The Things I Learned in Oregon

-Nate is deathly afraid of sea lions

-Parker is even skinnier in a wet suit

-There are geocaches ALL OVER the place

-Parker is obsessed with Prefontaine and the U of O

-Rich is even cuter than I thought

-Wet suits make a world of difference in freezing cold water

-Five Kayaks can fit into one truck

-Sea Lions will follow you all over a beach if they feel threatened

-Star fish only move about 1/4 of a mile from where they stick onto a rock in their entire life

-When you're pregnant, it's hard to even jump up to sit on a railing

-Buttermilk syrup os possibly the best tasting thing in the whole world

-Girls are better than boys at sequence

-Girls are better than boys at Up the River, Down the River

-Three beds can fit into a room that's 8'x6'

-A letter can be mailed from OR, to PA and back to UT in three days

-No matter how well you wrap up sea creatures, they will always smell up your car on the trip home

-Rich REALLY wants a kitten after we get married ;)

-Peeing in a wet suit doesn't always make it smell like urine afterwards

-Iphones are completely worth it

-Gum does not last for 19 years

-Tap Defense is nearly impossible to beat on the Spartan, Endurance, Basic level

-Idaho can actually be a cool place to live

-The ER in La Grande would fail to function if more that 5 people came in in a night

-Citizen Cope is an amazing station to enter into Pandora when you just want to relax

-Some people don't change one bit after five years

-My family is still my favorite to go on a vacation with

Four Months Later...

Surprise!  I'm engaged...  I'm getting married June 19th in the Manti Utah temple to Richard Jay Brandt.  (ha ha, weird. I never write out his full name)  We're having our reception the night before at the Provo library in the ballroom and I'd love to see all of you there!  Seriously.  

We went to Manti over easter weekend to visit his mom and some of his old friends. Friday we went horse back riding up in the mountains behind his mom's house, and when we stopped at the top, he proposed!  I had no idea he was going to do it.. He kept telling me my ring wasn't going to be ready till after he got back from Germany, and I half believed him.  Speaking of which, he's in Germany.. for three weeks.  I didn't get to see him the whole week before he left, so we're not going to see each other for an entire month of our two month engagement.  Not fun.

So, if you're thinking, "What the heck?!  I didn't even know she was dating anyone!"  Join the club.  He moved to Pleasant Grove from Cedar this year, and THEN we started dating.  So this whole thing has been long-distance, and we've done it on our own from day one.  No one set us up, there were no middle men, no one even suggested that we date the whole two years prior.  And I love it.  It's been mine and Rich's relationship completely.  To use the words of a friend, it's not mine Rich and the track team's, just mine and Rich's.  (they were probably the most shocked, ha ha) So basically I love him and I've never been so excited for anything in my life!  Cheesy?  Probably... being engaged does that to you.

Once we decided we were getting married for sure we had to hurry and get engagements done before he left to Germany.  Luckily Sammi is amazing and fit us into her crazy busy schedule.  (feelslikehomephotography.blogspot.com)  Here are the few that I've seen so far.  Enjoy.

Time for an update...

Ok, so I warned everyone that I would be really bad at this whole blog thing, and now it's been proven.  So since it's been forever, I'll just post a few pictures of things that have been happening lately.

We'll start with the most recent (and best) event:

I was in the kitchen last night about to make crepes for our little roommate Christmas party when Kaeley walks in with a letter addressed to me and Jacki.  I was excited enough to be getting a letter, but little did I know...  I assumed that it was from a missionary since they're the only ones who write letters, and Jacki and I have a few mutual missionary friends, so it made sense.  Little did i know...  There's no return address, but I didn't think much about it.  I open the envelope and pull out a paper with magazine clippings spelling out the letter.  As I open the paper, $2o0 cash falls onto the floor... What the heck!?  The letter read: "Jacki Ashley:  Don't spend on anything but shoes for track" and that was about it.  No name, no return address, no nothing.  Best day ever?  I think so.

Next.  Christmas is coming and we didn't have any decorations in our house.  Some of our friends at "The Rex" (a house of guys we're friends with) offered to take us out to get a christmas tree!  We all should have been studying or something I'm sure, but who could turn that down?  Here are the pictures:

So I guess a lot else has happened (halloween etc) but those weren't anything special.  Pretty much I've just been livin' it up with my roommates every day... So there's my update.  Have a great day!

Girl Camping

So we were bored this weekend and wanted to go camping.  Everyone was busy doing "true T-Bird" night and other boring stuff, so we couldn't get any guys to come with us.  We were a little nervous to go by ourselves so I gave my brother a call... He was in New York for cross country, but he was nice enough to let me borrow his .22 for the night.  Oh, and I brought along the taser my dad gave me last year just for some extra comfort... thanks dad :)  So Me, Kaeley, Jacki and Robyn all drove out to three peaks, built a fire, and slept in the dirt... well, me and Jacki did at least. Robyn and Kaeley ended up in the car.  It was quite the adventurous night.. we were all just chillin around the fire when someone decided it would be funny to throw fire crackers and shoot roman candles at us, ha ha.  We chased them down for a little while but then let them go.  Whoever it was was just afraid of us cause they didn't come back.  Maybe it was cause they saw the gun across my lap and figured they better not mess with these girls... or maybe it was something else.  Who knows ;)  Either way, it was a great night. 

Saturday morning there was a parade for homecoming week.  Me and Jacki were supposed to walk in it with the track team, but then we got a better offer.  The girl doing the Disney "float" needed a few more girls to dress up as disney characters... well duh, we did that instead.  I was Wendy from peter pan and Jacki was Jasmine.  Robyn got the lucky part of the evil queen on snow white, ha ha, she was perfect!  The little kids all LOVED us and came to see the princesses before the parade stared.  One of them saw Robyn and I swear she was about to cry.  She covered her eyes and went back over by the princesses.  It was the funniest thing.

Back to the real world

So, I feel left out since I was the only kid in my family without a blog... and so I fall into the trend as well.  Thanks a lot.  ;)  

After spending the last few months in Paradise laying out at the beach, surfing, camping, hiking, etc etc, I've returned back to the real world.  School started two weeks ago and it's been interesting getting back into the swing of things.  I still live in the little corner house, but a few of my roommates have changed.  Jacki, Jenessa, and Monica are still here, but now Kaeley, Robyn and Jacki Platt have moved in with us as well.  Back to seven girls in a little tiny house... It's been a blast though.  We've already gone back down to Sand Hollow a few times.   It's the only way we can bear being away from the beaches of Hawaii we were so used to, ha ha.  Jenessa and I went with my mom, Heidi, Parker, Danny and Karl down to Zion this weekend to do Mystery canyon.  We all had a good time and I got a little taste of what I missed this summer.  

That's about all that's been going on around here.. Sorry in advance if I don't update this much!

Catching frogs in Hawaii

Mystery
Sand Hollow