Funny Fridays: Mr. W

My friend on facebook posted this photo with the caption: Damn you, wind. Someone commented on this photo with a link to a video. 

I just love his top hat and his little german accent.

Curse you, Mr. W and your adorable little hat. You seem to come at the most untimely moments. Hopefully this spring, you can enjoy your employment in Germany and just STAY THERE. 

Happy weekend!

The P90X Challenge

My sister got P90X for her birthday in November. We've both wanted to do it, but we just hadn't motivated ourselves yet. Tuesday night after I woke up from a nap Elise asked me if I wanted to join her for a round of P90X. I agreed. We did the second disc of twelve (it is named "Polymetrics"). With the twelve discs, I feel like I won't get bored of it which has always been the issue with my work outs.

Today, I am still sore and it has only been one actual work out. It has been two entire days. I can't go up or down stairs without being in pain. When I sit down, I basically just fall into my chair to avoid straining my poor muscles. It has been an awful experience thus far. But I have some great people that I have talked to about it to keep me going. Everyone tells me that P90X works if you just stick with it and I don't doubt it from the amount of pain I'm feeling.

I know someone who has lost 30 pounds doing it. I know another person, who is tiny to begin with, who has lost 17 pounds and she's on day 60. I am ready to lose the weight and get to a happy size. I'm going to blog about my P90X once a week, every thursday for the 90 days and hopefully, I'll like the results enough to post the before photos... But for now! You'll just have to be happy with the P90X ad photo from Google.

What have you done for your fitness goals? Please share!

90. Go ATVing

Completed: 1 July, 2010
It was a beautiful summer's day, Canada day, to be exact. When I went out to a friend's farm to go ATVing. Unfortunately, I was ill prepared for this adventure. I only knew that we were going there for the day, not that we would be doing all sorts of outdoor activities. So, I wore flip flops. One of my less intelligent decisions. Once I was finished work, my sister's friend, Sarah came to pick me up and off we went to the farm outside of the city.

Once we got there, we were greeted by some other friends who had also come for some fun on the farm. My sister was already there and ATVing her little heart out. Bryan offered to let me go on the dirt bike. Another bad decision. I ended up going through part of the field and wiping out on the pavement. Sarah was obviously in hysterics. Sigh. The life of a klutz. I got up and tried to go at it again... And fell again. After a few more failed attempts, Bryan took me on a ride around the farm in attempts to show me how to ride the bike properly... I still sucked.

After giving up on the dirt bike, I hopped on one of the ATVs. It was probably a million times easier just because balance was taken out of the equation. I also drive a standard car so I found driving the ATV a lot easier. After we were done with ATVing for the day, we went to the beach and watched the fireworks with a bunch of other friends from church. After the fireworks were over we drove back to the farm and sat around the campfire until the wee hours of the morning.

It was one of the most fun days of my summer and I can't wait for this summer to start for a whole bunch of new adventures!

P.S. You can now like my blog on facebook!

The Little Imperfections & A Happy Easter

Happy easter everyone! Welcome to a beautiful weekend of family, friends and love. Love for whoever it may be. Your spouse, your siblings, your parents, your grandparents, whoever you feel a sense of gratitude towards this lovely easter morning.

Today, I'd like to share one of my all time favourite videos. While watching it, think of that significant person in your life. Whether you have found them or you are both still wandering the earth looking for you. Whether you're together this easter or apart. I ask you to literally thank God today for all of the amazing people in your life. I know I have many of them in my life, and I'm so glad that I have my parents as examples of true love in my life. I don't know anyone more in love than my mom and dad. I watched this video with my mom once and we both cried together. I am so blessed and this easter Sunday, I can't help but exclaim it to the whole world. It is not something that I can just keep to myself.

I challenge you all to take a moment to send some love to that person in your life that you're grateful for. Last night, I was watching TV with my mom and just turned to her and just told her that I loved her. This used to be extremely difficult for me, but after many sunday school lessons on telling your parents that you love them, I have the courage to tell them.

Love is meant to be shared.

I want to share one other video today, on the true meaning of Easter. Now I know a lot of people have confused the holiday with the easter bunny, but I am ready to provide some groundbreaking news.

READY?

It's actually about Jesus's resurrection. I just want you all to know, that Christ is the way back to our Heavenly Father. I am so grateful for everything that the gospel is and does for me.

Have a spectacular long weekend and remember the reason for the season!

Funny Fridays: Procrastinators Unite!.. Tomorrow

I am a procrastinator. It's probably my least favourite quality about myself. It always leaves me stressed and anxious. I'm procrastinating as I write this... And I'm sure you're procrastinating as you read this.

Things that I procrastinate:
- Laundry
- Homework
- Chores
- Cleaning my room
- Laundry
- Going to the post office
- Laundry

Click to enlarge.

Happy weekend!

What comes next?

I've come to terms with the fact that I won't be attending university in the fall... But what am I to do now? It seems that it is near impossible for me to find a job that works with my talents or skills, or just a full time job in general. I don't know if I should temporarily give up on the university aspiration and just go to college for Social Work. Perhaps, take more night school courses, summer school courses... I feel like I'm sitting at a crossroads with no map, or guidance.

I don't doubt good things will happen in my life... I'm just wondering what I should be doing to get to the greatness. I know I have potential, but how do I reach it. I feel like I'm being wasted as a human resource. There are so many things that I want to achieve and it feels like there is opposition in every direction.

So, I'm broadcasting to anyone within the realms of facebook, blogger and twitter...


What do you think I should do next? 

P.S. You can ALL comment on the actual blog, just make sure you're not commenting anonymously. Fill in your name before you submit your comment!

A very merry unbirthday!

Yesterday, I finally received the package I've been waiting for for about a week. I opened it immediately after the post man was out of sight.

What was it? Is what you may be wondering.

Well, let me tell you a little story. January 5th is my best friend Brittany's birthday. I didn't go out with her that day, or that week for that matter because I was laying on my couch with a glass of ginger ale and saltine crackers. It was not a fun birthday, let me tell you. I felt like the worst best friend a girl could have, I missed her BIRTHDAY! So I quickly started brainstorming for amazing late birthday gifts. Then a week or so later, I found on my mac that I could make photo books! You drag and drop the photos into place, write some captions and voila! You have a professionally made scrapbook (for half the price!) I was so excited. I went to Brittany's house many times to steal photos from her so that the photos in the book were high quality. She thought I just wanted them so that I could print them for my room, HA!

Her reaction to reading the book was so priceless! :)

Then I wondered what I would put on the cover or in the actual book... 10 things I love about you. HOW GENIUS?! So, in the picture above, you can see that I wrote her a little note just explaining the book. After I had decided on the 10 things I love about you theme, I wondered what I would write. I decided to find quotes that were suitable for all the qualities I admire in my best friend.

A picture of Brittany and the actual book.

After the book had arrived and was opened, I called Brittany and told her that I finally had her birthday present. She was extremely excited and came right after work. I had to force her to wait to open it so I could get a camera. But I guess after our family's trip to Utah, no one charged the cameras... It took forever, so I just let her open it without the camera. We took pictures afterwards though!

These are the quotes that I put with her top 10 qualities. If you don't have a mac, there are plenty of websites that you can do this from.

1. You are beautiful. 

It's beauty that captures your attention; personality which captures your heart.

2. You always try to do the right thing.

God grant me the courage not to give up what I think is right even though I think it is hopeless. - Chester W. Nimitz

3. You have a great sense of humour.

Oops. In my excitement of seeing an attractive person, I forgot it was my reflection.
FALSE ALARM EVERYBODY. - Harry Potter

4. You have good taste in music. 

Music washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life. - Berthold Auerbach

5. You have a great testimony. 

A testimony is not thrust upon you; a testimony grows. We become taller in testimony like we grow taller in physical stature; we hardly know it happens because it comes by growth. - Boyd K. Packer

6. You are ambitious.

 I never had a policy; I have just tried to do my very best each and every day. - Abraham Lincoln

7. You are a good example. 

Someone is watching and that's a fact, someone will copy the way you act, so make this your motto and put it to use, be someone's example and not their excuse. 

8. You are thoughtful. 

A small group of thoughtful people could change the world. Indeed, it's the only thing that ever has. - Margaret Mead

9. You are kind.

Great persons are able to do great kindnesses. - Miguel de Cervantes

10. You are a good friend.

A friend is someone who knows the song in your heart, and can sing it back to you when you have forgotten the words. - Author Unknown  

Make It MAD

As a new blogger, I've found a new joy: blog hunting. I love finding blogs that I enjoy reading. It's like I can jump on my computer and read about someone else's life and all the great things I have to look forward to. As I was stumbling, on stumble upon one day I came across makeitmad. This is probably one of my favourite blogs to read.

Why?

Well, he is a recent convert to Christianity and has totally turned his life around. He's originally from Los Angeles, but he's currently driving across America (did I mention that I love to travel?) He's writing about all of his experiences as he searches to better understand God. How awesome is that? I think the thing that I love most about MAD is that he's so honest with his readers. He doesn't put up a facade about his life. He has a very "this is how it is" way of writing, that I appreciate.

I have found many of his posts to be inspiring and just plain awesome. I hope you all love him as much as I have!

Here are some of my favourite posts by him:
Christians Are Partying Harder and Having Better Sex Than You
A Gentlemen's Guide to Staying Cool in the 21st Century
A Gentlemen's Guide to the 21st Century

Funny Fridays: 9 Deadly Words Used By Women

This is funny because it's true. This post is going out to all my guy friends that I've ever been in an argument with... This is what I was trying to get across. I should probably hire an interpreter. 

When I was reading this, it totally reminded me of my parents. My mom can be a little difficult at times. But thankfully, my dad has figured out this code and knows better than the stray from it. Remember kids, in a world with a 50% divorce rate, there are two words that can save any marriage. "Yes, dear."

Happy weekend!

4. Get a full time job

Completed: June 3, 2010

Our hot uniforms...

I expected this goal to be completed much later on in the 101 process and not the summer immediately after making this list. But my dad came home from work one day mentioning to me that Canada's Wonderland was still hiring lifeguards for the summer. I decided to apply because I thought it would be a fun summer - getting tanned, watching people swim and generally doing absolutely nothing. A nice contrast to my job at Cineplex Odeon where I'd cleaned up popcorn, spilled drink and other miscellaneous body fluids. 

I applied on a Tuesday, had an interview the following Friday and had the job by the end of the interview. Did I mention my brother Colin had applied as well? I had also told one of my friends James to apply as well because I knew he was looking for a job and that he was a lifeguard. We all got the job and decided it would be best to carpool so that we could split gas.

There was training and then working for the first week in a heat wave. It was brutal. People think that lifeguarding is easy. Let me tell you, it wasn't. We had inservice once a week at 8am. To simply be there on time, we had to be out of the house at 6:30am. Then once we got there, we got in the water. Imagine for a moment that you've been up for about an hour and a half driving to work in rush hour traffic, may or may not have had breakfast, walking twenty minutes to your work station and THEN you have to get into the 68 degree water. Not pleasant.

The thing that I loved about wonderland was the people and how many ridiculous things happened on a daily basis. Here are a few of my favourite wonderland memories:

1) I was standing at an in water guarding position once when I noticed something odd going on over at James's guarding station. There were a group of them and one of them were crying. James jumped in and escorted the girl out of the pool. I asked James what had happened when we were on break later that day and he told me that the woman who was 19 years old, had dislocated her toe and needed James to help her out of the pool. James was SO peeved. Because, if you are a lifeguard, you know that your #1 goal of the day is to stay dry as long as possible. He still gets rattled about it to this day.

2) One day, only a few minutes before close, I looked down into the water and saw... a tampon applicator. Yes. That's right. A tampon applicator. Now, you may be wondering what on earth would that be doing in a wavepool? Well, my dears, I still to this day have no clue.

3) Another day, a few minutes before closing, I was sitting next to James, yet again. I never wore a watch while I was guarding because it would give me a nasty watch tan - gross, and it would make the time pass slower. I knew it was almost time to close, so I asked James what time it was. He told me it was 6:55pm. We closed at 7:05pm. I was psyched. A few minutes later, I asked again. He told me it was 7:05pm. Now... No one was closing the pool. So I was getting impatient. Let's get a move on, I want to go home. I asked James again. 7:15pm. By this point, I'm whistling at my supervisor being like "GET A MOVE ON, DUDE. I WANT TO GO HOME." I ask James again, 7:20pm. Now, I'm just pissed. The pool finally closes and I walk up to James and I'm like what the heck was that?! He just laughed and said "It's just 7:05, you have no sense of time!"

4) The final memory that I'll share is when Colin, James and I were sitting in James's car, enjoying Tim Horton's before work. James decided that he was going to throw all of his garbage into the parking lot, instead of leaving it in his car. Little did he know that there were custodians sitting directly in front of us. They walked over to the car and started yelling at us and told us that if we ever did that again that they would take our license plate number to employee services and report us. James looked at them square in the face and said, "Man, littering is just something I don't do. Like that's so wrong. I just don't do that." After the men left, we laughed and on James's last day of work, he saved up his Tim Hortons wrappers for a week and put them all on the group for those custodians to pick up.

The final Splashies! (click to enlarge)

Overall, it was a great summer. I made a ton of money, made a ton of friends and got a flawless farmer's tan that is still apparent today. This summer I think I might work in Ottawa lifeguarding, but who knows what life will bring.

8. Get into university

Completed: May 8, 2010

The Application:
I submitted my university application on December 12, 2009. I was nervous. I had applied to Western, Huron, McMaster and Laurier. My number one school was Western, I wanted to live on the main campus but getting into Huron would have been nice too. I applied a month before the deadline so that I would have lots of time to get any extra-assignments done. It was a fool proof plan, and I was ready to leave high school forever. 

A facebook status update was obviously appropriate for such a momentous occasion!

The Waiting:
This part of the process was definitely the worst. It took me 4-5 months to hear ANYTHING from the universities I had applied to. There were days where I thought that they had not even considered me and that with the look of my name they put my application through the shredder. Other days where I believed that they were holding my acceptance letter from me to watch me squirm.

I went on this website every day... Nothing was different. Ever.

I was beginning to get impatient and antsy by March when other people had started to receive their acceptances. But I was sure I would get in... Somewhere. I was stressed out all the time, and I probably cried once a week. My poor family had to deal with my emotional roller coaster. They were so patient.
Now let me tell you the golden rule:

Grade Twelve + University Applications = Not For The Faint Hearted. 

The Acceptance:
I got accepted to Wilfrid Laurier University on May 8, 2010. I had just got home from a night out with some great, supportive friends. We had even talked about my university application that night. When I got home at about 1am, I did the usual nightly routine: checking my OUAC. I expected it to be the same as it had been for the last couple months. But next to Laurier's application there was a small word. Offer. I had been accepted. I screamed, danced and jumped in my room. It was a tad ridiculous.

I immediately ran into my parents room and shook them awake to tell them the great news. My mom was terrified. I think she may have thought she was being robbed. I have no idea. But I told her with a huge smile on my face, "I GOT ACCEPTED TO UNIVERSITY!" Her response was, "That's great, hunny..." She rolled over and went back to sleep. I ran back to my room, picked up my phone and called my best friend, Dan. He normally would not be awake, but he had been texting me about 2 minutes prior to my discovery. I screamed through the phone. He congratulated me and told me he was proud of me. Probably one of the best feelings ever. I hung up the phone with Dan and proceeded to text about 20 other people. One of my friends told me to come over to his house so we could write a song together... He was definitely a little drunk. It was also 2am at this point. So, I decided against it. I went to sleep that night with a huge smile on my face. I was sleeping on cloud nine that night.

This was after my orientation session in the summer.

I told everyone who would listen about my acceptance. Which made things even more complicated when life's next hurtle was placed before me...

The Rescinding:

I had received a letter in the mail from Wilfrid Laurier about my offer of admission possibly being rescinded because my average was not in fact 70%, as it had to be to meet the conditions of my offer. I later recalculated it to be sitting at a 69.8333333%. If I had had 1% more in any of my four second semester courses, I would have had 70%. The letter had made me nervous, but one of my teachers in high school assured the entire class that those letters didn't mean much, usually if you just called them, they would fix the issue without any delay. So, I procrastinated calling them until after I got home from my summer vacation. When I called them, the lady on the phone told me that the decision would be placed in the hands of my faculty. My heart was in the pit of my stomach. But there was nothing I could do at this point, summer school was over. I was working full time at Wonderland as a lifeguard.

About a week later, I received an e-mail from the university while I was on break at Wonderland. It was titled "Laurier Offer of Admission".

Dear Julie: 

Now that all final grades., including summer school grades, have been received, the Faculty of Arts has determined that there is no space available. As a result they have decided not to waive the minimum final requirement of 70%. Therefore we will be rescinding your Offer of Admission this week. Please respond confirming your receipt and understanding of this email.

Best wishes in your future endeavours,

Laurier Admissions

My offer had been rescinded. It gave me a phone number to call if I had any questions. A later email told me not to come on the move in day that I had been assigned. I didn't know what to do. Which really means, I cried. I called my dad's cell phone and he didn't answer. Brittany had just come home from China a few days before, so I called her. This was the moment that I was probably most grateful for our friendship. She told me everything would be okay, to stop crying because she knew that I was, to get through the rest of my shift and to call her later. I'm pretty sure everyone who walked by me thought I was insane. Crying at work.

After my break was over, I went back to guarding. Luckily, I was on one of the easiest positions because it took everything inside of me not to break down. Every couple of minutes, I could feel the tears coming up. I went home that night, extremely discouraged. My parents were waiting for me when I got home. I got big hugs and words of encouragement. They told me that I didn't need to tell anyone why I wasn't going to school in the fall, I could just say that I'm taking a year off. I decided that that was best. I then called my other best friend, Dan, who I had called when I got the acceptance. He was just as shocked as I was. He too was very supportive.

What Now?
People still ask me why I'm not in university, sometimes I say that I decided to take a year off and to others I tell them this story. I often reflect on all the things I could have done differently to be where I wanted to be right now. But I know that there is nothing I can do now, and I just have to live with the consequences of my actions (or lack thereof). 

Shannon and I at our high school graduation. 

I still count this as accomplishing my goal, because I did get in. I had even picked my courses! I ended up taking a night school course and upgrading my english mark to an 83%. Even though I haven't gone to university, I know that getting an education is the most important thing that anyone can do. So I still plan on going to university... But it's not going to be done at Wilfrid Laurier University.

The Power of Words

I saw this this morning and it actually made me so happy. Little videos like these remind me that there are still good people in this world. The next time I walk by a homeless person downtown, I think I'll buy them lunch or give them some money. I don't know... I just feel so bad and I know that everyone can turn things around no matter how far down the wrong path they've gone. This just illustrates what a difference 5 minutes of your time can make.

Have you had any interesting experiences while doing a kind deed for someone?

Day 8: Seeing The Prophet & Apostles

Let me just say, this was the most unexpected and exciting part of my trip. Today we were a little on the late side of getting ready, but still a decent time. We got to the temple and mom realized that she forgot her recommend. For anyone who is not a member of my church, to go inside this building, you have to be interviewed by a local leader who will ask you a series of questions in regards to your activity in the church, your faith, etc. before you can go inside the temple. Why? Because it is such a sacred place that only worthy members of our faith can go inside. Luckily for my family, we have the opportunity to all go inside together. But without that slip of paper, mom was not going to be able to go in. Mom and I had to go to the other entrance of the temple. If you've never been inside the Salt Lake City temple, it's on the complete opposite end of the building. We then had to wait for a gentlemen to call our Bishop or a member of the Stake Presidency. He called and Mom was approved and we walked all the way back.

There was a huge line up at the baptistry. Which was out of the ordinary, Salt Lake City temple is usually very, VERY quick. Then after my mom and I had received our jumpsuits, we were ready to go across the hall to go get changed. That is when one of the volunteers told us that we had to wait. We were confused. The change room was right across the hall... No one was going across. I was confused. But we stood there, waiting for whatever reason. Then one of the gentlemen told us that the prophet and his counsellors and some of the Quorum of the Twelve were coming down from their meeting that they hold on Thursdays. (Mental Note: Only go to Salt Lake City temple on Thursday mornings.) I was beyond excited. I was ill-prepared. I was beyond giddy and they hadn't even come yet.

Then I heard them talking in the hall, and they came around the corner. I couldn't even believe it. It was like I was imagining this - it was that surreal. Then Monson piped up and said: "Guys, conference is over!" We all laughed. He then asked is anyone there spoke German or Spanish. I replied (yes, I spoke to the prophet.) "Français?" To which he said, "Oh no, there's too much romance in that language." Then he waved and went on. A man in the group thanked them for his mission call to a Deutsch speaking mission. Then after the First Presidency was gone, the apostles started walking by. The ones that I saw were D. Todd Christofferson, Richard G. Scott and M. Russell Ballard.

It was so amazing and I can still hardly believe it happened. After being in the temple, we went to tour the conference centre and our tour guide was awesome. As always! He talked to us about scouting, the First Vision and a lot of other fun facts about the building. Did you know that they had been talking about building a new Conference Centre to replace the Tabernacle for about 50 years before they broke ground? I thought that was really interesting!

Then my mom really wanted to go to Welfare Square... Honestly. It was boring. We might have gone at the wrong time. I honestly don't know. I was always disappointed when I didn't go to see it when I went before but it really wasn't that interesting. Did I miss something? Did you see something more interesting there?

After that, we went to Deseret Book and I got some great books, CDs and other souvenirs for friends back home. I'm really excited to give it to them too! I know they'll love it. I got my sister some more stuff, and Brittany some great stuff too. I'm ready to be heading home tomorrow, it's been a great vacation. It was replenishing both spiritually and physically. I got to sleep in and hear the prophet and apostles speak. I can honestly say that packing was a bitter sweet moment.

Day 7: Sales, Embryos & Embarrassing Sunburns.

Mom finally bought some clothes! Such a great successful day! But lets start from the very beginning... A very good place to start.

We had another lazy morning yesterday. I got up extremely early, 6:30am, because my face was killing me! Every time I rolled over in my bed, put my face on my pillow or just moved in general, my face hurt. It was awful. Then when I finally accepted the fact that I wasn't getting any more sleep, I went downstairs to hang out with my parents. Once I had had breakfast, I went to get ready... And put on a tone of make up to cover up my sunburn as best as I could. I was really embarrassed and didn't really want to leave the house. We then decided that today was Provo Day. We were going to go shopping, pop by the BYU bookstore, do a drive by of the MTC and go to the Provo Temple to get some pictures. I also had some friends in Provo that I wanted to visit. After our lazy morning, however, we didn't get out of the house until 11:30am.

It was only Colin, Mom, Dad and I today. Andre was feeling better and Daniel had an awful sunburn - his face was actually swollen. So they were ready to spend the day in the apartment and play Andre's new xbox 360. The younger boys were all set up for a day of gaming and we went off into town. We stopped at the Missionary Mall and picked up some ties and shirts for the boys. Mom and I went to the Sister Missionary Mall, she was being extremely difficult. In her defence, the clothes there were not as nice as I would have liked either. But we left with a gorgeous lace, brown skirt. Other than that, the store was a bust.

We then decided to go to Coney's Frozen Custard. The funny thing about this was that mom was saying how much she hated custard as we were walking to the Sister Missionary Mall. That it was always inconsistent and there were little chunks in it... Well, let me tell you. She loved frozen custard. It was smooth and much much better than ice cream. Dad and Colin split a chilli dog and a peanut butter sundae. Mom and I got a turtle pecan sundae which was SO delicious. I definitely love frozen custard. It was love at first bite. The first bite was in Nauvoo on a hot summer's day, after a long day of touring and learning. It was amazing and definitely cooled me off. Nauvoo is not only hot, but humid. It's sweaty and sticky and awful. It's more humid than Toronto - that's super humid, if you ask me.

Once that was finished, we decided it was time to head to BYU. But on our way there, I saw the store Nordstrom that was recommended to me by not one, but two people back home. I told dad to let us go in. Mom and I went in and it's about the size of a Sears or The Bay... But so much nicer! The service there was amazing and it was actually just classy. I was so impressed. My mom had so much success. She found another skirt, three shirts, a dress, a cardigan, a coat and a swimsuit! It was definitely a shopping spree and if you know my mom, you know that she hates shopping. She's picky and gets discouraged when she doesn't find everything she wants in the first store we go into. Obviously this store was a great success. The dress that she bought is going to be worn at a wedding that's coming up in a few months. Now, when I zipped her up and she turned around we were both in shock. She looked amazing. I'm really excited for her to wear it out! She's going to look so good. Her swimsuit also looked great, basically everything she found looked amazing. I'm so excited for her, because she never spends money on clothes for herself.

After that, Colin came to find us because there was a 50% off sale at Aeropostale that he wanted to go to. He got so much new clothes. Shirts, shorts - preparing for summer. I wanted to get some stuff for myself but the shirts just weren't fitting right. Then we went to another store for Colin where I found an extremely cute necklace. I was bored though, none of the clothes there suited me. I went off to Forever XXI and looked around. Again, nothing that suited me. It was just not my day for shopping. Finally, I found my parents and Colin on the way into American Eagle. I finally found a pair of pants that I liked!

After that, I went off to my friend Josh's party. It was an embryo party. Yes, that's right. An embryo party. We watched the movie Embryo. I asked when it was made and Josh said 2007... Liars go to hell, Josh. It was probably made around the same time as The Sound of Music. It was kind of an odd movie. Then Noelle got to the party, a friend from EFY that I have kept in touch with over the years. She brought me my pillow that I left at her residence room after staying there a night back in October. She took good care of it while it was there. It even matched her bed spread. We talked a bit, enjoyed some tasty jell-o embryos and fetuses. Just as we sat down to enjoy the movie, my dad texted me telling me that the party was over and I had to leave. I got a photo with them before I left for the second time in 6 months. Just as I was leaving, Josh looked at the photo and said "you look like a raccoon." That is what made me not want to leave the house this morning. I knew Josh would make fun of my stupid sunburn. And I told him I knew he would. We laughed, hugged and Noelle and I left. We took her back to her residence on the BYU Campus. She needed to call someone to find out the address of her residence. It was Brent! Another member of our EFY group! I said a quick hello and a quick goodbye. I also told him to have a great mission and that I'd see him, eventually, after he got home. When I said that he was like "Wow, that's scary!"

The baby fetuses that Josh so kindly made for us... A little weird to eat. Can't lie. 

After I left my friends, I got back in the car and headed home with my parents and Colin. We got home late at night and I was TIRED. Mom showed off her purchases to the rest of the family, and I tried on my new spanx. Then I got into my pyjamas and crashed in my mom's bed. No blogging was done last night. This morning we're going to do everything on Temple Square. It's going to be a busy day.

Day 6: A Slippery Slope

I woke up at about 7am today. I never get up at 7am. Ever. I stay up late and wake up late. It's just how I like to work. So I stumbled into the shower and got ready for skiing... which really means got back into my pyjamas. I got into the car after checking to make sure that my gear wasn't moved after yesterday's disappointments. However my brother's did not do the same and we had to go back to the house to discover that Colin's hat and mitts were still in the car.

So frustrating.

We drove to the mountain and found that the road the GPS suggested we take is closed during the winter. Yay! So we got to turn around and go all the way around the mountain...

So frustrating.

Did I mention I was frustrated when I got to the mountain? Andre was still sick. My parents thought it would be best for him to come along so that he could join us, if he felt better later on in the day. He ended up staying in the car all day. Poor kid. He started feeling a little better when we got home today after having some ginger ale. Ginger ale is heaven's blessing for sick people. I'm convinced. I was sick about a month ago and I'm pretty sure that's all I drank. All I ate was saltine crackers. Best diet.

Once we got to the mountain, it was just unbelievable. It was so beautiful, no pictures could ever do it justice. But I did try to get some good ones. It was also remarkably warm. There was so much snow and it was such mild weather. Mind boggling. When I go skiing at home for an hour, I'm freezing and that's only on a little hill! I had my jacket unzipped and had to ditch my scarf. I almost left my coat in the car too, but I didn't want to fall and get all wet.

Some of the highlights of the day:
Click to enlarge any photos.
- Going down the first slope and watching Colin do somersaults and landing flat on his face.

This isn't this specific incident, but he did fall here. it works.

- Colin trying to go pee on the edge of one of our runs and falling into the ditch. I was laughing so hard and had to go pee so badly that I had to dance around a bit to avoid peeing myself.

Yepp, that yellow snow is pee. 

- The views. Oh my gosh. If you ever get the chance to ski or snowboard in Utah. DO IT!

It's so much better in person, but this photo is nice!

- Daniel standing on the edge of a double black diamond to get pictures. I was having a heart attack. "STAY AWAY FROM THE EDGE!" Honestly, it looked like if he fell backwards, he would have fallen into the pits of hell. That is how steep this slope was.

Can you see why I was freaking out?

- My mom snatching my camera out of my hands when we were on the lift. I almost cried. I was being so careful. She was not allowed to hold the camera without having the strap around her wrist. AND SHE JUST TOOK IT! It was awful. But after realizing that my precious camera was not plummeting to its icy death, I was okay.

I was freaking out.

- Going to get groceries with my mom. P.S. No Philadelphia cream cheese dips here... Disappointing. I was craving so hard.

None of this... :(

- Getting a fresh, classic Wonderland sunburn, in April... Sunglasses lines all over my face. I'm so embarrassed.

- Taking pictures with Colin in front of those giant snow banks I mentioned yesterday.

We had lunch in the cafeteria and it was surprisingly busy because when you're skiing you might see like 3 other people. It's so great! We got some chicken tenders, onion rings and french fries - meal for champions, right? I also had some problems with my ski boots. They were too tight and were cutting off the circulation. I went up the lift after the first run and after adjusting them once already, in absolute PAIN. It hurt so much. I am not someone who gets shin splints or cramping in general. I hated my life for about 10 minutes (not exaggerating) while I went up the lift. Once I got to the top, I popped off my skis and a nice guy heard me complaining and told me to undo all of my bindings and loosen them all. That being fixed, I enjoyed the rest of my day skiing.

I also got some one on one time with my dad when my mom and brothers decided to go down a black diamond. My exact words were... Hell. No. So we took a blue down to the lift and waited for them to come down. It felt like a year ago and we were in Utah again together. Just some daddy-daughter time. I actually love my dad. He gets me. I'm a daddy's girl. What can I say? Hanging out with him was a good time. I also got some really great pictures of him. I may hack into his facebook and make it his profile picture without him knowing. I've done it for my mother before.

After skiing, we went to go pick up some sick people food for Andre. My dad went into the store and everyone else waited outside. When he came out he had bought himself a bottle of pop. He sat in the front seat next to me and opened it. It sprayed all over him. It looked like he had peed himself. So my mom and I hopped out of the car and took a picture with him.

She should buy a shirt that says "I'm with stupid"

Anyways, I'm dying. My knees are killing me, my face is so hot and sensitive and my right quad was cramping up after avoiding an edge from the very top of the mountain. The slopes were slippery and had much MUCH longer runs than my Toronto born-and-raised self is used to. It was totally worth it, by the way.