Going Back to Callie

Playing Catch Up

2010-01-31T13:11:00.000-08:00

Happenings since my last post... :)

Saw my awesome sisters and Chris in Vegas.

Moved back to Utah for my last semester of College and I Graduated too!!!

I live in an awesome house with awesome girls who have become some of my best friends.

We like to go out and party from time to time!

Or stay in, dress up (for Halloween) and throw our own parties.

Did a photo shoot with Amy in November for fun!

I have been home to visit a few times!

Had an awesome New Years!

Started Full Time at PLAID.

Almost broke my back at a tumbling gym... it was bad news but luckily I just sprained my back and didn't end up paralyzed. I don't have any pictures of this... I mean having a neck brace on in an ambulance on my way to the ER isn't really an image I would like to capture. haha It ended up being a good life lesson and I actually made some really great friends out of the experience too.

My Gorgeous sister is going to have a baby!!! Due May 8th... I cant wait to be an Auntie...

Life definitely doesn't turn out the way I expect... it actually turns out better :) More to come...

Here I go again :)

2009-07-26T14:06:00.000-07:00

Once again. my life has completely surprised me. So many changes. So many trials and bumps in the road. So many blessings and happy times. Things have definitely once again, not turned out at all the way I planned.

I have always been the girl with a plan. Where I was going in life, where I was living, what I would be doing, who it would be with, and what would be the next steps ahead. This is truly the first time in my life where I really don't have a plan after the end of this year. I will go back to school September and finish up my last semester at BYU by December. After that it is all up for grabs.

Its exciting , yet sort of frightening. Where will I go? What will I do? With who? How? and Why? I have several options! I could stay in Utah until Summer and then come back to Arizona to sell pest control (where I am right now). I could just stay in Utah or I could move back to California. I could move to the East Coast if I wanted to. I could get an MBA- but where? I could go on a mission. I could find someone I want to spend the rest of my life with. I could be single for the rest of my life! I have NO IDEA what to expect!!! Its nuts! But once again, I rely on my two favorite words... "Its Okay".

I have finally realized that I must not be doing so bad because I have come a long way. I have learned so much and have been blessed with so much. I work really hard. Im almost a college grad. I have a brand new car! I have awesome friends... both new and old, that I would do anything for. My family is incredible. Even though we have our differences and don't always get along perfectly, we got each others backs. Last but not least, I have the gospel in my life, which I have no idea where I would be without it.

I may not have everything figured out for the future, but I think I can handle just taking things as they come because the future looks bright. Im excited for new adventures, new opportunities, and more chances and changes that will help me grow!!!

And just for the record, this is what I have been up to since April!!!

NEW JOB- Great Western Pest Control Sales Rep in Queen Creek AZ. Im the only girl on the team but who the freak cares! Its a great opportunity that is super challenging and super rewarding!!!

I have some of the greatest new friends!!!! I love them all dearly! I wish I could take them back to Utah with me!!!

Me and "my single LADIES"!!!

I got rid of my P.O.S. clunker VW ( that I actually had some good memories in and I will miss it alittle bit) and got a SWEET DEAL on a BRAND NEW CAR!

Yep, life is good :)

A TRIBUTE TO RICKY, the greatest character I know

2009-01-27T23:43:00.000-08:00

Last week, I lost one of the best people I ever knew. For 21 years, I had the privilege of spending time with him and his family, who not only made my childhood so much fun, but also shaped me into the person I am today. Ricky gave me so many memories I will never forget.

Just a few things I remember about him and our time together:

Walking two houses over to jump on Ricky's bed and play video games, board games, watch movies and even play with his puppet Lamb-Chops

Tea parties on my kitchen floor and the "potions" we would make together

POW POW POWER Wheels... when he'd come over in his or I'd pick him up in mine

Trips to Turtle Park

The time the fire happened at his La Cuesta house. We were terrified at first, but then we couldn't stop laughing about it for days

My cool, older friend who let me help him pass out stickers and flyers when he ran for VP of Valencia Elementary

His ramp and straps in his many vans that made our car rides eventful

The time we held onto each other oh so tight in the van when Sharon taught Stephanie, Carrie, Cassie and Shalaine how to drive in the church parking lot. After Stephanie rolled over the curb, Ricky and I prayed for safety the rest of the time... especially when Shalaine ran into the light post!

How much he loved anything and everything that was red and yellow

Going to the movies... Oh I couldn't tell you how many movies we saw together

He taught me how to play pool with our hands instead of pool sticks. Every time I would be close to winning, he would purposely hit my fingers with the ball he was using, just to remind me that he should really be the one to win.

How he always said, "COOL" and "YEAH" so enthusiastically

How we played Battle Toads, Mario Party, Power Rangers, and Mario Kart all of the time... he always kicked my trash too!

His grumbly little laugh

Our Power Ranger obsession and his awesome birthday party

Watching I Love Lucy till we could hardly keep our eyes open

His favorite church song, "Angels We Have Heard on High" and how he would belt out the "GLORIA" part with all his might

His stern hand shakes and high fives

The scar I have on my knee from his wheel chair

The way he always managed to run over my toes every time I saw him

My mischievous partner in crime that used to help me stuff and lock

his nurse, Arnold, into his closet

Going to Patty's ( his nurse's) house and laughing about her stinky smelly bull dog together

Spending time with his favorite nurse Kim.

He loved listening to his nurse Janet play the harp in his bedroom

Eating at Ruby's on the pier together

How he used to let me ride on the back of his wheel chair with him, until Clyde bit my butt. We kind of stopped that tradition after that accident

Balboa Island Weekends and Trips... Times in the arcade and strolls around the neighborhood with him and Doug and their whoopie cushion pranks

His silly jokes that made him laugh more than anyone else

Selling Lemonade on the street corner in Nellie Gail and making bank! haha

His red wheel chair zooming around the corner at church

Feeling so cool that we got to go in the church elevator together

The times he used to fling his wadded-up napkins full of spit and Pringles at people and laugh about it

How much he loved going to Chucky Cheeses... because of the video games and the cheese pizza of course

How excited he would get every time he got to tell me he'd be the uncle of another niece or nephew

The way he talked about his mom

He loved anything and everything with cheese

(especially cheese and ketchup, probably because they are yellow and red)

The time we put a plastic rat in the fridge to scare Stephanie when she opened it. Man did she scream and man did we laugh about that forever

How frustrated he would get with Bonnie and Clyde and then Smokey and Clyde... and all the silly tricks he would play on them and then laugh about 'em.

The face he would make whenever he was trying to win at arm wrestling or trying to open something.

Eating at Fat Burger every time he came to visit

Going to the zoo together

The times he played the role of my "protector, advisor and father-figure"

The time he pee-d on me and everyone in the world heard about it and would never let me live it down. That story will be passed on for generations I'm sure

The cute little text messages he used to send me

His tight bear hugs

How much he loved the Beatles

How bright and intelligent he was

How determined he was to make a difference

The best prom date I could have ever imagined

Going to the movies after prom and talking about how hot it was at 2 in the morning in Palm Springs

Our late-night Spa trips in Palm Springs. We'd look up and try and count the stars while sitting in the hot tub with his mom and Doug

When he'd let me sit on his lap and spin me around at dances for the slow songs

He was one heck of a bowler

How he was there for anyone who ever needed him

My cruising buddy that used to sing N*sync songs with me in the car

How good of an example he was to everyone he came in contact with

How much he spiced up life

His courageous spirit and "winner" attitude

Someone I always looked up to

His BIG Heart and BIG Smile

NOBODY means to me what RICKY means to me...

Even though its hard to imagine life without him, I'm so glad that he can walk and run and jump and be with his mom, who he loved more than anyone on earth, and with his Heavenly Father. I hope he can eat as much cheese pizza and as many Pringles as he wants too! I know that he feels NO MORE PAIN, only happiness and joy and that is all I could ask for Ricky.

He was my Rickster, my Ricky, my Richard ( even though he hated when I called him that), my Ree-hendro, my Ree-man, my Rick, my Ricker, and my best friend and will always be. I LOVE YOU RICKY!

This is not good-bye; rather I'll see ya later!!! :)

I think I killed grown up Bambi

2009-01-26T20:24:00.000-08:00

So have you ever wondered what its like to hit a deer? Wonder no more.
Let me tell you, its nuts! Last Wednesday night, I went to a Party with Kaisha in Park City.
The party was great, but the ride home... not so great. At about 2 in the morning, we were heading east on UT-40 towards Heber, going about 55/60 miles an hour ( the speed limit) when all of the sudden out of no where, a giant buck bigger than my car ( like bambi on steroids) was crossing my lane! I had two seconds to respond and 3 options...

option 1: swerve, and try to avoid the deer, but probably kill us...

option 2:hit the front of the deer, but if it tried to jump the whole deer would hit my car, making it again possible for us to die...

good ol' option 3: hit the butt of the deer ( like Jacie taught me) and do more damage to the deer instead of us...

I picked the option behind door number 3 and nailed the deer! After being hit by my car, it flew up in the air and to the right like a stuffed toy. I could hardly believe what had happened.

Because I was in shock, I screamed, said more than a few words I should have, and kept driving for about a mile down the road to the nearest gas station. I didnt know what to do! I'd never hit a deer before! It was completely out of my control. As I drove that never ending mile, the check engine light came on, and the temperature gage blinked and blinked and beeped at me forever, while Kaisha and I both freaked out and laughed and then freaked out some more. I couldnt believe what had happened...

When we pulled over, we found that the deer had gotten pretty good revenge on my car...

Description of the Damage:

Busted Radiator: A huge hole in it, causing all the antifreeze to leak out from my car- so basically it is no longer drive-able unless I wanted to bust the engine... no deal.

Scratched and ripped up bumper: from the pictures you cant tell, but it didn't look to hot.

Bent up hood: Looks like a big 600 lbs fat woman sat on the front of my car... not to mention it was impossible to open so who knows about what the damage is like under the hood.

Broken headlights: not much more to say about that

We decided not to drive it through the canyon... no reception and if it broke down, we'd be in trouble. Not to mention we didn't want to completely ruin my car or hit another deer. Heaven forbid. So we called parents and friends and had to wait for a ride to come get us... this was the all time low point. Kaisha and I sat on the gas station floor at Mavericks and pouted about what had just happened. After waiting an hour, our hero, Jake, rescued us in his jeep and drove us back to Provo. Oh and just so you know, we did see deer on the way back through the canyon. Luckily we didnt hit them. I dont know what exactly is going on with my car, but the adjuster should let me know soon. In the meantime, Im switching back and forth between a kia mini van and a toyota camry... joy.

Morals of the story:

Dont drive down UT 40 when its pitch black at night, unless you want to hit a deer.

If you hit a deer, aim for the rear.... means less damage to you and your car.

My car has nine lives... think it will pull through... again.

Listen to the Spirit... if it warns you about something, just listen ( it warned me and I didnt listen)

Thank heavens for car insurance!

There are things that will happen in life that are simply out of your control. Do the best you can. You'll get through it.

My Mom suggested I read this

2009-01-04T21:35:00.000-08:00

So I read this article by Bobby Spiegel on advice from Bill Gates... thought it was pretty decent... Here's Bills 11 Rules for life:

1. Life is not fair- get used to it!

2. The world wont care about your self-esteem. The world will expect you to accomplish something BEFORE you feel good about yourself.

3. You will NOT make $60,000 a year right out of high school. You wont be a vice president with a car phone until you earn both.

4. if you think your teacher is tough, wait until you get a boss.

5. Flipping burgers is not beneath your dignity. Your grandparents had a different word for burger flipping... they called it opportunity.

6. If you mess up, its not your parents fault, so don't whine about your mistakes, learn from them.

7. Before you were born, your parents weren't as bring as they are now. They got that way from paying your bills, cleaning your clothes and listening to you talk about how cool you thought you were. So before you save the rain forest from the parasites f your parents' generation, try delousing the closet in your own room.

8. Your school may have done away with winners and losers, but life HAS NOT. In some schools, they have abolished failing grades and they'll give you as MANY TIMES as you want to get the right answer. This doesn't bear the slightest resemblance of ANYTHING in real life.

9. Life is not divided into semesters. You don't get summers off and very few employers are interested in helping you FIND YOURSELF. Do that on your own time.

10. Television is NOT real life. In real life, people actually have to leave the coffee shop and go to jobs.

11. Be nice to nerds. Chances are you'll end up working for one.

Thanks Bill :)

Clearing My Head

2009-01-03T16:40:00.000-08:00

Man... I love breaks. Its probably because its my one escape from reality for just a few short weeks. I dont stress, I get enough sleep, I have enough "me" time, I see my mom ( who is probably my favorite person in the world), and my family and friends, the sun still shines everyday... even in December... the grass is still green, its warmer than Utah, I get to see the ocean, and I seperate myself from the heartache I sometimes cause myself over big decisions...

I know that sounds weird but I find it really ironic that I fight with myself about what I really want... I end up doing it to the point that it makes me unsure of what I even want anymore. My heart and my head tell me different things, but then sometimes even just one or the other ( either my head or my heart) will tell me different things too. I end up totally confused and stressed over things I cannot change. I hope that made any sense.

When I face a complicated life decision, I often find myself playing the "what if" game.... I know its terrible to play, but sometimes I cant stop myself from doing it. I just wish there was someway to see the future consequences of each choice... that would make everything so much easier. I know thats not how it works. I know that God is the only one with that ability and that I should just accept it. I do, but sometimes its not as easy for me to do as it is other times. I just want to do the right thing or the best thing for me and for others. I know that I often find myself choosing between things that arent even "bad", rather between what is better or best. I just wish I knew which choices were which because sometimes they are very similar in the short run, but I have no idea what either one will be like in the long run. Ugh.

I have learned that as corny as it sounds, life is comparable to tetris. You have all of these holes you have to fill/ all sorts of challenges to overcome... sometimes while trying to fill those holes, we create other holes and obstacles ontop of the original holes, which are sometimes bigger than our original hole or obstacle... I know that even though obstacles are hard, they are worth it because they help us learn how to be ready for what is a head of us. They humble us and help us to grow. They help us to even have fun sometimes. And sometimes when we think we are going to top out completely, the perfect piece comes along at the right time and saves our rear-ends....

That piece makes a huge difference... wish that piece would come along soon.

What the SNOW?

2008-12-18T09:57:00.000-08:00

So this week has been interesting...

Lets start with last weekend.... I was scheduled to work at a business convention in Park City this past Friday and Saturday, which was great. However, I found it very ironic that it hasn't snowed at all this whole season and the two days that I had to drive at 4 am through Provo Canyon for an hour and a half to get to Park City, it decided to snow. Sweet. Don't you just love black ice? My drive wasn't too bad on Friday and neither was work either day, but I did catch myself nodding off both while standing at my "post" more than a few times... This probably had to do with the fact that I only had a total of 8 hours of sleep both nights.
On my drive home, things got pretty interesting...probably because it was snowing like a mother. As I was driving down the 40 heading into Heber at no more than 25mph, I saw three cars in front of me slide on black ice in the same place. They all slid to the right side of the road within inches of each other. Scary right? Well I figured a better slow down ( even though I was already going at a snails pace) so that I didn't slide right into their trap either. I couldn't have been going more than 20mph when I approached the patch, but that didn't matter. I slid further out than they did pulling a 360, but this time to the left, crossing two other lanes of traffic, barely missing one car, and then right into the snowy median. All the while I was screaming obscenities... probably due to the fact that it was completely out of my control and I had no idea what was going to happen. Luckily, I was okay and so was my car. :) I collected myself for a few minutes, then got back on the road, and went about 15 the rest of the way home. This is probably the reason I love California... no worries about such hazards. Ever.

So the rest of the week it snowed, which was not a big deal because I didn't have to do much driving... It was finals week, so I probably spent at least 12 hours a day on campus the last three days, trying to get everything done in time so that I could head home last night. Well, I guess all of that stress was all for nothing because I'M STILL STUCK IN UTAH due to the hazardous weather from here to California... Snow in Provo, Snow in St George, Snow in Las Vegas, Cajon Pass is closed and rain at home. Man no way in to CA and no way out of this... Bad word... I mean Provo!

At least my finals are finished, I don't have work, I can play with my roommates, and make gingerbread houses, snow angels, update my blog, and stay away from black ice and 360 incidents! :)

Hooray!

2008-12-10T14:26:00.000-08:00

Hi! I am excited because Willi just helped me create my blog! This is officially my first time blogging. I have always wanted to get one started but never really made the time... I still dont really have the time, but I guess I'm gonna just have to make it :)