Family is Forever

Merry Christmas.

I don't ever want to grow up

wisdom teeth, you suck.

teddy bears, however, do not.

and I will forever be a little girl at heart.

on the road

My roommate/co-worker Melissa just came back from a week-long road trip with her dad and has started writing about it on her blog. It made me realize that I haven't posted a single photo from my week long road trip with my daddy that I took at the end of July.

Dad and I have been planning on this trip since the days of Hamilton (and the epic fail that happened in upstate New York). So, it was long over due when we climbed into my Cazz Machine and headed West. We had a BLAST! We saw so much of the country and stopped as so many amazing places and talked about so many things.

I'm slowly going to post photos from the week, but I easily took over 3,000, so I'll do it a little at a time so I don't get overwhelmed. Here we go:

On the road! I took this as we passed the place where Dad and I had to turn around with Hamilton the first time we attempted this trip:

The locks at the Erie Canal.

Beautiful sunset and incoming thunderstorm in upstate New York:

Dad drove through the night and switched out with me around 4:00 AM. We drove through Chicago around 6:00 AM, as the sun was rising. And I survived it. 

Dad and I at a rest stop in Minnesota:

Driving over a bridge in South Dakota, where we finally stopped; after driving for 27 hours straight!

The prairie of South Dakota. It was stunning:

(Dad is still learning how to use the focus on my SLR)

Filling up in Wall, South Dakota. 

Dad scraping the bug guts off my windshield. We had to do this every time we filled up. The guts were NASTY!

Dad at Wall Drug, in South Dakota. It's a giant drug store turned into a tourist attraction. We 

We snagged lunch before we headed towards the badlands.

Seriously though; America is beautiful and I loved every moment I spent in the car seeing it. 

On a lighter note:

Let's talk about these rad sunglasses I got from Forever21 the other day for 5$

Or about this classy watch that my Auntie Renee gave to me five years ago when I got sick and it was too big for my wrist and how my dad took it to work today and used his super high-tech aerospace machine to take a pin out and make it smaller so it now fits my wrist!

OR ABOUT HOW BATH AND BODY WORKS CAME OUT WITH A WHOLE NEW SCENT COLLECTION CALLED "INTO THE WILD!" (blog title, ya dig?) AND HOW IT ACTUALLY SMELLS FANTASTIC AND HOW I GOT THIS SPRAY ON SALE FOR 4$! I now smell like my blog. so cool. 

Also, Sister Chen (A sister missionary serving in my church from Taiwan) taught me how to each with chop sticks. I'm now completely prepared for China.

This was an awesome hair/bang day. I wish it cooperated like this every day.

So long. My hair is getting to be so long.

Let's talk about this song, which is currently stuck in my head and how I'm totally okay with it, because it is brilliant (and this music video is awesome):

And how today, Bruno Mar's "It will rain" was playing on all four of my favorite radio stations. At the SAME time! ENOUGH, PEOPLE! I've had ENOUGH of that song.

And finally, let's talk about how great it is to open my photo booth up and see this lovely surprise that Jillise must have left me during Thanksgiving break.

She's so cute! I like her a lot.

Happy MLK day, people. I spent today with Kaleb and Jack while scraping wallpaper glue off a wall at the Kelly's, taking Cazz for a long drive up to Merrimac to pick up my camera charger at my Auntie M's and then taking a nap on my grandparents' couch before coming home to a warm fire and a lovely family.

And you know what else?

In a couple of weeks, I get to start writing to my best friend again.

<3

From us to you

Merry Christmas!

With love from,

The Whitneys

Grateful

For my incredible forever family, who never fails to support me, believe in me or stand behind me in all that I do and all that I dream.

for my brand new knee and my second chance at life, for being limp free and pain free for the first time in over five years, for answered prayers and for miracles

for my two best girls, for their support and kindness and willingness to listen, for the way they open their homes to me and for the adventures we go on and the memories we have made, and the memories to come.

and for the love of my life, my best friend and missionary, for faith in our plan and for the gospel, for his sacrifices and for his obedience, for the blue bow and for knowing what true, unconditional love really is. 

I am so blessed. I am so grateful. 

Happy Thanksgiving.

Thai Thursday and other things

Let me tell you about today.

First, I walked to school, because my phone hates me and didn't tell me that Symone was willing to drive me. So my face was pretty much burned off with the cold by the time I got to work. But then I got to work. And I was productive, which is good, because I'm still a month behind in Jenzabars. Sam and I got hot chocolate. I went to class. Then Paige picked me up and we went to get Thai food. It was delicious. If it is possible to inhale food, then that is what I did. Within 20 minutes, my plate was empty and my tummy was full and happy. I love Thai Thursday/sometime Tuesday. And I am never missing it again.

Anyway, then I went to a work meeting. And Sam and I got in trouble because she tried to draw a hand turkey and the feet came out like an upsidedown umbrella that got blown inside out. and we laughed hysterically. And my boss gave us a look, but she wasn't really that mad.

I then proceeded to hang up Sam's picture in our office, so that everyone could appreciate her work of art. 

I came home and took a shower. And got ready. And then Sam came over and we walked to Northgate and got her car. And then we went back to the BYUI center and had dinner with a bunch of snobby AV people. But that's okay, because the food was really good (minus the fruit bars) and then Kathy and Jeremy came and sat with us and we talked about hiring for next semester and acne. And then we went upstairs and answered phones while President Clark did a live webcast. And Sam and I laughed a lot. So that was cool. Then she took me home in time for me to watch Grey's Anatomy with Whitney. And then right after, Symone kidnapped me so I could meet her favorite returned missionaries that used to serve in her ward. And then she came home and Paige came and kidnapped me and we went and froze our little bottoms up while we watched the soccer championship game that her man was coaching. And we laughed some more.

And then I came home to a nice email from my mama bear and the promise of a letter tomorrow. Not too bad of a day, if you ask me. Not too bad of a day.

inspi(red)

The Things They Carried

'That's what stories are for. Stories are for joining the past to the future. Stories are for those late hours in the night when you can't remember how you got from where you were to where you are. Stories are for eternity, when memory is erased, when there is nothing to remember except the story."

-Tim O'Brien

Telestrations

As many of you know (because I blog about it every time), one of my family's favorite games to play is Telestrations-a witty combination of pictionary and telephone. (read more about how it's played here or here) Tonight was the first time all summer that we had time to sit down and play a few rounds! Here are a few of my favorite rounds (and laughs) from the night. 

Dad had this word to start off:

and he drew this:

Jake's friend, Greg, who joined us for the evening, guessed this:

And Jake came up with this masterpiece, because he thought "kiln" instead of "kennel"

So my mother guessed this while sniggering into her white board:

And Katie, baffled, drew this, handed it to me and said: "good luck."

Originally I wrote: "Cat in a fireplace" but on second glance, I realized that the animal was IN the flames:

and so Dad's "Pig Pen" ended up with this drawing from Ashley:

Katie got "mink coat" in this round

Of course, I had to draw it. Obviously, I didn't do it well:

Ashley guessed:

And so Dad, utterly confused, drew:

Greg guessed:

and Jake drew this:

and Mom guessed:

This probably is my favorite, though. Ashley started off with "Booth"

So she drew this "voting booth"

Dad guessed:

Greg drew this:

And Jake guessed this:

And my mother, bless her heart, drew this.

and somehow, someway, Katie guessed this:

So I drew this:

And thus, Ashley's "Booth" turned into:

...a nativity scene.

I love spending time with my family. I love laughing so hard my stomach cramps up for hours after. I love getting along with everyone and appreciating the individuals each member of my family have become. I love being part of them and am grateful that they are a part of me.