Priceless Quotes

While driving to run some errands with The Little One we usually play I spy...

Little One: Michelle, can I tell you something instead of spying something?

Me: Of course! What's up?

Little One:....

Me: (Adjusting my mirror to see her)

Little One: Your love is my drug...

Seriously, so hard not to bust up laughing!! I love her!

Nannying vs Babysitting

I am not really sure the big difference between nannying and babysitting... you do the same job right? Anyways... I am a nanny now. I have always been "the babysitter" now I am more?? I am not sure how it is different, it just is I guess. Anyways... I am nannying for my boss and my friend, Tia and I trade off. It works out really nicely! So there are 3 little girls... 8(Miss Smarty Pants),6(Middle Child) and 4(Little one). They are a HANDFUL! But I love these girls with all of my heart! Tonight we went and saw Gnomeo and Juliet! It was my first 3D movie ever! It was so cute! I actually really enjoyed the movie! So did the girls, until it was past bedtime... and THENNNNN the crying started. The little one was so upset she kept saying she was going to throw up.... OH NO! All was well and we got home, brushed our teeth, went potty, got our pj's and sang our bedtime songs and then said our prayers. I said goodnight and that I loved each of the girls. I said good night to the Little One last and she opened one eye and said "Good night Michelle... I love you TOO! Thanks for taking me to see Juliet and Gnomeo... it was good.. I liked it. Sorry I thought I was going to throw up..." And then she closed her other eye and snuggled with her blankey.

Ok so here are why their nicknames are what they are....

Miss Smarty Pants: She is 8 but thinks like a 18 year old! She was concerned about the world ending next year. Seriously. She is designing clothes. She is so freaking smart. Not witty and sarcastic... but smart and wise!

Middle Child: She is definitely the middle child... and that about wraps her up.

The Little One: She is the youngest and the most dramatic by far. But yet she is so precious and cute!

Super-Dad

Today marks the 51st year that my Dad has been alive! That is pretty much 18,627 days that this Earth has been completely entertained! My Dad is one of my heroes! He can do anything. Sometimes I make him do stupid things like pretend to catch water....

And sometimes he LOVES when I make him take multiple pictures with me, so I can make sure that I look good...

And sometimes he likes to be a thug with his oldest, coolest daughter...

But most importantly he loves spending time with the WOMEN in his life and making sure we are all happy...

Dad, We love you! Thank you for being so amazing!!! You are the glue that holds our family together and without you we would be lost! Thank you for everything you do!!! You really are my hero, and you are a SUPER HERO in my eyes! Happy Birthday Daddy!

Future? What Future?

So the day has come and I have run out of classes to take... I honestly thought this day would NEVER come. So now what? Graduate? Then what? No one ever told me I had to have a plan for my life. I thought I was supposed to stay at home and cook and clean up after some small people. Guess that idea was WAY off. Hmmm so now what? Move home? And do what there? Let's be honest. I am a licensed cosmetologist. HAIR. IS. EVERYWHERE! I can go where ever my little heart desires. I can do hair, nails, extensions.... what should I do and WHERE should I go??? After waking up to 2 inches of freshly fallen snow I am thinking somewhere warm... possibly tropical? I don't know.. can't someone just make up my mind for me???? I will take any suggestions!!!

The Big 2-4

Yes, yes it is very true. I am 24... so weird!!! So on my birthday people came up and wished me happy birthday they would ask me how old I was and I felt like now... since I am an "old lady" they shouldn't be asking me how old I am... it's rude! So I just told people 21. And then one guy as he was leaving said "Happy 24th Birthday Michelle" and a bunch of people looked at me confused. Ha... oops! Anyways it was a really good birthday. Chyla came up from Utah and helped me celebrate. We went to dinner where Bonnie and Lucy came and met up with us. All in all, it was a great birth-WEEKEND! :) So since I am 24 I figured I would put 24 things that I am grateful for... I know this is almost 2 weeks late, but I've been super busy...so here they are:

I AM GRATEFUL FOR....

1. The Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ
2. The Atonement
3. My Testimony of the Atonement and the Gospel
4. My Dad- Always has a solution for every problem followed by a joke to make me laugh.
5. My Mom- She is always there for me and always keeps me down to earth.
6. My Sister- She is amazing and loves me and is always there for me whenever I need her.
7. My Grandparents, Aunts and Uncles and those who have helped me and supported me over my 24 years to reach my dreams!
8. Friends-They know who they are. My life would not be complete without any of them. From my first best friend to the many I have now :)
9. Knowledge- Not only from my schooling, but life experiences that have taught me many, many life lessons.
10. The Temple- for the Spirit that is there, and for the opportunity to have an Eternal Family
11. Roommates that help me when I need it the most and the many fun times we have together.
12. Drew- My car that takes me everywhere that I need to go!
13. Technology- That I can be able to have a somewhat easier time doing homework and other things.
14. Warm clothing- To allow me to stay warm during these cold times in Rexburg
15. SLEEP-I tend to fall asleep if seated for too long. I can pretty much fall asleep anytime, anywhere these days...
16. Medication- After hurting my knee I have been taking my fair share..
17. Jamba Juice- Pretty much my favorite place as of lately...
18. My Cell Phone- Without this lil guy I would be lost. LOST I tell you... maybe I have sent over 2500 texts in 2 weeks... ya........
19. My Job- I love that my work is so good to me and they don't expect hardly anything out of me this semester. But they still love me just the same!
20. Soda- I know this is a bad thing to be grateful for, but after a long day a nice Dr. Pepper or Diet Coke is just what I need!
21. Roommate Dinners- Especially when they cook and I just eat it!!!
22. Movies- Going to them or watching them at home!
23. Doctors- for their wisdom and knowledge to help us to get better.
24. My Birthday- to be able to feel so loved and special!

Well there you have it... This might have taken me 2 weeks to post, but these thoughts of appreciation and gratitude swirl in my mind constantly!

Winter and Camping DO NOT MIX!!!!

Sorry this is a LONG post, but has a good story and good moral of the story at the end! So if you are bored.. read away!

Wow. I can not believe that my birthday is in 8 days and I just realized that TODAY! I am usually start counting down my birthday at 100 days. I don't know if I am maturing and my birthday is just not a big deal anymore... but I am guess that is NOT it. I am pretty sure it is because I have been so busy lately I didn't even realize that January is almost over. WHERE HAS JANUARY GONE???? Well... let's see here. I came back to Rexburg. Got started with school. Got overwhelmed with school. Am still overwhelmed with school and preparing to start our business in about 2 weeks. Let me break this down even more now... I am in a class called "IBC" it stands for Integrated Business Core (honestly, I just had to look that up....) It is 12 credits with 4 different classes and a 3 hour block every day. Starting at 7:45am. The classes switch just depending on the day. We are divided into Companies and each company needs to create, start and operate a business on campus for 8 weeks. I am in Company A and there are 22 people in our company. 3 girls. Our classes are Organizational Effectiveness, Finances, Operations and Procedures and Marketing. The class is very ambiguous. VERY AMBIGUOUS! We started out being divided the first day into "Companies" and then inside our companies we were divided into "Teams" my team has 6 members. Me being the only girl. I knew of one of the guys before the class started and one of the other guys in my team, I met him on New Years Eve. Small world. Anyways, we all get along really well, which is good considering how much time we spend together. 3 out of the 6 are married... 3 are obviously not. We all know which of the 3 I fall into. We have a lot of group work and a LOT of reading. A LOT OF READING!!!!! 2 weeks ago we had the opportunity to be able to "bond" better with our team and company. We went to Badger Creek which is about an hour north of Rexburg. We were supposed to stay in tents, but by some miracle the tent broke and we couldn't (Prayer WORKS!). I knew before we went that there would be a ropes course and a lot of "awkward" things that would have to happen. I kept teasing with my roommates and said I was going to get "hurt" before I went so I couldn't go. Well the day before we were heading up to Badger Creek my roommates and I went

snowmobiling. Kandice is crazy and went over this

jump and I fell off of the back, and landed on my wrist. Now, in no way is or was my wrist broken. But it was sore. Luckily my other roommate, Madi had a brace and let me borrow it to milk this "owie" for all it's worth. Now my wrist really was sore, I wasn't lying at all! And my wrist is still sore.. sometimes. Anyways so I met up with my team after snowmobiling for a quick pre Badger Creek meeting and told them that I hurt my wrist. They still told me to come.. just be careful. Perfect. I can go. Just not do anything... so I thought. We woke up early the next day and had to be to Badger by 8 am. It was FREEZING!!!!!!!!!! I luckily got a brand new Omni-Shield Columbia winter Jacket for Christmas that kept me warm! We had some getting to know you lame games for a while with a short orientation and then headed to the ropes course. I of course couldn't do much with my hurt wrist. The first "obstacle" we had to overcome was the Giant Swing. It's where the rest of your company has to hoist you up to the top of the ropes course. Which is probably 10 stories up and then you let go of the rope and you free fall half way until your harness catches you. And then you proceed to swing back and forth. There were 12 people that were at this Giant Swing at one time. Every single one of them went, including the other girl in our company, except for me. We had time for one more. Who's a sucker for peer pressure? Oh that's right... ME! So I decided I was going to be brave! I could do this... so here it is... I did it...

Was it fun? NOPE! Did I enjoy any second of it? NOPE! I hated EVERY SINGE SECOND! It was so scary. Am I proud of myself for doing it? HECK YES I AM!!!!!! It was pretty much the craziest thing I have ever done. I have done slack lines before... not as scary as free falling. I felt like the free fall was 18 minutes long. So after finally stopping and near tears I had to get out of the harness, and to do so you have to stand on this ladder. As I was getting off of the ladder I was shaking... horribly. I was shaking so bad that the rest of the group that was 100 feet away could see me shaking. So as I was trying to step down (please remember there is about 3 feet of snow on the ground and incredibly icey) I took a step down and my right knee buckled. It hurt. REAL BAD. One of the guys in my team, Cody was right behind me and caught me as I fell back. He saw my knee go and I immediately felt the pain. He got me off of the ladder and helped me safely to the ground. He helped me out to the main road. Now, everyone was very proud of me that I went, so I wanted people to still think I was pretty cool. The guys on my team were the one right there and knew I hurt my knee. I just didn't really tell them how bad, however Cody somehow knew. So I just "was a man... and walked it off" as my dad would have said and pretended nothing was wrong. Was that a good idea? No. So that was our first event of the day. We had 4 more. I decided to sit the rest out and the rest of the company thought it was because I was too scared... I was not. I was in pain. When we got back to the lodge that night I took off all of my snow gear to discover that it looked and felt like I did not have a knee cap any longer. My knee was so swollen it looked more like my thigh... I however could not deal with it as I had 40 guys to feed. I made them all dinner and "manned up". That night at we sat around playing games Cody asked how my knee was. I laughed and showed him my knee. He felt bad but reminded me how accomplished I should feel. The rest of Badger Creek only got worse... The next morning I woke up and fed 60 people breakfast. With the help of my team... that are really good listeners! :) Everyone said how good breakfast was and I am proud that I can cook for that many people and know how much food to buy and fill so many hungry guys! So after breakfast we walked down and did some more "obstacle" of course I sat and watched the guys do it. That night we were cooking outside and decided to do tin foil dinners. However, we thought there would be a fire... and there was not... so we had to use the propane grills to heat up our dinners. Since I had been basically sitting in the snow all day I was freezing. My knee hurt. I was tired. I was cold, and practically lost in the woods. Not a good mix. So I was heating our dinners up. Standing in my coat... I NEVER leaned up against the grill. Nor did I even lean up against the table it was on. I was a good couple inches away the entire time. But somehow I managed to melt 3 giant holes in my BRAND NEW (from Christmas) Omni-Shield Columbia Jacket (that wasn't cheap, might I add). When Kevin pointed out the holes in my coat I had to walked away into the dark and I just started crying. I had wanted this coat so bad, my parents were so kind and spent a pretty penny on this beloved coat and now after this stupid camp that I didn't even want to go to it was ruined. My knee hurt, my coat was ruined, I am tired, I am freezing and I wanted to go home! One of the guys tried to comfort me, but I was done. When my dinner was finally ready I had one bite and then tried to stab a carrot when my fork broke and MELTED. And that is when I laughed. Seriously? How could one week go so wrong? I tried to eat but was in so much pain I ate what was necissary to take some pain medication. After the drugs kicked in I was ready to hike up back to the lodge. We weren't supposed to go back for another hour, but my team decided to make an exception for me. When we got back up there I went to the bathroom and just mourned over the loss of my coat. I was so upset. After realizing it was just a temporal thing and it could be replaced, I don't know how and I don't know when, but it will be, I decided to try and make the most out of this horrible week. I went to the kitchen made myself a real dinner and ate that and then went and played phase 10 into the night. The next day we met as a company and finalized our decision on what our business should be (that announcement to come later) and divided up our projects. We finally got to leave. As I left I realized that I am a baby and that my knee probably was only hurting because of the cold. I finally got home and took a nap... for 6 hours... I woke up worked a little then went back to sleep. I woke up the next day and decided I should probably go to the doctor just to see. I went and he said he thinks I tore my meniscus (which usually doesn't heal on it's own and will most likely require surgery... awesome... ) He also referred me to a specialist. So on Monday I went and saw the specialist and discovered that I actually tore my MCL and sprained my meniscus. He is hoping this will heal on it's own but I am not supposed to really walk on it much. He told me to ice it and not to do anything real physical for 6 weeks. I am supposed to go back to him in 2 weeks to make sure it is healing properly. If he discovers it is not healing like it should, surgery will be neccissary. Awesome. So I went to school the next day and as I walked in I had a limp. The guys on my team all asked me if my knee was still bothering me, I laughed and responded with..

Me: Ya.. turns out I tore my MCL

Chase: Wait, Michelle you REALLY hurt your knee? I thought you were just faking so you didn't have to do anymore obstacles.

Me: Nope. I really hurt my knee.

Kevin: Oh man. I feel bad. Were you in pain?

Me: Yep. That's why I kept that bottle of extra strength tylenol with me... and polished off that bottle...

Chase: Man. I feel so bad now.

Ha. I look back at my whole experience at Badger and know that it was horrible. My knee is still hurting today. I still limp everywhere I go and in Rexburg, on the ice is NOT easy. I can't bend my knee all the way yet either. But I did realize that in life, sometimes you have obstacles that you have to overcome, and they can be scary and you can even get hurt, but in the end when you look back on life if you decide to overcome it you will be pleased with yourself.

Sorry this post was sooo long, but I just needed to tell everyone my story. I will be posting about the business we will be starting very soon. As soon as it gets approved, which should be Tuesday. So be ready for another post!

A semester through pictures!

This semester has been a blur or stress, fun, snow, papers, snow, fun and some other stuff. I will tell you what... I can NOT wait for break to be here. One more week and I will be home for Christmas! This past semester has been one of the hardest semester academically, however we have had our share of fun this semester! Let me introduce you to my roomies... aka P.I.C. (partners in crime)!

First there is Kleen (her real name is Kolleen)

I love Kleen. She is the type of person that will love you no matter what. She puts up with a lot from me and I love her so much and am happy to see her future

adventures she will be going on shortly....

Then there is Scandilous... I mean Kandice.. She looks like Kleen. It's cause they were born on the same day. But Kandice was born first...

Kandice takes care of me. If she notices I have too much dirty laundry and not enough clean ones... she will do them for me. She also cooks for me... A LOT. She is so good to me. I am glad she isn't into boys right now so we can be friends!

Then there is the new roommie. Her name is Ta-Ta-Ta-Tia.

She is like me. Only prettier and younger. But seriously... we have a lot in common. We often do and say the same thing. We are pretty sure we were destined to meet. She cracks me up and I love spending time with her. She is a real good listener and has great advice!

So the question is... what have we done.. well....

We threw a party...

We went to a BYU game...

We take crazy pictures...

We dress up for Halloween...

I do Kandice's hairs... really nicely...

We go to dinner....

We go bowling...

We play in the snow...

We have chocolate fights...

We bundle Kleen up so she can take out our trash...

We kiss Kleen... and she REALLY likes it..

All in all I would say it has been a great semester!

I also really enjoyed Thanksgiving... so here are some pictures from that.... (ignore all dates... my camera is messed up!)

FOOD!

Grandma!

CUTE SISTERS!!!! HAHA

Auntie Marilyn!!!

I know that is a LOT of pictures, but let's be honest... I NEVER update my blog... nor do I put up pictures! But it is only because we are having too much fun! I am grateful for great friends, a wonderful family and for the opportunity I have to be furthering my education, even though it is challenging at times! I hope you all take time this season to take a big look at your life and realize how loved and lucky you are! Merry Christmas!!!