Dear Sickness...

Whatever you are, please go away.

I do not enjoy the headaches, or the cough, or the stuffy nose.

I especially do not enjoy coughing up blood.

Thanks for getting my friends sick (not).

And you make me look silly with my bright red nose.

Everyone keeps looking at me because I'm wearing sweats on campus (I don't know why BYU students feel the need to be dressed up all the time).

And I can't believe I paid money for the doctor to tell me you were just a cold (I still think your a sinus infection).

I have way too much to do and I don't have time for you right now.

So, if you could just leave me alone so I can get back to my life, it would be awesome.

Thanks muchly,

Syd

The Happiest Place on Earth

Let’s just say that I am spoiled. I got to ditch three classes, spend four days in California and go to Disneyland for two days. It was about 85 degrees Thursday and Friday. It was a balmy 70 the other two days. I even got an awesome farmers tan (dorky I know, but anything is better than my blinding winter skin). The only bad part about the weekend was coming back to about a foot of snow. Curse that Provo weather.

Here are some of the family's (or maybe just my) favorite memories from the trip:

• Operation keep Brady awake (which resulted in naming opposites the whole way back to the hotel).
• A claustrophobic Mother (she was not a fan of the Finding Nemo ride in the deep, dark submarine).
• Having both Space Mountain and the Matterhorn break down while we were in line! We were even sitting in the actual bobsled on the Matterhorn, so we decided to wait that one out.

• Mom: "Syd, if I were to buy you one thing at Disneyland, what would it be?" Syd: "A churro." (I promise I'm not weird people I just LOVE churros!)
• The way Tom wore his backpack (he's going to kill me for posting this picture).

• Red Robin.... [cue Riley, Brady, and Sydney]... "Yumm!"
• Meeting Pluto (but no other Disney characters because my Mom is not a character Mom. Do you blame her though? An hour wait is pretty ridiculous to see the Disney Princesses.)

• Syd's blonde moment for the weekend = packing church clothes (oops, I forgot that it was General Conference)
• Seeing California cousins (Brady picked oranges off their tree and scooped dog poop for them, while I devised ways to steal Cory's basketball shoes that are signed by The Jimmer.)
• Newport Beach Temple (everyone loves to go to a new temple!)

• Mom buying Tom a salad, when all he really wanted was a big burger.
• Riley singing the Indiana Jones theme song on the Indiana Jones ride (I think it helped her not be scared).
• Singing teach me how to Jimmer in the mornings (It's a great song to get ready to and it drives the parent crazy).
• I think this picture pretty much sums up the ride experience for the weekend. Brady putting his hands up on all the roller coasters. Mom protecting her "babies" from falling out (even though the rides are made so you don't fall out) and Riley scared out of her mind. 

And here are some extra pictures just for fun!

It was most definitely a successful trip. I love my family and I am so thankful that they included me in their spring break!

And now, it’s back to the normal grind. Speaking of which, I have a paper to write.Thank goodness I only have two and half weeks left in the semester!

Festival of Colors

What do you get when you give a bunch of college students bags of chalk and then let them throw it at each other in celebration of spring?

This of course.

I must say that my first trip to festival of colors was a success.

Hope that everyone had as good of a weekend as I did!

One of Those Recipe Posts

Yes folks, I am going to be one of those people that posts recipes on her blog. My theory is, if I make something and I love it, I want to share it! So here you go, recipe post numero uno....

Iced Soft Gingerbread Cookies

Cookie:

2 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 cup sugar

a pinch of salt

1 egg

1 tablespoon honey

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon of allspice

1 tablespoon candied lemon peel, finely chopped or lemon zest (I actually used orange because I didn't have a lemon)

1/2 cup grated almonds (I omitted these because I'm not a huge fan of nuts in cookies)

3 tablespoons milk

4 tablespoons butter

Icing:

2 large egg whites

2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice

3 cups powdered sugar

Mix flour, baking powder, sugar, salt, egg, honey, cinnamon, and all spice. Add peel or zest with almonds and milk. Cut the butter into small pieces and scatter over the  mixture. Mix well using the dough hook of an electric mixer. Turn the mixture onto a floured work surface and knead by hand to smooth dough. Form into tow rolls, wrap in aluminum foil and chill for 1 hour. Once the cookie dough has been chilled, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line cookie sheets with baking parchment paper. Cut the rolls of dough into slices approximately 3/4 inch thick. Roll into balls, place on parchment paper. Flatten slightly and bake for about 15 minutes. Remove from oven and cool on a wire rack.

For the icing, using an a electric mixer, beat the egg whites with the lemon juice until combined. Add the powdered sugar and beat on low spread until smooth and well-combined. Frost cookies immediately as the icing hardens quickly when exposed to air. Cover tightly with plastic wrap if not using icing immediately. (I drizzled my icing, but you can dip it, coat it completely, or whatever else you'd like to do.)

So there you have it. Credit goes to the cookie book my friend Meighan has. I'm pretty sure that book contains magical recipes. Every time I go to her house she has tried another one and the cookies are always delicious. This particular recipe has been my favorite. My roommates and people in my ward devoured them. Hope that you enjoy them as well!

Texas Girls

For most of my life my Dad lived in Houston and I'd go visit him for half the summer. Now he lives in Denver and I'm finding that I miss Houston quite a bit. I miss the beach and the heat, but mostly I miss the people. When I'd visit my Dad I always refused to go to Young Women's (I was a little shy believe it or not). Finally he convinced me to go and I met Kaydee.What followed was friendships and fun times with a bunch of girls that I love! Well a few years have passed and not a bunch of us are at BYU. So... I had to have them over for dinner of course!

 Pictured Above: Tria, Katelyn, Me, and Katherine

 The only one who's missing is Kaydee because the lucky girl is at BYU-Hawaii.

And here's a flashback to girl's camp in 2008.

I've had so many fun times with these girls: The "wa" game, silly songs at girl's camp, saran wrapping cars, saran wrapping the bishop and his wife, the duck tape master, the bandana chief, and so many other wonderful memories! I'm so lucky that even all the way in Texas I was able to find friends who had the same values as I did and accepted me with such welcoming arms. Thank you girls for being such great friends!

Love, 

Kydney

Yours Truly

My new years resolution was to start a blog. So here we go, I finally did it. Yes, I am well aware that it is March. However, I had a friend tell me that as long as I started the blog before next year, I was still fulfilling my new years resolution. Yay me!

Now, I'm not very witty. So this blog will probably not be very funny. I am not very emotional. In fact, my mother tells me that I have no heart at all. So I wouldn't expect to shed any tears if I were you. But, if you're looking for a way to waste some time. I think I can help you out with that.

I decided to do my first post all about me. This is where I get to be totally and completely conceded (muahaha!) So here it goes....

This is me.

(Photo courtesy of Miss Jody Baughman)

This is my family.

(Mom, Tom, Riley, Brady, and me)

(Dad, Anna, Nicolaus, and Megan)

Yes, I am well aware the I have the cutest siblings EVER!

These are my friends.

(But not all of them)

This is my school.

And finally...

I love the gospel of Jesus Christ and I know that it is true.

And that's my life in a nutshell :)

Have a wonderful week!

-Syd