Weekend BLISS!!

  Okay everyone... I warn you, this is going to be a lengthy post. A LOT happened this weekend and it deserves a thorough description! Enjoy!!

Finals week is pretty much here so studying is in high gear!! But, thanks to my mom ordering an egg that was a little on the 'cool' side which got us gift certificates...Aubs and I took a delightful break and went and ate at Megleby's for free!!! So delicious. I love that place! I had the most amazing sweet shrimp tacos with a delicious pineapple salsa. Yum-o! BUT... that isn't the only thing. Magleby's is FAMOUS for it's chocolate cake. I kid you not it is the most dense, moist, heavenly, exquisite and gratifying chocolate cake in the whole world. Aubs and I noticed these boxes in the front of the restaurant with THAT cake in it. So, after our meal... it was only the right thing to do by getting that box of cake (probably weighed about 4 lbs.). We got it... and we ate it and shared with our friend Marcus. It was a fun night and a wonderful break from stupid homework. 

The day before miss bean got hitched Aneka and I drove up to Salt Lake to meet some ladies at this cute little nail place. This day/ evening consisted of A LOT of laughs, shopping, rocky mountain chocolate factory, fedora's, music, mint oreos, projectile sparkling apple juice vomit (which is a story in and of itself, and yes it was done by me), McDonalds and.... a Bride's/Bride's Mother and Father's WORST nightmare. Let me explain...

After we had finished painting our nails and staying up late to create a music playlist for Trina's reception. We all settled down and were in the middle of saying our bed time prayers. However, in the middle of my prayer I hear this huge GASP!!! I could sense the fear in Trina's voice. My two thoughts were... someone died or the wedding was called off. Yes, it was THAT bad. However, it turned out to be something just about as scary. Trina had thought she left her temple recommend in Idaho!!! No recommend, no marriage. It was so scary and stressful and Trina was hysterical. I felt so, so bad! She has been under so much stress. So, she tried getting some of her friends to look for it and Aneka and I would get in a car and drive to Rexburg and back to get the recommend to her before the sealing. Then... Trina had an epiphany.... WES HAS IT!!! This frantic panic went on for a good hour. She got a hold of Wes and he luckily said that he had the recommend. Apparently, a few days ago, Trina had given him the recommend after going through the temple and forget to get it back from him. It was quite the evening! I felt so bad... she was so overwhelmed by everything already. We all ended up going to sleep at about 2:00 only to get up at about 5:30. Hectic, hectic, hectic!! But, we KNEW that this was absolutely meant to be because from there on out... everything went perfectly! 

She looked absolutely stunning! Her dress? Perfect. Her hair? Perfect. Her make up? Perfect!! She looked so elegant and SO happy. Trina is such a joyful person and was absolutely glowing when she walked out of the temple. Wesley is perfect for her!! It was so great to see a long time friend walk out of the temple. WE'RE GROWING UP! 

 How cute are my friends, right? I love these gals. I had so much fun over the weekend! Aneka actually goes to school at BYU and I don't see her nearly as much as I want to. Laura on the other hand, SUCH a sweetheart, goes to BYU-I and drove down for the weekend. We had a great time and were just overwhelmed by seeing our sweet lil' friend Trina be married. Blissful! 

GORGEOUS!! It was cold outside, but I thought it was really pretty lighting. Trine and Wes both looked incredible! 

The reception was awesome! Food was great, music was great and speeches were great! It was in a cute little place called the "Canterbury". I really loved it, it was so cute. It was decorated so sweet! However, after we saw Bean at the temple.. Aneka, Laura and I were a bit on the hungry side, so we stopped at Wendy's. JUST for a JBC though... that's hardly anything! Zach and Nin made the trip down to Bountiful for the reception. We all had fun on the dance floor and enjoyed our time with our friend who is now MARRIED! So, so, so crazy to me. 

It has been a LONG day. I've been up since about 5:00 and have been on the go all day. I went and played basketball with a bunch of the guys and I just wanted to come home. Curl up in a blanket, pop in 'Tangled' and snack on some popcorn. I just bought these little '100 Calorie' popcorn bags and carelessly threw it in the microwave. I was in my room and smelt BURNT popcorn. I'm talking TORCHED! The kitchen was pretty steamy and I am pretty sure the whole house smells very smoky. I learned my lesson, small bags= less time. Don't worry though... I opened a new bag and it turned out perfect :) 

Congratulations to...

Trina & Wesley Parkin

established. April 9th, 2011

Countdown...

14 More Days until I get to go home!!!!!! 

I am doubtful that Airdrie will be THIS green and luscious BUT regardless, I am so excited to go home. 

4 More Days Until TRINA HILL (soon to be Parkin) GET'S MARRIED!!!!

The little bean.. a grown woman

Can't wait to see her walk out of the temple with Wes! It's gonna' be a special day indeed. I've now seen a bunch of people that I am close to walk out of the temple with their husbands and I will say this... there is no bride more beautiful than one that walks out of a temple of the Lord. I am SO excited for Trina and what she is about to experience (not that I know what it's like to be sealed in the temple) BUT from what I hear it is pretty incredible. 

7 More Days of School...... (until spring semester)

15 More Days Until Joel Kay Leaves for ALBANIA!! 

You're going to be a stud missionary!!!!  Sorry you can't grow this modest mullet out until you're an RM.

  Life is good with lots to look forward to! 

Conference Weekend

   I had,yet, another great weekend here in Provo! I was able to get things finished that I needed to, saw some good friends from home and to top it off I was able to sit, relax and enjoy General Conference. As bad as this may sound, I have to say that this is the first time that I have really listened to all of the talks. I thoroughly enjoyed all of them and could see how each talk and the lessons taught could apply to my life. That is the whole intent of Conference and just like anything else that is very important... it has taken me some time to really understand the concept and act on it. I am so excited for the talks to come out next month some I can read and study them! I really loved the themes of service and temples and knowing that it really does apply to me NOW... not 5 or 10 years down the road. It is extremely motivating to be so much better after listening to all of the talks. I recognized how flawed I really am and I am so grateful for the many opportunities I have to become better and serve others.

The Church is TRUE, ladies and gents. It's TRUE! 

  A bunch of my good friends came to visit this past week/weekend. I got to see CUTE lil' Jess Comfort! Love that girl. I hung out with her all day on Wednesday and it was so fun! She's such a baller and is playing at Mount Royal next year. THEN... on Thursday night... I was watching a movie with Jordan and all of a sudden, this guy comes down the stairs and just sits on the couch. I had NO idea who it was so I was kind of like... "umm.. hi, who are you?" and he didn't really answer me. About 7 seconds after that... a bunch of guys come running down the stairs. I recognized Nin and was still a little confused. Then, I saw good ol' Dallon Martin and Morgan Duce! They drove down for Lethbridge for Conference. The guy that came down the stairs first and that was just chillin', yeah, his name was Travis Seaborn. I've heard so much about this kid and finally met him.... hilarious. I had a great weekend with all the guys! I introduced them to my roommates and they all hit it off well. It felt like home again and it was just what I needed! That being said... I AM GOING HOME IN 2 WEEKS!!! 

  Then, I finished off the weekend seeing ALEXIS KAUFUSI! My hero. Seriously, I'm sure everyone knows this but... she is a trooper. She is handling everything so well. She has 3 of 6 chemo treatments done! Half way there. So proud of her and I love her guts. 

FUN Weekend!!!

   As sad as it was to have the season end the way it did; I am glad for one thing. Time. It's amazing to me, the things that I am able to get done and still have time to do fun things now that I don't have practice. I now have 4 extra hours a day. I love that! But, I do miss my crazy, fun and amazing teammates.
  I had a great weekend! Started with getting my hair done, I felt that I had been waiting forever to get it done. I love it and I couldn't be happier with Karin's work, truly. Friday night, I did something I have never done before... 10 Pin Bowling. Yes, that's right. I've never been 10 pin bowling. I've only had the pleasure of 5 pin bowling at good ol' Shamrock Lanes in Airdrie. It was so fun! I sucked, but it was so much fun. I went with Karin, Cole, Zach, Nin and Jordan Maxwell.

  Then on Saturday... I had an awesome experience at the Festival of Colors! It was so much fun. Really messy and extremely unique but... so much fun. I don't even know how to describe it. But, it is a whole lot of people, a lot of chalk, indian food, live band, witch burning, lamas, hare krishna and all that jazz. There was this one point where everyone is on this hill listening to this ceremony and we count down from 10 and EVERYONE throws up their chalk. It was so cool but... border line scary. You stand there and you cannot see the sun, you can barely see the people around you, you can't really breathe because the chalk coats your throat and overall it is a very surreal feeling. It was fun to see so many different people from a lot of different places all celebrating one thing and just enjoying themselves. I went with a great group of people and had the best time. After we all showered and got cleaned up we went to the Nickelcade! Even though it smells like sweaty people and greasy pizza, it is a great place. Once you become immune to the smell, it is so fun to play all the different games. Although, I do say this with a heavy heart, me a canadian LOST to an american playing air hockey. That part wasn't so fun. 

Kim and I. Still clean... before all the madness. 

The crew and one of Satan's minions aka. Zach Thomas (second from the right). Okay, Nin is pretty scary too... 

SOO fun!! Hare Krishnaaaa 

A little change..

  Alright. So, forever ago I blogged about how much I disliked the color of my hair. It honestly was red... like, copper red. Here's the reason why... When I first went dark the hair dresser said that in order for it to look good she would need to put a 'filler' on it, this filler was literally the color of a penny. So, after I had stopped dying it, the color faded and all that was left was the 'penny' color. Not so cute. I'm not a ginger! Even if I wanted to be, I couldn't pull it off. So, I knew that as soon as season was over, I needed to make a change...

   My roommate and good friend Karin goes to school at Paul Mitchell. The school is about 10 minutes away from my house, it's a great deal and she is amazing at doing hair. I couldn't ask for anything better. So, I went on over today and she worked miracles.... let me know what you think :)

  These pictures really don't do it justice. I honestly love the color because it is really natural looking! Karin did exactly what I wanted. I love it!! 

Susie Q at BYU!

  

   The spunky blonde in the back, is that not my mom?

 So, my good friend Dan Schow was looking at my pictures and told me how this one cheerleader looked a lot like my mom. I went and looked at the picture and laughed so hard because... it IS my mom.  I love it when stuff like this happens, it's hilarious. It's scary how much it looks like my mom!!!

(there ya' go mom, funny huh?)

Guess what?

I GET TO GO HOME IN A MONTH!!! 

  I am honestly so excited to go home. I was sitting in one of my classes last week and I was just kind of thinking about how much I miss my family. This summer is going to be so important for me from a basketball standpoint, so I am going to need to be here in Provo most of the summer to stay in shape and work on my game. It will be fun down here, no doubt, but I am kind of sad because I do really miss my home. I was only able to be at home for Christmas for 4 days and as awesome as it was, 4 days was just too short to fully enjoy it. I am so excited though! It will be a good break between semesters, I will get to see my sisters and a lot of my family. Can't wait! 

Here are some of the things I miss the most... 

The beauty... okay, well I HOPE there is NO snow. But, I really do love Canada.. It's so pretty. 

My parentals. Cute picture, isn't it? 

My sisters! I get to see Mackenzie a lot more than Cait, Meag and Sarah.. so, I am excited to see them all!

My friends. I realize that most of the people in this picture are either getting married or are on missions but, I do miss my friends. Had a lot of good times with these people growing up. Oh and SHOUT OUT TO MY GOOD FRIEND JOEL KAY... He was just called to serve a mission in ALBANIA!! How crazy is that? So proud of you Joel.