Call Me Crazy...

But I LOVE snow! It may be cold and slippery and wet, but it's beautiful. When it falls from the sky it's like little fluffy pieces of Heaven coming down to earth. It places a layer of magic on everything, and makes everything beautiful and pure, even if only for a little while. That's all. :)

Anyway, I have failed to post anything about my semester really, so I decided I should at least post something, so here you go:

That's me with 60% of my roommates, Breanna, Tia, and Erica, from left to right. We're great buds, and we have crazy fun all the time! Maybe too much... My other two great roomies are Jules and Caitlin, but somehow I don't have any pics with them yet. Hmmm...

i have an obsession with cheese... aka queso. ^.^ ME GUSTA MUCHO! (*My roommate is psycho...)

My Special News... :)

*Ahem* I have an announcement to make!!! I have made a very important decision, one that I am very excited about and that may change my perception of the world forever! It is something could fulfill many of my deepest life-long desires and dreams! Any ideas of what it could be? Anyone? Here, I'll give you a hint:

             It involves this...

And a little (or maybe a lot) of this...

Add a dash of this...

And we'll throw in each of these...

Does anyone have it yet? Probably, but just to be clear, these photos are of (respectively) Jane Austen's house, the cliffs on the Isle of Inishmore, the Louvre, the Eiffel Tower, Buckingham Palace, and Stonehenge. I think it's time for me to just come out and say it...

I'm going to Europe!!!

...probably. I have been accepted to the British Literary Pilgrimage, a travel study program offered through Brigham Young University-Idaho. The tour goes through most of May, with a few weeks of intensive study on campus the last two weeks of April. It begins with a few days in Ireland, jumps over to England, where we will spend the majority of our trip, and ends up in Paris! Sites include those in the aforementioned photos, the Globe Theater, Chateau de Monte Cristo :), a ride across the Irish Sea, a walk through Sherwood Forest,  the Bronte home, etc., etc. That's barely skimming the surface of all the places I'm going to see. Needless to say I'm a little excited!

The problem (and it's a big problem) comes in when one considers the cost of the tour. I have enough financial aid to cover the actual program fees, but that doesn't include other expenses like tuition, books, passport, and some souvenir money (let's face it- we all know it's a necessity!). It would also be nice not to have to use all of my financial aid, which I probably will. Oh, and I have to come up with a $500 deposit by the end of the semester (Dec. 18) or it's adieu to the entire fantasy. So what am I do about it? First, praying for help. A lot. I've also been job searching like crazy. I spent four hours last night trying to find online job applications. The next step is phone calls and going to some businesses personally. The problem with the job hunt is that I am in the midst of my busiest semester ever, and that I don't have a car. So, I either need to wait until this semester ends before I get a job, or find some miraculous position somewhere that fits into my insanely weird class schedule and allows me to get all my homework done. Then I'd need to engineer some ingenious way to find transportation to and from my workplace. In the time being it would be great if I found a job within walking distance of my apartment, but (unless I can come up with an extra thousand dollars for rent in Rexburg) that will prove to be difficult next semester, which is when my break is. Money is so complicated and challenging and really kind of mean. 

I have no idea how I'm going to do this, but in the meantime, I'm very open to suggestions of where I can find work. I would also be really thankful if prayers were given on my behalf. I don't know how this is going to happen financially and if I can make it work. But I do know one thing. I have spent a lot of time on my knees and in the temple asking if this is the right thing for me to do. With the answers I have received, I have come to know that, even if this Brit Lit tour doesn't become a reality for me in the end, Heavenly Father want me to work towards it, and to try as hard as I can to achieve this goal. Wish me luck!

My Drug...

Can I just say, that there is no feeling in the entire world better than the one you get being a part of good music. I think that I literally get a buzz off of it. My arms start tingling and I get chills down my spine, then my heart starts beating faster and faster until I get so pumped that I just want to sing out more, but I can't, so instead the Spirit overflows out of me and my eyes get all watery and I can't help but smile and wish that I could give more. I feel so blessed to be able to be a part of something so magical, and to be part of such a conduit for the Holy Ghost. After I finish a good, successful performance like the one I experienced tonight, I feel like I am on a cloud all night. It helps to make me a better person, and it makes me feel so close to Heavenly Father. I only hope, and wish, that the audience is able to feel what I feel. "A song of the righteous is a prayer unto me" are some of the truest words ever spoken! I hope all of you have something in your lives that gives you this feeling, because it is the best feeling in the entire universe!!!

Also, I am officially convinced that my Grandma Clark is there to help me when I perform. I have felt her every single time that I have performed since singing at her funeral. At the funeral, I shouldn't have been able to get through that song. I almost didn't. In fact, the second I finished singing and sat down, I started bawling. She is the reason I got through it, because she was helping me. I am fairly certain that she is frequently with me when I perform. In fact, sometimes I feel like she takes over. Anyway, I'm not bragging about my voice by any means whatsoever, it's just how it feels. Just a side note... :)

It's Official!!!

I'm in my twenties!!!! Happy Birthday to ME! :D

I finally posted again!

I know! I'm terrible! Only four weeks left in the Spring Semester and I've only updated twice. Oopsy... But it's okay, because I'm back now! This semester has been crazy busy, with its high points and low points. But to sum it all up, I guess the best word to use would be CRAFTY! Goodness, between my Home Decor class and my cooking class, I feel like the queen of Relief Society. :) Plus I've been doing a little crafty on my own. Anyway, the stuff I'm most excited about is my Home Decor class. My very first project of the semester was this-

And I'm kind of really proud of it. It's not only the first quilting project I've done by myself, but it's also...

...the first project I have ever machine quilted! See all those little curvy lines? Those were all done by me on the schools ridiculously amazing sewing machines. I didn't use a pattern or anything, I just did it! It was terrifying, and... it was at that point that I sacrificed a small chunk of my fingertip to the sewing machine, but I think it turned out great!!! I'm really happy with it, and it is now sitting comfortably on top of the Steinway upright grand piano that my dad inherited from my Grandma Clark. I wish I had a pic, because it looks great! Anyway this is what I'm working on in Home Decor now:

This is the finished product of the first piece of a nursery set that I'm making! You can't really see it very well, but the center fabric is little smiling suns. My mom and I found this pattern for a nursery set and I immediately fell in love with it. Now I'm working on a baby quilt that matches this pillow. It will be exactly the same, just bigger and flatter, AND... it will be backed with yellow barbizon satin (sp?)!!! For those of you who don't know, barbizon is this amazing silky fabric that my grandma used to put on the back of most of the quilts she made, and I have been in love with it since I was a little girl. I'm really excited about it! Anyway, before the semester is over I will also be making a matching valance at the very least. I also have the materials for bumper pads and a crib dust ruffle, but we'll see how fast I get this other stuff done. Those may be a project for the break in August. In case anyone is wondering, I love my major so far. I think I made the right choice. My cooking class is still going great. It's fun and relaxing and I'll be coming out of it with some delicious new recipes, which I will soon be posting on my and my sisters' recipe blog, For the Love of Cooking! Yum yum! Speaking of cooking, this is the first cake I've ever decorated, and it was really fun! Am I good at it? No. But I think it turned out ok. Next semester I'm taking a baking class, then I will finally get to take Cake Decorating in the spring. I can't wait!

Also, this is totally off topic and completely old news, but I think it's cool. I got to meet Kirby Heyborne and Corbin Allred (comedic stars of the Mormon media world) with my friend/old roomie Charlotte. I'd met Kirby once before when he taught the young men and young women of my cousin's ward way back when I was a Mia Maid, but yeah. I guess it's kind of lame, but I think it's fun, so there! :P

Finally, I would just like to say goodbye. Why? Because this is the last time you will hear from me as my teenager self. That's right! Tomorrow I am finally turning 20 and leaving the teenage world behind forever. And it's about time!

New Recipe Blog!!!

So, my sisters and I all love to cook. And we're pretty good at it. ;) Plus Tiffany had a recipe blog, so we decided it would be fun to have a sister recipe blog!!! It's called For the Love of Cooking, at allfortheloveofcooking.blogspot.com. You should all check it out!!!

Spring so far...

Well, I have successfully completed two full weeks of Spring semester 2010! And so far, I am basically loving it! At first I was really nervous about my schedule. I'm taking 17 credits, and my schedule is different every single day, which is REALLY unusual for BYU-Idaho. I didn't know what I was actually getting myself into- thus, I was very very nervous. But so far, I'm having a blast! I have a nice balance of hard and fun classes, and it feels amazing to get back into the swing of college life. My favorite classes thus far are Home Decor Sewing, Intro to Foods, choir, and New Testament. I have a great feeling about the first one. I get to make curtains and quilts and table linens and pillows, but the greatest part is that I can make things that I like. In Clothing Construction, she made us make what she wanted, and I didn't always necessarily think they were the cutest things. I'm really excited to be able to sew something that I will actually want to put to use someday. My Intro to Foods class is equally amazing. It's only once a week, but I get to spend  a huge part of that day learning how to make new things and learning a lot of cool cooking techniques. Our lab manual is full of really delicious recipes including this quiche and fruit pizza:

...which, may I say, were delicious!!! I have never been the biggest fan of quiche, but this recipe is really yummy. If you want the recipes let me know.  Anyway, this semester's great!

Back in the Burg...

First of all, I would just like to note that it has officially been over a year since I have seen this...

Or this...

Or this...

                                                                                                        Or this!!!   

And I have only seen TWO of my amazing Disney friends within this past year (yay Abby and Eleisha!), but it was literally only for a couple minutes with each of them! So so so sad. And I have yet to see my amazing roommate/buddy Chelsea since we parted ways in the Orlando airport one year ago. LAME! I miss my Disney buds so much! Somebody needs to take me back to Disney, as I have been over the past few months going through HUGE withdrawals. I couldn't care less if it's Disneyland or Disney World... just take me! Anyway... end Disney rant...

Now I am finally back in Rexburg!!! Yes! I moved back in the to the good ole Pines this past Thursday, April 15. I wish I had something more interesting to report so far... but to be honest this has honestly been one of the most boring weekends of my entire life. But it has had its good points! Like the fact that I'm already completely unpacked and ready to jump right back in to school. I have eliminated any possible distractions. And on Friday night I went to a wedding reception... Gracie Lou's!!! It was really really really weird... but it was also beautiful and Grace looked absolutely amazing! I'm so happy for her. Later that night Steve, Rachel, and Hallie visited me for a couple minutes, which I loved! I miss my brother and sis-in-law so much! I'm glad I had a chance to see them before the reunion in July. Can I just say though, that all four of my nieces are the most adorable, lovable, most genius little girls in the entire world?! I feel really lucky to have seen all of them (and my amazing sisters Tiff and Taralyn and bro-in-law Bryan, whom I also love, by the way) before school starts on Tuesday. Just look at these girls! ADORABLE!!!

I have also met two of my five roommates, Caitlin and Melissa, and reunited with two old ones! These lovely ladies...

                                                      
                                                         ...and I met up last night and had great fun! Charlotte and I went on a nice walk and discovered a super cute new boutique on Main Street that sells cute shirts and accessories and baby hair bows and stuff for pretty decent prices. It's adorable. Then Charlotte, Marina, their roommate Devi, and I went up to Nauvoo to visit our old friend Jeremy and ended up staying there until about 11:30. The boys in that apartment are HILARIOUS and we had great fun. I think it was a good way to kick off the semester. So now today is Sunday and I went to church in the BYU-ID 83rd ward once again. We have a new bishopric, which was interesting, but further than that it was rather uneventful. Singles wards at school tend to be kind of boring the first couple weeks. We had a couple of really good lessons though! Hmmmm... now that I think about it, I guess this weekend could have been a lot worse! Yeah- I've had a great weekend! I guess that's all for now. I would post pics of the apartment, but it's exactly the same as my other two apartments, so... most of you know what it looks like! I'll let you know how my classes go! My first one is my cooking class! Woohoo!

Spirit of Elijah!!!

Ok, so as most of you know, this weekend has been LDS General Conference, which is one of the best weekends of the entire year! I loved every second of it. But I have a confession to make... my mom and I really enjoyed Elder Russell M. Nelson's address (the one on family heritage) in the Sunday afternoon session, that we sort of... got distracted and ignored the rest of the session. I guess you could say that we were inspired. Anyway, following his address, we both immediately got on familysearch.org, the church's genealogy site, and started randomly looking up family lines. It honestly was one of the coolest experiences of my life! We learned so much about our family that we never knew about before. Most of our amazing discoveries began with my great great grandmother, Julia Ann Crandall (born 1841), who is my Grandpa Boyer's grandmother. First, we followed her family line back to the 17th century to John and Priscilla (Mullens) Alden, my twelve great grandparents. We started to do a little bit of internet research on this couple, and it was like opening a treasure chest! It didn't take long for us to discover that John and Priscilla were not only on the Mayflower, but John Alden was supposedly the first person to step off the Mayflower onto Plymouth Rock in 1620. He was also the roommate of Miles Standish, the Captain of Plymouth. We thought this by itself was amazing, but then we kept finding more and more AMAZING facts about these ancestors. It turns out that John and Priscilla Alden were involved in the first, and one of the most famous, love triangles in the New World. Priscilla had two suitors once they reached Plymouth- John Alden and Miles Standish. Miles had sent John to Pricilla to tell her that Miles wanted to marry her. But Priscilla saw that John loved her too, and she said what is considered to be one of the most famous lines in history, "Why don't you speak for yourself, John?" He left, but came back to tell her that he loved her. He obviously won, and here I am twelve generations and nearly 400 years later! Another descendent of John and Priscilla is the famous poet, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, who happened to write an epic poem about their courtship, "The Courtship of Miles Standish." John Alden also went on to  become the assistant to the governor of Plymouth and served on the jury of one of the two witch trials held in Plymouth. Incidentally, their son, John Jr. was one accused in the witch trials, but he escaped days before his execution. So basically... my family is awesome! Anyway, my mom and I actually went on to find 9, possibly 10, direct ancestors who rode over on the Mayflower's first trip to the New World. We also discovered a LOT of different nationalities that are in my blood that we hadn't known before. I'm mostly English and Norwegian, but we also found a lot of German, IRISH (on both sides! I've always wanted to be Irish), French, etc. But it's when my family line goes REALLY far back, say... to the first century... that you find the really good stuff! It turns out, if you look back far enough from Julia Ann Crandall's line, I am directly descended from royalty! Scottish royalty, English kings, Italian kings, A king, queen, and princess from Spain, LOUIS I ('The Pious')- Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire in 799, Louis VIII ('The Lion') of France, Louis VIII, CHARLEMAGNE of the Holy Roman Empire (who is known as not only the father of all French and German monarchies, but all monarchies of Europe), and "Ole King Coel" (you know from the song?). It literally goes all the way back to the year 6 AD. Anyway, a lot of you probably won't care, but I am really really excited. It's so cool and fun to find out that you are directly descended from people who played important roles in not only American history, but world history! So you all better start treating us Clark and Boyer people better, cause we're direct descendants of some of the most famous royals in World History!!! I'm a princess! And don't you forget it!!!

Carol Jeanne Loveridge Clark

(September 8, 1930 - February 6, 2010)

Carol Jeanne Loveridge Clark, our precious and loving mother and grandmother, age 79, of Springville, Utah, died at home on February 6, 2010, after a valiant battle with cancer. Born September 8, 1930 in Springville, Utah, to Joseph LeRoy and Mary Grace Fullmer Loveridge, Carol was the youngest of five children. She married her high school sweetheart, C. LaMar Clark, on May 9, 1949 in the Salt Lake LDS Temple. They were married for 49 years, inseparable until LaMar’s passing in 1998.

Carol loved music and was blessed with an exceptional singing voice, sharing her talent as a soloist and in various choirs. She was active in her community, including as President of the high school PTA, where her innovations and leadership led to the establishment of the overnight senior graduation party. Carol served as a voting registrar for many years, as an EMT, and in other community service endeavors. Active in the LDS Church, she fulfilled many callings, including in the Primary Presidency while in her 70s.

After raising her children, Carol returned to school, earning her degree from Utah Valley University to become a licensed practical nurse. She worked for Utah Valley Hospital with its blood drives until her retirement.

All were welcome in Carol’s home, drawn to her generous heart, wise counsel, and delightful sense of humor. Whatever the need, Carol had an innate gift for identifying and meeting it. Her love for others was limitless, evidenced by the steady stream of friends and family who traveled great distances to visit her in her final days.

Carol’s most powerful love was saved for her husband and children. She was diligent in giving her time, talents, and efforts for her family, providing them with many cultural and educational opportunities. Blessed with a legacy of tough pioneer resiliency, she never complained about her own tribulations.

Carol was preceded in death by her son, Richard Dale, and beloved husband, LaMar. She is survived by her children, John LaMar (Cheryl), Russell Ray (Daina), Kathleen Muir, Stuart Lynn (Teresa), Kelly Jay (Wendy), and Michael Ryan (Elsa), 18 grandchildren, 16 great-grandchildren, her sister Leslie Francis (Reed), and numerous other loved ones. Her greatest legacy was her ability to make each of them feel that she loved them the “mostest”.

Funeral services will be at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday, February 13, 2010, at the Spring Creek 1st Ward LDS chapel, 860 East 200 North, Springville, Utah. A public viewing will be held from 6:00 to 8:00 pm at Wheeler Mortuary, 211 E. 200 S., Springville, Utah, on Friday, February 12, 2010, and one hour prior to the funeral service at the 1st Ward chapel. Interment at Springville Evergreen Cemetery. The family encourages donations in Carol’s name to the LDS Church Humanitarian Fund.

Where does it go?

Lately I have been thinking a lot about time. It's crazy! You spend your entire life gearing up for a single event- your birthdays, baptism, going to high school, graduating, getting married, etc. Then all of a sudden the day is past, and you are years ahead, looking back trying desperately to remember the details of the day. I remember being so excited to finally get in high school. The day couldn't come soon enough. I know this is a corny cliche, but it really feels like a week ago when I started my life BHS, but I am happy to say that I have changed a LOT since then, and I wouldn't trade my experiences since then for anything in the world. The thing that has brought this on the most is thinking about my amazing Grandma Clark.

As I have grown up, I've always considered her to be invincible. I had my first major dose of reality in regards to Grandma about a year ago when she tripped over a high chair in California and injured her pelvis and shoulder. Since that time, she has been diagnosed with and treated for ovarian cancer (which included both surgery and radiation), received shoulder surgery (which had some pretty serious complications, resulting in her admittance into the ICU), diagnosed with lung cancer, which then turned out to be in her brain, and ultimately was given just weeks to live. Every day she is getting weaker and weaker and she has only days left- if that. Now, I know I shouldn't be sad. Once she dies she'll be free from her pain and will finally be reunited with her husband and her little boy. But I can't help but be a little stunned. Back in January of last year, I had come to accept the idea of her passing. I was in Florida at the time and I even told my managers at Disney that I may have to take temporary, possibly even permanent, leave for her funeral. But then she pulled through in California and went home to Springville, and, in spite of the oxygen she was now constantly wearing, I allowed myself to believe again that she was invincible. Then came her diagnosis with cancer, and she seemingly pulled through again! Then her stay in the ICU, where once again, she pulled through.

All year long I have had to keep preparing myself for the possibility of her death, but then pulled back into an imaginary dream world where it looked like Grandma would be around for a while. But this time, she's not going to recover. And it, for whatever reason, is so hard for me to accept. I can't imagine a world without Carol in it. It's crazy to me to think that next time I'm in her house, she won't be upstairs at the crack of dawn making Belgian waffles. I am never going to have another opportunity to hear her read the Polar Express on Christmas Eve. I just can't imagine being without her. I love her so much and I am greatly going to miss her, and the love that she gives everyone she comes in contact with. But I know I'll see her again, and personally believe that she will always be present when her loved ones need her. Her spirit may be leaving this earth, but there is something that is NEVER going to change. It's something that has always been, and something that my mom and I promised her when we said goodbye for the last time- to love her the mostest forever and ever! And I know that she will continue to love her family the mostest forever, too!

Why???

I know it's hard to believe- I'm leaving Facebook. The world is coming to an end!!! ;) Honestly I'm sort of surprised it's such a big deal to everyone, but that is a big part of why I'm ending it. First of all, while I feel the Facebook is an excellent tool in keeping in touch with friends and family, it has become far too overused in my personal life. It distracts me from homework, family, and the people that I am with in reality. If I'm bored, I always turn to Facebook rather than finding a productive use of my time. The other thing that drives me CRAZY is that I'm friends with so many people online, but in real life, we don't even say hi when we see each other. If I'm not really a friend with that person in reality, why should I humor them by giving them a higher friend tally? Basically it comes down to this: I spend WAY too much time online, and Facebook has gotten me into some pretty sticky situations in the past. This is more of a self-control move than anything else. This doesn't mean that I love anybody less, it certainly doesn't mean I want to lose contact with anyone, and it is not a personal attack on any of my Facebook friends. I simply want to reunite with reality. :) Now that I am leaving Facebook, I will do my best to update my blog more often, just in case anyone cares to know what's going on with my life. AND I still have an email address and a cell phone number! Just let me know if you don't have it. Basically, my point is that I'm not completely dropping off the face of the earth just because my Facebook account is. :) Love ya guys!