I Had a Birthday Shout Hooray!

And what a fantastic Birthday it was! I had the opportunity to go to St. George for my Birthday weekend and stay with my Grandma and Grandpa. My family also drove up from Arizona. Nothing is better than spending a special day with family that you love. To make it even better I was spoiled rotten. :)

Here's a recap of the weekend:

Red Robin (one of my favorites) for lunch.

Brady is such a stud, even with a zebra purse.

Swimming at the City Pool with Nate and Malorie and seeing old friends.

Water fight at the park with cousins.

Grandma's Hawaiian haystacks and cream cheese pie. (She know's me so well ha ha)

And...presents! Of course! My family does so well. Shoes, scarfs, new skirt, cold stone gift card, and a bunch of other great things!

Upon my return to Provo, I celebrated the 24th with my cousins (the boys) and a couple of other friends. They are little pyro maniacs!

It turned out to be a very successful weekend. Yay for birthdays and friends and family!

Does summer have to end?

So Far This Summer

I told myself that I wasn't going to be one of those bloggers who goes for long periods of time without posting. Well...epic fail... I apologize and I will try to be better. So I guess it's time to catch up the blogging world on my summer. Here are the things I have done so far:

A couple of trips to Yuma to see my family. It's always much needed! Two visits to San Diego (beach and temple!), tubing down the Colorado river, and good food!

And of course I have to take my partner in crime along.

Yay for road trips!

 

My beautiful cousin's dance recital (she's extremely talented). I took my friend Tyler along with me. No one told me dance recitals were like four hours long haha but it was worth every minute to see her dance!

Some girl's nights out (a necessary summer activity)

Mustaches from the nickel-cade.

A girl's got to get her make-up done at the mall every once in a while.

A dollar movie is always a good summer activity even if it's a terrible movie.

Boating! I've already been up to my aunt's house three times this summer. My cousins taught me to wakeboard and I got up on my fourth try! I feel pretty good about that. Wakeboarding is my new summer addiction, to take the place of snowboarding of course.

The Fourth of July

July is definitely my favorite month of the year, barbecues, swimming, fireworks, and my Birthday of course. I spent the Fourth of July at my Great-Uncles cabin. Family, four-wheeling, games, and good food = a great weekend.

We call this the "Redneck Jeep" 

Megan is the cutest 9-Month-Old Ever!

Harry Potter... I tried to tell myself that I wasn't one of the obsessed ones. People talked about the premier of the last movie all week and I thought, "no big deal, I'll just see it in the dollar theater". Well I got a last second invitation to see it at 3:15 am and decided to go. Watching a movie in the middle of the night is all part of the college experience, right? Well as I was sitting there in the theater my eyes glued to the screen gasping, laughing, and crying I realized that I am obsessed and always have been. Here's to the end of an era... I love you Harry Potter!

Runny frosty's and incorrect orders from Wendy's. 

Lexie was a house elf and Taylor and I were "invisibility cloaks" Lexie's clever idea haha.

And last but not least... Lagoon! My friend Danielle and I decided that it would be good birthday presents to ourselves. What starting out as just her and I going turned into 13 lifeguards and a fantastic trip!

Memorable moments from the day include Lagoon-a-Beach (which I had to beg people to go to with me) and the free tubes we got there, a delicious lunch and our giant locker to hold it, playing "signs"-like games while waiting in lines (we only got a few weird looks), filming our ride on The Rocket, riding The Colossus eight times each because we ran back on over and over again right before closing, braiding hair during lunch, and of course the fact that we went picture crazy!

Well that's about it folks. I'm going to enjoy the amount of summer that I have left. Before I know it, it will be over. Good News: Meighan will come back from Ohio. Bad News: Back to School. Until then I'll just be lifeguarding away, working on my tan, teaching children to swim, wakeboarding, and enjoying my Birthday this weekend. I do love summer :)

Ciao!

Anna Jean Hart

Today was this pretty girl's birthday... 

...and I wanted to do a post to let her know how amazing she is!

Anna lived right across the hall from me freshman year. We met my very first weekend at BYU during new student orientation. We had an awesome adventure involving a creepy Y Group leader, a Saturday morning trip to the temple...

...and then a hike to Cascade Falls.

Starting with that first weekend we became fast friends.

Here are some fun facts about Anna...

She makes a HOT red M&M.

She's a BYU fan and I love going to sporting events with her.

She loves me and Alli (hopefully!), even though we're a little weird.

She let's us go dress shopping with her, even though we mess around in the store the whole time.

She looks fabulous in a toilet paper wedding dress.

She's married to an amazing guy who treats her like a queen and I couldn't be happier for them!

(Photo by Jennie Rae Photography)

I love you so much Squishy and I hope you had a wonderful Birthday!

Love, 

Syd

Coming Soon!

Dear Readers (however many I have),

A blog post (maybe a couple) is/are coming soon, I promise. Due to finishing finals, going home for a week, getting used to my new work schedule, and leaving my camera at Snowbird I'm slacking quite a bit. I know you guys miss me (ha ha) but I will fix that soon!

For now here is a quote and a picture :)

Choose your friends with caution; plan your future with purpose; and frame your life with faith.

-Thomas S. Monson

Finals Week Ramblings

Can I just express how much I hate finals? I mean, whose idea was it to cram all the biggest, hardest, comprehensive exams into one week at the end of the semester?

I decided today that the majority of BYU students begin to study on the third day of finals. This discovery was made as I wandered aimlessly through the library trying to find a table to sit at. The place was packed! It makes me claustrophobic.

Finals week fries my brain. I seem to have a lot more blonde moments. Does anyone know how to turn this drinking fountain on? Because Brittany and I sure couldn't figure it out. Until a nice young man showed us how. So embarrassing.

(FYI, it's the little black button. I don't know about you, but most drinking fountains I have used have a much more prominent button than that.)

Just to add to all the stress, my apartment complex requires “white glove” cleaning checks at the end of the semester. I have five finals to take and you want me to do some spring cleaning during all my free time? Come on people!

In spite of all the stress I have a few things to get me through. Last night I baked cookies to keep myself awake (my roommate thought I was crazy when she woke up to get a drink). 

The best thing I have is good friends and family to help me through it. 

Here are a  few shout-outs for them:

• Anna – Thank you for the Kit Kat. Chocolate always helps during studying.
• Mom – Thank you for helping me with my taxes. I (literally) couldn’t have finished them without you.
• Brittany – Thank you for keeping me sane in the library. It tends to take the form of a prison unless I have someone to eat cheese-its and E.L. Fudge with.
• Alli – Thank you for the hug. Sometimes that’s all a girl really needs.
• Meighan – Thank you for the homemade chocolate truffles. It’s the little things that make me smile.
• Any friends or family that I’ve missed – Thank you and I love you!

(Yes, everyone I’m aware that many of these shout-outs include food. Even though it’s a little embarrassing, my friends know what makes me happy!)

So here’s to two more finals and then a week-long escape from Provo! May these finals pass quickly and painlessly (even though they probably won’t).

If you too suffer from these finals week symptoms…best of luck… I’d help you if I could!

Peace Out,

Sydney

Where I'd Rather Be

What's a great way to take a break from studying for finals?

Updating my blog.

In honor of the fact that it's still FREEZING (at least to me) in Provo I decided a post about my new favorite hobby would be nice....

Snowboarding

What can I say? I'm addicted. I learned to ski when I was little, but my Dad just taught me how to snowboard in December. I LOVE it! I've been a ton this semester (probably more that I should ha ha). I've improved so much I can't even believe it. My adopted sister Malorie even let me borrow her snowboard for part of the season (she's the best). 

Here's some pictures from my latest trip to Sundance.

Well I guess my point to all this is that I'd much rather be snowboarding right now than sitting in the library studying. The good news, however, is that classes are over! In one week I'll be heading home for Easter! Yipee! All I have to do before then is survive finals...wish me luck!