happy birthday: nina!

sorry it's late nee nee
(her birthday is april 15)
finals got the best of me.

you're now 25 and have accomplished a lot in the last year i'd say.
bachelors in nursing almost complete,
might i add you're also on the HONOR roll...
or something.. "i don't know i wasn't really paying attention"
accepted into an internship in ghana for the summer,
AND into a Doctorate in Nursing program (neonatal)
AMAZ-ing.

here's how your year 24 went according to my camera:

i think this was your birthday last year-

 celebrated by bowling at provo beach resort!

excited to get into your "uniform"!

celebrating nat's birthday(?) at sundance

good times at lake powell

you and jeff have kept up consistently teasing each other

you chased him around hitting him with a pom pom

after he called you out on some dealing with a fella

we spent that crazy night together where we did all these things in about 2 hours:

1. hit up my ballroom competition

2. ran to my apartment to change, let me shower, and take all the crap off my face and out of my hair

3. ran to sadie and craig's reception

4. made it to the awesome byu football game when riley was a star!

toy store with evie

we've sung and danced to "moves like jagger" 

with evie countless times

disregard the fact that i look 4 months pregnant

you've shared your Tangled obsession with evie

stellie kisses

valentine's for the singles with the husbands(and boyfriend)!

everyone's included!

jeff's birthday jersey boys performance

this is probably more "moves like jagger"

and some oldies...

i love this one of you

the leaf shirts!! so fall. twinning.

check out the size of that gameboy..

i'm excited to see what this next year brings for you.

many experiences to remember forever i'm sure.

with ghana and your doctrate program, dude...

you're like so fetch.

just kidding i don't know why that came to my head.

but seriously such a big deal.

i love you smarty pants.

i am so excited to spend more time with you in slc this next year.

i hope we'll get to create many more memories this year!

now don't you go dyin on me!

get all your vaccines, ya hear?!

How Do I Love Thee?

wow

I just found another Elder Holland gem.

His 2000 BYU devotional address was on tv this morning.

I had never heard it but appreciated it especially now that I am married.

He spoke on Christlike love - especially in relationships.

Here he is with his cute wife who, at the beginning of the talk he told made up stories about. She was laughing pretty hard.

Catch the talk here

These are some of my favorite quotes... 

(the quotes about a man demeaning a woman.. you know who you are.. I included them for you!)

"In a dating and courtship relationship, I would not have you spend five minutes with someone who belittles you, who is constantly critical of you, who is cruel at your expense and may even call it humor. Life is tough enough without having the person who is supposed to love you leading the assault on your self-esteem, your sense of dignity, your confidence, and your joy. In this person’s care you deserve to feel physically safe and emotionally secure."

"Members of the First Presidency have taught that “any form of physical or mental abuse to any woman is not worthy of any priesthood holder” and that no “man who holds the priesthood of God [should] abuse his wife in any way, [or] demean or injure or take undue advantage of [any] woman”—and that includes friends, dates, sweethearts, and fiancées, to say nothing of wives."

"Temper tantrums are not cute even in children; they are despicable in adults, especially adults who are supposed to love each other. We are too easily provoked; we are too inclined to think that our partner meant to hurt us—meant to do us evil, so to speak; and in defensive or jealous response we too often rejoice when we see them make a mistake and find them in a fault. Let’s show some discipline on this one. Act a little more maturely. Bite your tongue if you have to. “He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty; and he that ruleth his spirit than he that taketh a city.”

"One of the great purposes of true love is to help each other in these times. No one ought to have to face such trials alone. We can endure almost anything if we have someone at our side who truly loves us, who is easing the burden and lightening the load."

"Like ships, people have differing capacities at different times and even different days in their lives. In our relationships we need to establish our own Plimsoll marks and help identify them in the lives of those we love. Together we need to monitor the load levels and be helpful in shedding or at least readjust- ing some cargo if we see our sweetheart is sinking. Then, when the ship of love is stabi- lized, we can evaluate long-term what has to continue, what can be put off until another time, and what can be put off permanently."

"Jesus Christ, the Light of the World, is the only lamp by which you can successfully see the path of love and happiness for you and for your sweetheart."

I also found this Mormon Messages video of the talk...

picture from here

nicole's classes PARTY!

I'm getting excited for this party.

Are you coming?

if it's anything like last year, it will be a blast!

hope to see you there!

he finished! Ironman #2

So he's pretty much a champ.

Had a blast

got a flat which set him back ;(

but if we subtracted that 30 minutes or so

 from his time he would have improved 

a ton from this same race he did 2 years ago

6 hours 58 minutes!

A-MAZ-ing

i could never do it

you couldn't pay me

seriously

not even all the debt that obama owes this country...

alright these are signs of jeff being too involved in politics ;)

the man is well-rounded

and really,

check out the butt on that one...

yeah... he must work out!

let's talk video games

(started this post before our video game lecture.. decided i needed to finish! great class Dr. Coyne!)

were you a gamer like i was?

super nintendo is still the best

then nintendo 64

the wii

and finally x-box

favorite games?

donkey kong!

aladdin

paper boy

mario kart

top gear

and simpson's road rage (ok i'm not a simpsons fan at all)

why were these so great?
they are classics to me!
i remember trying to teach my parents to play top gear with me because i thought it would be fun to teach them how to play video games.

I remember bonding with my cousin Michael while playing Donkey Kong.. because what 10 year old boy would play Barbies or house? He was my only cousin that was my age so I had to do SOMETHING with him.

My sisters and I could all play Mario Kart together because it was something we all could do! Nat was way too old to be playing with me, Nicole was like so past the age of dramatic/pretend play, Nina was borderline i sort of want to play with you but I'm supposed to be growing up so I shouldn't, and that left only Ali to play Barbies and house with me. Mario Kart and Donkey Kong were something we could ALL do!

When I analyze these games I think.. ok... I think my parents did a pretty good job. They aren't  realistically aggressive (i mean, we weren't physically hurting anyone, only killing vultures in DK ;) And I remember my Mom monitoring our time pretty well.

Did they do the right thing?
I think so.
I rarely played a video game by myself.  Most of our games were for multiple players.
My Dad bought us a new game only at Christmas time and it was his one way to relate to us girls... poor guy never had a son! This was our Tom Boy bond.

I was so involved in dance that i really didn't have much time to waste on video games.
But on a Friday night when my sisters and I were all at home together,
that was a pretty fun time.
And we still talk about our memories playing these games.

You know what I say, (obviously check content first because content is everything in the first place but..) almost anything is ok in moderation.
Moderation is key.

Alright I think Jeff and I have decided that we are stealing my parents' Super Nintendo to play Paper Boy this weekend! I also just discovered that he has never played Top Gear before.. boy do I have some things to teach him!

Bu nuh nuh nuh nuh bu nuh nuh nuh NUH NUH! (singing the New York City race tune.. anyone know it? :)

photos from here here here here here here

general conferance... yes conferance

I was blown away by this. I'm at a Mormon university and Mormons (or just the one that posted it;) can't spell conference?
I find spelling and grammatical errors in the media really funny.
While keeping in touch with friends on social media networks, I have realized who really struggles with grammar. I've also realized the number of people who struggle.. I'm in awe!

Two, to, and too... really?
Their, there, and they're... really?
more commonly, you're and your... really?
even better, I once knew a boy that would mix up our and are... they aren't even the same meaning!

Jeff and I even noticed a huge lit sign on university avenue the other day that was incorrect. It said something like "family's welcome." Ok apostrophe errors drive me nuts! Apostrophe s is for possession people! Adding an s makes it plural. You don't always need an apostrophe s!

Ok I know I'm a little grammar natzi, but... really?
Didn't we all go to elementary school?
Are people just getting lazier or did I just have really good teachers and parents?
Also, I believe certain aspects of the media test our patience ;)