Keep on smiling.

I love being home. [Mainly because there's real food, free laundry, and my family.] Also because I get sushi dinners. For Emily's birthday, she wanted to have sushi for dinner and ride FrontRunner into Salt Lake, so that's exactly what we did. Six sushi rolls, a mango salad, and japanese ice cream balls later, we rode frontrunner to City Creek and then looked at the lights at Temple Square. 

[This was BEFORE Aubrey needed new pants, and my mom had to run with her across the parking lot and into Gordman's to accomodate.]

With a building this pretty, it really makes you wonder why people would want to get married anywhere else. Seriously. And even with what seemed like a million and a half people swarming Temple Square, the lights were incredible as usual, and the temple looked spectacular. 

We watched a...happy couple for a good five minutes, and then tried to take a picture of them. You can barely see them in the background, but the best part of the picture has got to be Emi's face. Pure luck that we caught that on camera, folks. 

After being in Logan by myself for two days, I came home right after work on Tuesday night. And decided to see the Hobbit with my family and the Jason and Bentley. [Maybe I'm just a hater, but I have never been more bored in a movie in my whole life. Seriously. And the fact it's only the first of three movies the same length...kind of makes me want to poke my eyes out. In other words, thought I might be a LOTR fan...not so much. The end.] The fact that the movie was in 3D meant a tool-time picture in the mirror was only to be expected. 

Seeing a three hour movie at 10:20 pm, does nothing good when you have to be up at six thirty the next morning. Yesterday was Bronson's birthday, so Bronson, Jon, Paige, Jackson, Jared, Kambria and I went snowboarding/skiing at Brighton all day long. After not being on a snowboard in two years, I spent a fair amount of time either flat on my butt or on my face. And I'm sore enough today to make sure I'm not doing that again for a litte while. But I got to spend all day with my best friends, and then we went to the Davis Viewmont hockey game too. [Which was probably the weirdest thing...sitting next to Bronson and Dylan when I'm used to watching them play. Good news though, we still lost. And Bronson predicted the score perfectly, right down to who would score how many goals.] Needless to say, yesterday was fantastic, and it was the perfect way to spend the last birthday for two years with my best friend. Happy Birthday, kid. :)

Every last disguise.

Three hours worth of Connections is a much better idea than six hours. Final convocation? Surprisingly interesting. And we're done! To celebrate, we went shopping. 

[Side story: This morning while I was walking to class, I got a text from my dad that said, "When you crawl out of bed miss 2 am blogger you'll find I put some money in your checking account. Go and buy yourself a first day of school outfit. Love m & d." Basically, it made my whole day better, and it gave me something to look forward to all day long. My parents are cooler than yours, I promise. And I love mine, a whole lot.] Emi, Kenzie and I went to the D.I. to try and find rugs for our apartment, but then we realized that would be gross. So we moved to Ross. And came home with three bags worth of clothes, but nothing for the dorm. Oh well. 

Dallin and his roommates had us come check out their "sweet" decor, and their brilliant stadium seating. Emi despises the word snuggle, so we dubbed the upper level of the couch the "snuggling couch." She and Dallin then pretended to re-enact a snuggle sesh. [I'm done saying that word forever now. It's seriously nasty. And no, there was no real snuggling going on. We did however steal some Gatorades from Vince. He's great.]

We like Twitter, and think we're more funny than we actually are. But this tweet was priceless. Especially because it's true. Singles wards/Institute scare me. Too many people my age and not enough noise. Weird. 

Max spent a majority of the evening attempting to "figure out every aspect of his life" on our kitchen counter. He didn't move while we cooked our dinner, cleaned our fish bowl, or hooked up our T.V. He's not good for much else anyway. [Just kidding. He helps us move in and offers us the service of his roommates whenever we need it.]

For graduation, I [meaning my mom] got Emi a "Crustache."  Today for lunch, she finally had the chance to use it. Really, it's probably the coolest kitchen supply we have. 

These are our fish, Frank and Flo. At one point they were a really pretty gold, but now they're more of a sick pasty white hue. It's not very pleasant actually, but we cleaned their bowl and gave them fresh water and we hope they survive the first week of school. Cross your fingers. 

My roommates are cuter than yours. And sometimes, our outfits coordinate enough that we could take family pictures if needs be. [Lauren coordinated too, she was just buying her laptop at the time and missed our tool time shot.] Really though, I lucked out on roommates. These girls make me laugh, and they think I'm funny, which doesn't happen often. We're all so different, but we get along wonderfully. [Unless you bring up the boys from 402, and that's another story entirely.] We've survived a week, and I'm sure we'll make it the rest of the year, as long as we can all get our laundry done and remember that throwing quesadillas is never a good idea. 

The institute activity was at the Eccles Ice Arena tonight, and even though I didn't get to skate--200 something pairs of skates and upwards of 700 people doesn't end well for a vast majority of the 18+ LDS community in Logan. But hey, we got free pizza.--I did get super excited for the hockey games. Kenzie and Adrienne thought the rink was freezing, but I was just so excited to be by ice again I could barely handle it. 

After the Institute activity, we went to Wal-Mart to see if we could find the cable whose absence was making our lives slightly less exciting. We found said cable, hooked up our TV, and now have access to a bazillion channels and can watch Psych, Modern Family, and TLCCCCCCCC. [The excitement was very well expressed, believe me.] We attempted to watch Hunger Games with Mitch and Josh and their crew, but resorted to our place again.] After a movie, mini golf through our stools, and a week full of change, we all crashed--hard.

Good thing church is at 11 tomorrow instead of 9, right? 

Almost there, just one more second.

While doing my usual pre-bedtime blog stalk, I read Maddy's blog. (Check it out here, if you don't already.) And she made this list of high school memories. Seeing as we have less than a week of school left before we hit the "real world," I figured it was only fitting for me to do the same. Here's a list of the good, the bad, and the ugly.
I Remember:
1. That first day of high school, walking in feeling like I was completely lost. But so proud of my tan--recently acquired in Oregon, and my newly dyed hair. I had my priorities straight?
2. Helping Maddy do her hair for Homecoming sophomore year, and knowing that it would be a whole year until I could go to a dance was awful. BUT. That marked the first time we all got ready together.
3. AP World History just about killed me, and I remember feeling like the biggest idiot in that class, and in math. Not a good year for academics, other than English. Photography was also eye-opening. I think Anna and I did more in Photoshop than anybody else that year.
4. I remember taking Intro that year with Kelsey and feeling so cool that I had Terri for two whole class periods.
5. I remember taking family pictures November 20, and then randomly getting a text from Bronson, who I hadn't spoken to since the last day of ninth grade. He invited me over to his house, and I was the ONLY Davis person there. That was the first time I met Jared, Sam, Jackson, and all those kids. It also was the beginning of a long string of events.
6. I remember talking to Bronson two days after Christmas, and asking him how his family vacation was going, and being surprised when he told me he was coming home early. Why? "To say goodbye to Brian." I stayed up later that night talking to him than I ever had before.
7. New Years Eve sophomore year was the best one yet. Huge party at Hannah's, and everyone got together that night. The musical revue that next week was great, and watching Brian Regan at Bronson's house after was the first time of many. Poor Carla. Only one there without a boy.
8. I remember crashing Jessie Reid's birthday party at Flip's to bring cookies to everyone, and then leaving and documenting the entire adventure on camera.
9. I remember voice lessons with Karen Stephens trying to get ready for Musical Productions auditions, and being scared out of my mind for weeks.
10. I remember Emi and Bronson studying with me the night before my grandma died, and the bouquet of flowers that made everyone jealous.
11. I remember being at a family dinner, and preparing for the funeral when the Musical Productions list was posted, and being so stressed over telling my mom that I didn't make it, on top of everything else.
12. AP World Test. First of way too many, and being so scared I wouldn't pass. I did. :)
13. Sleeping over at my grandpa's with Emi the night before we went boating with everyone, and talking about purple roses and unicorns and asians. Then Maddy being stressed the next day because we were late to the party.
14. My 16th birthday party, and Megan running into Candace's car in her driveway. My first date, and Megan, Jared, and Bronson singing to me over cupcakes and a camp fire.
15. The Junior Committee parade float, and the picture we took that is quite literally the epitome of summer.
16. I remember my first day of junior year, feeling like I finally knew what I was doing...then getting to calc and AP bio, and regretting everything.
17. Homecoming, both Viewmont's and Davis'. Joy Luck, and lighting the table on fire at Jorgen's. Tearing the sleeve of my dress, and being the only one in my Viewmont group in a non-neutral. Pictures, both times.
18. HALLOWEEN. Go big or go home, and Joe's editing of Taylor Swift in the car. Epic face paint.
19. Christmas, and the scavenger hunt Jackson sent me on to answer. Revenge is sweet?
20. New Year's. Helping at the Kaysville City party with Emi and Dallin, and then hanging out at Annie's. Most awkward experience of my life.
21. Going to see HP 6 Part I with Annie, Jared, Sam, Emileah and Jackson. The snowball fight in the parking lot after, and Jared freaking out that a girl was in the car.
22. Viewmont-Murray hockey game, and driving with Emi and Annie in the middle of a blizzard. The phone call with Bronson on the way home, and the texts later that made everything okay again.
23. Sleeping over at Emi's while my family was in Oregon. BYU basketball game, and escorting for Mr. Dart, with six other girls.
24. Anaheim with D-TV. Winning best in show for layout, meeting the Ling sisters, Disneyland, the Tower of Terror 12 times, and calling Emi the second she got home from prom.
25. Crashing Viewmont's prom, and trying so hard to keep it a secret from everyone. The look on Morgan's face when she saw us, and the way she almost started crying. Dancing until we were bruised, and Danny leading the mosh pit during Sandstorm. Dancing in the fountain, and awkwardly running into Mal and Bronson when they walked to their car. Going out at 2:30 a.m. because my parents wanted me to tell the boys to leave, since they were still talking in the driveway.
26. Kyle's 18th birthday, and the list we made on postits. Hiding with Emi and Braxton in the neighbor's driveway, and nerf wars in his circle.
27. Girls' State with my best friends, and rooming with 3 complete strangers. Discovering that I hate politics, and trying to figure out where on earth half the girls were from.
28. Ragnar. And running Ragnar hill/hell. Jumping in East Canyon when it was 42 degrees.
29. Lake Powell. No cell phone service for a week, and sleeping outside under the stars every single night. Coming home the day before my birthday, and having my best friends in my driveway the next night. And coming home to the AP results...failing AP Biology.
30. Relationship counseling sessions with Braxton and Spencer on my hammock.
31. Starting senior year, in a totally new position, and spending time with Davis friends. Homecoming with my best friend of 11 years, and the biggest group known to man. Seeing all the Viewmont kids while we were at dinner, and the conversations that ensued.
32. Halloween, Christmas, Sadie's. All with my friends and the largest groups in the world.
33. First prom, with my favorite ginger. Driving in the corvette and watching How to Train Your Dragon afterwards.
34. The stress of D-TV. Figuring out who did what, and finally settling into a rhythm, in April.
35. The relief of finishing my last AP test.

Chronologically speaking, those are the most prominent memories, but I could go on for days really. The real point is though, that high school is almost over; and we're leaving behind the most influential time of our lives. We're so close to the real world that we can almost taste it, and the future is close enough to touch.
It's going to be a long five days before we can say we're through, but it'll come faster than we expect. And then? We're off.

What I wouldn't give.

I don't know if anyone understands the true significance of this picture, but it seriously breaks my heart and makes everything right in the world all at the same time. 17 may be my favorite number, but numbers 12 and 57 will always, always, be special.

Those two boys right there have been my world since I was five-ish. First crush, first love, first date, first bf, first heartbreak. All summed up in those two boys.

Tonight was just another one of those wake-up calls that I really am growing up, and everything is changing. When I watched these boys play against each other for the first time three years ago, I would have laughed if you told me how things would be now. But change happens, and life throws you curveballs. Roll with it.

I do want to explain this picture a little more though. Those boys right there are the two people who have changed me more than any other human beings on this planet. They've saved me from myself more times than I can count, and I'd like to say I've been there for them as well. Dylan taught me from the time I was super little that I belonged cheering at a hockey rink, and not on the sidelines of a football field. Some people despise the potency of the rec center ice rink, but for some of us, it's almost too familiar. I can't name many of the NHL players, or even the teams, but I can tell you just about everything about these two boys, their teams, and their respective stats. I may not have been the best attendee, but I've never missed hearing about a game. I can't stand watching them get hit, and I scream louder than their families when they score. I yell at the refs when they get called for something stupid. I've waited for them in the lobby of the rec center for more time than I care to count, and no matter what they do, I will never get used to the smell of hockey pads.

This year, these boys are both captains of their respective teams. And tonight, I watched them play in their final games for those teams. Both were selected to play on the All-Star team, and there was not a crisis in this world that could have kept me from being there. Watching them play alongside each other, even if it was for different teams, made me more proud than I ever have been. And seeing them circle up for the last face-off literally made me cry. They faced off for the last time, and a chapter of our lives closed. In different ways of course, but a piece of us ended right there.

I shouldn't be so sentimental about a hockey game, but there's more meaning in that picture than I could ever begin to describe. So I'll leave it at this: I don't know if I can say I've been changed for the better. But, because I knew them? I know I have been changed for good.

Weird fetishes and bizarre obsessions.

Last night, Viewmont played Judge Memorial.

They lost.

(Good game though boys. It was close.)

But that's beside the point. The real story is how I introduced a ginger friend of mine to hockey,

although I don't know how we were even friends before since he'd never been to a game.

Caleb-the traitor, Spencer-the ginger, and me-the, well, me; were the only Davis kids on the Viewmont side. Everyone else was cheering for judge.
But as I so kindly reminded my dad before leaving, I may go to Davis, but Viewmont hockey is the only team worth cheering for.

I have a home-team loyalty problem.

I have also gotten over that fact.

In a related note, the Viewmont Girls' Lacrosse team, varsity style of course, is due to play us Davis Girls' the third week of March.

Let's just say we took conditioning seriously after we heard that. I've never run stairs so hard in my life. And our planks? Actually looked like planks.

It's amazing what the thought of losing to your rivals can do.

Thought of the day: Don't lose. Because it sucks.