8.05.2012

2 months of picture overloads! Stories from Apt. 108.



2 months of being in Provo has flown by! I cannot believe how fast this semester went. I loved each and every moment of living on my own. Even though there were hard times, I learned so much! I was jobless, swamped with school work, overwhelmed, exhausted, homesick and totally clueless at times, but I loved it.

1. I got to cook great food, learned to grocery shop for the best deals and stayed super healthy by doing it. I tried new recipes, went to the gym almost daily and even started a green smoothie diet. Those things curve hunger and they taste so good! Instead of gaining the sophomore 21, I lost a good amount! I praised the heavens for the days that I had my food prep class because that fed me for two meals and buying food did get expensive! But with my budget for food I was able to make homemade bread, no-bake cookies, a couple dozen cupcakes, homemade turkey burgers and much more! Experimenting in the kitchen is my favorite so it was so nice to be able to do that on my free time.
 My breakfast almost every morning was eggs with sauteed spinach, kale or in this case.. bach choi? haha I could live off of over medium eggs. 
Or these yummy green smoothies!
 Calzones in food prep
 Homemade lattice Apple pie!
 I craved sushi almost every day but never got it because it's a luxury! So once I saw salmon on sale, I had to make my own rice, spinach and salmon bowl.  It worked!
 Healthy cookie dough from pinterest? Note to self, never make this again. 
 So proud of my homemade bread loaf!
 No-bake cookies, they're cheap and so good! Plus, the home teachers loved them!
 Candy making in food prep!
 Our food prep magnificent meal. Decorated by us and made by us. We chose a breakfast theme and did omelets, bacon, coffee cake, fruit kabobs and breakfast potatoes. YUM! A+

 The best turkey burgers! I made them with ground turkey, an egg, spinach, green onions, mustard, garlic and onion powder, pepper, bread crumbs and beans! 
Of course, I couldn't talk about food without including these guys. Mint brownies. My all time favorite and addiction at BYU. I must say that I did have quite a few of these!

I love to cook and doing it on a budget was easy and I learned a lot!

2. Food is important but so is working out! Luckily, I have a gym that's right down the block from my apartment! Gold's gym was 10 dollars a month and I went almost every day! Along with that, night runs and running the BYU stairs of death were great as well. I also hiked the Y twice... In one day! Once in the afternoon for fun and to get a work out and then again late at night with some friends, just for fun and pain. The Y is not an easy hike! It's only two miles but it's steep! I also did a beautiful hike at bridal falls. Utah is all about the outdoors and I definitely took up the opportunity to explore. 

 Stairs were walked every single day. Waaah. 
 Bridal Veil Falls
 
 The Y in the morning.
 The Y at night.
 The gym made me so strong that I broke a spoon. 
I also had my amazing soccer class twice a week at 8:00 AM. That woke me up and got me going. Plus, I met my friends Hailey and Maria. 

3. I got towed for the first and last time of my life. 175 dollars later... that will NEVER happen again.  Double parked my butt. 

4. I donated plasma. Well, I tried.... They couldn't get anything out because they messed up. It scared me and it's going to be hard to go back! I've never been a fan of needles and although it took a long time, I still was rewarded with 30 bucks! I am a true starving college student. 

5. 7-11 free slurpee!

6. I got to go home for the 4th and for Connor's farewell!
 Hannah and Nicole wrote on my driveway to welcome me home. :)
 It was finally cherry season and one of the best parts about being home was a full refrigerator! 
 Nicole and I dressed up for 4th of july!
 Displaying mom's addiction to Pinterest! 
 Another pinterest find for a red white and blue drink! I was amazed at how it worked! only one of them worked perfectly but it's just cranberry juice, gatorade and 7-up! Plus, mom mad hot dogs, my fave!! 
 I spent a whole day with my favorite girl Jazmin! Temple, Pool, Sonic and nails. The works!
 Jef is my facebook friend. Nbd. 
 Mom bought me a vintage camera for my collection!
 Of course I spent lots of time with this guy! He's still attractive even when I catch him off guard haha.  
 And Nathan bought a truck! He surprised me with it as I was going to pick him up the night before! I'm not gonna lie, it feels great sitting in the passenger seat! 
 The main reason that I came home was for my best friend Connor's Mission farewell. I spent lots of time with him and gave him a sad goodbye for two years on the Sunday that I left. We've known each other since preschool and I know that he's going to do great in Montreal Canada! Woohoo! Another French speaker! 
Price made cupcakes! He's taking over my roll in the kitchen at home!

Being home was actually so weird. I felt like I was a guest! My room was vacant and I often found myself asking my mom if I could eat a certain food item in the fridge! My mom had rearranged furniture, had some painting done and i'm pretty sure my youngest brother was a few inches taller. 3 weeks of being away was just too much! I loved spending time with Nathan and a couple friends and especially the family. I can't wait to see them again!

6. Cabin trip! Sister Swindle was in town and took Xan and I to this fancy restaurant. She treated us and invited us to her cabin! What a luxury! A Sunday after church we piled in my car and drove to Oakley, Utah and met at her cabin. She made us hot dogs and burgers and we got to drive the ATV's around! It was so much fun and it was nice to get out of Provo for a day. 
 So much fun! 
Me, Zander, Xan, Robbie and Hayley.

Thanks Sister Swindle!!!

7.Relief Society Tea Party (minus the tea)

8. I got to see Zane! Zane drove from idaho to Salt Lake and had 5 hours before his plane flight home to Texas so I drove right up to hang out with him! We got froyo and shopped around at the Gateway. It was so good to catch up with him.

9. I went to a rodeo? My roommate Emily had tickets to the rodeo and at first I thought to myself HECK NO, but hey, this summer is all about exploring and trying new things! So why not!? 
 Apparently rodeo's are huge deals! I would never know but I was glad to be a part of it this year!! 

10. Jef won the Bachelorette! What a perfect family. 

11. Comedy Sportz with Brooke! Brooke and I hung out a lot on the weekends and this show was hilarious!
 12.  Just a little temple sight seeing. I had to do some extra credit for interior design in Salt Lake so I decided to stop by the Draper temple as well. Temple's are my favorite place to be. I can't wait to go inside! 

Speaking of being away for so long... PRICE GOT A PHONE. He's starting high school too and I'm starting to feel way old. I miss my family and home a lot but it's so great to know that they are doing well. 


13. It's finals week. I've got a week left to go of summer semester and I'm finding anything possible to do to distract myself from studying. Painting my nails being one of them and yes, I gave up on the right hand. haha.

Writing about my life this summer has really made me appreciate this opportunity. I did well in school, I learned lots and made a ton of great friends. My roommates ended up being awesome and I couldn't have asked for a better place to live. It's hard being away from home but it was all worth it. It's time to break down and study for finals and then I'm homeward bound for  two weeks! Summer has been great and I can't wait to see what Fall has to offer! 

2 comments:

  1. looks like a fun term! you definitely need to teach me your ways of shopping for good deals on food and eating healthy haha!

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  2. So cute! Loved your pictures :) I'm going to have to come visit you and Makayla this fall! :)

    ReplyDelete