ali) the day we went to the Dead Sea (once again like Ali). We went to see Batman, which I loved, that night and I turned it on to see florescent lines all over my screen. Now I’m camera-less, but I’m getting by. I have a few named-cameramen who take my pictures, so I’m dealing with it okay. Sad story, though. Ugh.

10 – We’ve officially discovered a way to make music videos in the bus. We bought a splitter, and we put headphones over the speakers on the camera, while the person in the video has another set in their ears. The time goes by so much quicker, and we’ve had a lot of good laughs since the discovery. I wish I could post videos, but you’ll all just have to see them when I get back…they’re incredible. Youtube, here I come!

Overall, time is flying by quicker than expected. We're all savoring every minute we have here in the Holy Land, hoping we won't forget too much about this experience. I'm sure I'll be ready to go home when it's all said and done, but this is definitely the coolest thing I've done. As for now, we'll just keep going on hot field trips, learning lots and lots while getting ice cream anywhere we can. ;) Bad habit, I know, but it keeps us going here.

Finals, Shminals...

2008-07-19T10:42:00.000-07:00

I've been post-poning another blog entry long enough, so I figure it's time to sit down and bust out this baby. I don't have much to update, but I guess there's always a lot going on here in the Holy Land.

Starting off, this was our first "finals week" here in the JC, meaning stress levels were sky-rocketing. We had our finals for Judaism, Islam, and Old Testament in a 30-hour period, so we were cramming to get prepare. I survived them, but let's just say my grades here aren't going to "boost my GPA" like I'd planned. I may be spending a little too much time in the city instead of studying, but I don't think that's something I'll regret down the road.

My highlight of this week was probably going to the Garden of Gethsemane. I went with about 7 people this past Sunday afternoon, and it was the most amazingly peaceful place. We all brought our journals and scriptures and divided up separately for about an hour in the Garden. We got the guard to let us in the gate, so we were sitting among the olive trees that were believed to be there during Christ's time. Wow. I couldn't get enough of that place, and I took a million pictures. It was a beautiful day, and I brought my ipod and listening to piano music the entire time. I'm planning to go back there at least a few more times, and that visit alone made this trip entirely worth it. :)

I went and saw the Dome of the Rock for the first time this past Tuesday and I was amazed at how big it was. Absoultely gorgeous, too. They don't allow us to go inside, but being right up next to it was good enough for me. After that we got a delicious Jewish bagel and then did a bit of shopping. We got dropped off at the Center by one of the well-known olive wood shop owners, which set the stage for my first somewhat-awkard moment here. :) Nothing compared to Ali's stories, but it's a start. As I was stepping out of the car, I somehow managed to get the bottom of my skirt stuck on my sandal, pulling my my skirt down to my thighs. Whoops! I pulled it up as quickly as I could, and managed to get by with my friend Lisa being the only one who witnessed it. We were laughing uncontrollably, only to turn around and see two security guards standing about 20 feet away. They looked somewhat uncomfortable and it was obvious that they saw my "graceful moment". Wow...I felt a bit dumb. I try to avoid them now, along with another one of the security guys here who somehow knows my name and calls me "sweetheart". Kinda weird.

I also had my first encounter with bug bites when I woke up to about 40 red bumps on my foot and knee. I didn't know exactly what they were until I went back to my room, shook out my sheet, and found a nasty bug. It was dead, luckily, but the thoughts of that thing sleeping with me freaks me out. Ugh.

Another fun thing I've done lately is eat dinner at a restaurant in the middle of the Old City. A bunch of us got some taxis and made our way to some random place we found online. It turned out to be a gem, and I think we'll be going back there again. I ate my first shwarma, which was delicious. It's always nice to get away from the center "food" they feed us, so we've decided to eat out a lot more.

Not a whole lot more is going one here. Last night I gave my first official haircut, and it turned out pretty nice. I've received a few more requests since then, and the word is spreading that I'm "a haircutter" or something - ha ha. I've fooled them. :) It was quite the experience, though, so I wouldn't mind doing it a few more times. Let's just hope I don't chop off any sideburns... :) We also have a pedicure party last night with the girls, so that was a great way to unwind after finals. We leave for Jordan early tomorrow morning, and I can't wait. We'll be in Petra tomorrow, which...if any of you were wondering, is the place in the closing scenes of Indiana Jones. We'll also get to stop at the River Jordan and a few other historical sites. Time here is flying, and I can't believe I only have four weeks left here. :( We're just starting up the New Testament tomorrow, so I can't wait for that either. That's about it...not a whole lot. I'm super excited about my new neice, Grace Anderson. From the pictures I've seen she's absolutely adorable, and I can't wait to see her in September! Congratulations Dust and Linds!

This was me right before I entered Hezekiah's tunnel. It's under the Jerusalem City walls and was built as a water source. It was amazing to walk through knowing they dug it all by hand. And just so you know, this is more leg than I've showed the entire trip...the first and the last time those knees will be exposed.

The Garden of Gethsemane...is it beautiful or what?

Pretty flowers....

More of the Garden...

You can't see the detail very well in this picture, but it was amazing. Definitely a "must-see".

Self explanatory...the guards were trying to kick us out while taking this picture, though, so I was a bit scared. They come at you with their guns in hand, yelling at you in Hebrew. We got out of there quick. :)

Typical street in the Old City. Tourists everywhere along with scarves and clothes hanging from every direction. I love it.

The wonderful cafe on the roof-top. It was a high-class place, apparently, but it didn't feel like it. $4 for a can of soda is not my style...

Shwarma. It may look nasty, but it was absolutely delicious. Mmmm...I love the native food here.

Here's the bug that was found in my sheet. Can you believe that? Thankfully the bites are gone now, but this critter freaked me out.

This was today at the Dormition Abbey, where the Catholics believe to be the burial place of Mary. It was full of mosaic art, not to mention the air conditioning. Gotta love it.

Same place...awesome photo. Lisa, Paige and I. We're together all the time these days. Close enought that we're borrowing clothes. As you can tell, I'm wearing a new shirt, thanks to Paige. I'm getting really sick of the 5 t-shirts I brought. :(

Maybe beauty school is my next stop, eh? NOT. It was fun while it lasted, though. I know Tanner looks nervous, but he completely trusted me. I'm not sure why, but it looked ok.

Did I mention we came home from the Abbey today to find the hillside right next to the center on fire? We still don't know how this happened or how long it burned, but we only saw ONE firefighter there. It was hilarious.

The sign outside of the Center. Everyone calls it the Mormon University. I love it.

I survived the Sahara Desert...

2008-07-13T10:10:00.000-07:00

Hello again. I guess it’s time for another post, so I’ll do what I can to remember this past week. Egypt was absolutely amazing…but don’t be deceived. It was SUPER HOT!!! Ha ha. The bus ride there was pretty long, and getting across the border was quite the experience. Let’s just say we have a South African girl with us on the trip, and she held us up quite a bit. She got taken into a back room and questioned, but then they finally let her through. :) Driving through the Sahara Desert was long, and I found it weird that there were random camels walking around. There were even street signs that said “Beware of camles on the road”. My friend Greg and I decided to try and play the ABC game on the way – bad idea. He got to G and I got to K, and then all the sudden the English signs were replaced with Arabic ones…end of story.
We stayed in a little community called a kibutz that first night, and enjoyed a delicious dinner and dance party. Some “kibutz dwellers” (as we called them) provided music for us and we all went crazy. We all went swimming that night and then got up early the next morning to make the rest of the trip to Egypt. That night we went to a Sound and Light Show put on in front of the pyramids. It was incredibly cheesy, and I’m afraid our laughter may have carried a little too far, but we enjoyed ourselves.
The next day we got up early and headed straight to the pyramids. All I have to say is those babies look a LOT bigger in real life! We got to go inside one of ‘em, and I think I was sweating more in there than outside! It was literally a furnace, and the entire tunnel was about 4 feet tall. It was still great, though, and I took more pictures than I’ll ever use. I have to admit I pulled “an Ali” though…meaning I may have dropped my camera off one of the huge limestone blocks I was standing on. Whoops! Not to worry, though, after a few procedures it was good as new. :) Sorry for giving you all that crap, Al. Let’s just hope I don’t ruin another 2 cameras by the end of my trip. After the pyramids we got lunch at a questionable place (I had a roll) and naturally I was somehow the last one in the bathroom…meaning the bus almost left me. Good thing I have good friends who realized I was MIA. That night we took a Faluka (sailboat) across the Nile to the West Bank. The view was gorgeous, and I could hardly wait for the evening’s festivities. We got to go on an hour camel ride, and I had the time of my life. My guide was about 16, named Ima, and was adorable. He asked if I had a husband, told me I had the number one smile in Egypt, and then kept telling me we had to be friends forever. I even hoaxed him into leaving the path to get me a banana from the big fields there…I love this place. :) Oh, I almost forgot…earlier on that day I purchased my first ever vacation hat. It was only $5 and is dynamite when I wear it, so I think I got a good deal. Ha ha. I love it.
Anyway, I won’t go into too much detail for the rest of the trip. We took a plane to Luxor a few days after the camel safari and I was so happy to shower once we got there. Bad idea. I turned on the shower and hopped in without scoping it out. It was only after I finished my shower that I looked down and realized the water was brown. I about died. Let’s just say the next two days went by with me “showering off” in the pool instead of that nasty tub. Luxor was beautiful, and we hit up a few ancient temples and museums in the two days we were there. Everywhere we went we got whistles and men commenting on our “beautiful American eyes”. So funny. We got some good bargains, though, and I was proud at how little I spent.
We took a midnight train back to Cairo, and I guess expecting the Hogwart’s Express was the wrong idea. I guess it wasn’t too bad, but I felt like I was sleeping in a dirt and bug-infested bed. Ugh. My roommate was awesome, though, so we avoided the “food” they gave us and just talked in our little cubby. Once we got back to Cairo, we saw a few more museums, and the actual mummies of some of the big-shot Pharaohs – Rameses II, Tutmosis, etc. I was loving it after just having taken Anatomy! We headed back yesterday morning at 5:00 AM, and had the longest bus-riding day ever. We got to stop and snorkel at the Red Sea, though, which was gorgeous. Besides getting loads of salt water in my snorkel and goggles, the day was great. After two hours of that, we all showered and got changed. It was only then that I realized I didn’t have my sports bra I needed to put on…whoops! I’d lost it somewhere between the beach and the bathroom, so I sent my girls to look for it, who ended up telling all the guys to look for it. No shame here, right? Ha ha. Meanwhile I’m in the bathroom trying to figure out some way to get around the dilemma, praying it would turn up. Thankfully someone found it half-way buried in the sand, so that was a blessing. :) Everyone knew the story by the time I got on the bus, so that wasn’t embarrassing at all. Ha ha.
All in all, Egypt was unreal. It was rough not really being able to eat most of the food, but I guess it paid off. I didn’t really get sick at all, minus one night when I had a really bad back/stomach ache. It went away in a few hours, though, so thank heavens I didn’t need an IV. :) I also failed to mention my amazing chicken-fighting skills in the pool. My friend Elizabeth and I took everyone on (yes…guys included) and took them all down. Everyone started calling me “the rock” after that, and we had quite the reputation. The next day, however, we had a re-match against the two biggest guys in the group. After about 7 minutes of lack of air, we went down…so we have to go at it one more time to see who the real champion is. :)
Well that’s about it. Sorry it’s so long, but it’s hard to tell everything about a packed-full week in Egypt. It was so fun, but it’s good to be back in Jerusalem. We have 3 exams this week, and a huge paper and map project due tomorrow…so busy week of school. We got to go see the Garden of Gethsemane today, though, and it made this whole trip worth it. There were about 7 of us who went, and we got the guard to let us in the fenced area. We each picked our own corner and wrote in our journals and read our scriptures for about an hour. I loved it, and am planning to go back as many times as I can. As for now, though, I’m going to finish up some homework and then hopefully relax and watch a movie. Our program is done a month from tomorrow, and all the sudden it’s going super fast! I can’t wait to come home, but I love this place. :)

This is the Wilderness of Zin, which is where the Israelites were lost for 40 years...doesn't look all that inviting, does it? This place was huge!

We couldn't resist taking this picture, but somehow I got picked to be the "ape"-looking creature we evolved from...go figure. We thought we were clever, though.

This was at the kibutz where we stayed. They had hundreds and hundreds of date trees...so beautiful. Everything is shared in these little communitites, so it's straight-up socialism. Kinda crazy, but I loved it there. Great food (edible at least). :)

My first reaction when I got out of the bus!!! I couldn't believe I was actually there...so amazing. All I have to say is those Egyptians were incredible architects. DANG.

Love it. I couldn't stop posing.

A bunch of us decided to get together for a group shot, but we had to take quite a few shots to make sure the girls in the front were fully covered with their skirts. Ha ha. Boy am I glad I wore pants that day... :)

The Sphinx makes for the greatest pictures...I'm afraid I took quite a few kissing pictures this day. Most of them were just statues ;)

The view I had from my camel. The sunset was unreal, and I felt like I was dreaming. I'd recommend an african safari to everyone.

Me, Ima, and my camel - 50 Cent. Ha ha. This was right after the ride, and as you can tell, I'm standing kinda funny. Not the most comfortable thing I've done.

Ugh. I still can't believe I showered in this filth. Probably straight out of the Nile.

A few of us girlies at the Karnak temple - the oldest temple ruin in the world. There were amazing hieroglyphics here, and was a great place for a photo shoot.

Oh yeah...ha ha. Although it may look like my skirt's see-through, it just has a million ruffles on it, and the light is shining on it, making me look immodest. Whoops.

Do I look African to you? This was during free time when about 20 of us rented a faluka for $2 an hour. The best deal of my life, and the Nile was unbelievable. We may or may not have had a "dance-party walk-off" on the roof of the boat, but no worries, we got it on film.

Of all places to get Pizza Hut...Cairo. :) It had a strange sauce on it and looked a little sketchy, but it was served with ketchup so naturally I loved it. Thank heavens we ordered this business because later that night we got on the train, where the food was basically plastic. Ugh.

The average market in Egypt. I loved shopping there...but what's new.

Just another day...

2008-07-05T12:32:00.000-07:00

Hello again. I'm sorry it's been a while since my last post, but I don't really have much free time here to update. I've now been in Jerusalem for about 10 days, but it feels like much longer. Things have been going great here lately, and I'm learning more and more everyday. We went on a field trip a few days ago and visited the Elah Valley, which was where David and Goliath had their sling battle :) It was pretty neat, and we got to pick up a few rocks and try some slings. We also visited a few ancient cities, and learned a lot about Joshua and his people. It really is incredible to be at a particular site, open your scriptures, and then read about what happened at that exact place. I feel to blessed to be here, and I'm definitely taking advantage of every opportunity I can get. On that same field trip we visited some old caves that are centuries old, and had to crawl through tiny tunnels to get there. I'll admit it was a bit freaky, but thanks to Mom I had a headlamp to lead my way. :) Genius idea, Mom. Thanks.

Yesterday was a pretty neat day. Minus the fact that we had our first midterm here, I loved everything else. My Old Testament class is pretty rough, and everyone was quite surprised with the test, but I survived and hopefully I'll be able to pull out decent grades. After my test we all walked together to the Western (or Wailing) Wall. We got there right when the sun was going down, so the Jews were just beginning to welcome in Shabbat. We got to walk up and touch the wall, and a few of us even wrote down a prayer and stuck it in one of the cracks. It was just really neat to see all the people worshipping and praising their God. Wow. The wall separates the guys and girls, so it was kinda nice to celebrate with all the girls there. We ended up staying on our little side of the wall for almost an hour, joined in hand with the other Jewish girls and women...just dancing around in circles and singing at the top of our lungs. I'm sure it was quite a site to see, because we obviously didn't know what we were saying, let alone how to say it, but we did the best we could. It was really cool how quickly we all bonded together there, and I loved seeing the cultural differences. Definitely a must-see.

After we got back, we all did a bit of homework and then watched good old Aladdin. Movie nights here are unreal, and we discovered a load of movies and dvd's here in the library - even Saturday's Warrior!!! Can you believe it? :) I'll definitely be watching that, along with Seven Brides for Seven Brothers. Ha ha. Last night we also hosted our first "J-C Dance party" in the student lounge, and had quite the turnout. It was hilarious, and we all exhausted ourselves with our crazy moves. I'm sure it was the first of many more to come... :)

Other than that, not a whole lot has gone on. Today was Shabbat, so our sunday, and we fasted from 6:00 last night til 4:00 this afternoon. It literally killed me not being able to drink water here. I was so hungry and thirsty in relief society this afternoon that I started craving ketchup! Can you believe that? I know I like it on most foods, but never have I wanted it plain. Then again, any food that isn't three days old sounds really good to me. We had another mysterious meal tonight that was "steak" but ended up being some rubbery nasty stuff. Once again, thank heavens for pitas, lemonade, and occasionally rice. I've moved from the cereal to these foods, because the cereal they have here tastes exactly like pieces of cardboard. Talk about a let-down.

Well...we're officially taking off for Egypt in about 7 and 1/2 hours. I'm incredibly excited, but I know it's going to be super hot there. We've been learning a lot about the pyramids and egyptian art, so I can't wait to actually be there to see it in person. We all watched Prince of Egypt tonight to get in the mood, so I think I'm as best prepared as I can be. :) I promise to take lots of pictures, and hopefully I won't thirst to death or come home with any version of diarrhea (which apparently is hard to do). Just think though...next time I post I will have seen a beautiful light and laser show in front of the pyramids, floated down the Nile, and traveled on a camel. This next week will be great. :) Just pray that I don't get sick or attacked while I'm there!!!

Overlooking the Elah Valley. Can you believe I hang out with these people wearing their Indiana Jones hats? Kinda embarassing. Thank heavens none of us obviously care what we look like.

Me and Kate, gearing up to attempt to "play David" with our rocks and slings.

I'm pretty sure this was an actual legit throw, but my first couple times I practically hit myself with my own rock. :) It's a lot more challenging than you'd think, and I'm surprised we left that place without an accident. And I know you're all thinking how sexy I look with my chaco's, drawstring pants rolled up, t-shirt, hat, and fanny...don't get too jealous. ;) It's the norm here.

I couldn't resist when I saw this platform thing. This was in an ancient city right by an old temple. The view was beautiful...as was my toe-touch.

Call me Ariel...except for the fact that I'm fully-clothed. :)

Don't ask...I just couldn't resist getting this picture when I saw it, and naturally my friend Chris wanted to be the Mona Lisa.

Me and my good friend Greg. (We all call him "dotty" because his middle name's Doty, and when I read it I said it wrong, so the name's kinda stuck). We both showed up at the cave with headlamps though, and wanted to act somewhat cool with them on.

See what I mean by small tunnels??? Kinda creepy...not to mention dirty.

And we found this while in there!!! We think it was dead by the time we found it, but who knows. I hate spiders. Ants, however, don't phase me anymore. We have them all over our room, in the bathroom, and anywhere you sit outside. I also forgot to mention that a prank was played on me and my roommates by someone (the source is still unknown) letting a lizard loose in our room! Naturally my roommates saw it run right into my shirt, so they tried to trap it but never found it. Needless to say I've washed that shirt a few times, and am always a bit frightened to put my feet in my sheets. Hopefully it'll turn up one of these days...

A bunch of us once we made it out of the cave. It was a really fun field trip, but tiring. I'm sure Egypt will be ten times crazier, but I'm stoked. :)

Jumpin Jerusalem

2008-07-01T12:36:00.000-07:00

I'm alive!!! :) I somehow just navigated my way through a few Hebrew websites and broke into the blogging network...fantastic. Things are going great here. It's almost 11:00 PM, and I'm wasted tired. We just got back from a quick trip into the newer, "touristy" part of the city, and it was a hoot. We took some sort of taxi-bus there, and the driver blared his Israeli techno music so we could all dance around. It was awesome, and only cost us about $2 for the ride. While in the city we found a beloved McDonald's, and an amazing gelato shop around the corner. We just kinda hung out and toured the area, watching the street performers and loving every minute of it. I also bought myself a second pair of jasmine pants, but this pair isn't sheer like the previous purchase. :) I'm learning quickly here.

The Center is great and has a fabulous view from the back. We each have our own balcony coming off our rooms, but we don't use them much because apparently they're infested with "migrating viper snakes". Definitely not my idea of a good time. Anyway, the city is unreal, and I've done nothing but take pictures and laugh. I've got some really great friends here already, so that makes it all the better. We've gone on a few field trips, and have another one tomorrow morning. Breakfast opens at 6:00 AM, and the buses leave at seven! Needless to say I'm not getting enough shut-eye, but I'm surviving nonetheless.

The schoolwork is a little much, but somehow we all seem to be getting most of the reading done. Ali, you were right when you said you practically lived in the library! My goodness... although I'm still not sure how you managed to go into a guy's bedroom. It may have been different back then, but we're on separate sides of the building...so it'd be hard to mix that up. ha ha. I laughed when I realized that, but oh well. Anyway, I wish we weren't taking classes, but the information is really interesting. I love the culture here.

Well - I think it's about time to turn in. I'll post pictures for sure, and try to update as often as possible. Hope you all are doing well. I miss you, but don't want to come home. I love it here. :) Shoot me an email with any requests of something you'd like me to pick up for you. Talk to you soon.

My first legit stamp in my passport...I was loving it. Plus, that meant I was done traveling, which I couldn't have been happier about at that moment. Airplane food is terrible.

This is a little wall right when you exit the center, so you can kinda see the view we've got there. These are my three great friends, Tricia, Paige, and Lisa. We're all kindred spirits...I swear.

Did I mention I got pooped on by a bird for the first time...? Just what you want on an extremely hot day, on a field trip in the middle of nowhere when you can't change. It was a great experience for everyone around. Gotta love Sister Draper's face in the background.

Getting kissed by a camel. This is normal here, right? Ha ha. Apparently this man taught the camel to kiss. As far as I'm concerned, all he did was stick his lips in my ear, along with a few teeth. Weird... We all stunk after this happened.

Heading into the Garden Tomb this past Sunday...

Can you believe we were really there? I'm sure we'll be visiting multiple times in the future, but it was really great to see. Such a cool place.

The Jasmine pants in the flesh! They are the most comfortable (and see-through) things in the world, and I can't wait to wear them back on BYU campus. :)

This is the wall surrounding the Northern part of Old Jerusalem. We did a tour called the Rampart Walk for about two hours, and saw some great things. Definitely a different world out here. We found a cat with a mustache (no joke), so I'll have to post that later. Oh yeah, there are stray cats here everywhere...kinda creepy.

During the Rampart Walk...if you look hard you can see the Jerusalem Center in the background.

Home sweet home!!! I didn't actually eat here, but it's comforting to know that if I ever get sick of the "wonderful food" in the center, I can take a taxi here. :)

HOLY cow, I'm headed to the HOLY land!!!

2008-05-30T23:49:00.000-07:00

Well...my picture explains my emotions the past 24 hours! I've been absolutely crazy busy with school, and then I heard some WONDERFUL news...I'm going to study in Jerusalem in less than four weeks!!! I'm sure most of you knew I applied and was put on a waiting list, but by some miracle I got bumped all the way to the top, and now I'm getting the opportunity of a lifetime. I go back and forth between being overly excited and scared out of my mind, but in the long-run I know I'm going to absolutely love it over there. It's been crazy to realize how much I have to get done before I leave the U.S. but I'm not anticipating it being too rough. I've been anxiously awaiting the end of Spring Term here at BYU because I felt I "desperatley needed a break from school"...but apparently that's not going to happen. The program in Jerusalem is supposedly quite rigorous, but I'm ready for anything. I think I'm still in shock with this new change of plans, but I really can't wait to learn and see all about the places Christ lived. I've heard nothing but great things about it, so I'm hoping I'll have the same experiences.

I guess I should also update what's been going on in my life these past few weeks, since I've been extremely inconsistant with my blog. We just had a family reunion last weekend up at Bear Lake with the Anderson's, and it was AMAZING. It was so nice to get away from a few days and spend some quality time with my family. Jake and Bev planned the entire thing, and did an incredible job (thanks again, you two!) It was sad to see everyone go, but we had a great weekend full of laughter and fun.

Down in Provo, I'm still officiating kickball and softball. I'm starting to really love my job these days, and don't actually mind working every night. The kickball team I'm on for my ward is also still in the tournament (ok...so we've only had one game in tournament...) and we plan to take it all. :) I can't decide if it's funnier watching or playing kickball, but I enjoy both. My roommates even went to extremes and made posters and brought pom-poms. Needless to say, we generally intimidate our opponents with our fanclub before the game even starts. :) Our ward is a hoot, and we've done some fun things this summer together. Chels and I got to go up to the hot springs they have here with a group of people, and it turned out to be quite the adventure. It was an hour hike both ways, and was pitch black by the time we headed to the cars, but thank heavens we had a light-up frisbee to lead the way.

Another thing that's going on is that two of my best friends are getting married this next week...I swear I'm not old enough for this to be happening. Alex gets married on Thursday, and my old roommate Hydee gets married the following day. Crazy! I hosted a shower for Hyd with a few of our high school girlfriends, and we had a great time catching up on the latest gossip of Davis County. :) It's weird to think that these two girls are actually getting hitched, but I'm so happy for them both. Luckily I love both the guys they're marrying, or I'd feel like I was getting replaced with "unworthy opponents". Ha ha. Anyway - congrats to you guys.

Also, the beloved "Ella Good Shave Ice" shack is back!!! It's approximately a block away from my apartment, and I'm afraid it's right on the way to campus...so I visit quite frequently. My roommates and I decided to save our cups and stack them in the window to see how many times we go this summer, so we'll see how many windows we can fill. It's delicious, and super cheap too. I 100% recomment it!!!

I'm not sure what else there is to write about, and I'm thinking I should head to bed here sometime soon. School is coming to an end (HOORAY!) and I'm getting a little excited to be donw with these two classes. Summer is already flying, but at times it doesn't go fast enough. Aaron is coming out for Alex and Jake's wedding, and it'll be incredibly good to see him again :)

My work attire...do I look like a softball pro or what?

Cami and Abbie came to one of our kickball games - Abs was freezing, but she told me she wants to play kickball once she enrolls in BYU...I'll gladly teach her everything she needs to know.

The all-star team, in the flesh!

Up at the hot springs - the picture's not the greatest because it was super dark, but we had a great time...I can still smell the sulfur.

Party on!!! Our "slumber party" was a blast.

Summer's here!!! This was our first official visit of the season, followed by many more (Chels and I went again today...) And don't ask about the guy in the background...I have no idea who that is. Gotta love Provo :)

2008-05-06T08:30:00.000-07:00

Well...here I am again, posting something new! I just wanted to put up a few more pictures of me and Aaron as a "tribute", if you will, to him. We went to see the Tulip Festival at Thanksgiving Point, but apparently it was too early in the season, because we only saw about 10 tulips in bloom. We ended up just goofing off and his sister took a few pictures of us on the beautiful grounds there. Aaron's now in good ol' Kansas City, Missouri selling alarm systems for the summer...leaving me in "good ol' Provo" by myself. Ha ha. It's been an interesting week without him, to say the least, but I'm getting by ok. I'm missing him a lot, but I've definitely got enough on my plate to keep me somewhat distracted. The two classes I'm taking this term are already too much for me to handle, and I'm overwhelmed by all I have on my daily agenda. Also, track season is coming to an end, which will give me a bit more time to relax. It's nice to be living so close to Ali and Mark, though, and I'm sure I'll be stopping in there on a regular basis now to relieve some stress (thanks, you two!) Anyway, things are getting better every day, so let's just hope I can pass Anatomy in the next six weeks.

Classic....

D-D-D-Dallas!

2008-05-02T07:54:00.000-07:00

Well, as you may be able to tell by the title, I have recently returned from a wonderful trip to Dallas, Texas. It was my first time in the Lonestar state, and although I was skeptical, I actually loved it. A few of my roommates and I headed down to see another former roommate get married, so it was a fun getaway with the girls. We arrived in Dallas on different airlines, and had arranged for Brielle (my roommated that lives there) to pick us up. Well, apparently we didn't know there were TWO airports within close vicinity, because Hydee and I were looking for Brielle and Ashley all over the place, only to find out they were actually at a completely different airport. Ha ha. It was a great way to start off our vacation, and we couldn't help but laugh. I loved every minute of the time I spent there, and we saw a lot of cool stuff. Where JFK was assassinated, a few of the HUGE malls, a "real, authentic" Mexican restaurant, Whataburger (ask Dustin about that place), not to mention the Cotton Bowl arena, a wedding with drunk dancers, and Six Flags! It was a blast, to say the least, and I would definitely go back. It was great to spend some more time with Dust and Linds, although we were going back and forth for wedding stuff so much. They were awesome hosts, however, and went out of their way to shuttle us all over the city. When the trip was over, I was by far ready to be back in Utah, but it was a nice weekend away from Provo. If any of you are needing a time away, Dallas is the place to go! I'm sure Dustin and Lindsay would LOVE another visitor, since they've had them nonstop for the last month. Anyway, Texas was a riot, but it's good to be back home.
Need I say more...?Struttin our stuff at the "wedding of the century"
We thought this was an awesome picture of what Texas is...a dried up field with a fence :) I was actually surprised at how green it was there.
Pucker up!

Phonebooks, anyone?

2008-04-11T16:12:00.000-07:00

I almost forgot to post the coolest part of my weekend. After the Mae concert, Aaron and I went to eat at Ihop with his buddy Jake, and his girlfriend Courtney. (No...we didn't sit down in the restaurant, get ice water, look at the prices, and then up 'n leave.) Anyway, after we enjoyed a delicious midnight breakfast, we realized that Aaron had a bunch of old phonebooks in his trunk. Apparently his friends all know this "special technique" to tearing a phonebook completely in half, and they were determined to teach us. After a few good tries, my hands felt like they were going to fall off. But I perservered through the pain, and ended up with a phonebook in shreads. I was so excited that I'd actually done one, meanwhile Aaron and Jake were ripping through them like paper. Anyway - it was a party, and I'm sure we were pretty hilarious to watch too. Next time you're board and don't have anything to do...try ripping through a phonebook. I dare you.

Courtney and me trying to be somewhat strong - it wasn't working

I think this was his third or fourth one...

After I actually tore on myself...can you tell I was excited? I look like I'm getting ready to fight in the WWF.

2008-04-11T09:45:00.000-07:00

This past weekend was a blast. It started off with the "Cougar Invite" track meet in Provo, which most of the family came to. It was my first meet back from my prolonged injury, and it turned out better than expected. I ended up jumping a new personal best mark - 18' 3'' in the long jump. I actually got that mark on my first jump, too, which is quite strange. Moral of the story is...get hurt, lift weights like crazy, and make your thigh muscles bulge, and you'll PR. Worked for me.

The picture I have is me and little Abbie, who was apparently quite the hit at the meet. I asked my mom after the track meet if she'd taken any pictures of me jumping, and she almost laughed at me when she said "The grandkids are here, Tara. The attention is on them now". Boy did that make me feel good about myself. Not only did my mother tell me she liked Abbie more than me, but she most likely didn't even see my all-time best jump because her grandbaby was "looking adorable" while sleeping. Ha ha. I'm totally kidding. It was so fun to have the family show up and support me. Thanks to all those who could make it that day, though. It meant a lot. We got some lunch at the coveted Zupa's after, and then they headed home.

After the meet, my roommates and I could hardly wait to get out of Provo and head to Salt Lake. We bought tickets to the Mae Concert a few months earlier, and had been counting down until that day. Originally the plan was for everyone to take dates, but that pretty much fell through, since only 2 out of the 5 of us did. I guess there were a bunch of mission reunions that night, but fortunately I still got to have Aaron come with me. (I know...I'm a bad influence on him, making him miss his reunion and whatnot. I might feel bad if I thought it was because he wanted to be with me, but I'm pretty sure he just wanted to see Mae in concert again.) Anyway, although it was a FOUR-HOUR concert, it was still amazing. We were introduced to a new band called Between the Trees, which I would definitely recommend, not to mention the amazing performance put on by Mae. Although we couldn't hear too clearly for a few hours after, it was definitely worth it. :)

Chillin at the track meet...do we look alike or what? It's almost scary.

Abbie's massive blowout. Unfortunately I happened to be long jumping at the time, but I hear it was a monumental moment for everyone there.

Horray for Mae! This was me and my roommies after the amazing concert. Notice Kate's red face...I think she got a LITTLE burnt at the track meet that day...

Chelsie let me borrow her shirt for this one. Don't I look like an avid Mae fan? No one would ever know I only knew like 3 or their songs...

Me and the A-meister. Some huge bouncer got mad at us for standing on the benches to take this picture...good thing my man was there to protect me.

Can you believe it's April???

2008-04-02T22:12:00.000-07:00

Four adorable girls...this was at our Relief Society sleepover.

This was after the second domination of the Police Training game at the Nickelcade. Do we look like federal agents or what?

Me and Aaron, driving in my wonderful Beetle. Aaron just loves to drive it, and usually wears my sexy shades to enhance his "masculine" side. I'm not sure if I should be scared or not...

Abbie on Easter Sunday. It may look like she's yawning, but she was actually singing me a beautiful rendition of "Sweet Escape"...which she unfortunately learned from her mother.

Well...I guess it's time to post again. I'm really not too great at this blogging stuff, so bear with me. Not much to report from the homefront - school is still in progress, therefore my life is fairly boring. I am, however, on a very talented intramural innertube water polo team, and we're in the final four of the loser's bracket. Hopefully we can pull out a few more wins and make it the the championship with the winner of the winner's bracket. Maybe a group prayer will help us win our game tomorrow night. ;)

Aside from water polo, Provo is getting warmer, so that's a bonus. The snow this past week was quite a disappointment, however, but we're getting over it. I'm competing in my first track meet of the year this weekend here at the cougar stadium, so that is quite a milestone. I'll just be long jumping for now, because I'm not healed enough to pole vault. It may be a "complete and utter mess" (as our dear from Simon would say), but we'll just have to wait and see.

Aaron and I are still dating and spending as much time together as our busy schedules allow. He leaves for summer sales in less than a month, but we're trying not to think about that :) One of our favortie things to do is go to the Nickelcade, where we've obtained the top score TWICE on the Police Training game. We've also become obsessed with eating at Zupa's, and have been enjoying the spring weather in the park.

I also found out this past weekn that I got a "promotion" in my job - meaning I got the position as a Supervisor starting Spring term. That means that instead of reffing the games and getting yelled out, and I get to tell all the guys that they have a five o'clock shadow, and therefore have to shave before playing intramurals. I'm excited. :) I also found out that I got accepted to the Physical Education Teaching Education program, which I'm ecstatic about. I'll start in the fall, so hopefully all goes well with that. Mom says as long as I don't butch my hair off, I should be ok in that field of work. :)

That's about it for the update, I believe. I'm just trying to hang in there for the last NINE days of class we have left. And then it's off to Dallas to visit my wonderful brother, sister-in-law, and soon-to-be neice. I can't wait.

bye-bye blondie

2008-02-08T13:25:00.000-08:00

Notice anything different? Probably not, but I ended up dying my hair earlier this week...and this is how it turned out. I can't really decide which I like better, but I'm a fan of change, so it works out well. The one downside to it is that I now look even MORE like my wonderful sister, Chelsie (Not that that's a bad thing...) I'm sure people are going to mix us up a lot more now that we have the same hair color, but oh well. Things are still pretty much the same here in P-town, and I just got done with a crazy week of exams. I've been so excited for this weekend to come because it means relaxing for a bit. Hooray! Now if it would just stop snowing for a day or two, that would make it even better. Anyway, I just thought I'd post a picture of the "new me" so you'd all recognize me when you saw the damage that's been done.

2008-02-02T17:57:00.000-08:00

This is our room...is it luxurious or WHAT? (Notice the shelf I hit my head on every night...)

Just January...

2008-01-30T19:58:00.000-08:00

Hello, hello! I know it's been over two months since I last posted, but I figured it was about time to do this again. Life isn't much different than before...I'm still living in FREEZING Provo, and actually loving it. I moved to a small (really small) complex called Northwoods with Chels, and have been adjusting to the new lifestyle. Our room is the size of Rudy's locker, and I have a shelf that was intelligently placed above the head of my bed, which I still seem to smack every night. My new roommates are wonderful, however, and we all get along great. Track is going ok these days, but the foot problem is still an issue. I'm headed off to the doctor in the morning, so hope and pray for the best! Oh yeah - I guess I should also change the caption on my profile picture, because I definitely have something better than a cardboard cut-out to dance with now. I've been dating Aaron for almost three months now, and we get to spend a lot of time together. He's great, and for some reason likes to be around me. He's just starting to discover the crazy and ditzy, "chaos" side of me, so we'll see how long he'll want to stick around. :) We went up to Logan this past weekend and stayed with his family. We both had to watch Hamlet for a class, and spend FOUR HOURS struggling to understand it. We also went flying, four-wheeling, and had a one-way snowball fight (Aaron nailed me in the back...) It was a great weekend, and super fun to get away. Things are going great, though, and life is still as busy as ever. I'm applying for the P.E. Teaching and Coaching major this week, so we'll see if I get accepted. I'm also applying to study in Jerusalem this summer term, but I won't find out until early March. Other than that, not much is new. I love going home to see adorable Abigail, though, and have done so a few times. It was so fun to be at the hospital with Mom the night Cami had her. I love being an aunt! Anyway, I need to do some studying...the question is will I? We'll never know.

2008-01-30T19:49:00.000-08:00

Me and my newest roommate...can you believe it? Things between us have been great so far, but who knows how long that'll last. :) It really is great living with Chels, though.

Can you guess where we are?? You bet - this was my first time flying with Aaron. We went again this past weekend, and I'm thinking of learning myself. He lets me fly a bit, which is super fun...but I haven't mastered landing yet :)

The newest addition to the Anderson clan. Her name is Rosie, and she's a trooper. She survived my "learning phase" with the new 5-speed, and now runs great. I love her to death!

2007-11-11T17:20:00.000-08:00

me and bri bri at the byu game...so cute!!!

lookin lovely

2007-11-11T17:01:00.000-08:00

hey hey. just wanted to write another quick update. life is going well, and i'm still living in the boot. :) haha. as you can tell by my picture, my style is looking really great with it...especially with a skirt on. anyway - i can't believe it's already the middle of november! holy smokes. i only have a few short weeks left of school, and then it'll be christmas break! horray! :) should be great. i can't wait for the holidays...it'll be good to have chelsie home as well . for all of you that don't already know, chels and i are planning to live together winter semester, which should be great! i'm just not really feeling it with my roommates lately, so it's time for a change. the whole "boy situation" hasn't really gone anywhere...however, mom has made it a hobby to give my cell phone number to random boys calling the house...you'll have to ask her about that one. :) but yeah - just going out with random people here and there - it's all fun. anyway - i'm still keeping busy. it was fun to come home this past weekend and spend some time with the caldwells and rudy. cam and i even ran into jake and bev at walmart! haha. random. anyway - i'm still in the boot for another 2-4 weeks, and i can't run for another 6 weeks. kinda boring, but i'm trying to stay conditioned with biking and swimming (i take the boot off...) :) the only problem is living on the 3rd floor...i hate the stairs. other than that, things are great! go cougars...they better kick utah's butt in two weeks! can't wait!

the truth about cami...

2007-10-29T22:00:00.000-07:00

p.s. did i tell you cami's tummy was pointy or what? see!!! :) i love it...

BOOT scootin boogie

2007-10-29T21:45:00.000-07:00

hey hey. just thought i'd give another update on how things are going lately. in case any of you were unaware, apparently i hurt my foot in some crazy way. it's been bothering me for over a month now, so i finally got it checked out by the doc. after x-rays and whatnot, they put me in this ugly boot!!! ugh. anyway - i'm getting an MRI tomorrow to make sure it's not too bad, or else surgery will occur. pray that it won't be necessary! i'm pretty sure it's not terrible, but apparently i've just stretched my ligaments out a bunch on the top of my foot, and they have to make sure they aren't torn. what i have is called lisfranc - or something. who knows. anyway - now i'm styling with my massive boot, and i'm the loudest, slowest walker ever! i'm pretty sure the people two floors below us can hear me clunking around the kitchen. apparently it makes for a great conversation starter, however, because random people on campus will just come up to me and ask me what happened and stuff. kinda crazy, but anything's possible here at the Y. anyway - i really should be studying for my interior design class instead of updating this, but i thought i'd give a shout-out and see how y'all were doing. hopefully i'll post again soon with great news from the MRI...just keep your fingers crossed!!! oh yeah - and another interesting fact about tara is that this past week my roommates and i had a little bet or dare going on. i was wanting to see if it was possible for me to jump from my bed to hydee's bed (which is probaby about 8 feet or so) without hitting my head on the low ceiling, or falling off. anyway - hydee didn't think it was possible, so all my roommates came in and we took a poll. ashley was the only one who believed in me, and the others thought it to be totally impossible. of course my competitive side came out, and i was gonna show those girls that i could do it. my first attempt wasn't terrible, but i kinda landed on my stomach on the edge of the bed, leaving a great red line for a few days. i finally figured out that the sheets on my bed were too slippery, and moved those, allowing me to get my bearings. i finally took my leap, diving onto hydee's bed before ash and i celebrated our victory. kinda fun. anyway - just in case you guys were doubting...i can jump from one bed to another. it's a talent, but apparently i was born to do it.

2007-10-29T21:40:00.000-07:00

are we sexy 80's babes or what?? i thought so too...this was for our ward halloween party

2007-10-22T16:58:00.000-07:00

this truck is amazing!!! props to daddy for finally buying one. he already gave me the keys!!!

2007-10-22T16:34:00.000-07:00

well now that i've got this thing figured out, i guess i can make frequent posts, eh? it's monday afternoon and i'm sitting on my couch, soaking in the fact that i DON'T have to work tonight, and i DON'T have studying to do! woot woot. such a rare occasion. anyway - things are wonderful down here in provo. it was great to be ablt to go home yesterday for just a bit to see everyone. nick and elisa - i'm so glad i caught you guys too! that was fun. and if anyone wants to know what's going on in my "love life" right now, just ask them, because they were present when dad was questioning me up the wazoo!!! i'm basically just going out with a bunch of different guys - a few on the track team - but it's great. i'm also playing on an intramural coed volleyball team that starts up this week, so i'm excited for that. we're definitely "in it to win it"...i'm hoping to get a t-shirt from this one. ;) anyway, it's as freezing as can be at byu, and i'm thinking it's just going to get colder, so it's a good thing i just got boots! i went to the byu game against eastern washington on saturday (what a blow-out) and thought i was going to die with the blizzard! good thing i was prepared with my huge knit hat and numerous layers of clothing. anyway - i'm still pluggin away here, and hoping to make it through the rest of this semester. i usually love my job, but sometimes the players get the best of me when they complain all the time....the things i do to earn money! j/k. but i'm doing well, and things are good. hope to see you all again soon. especially cami with her pointy tummy! :)

Does this really work???

2007-10-15T15:49:00.001-07:00

Wow - this whole blog thing is so new to me...so I just thought I'd try to post something and see if it works. Provo is awesome, and track is going great. I actually feel like I know how to pole vault now!!! yay. 2008 Olympics, here I come! Anyway, hope you all are doing great. I'm excited to get this thing up and running!