Close call....

So this past weekend I was able to go down to Beaver and stay at my bishops cabin with a bunch of kids from my ward. It was a blast to say the least. He was kind enough to feed us delicious food, show us around the ski resorts and let us ride his four wheelers....oh the four wheelers...what an experience. So my Bishop took a few of us out on a tour of the mountain on the four wheeler. I was spoiled enough to be able to ride by myself on the best four wheeler he had...what can I say...my bishop loves me :) I was on a scrambler which is ones that they take on the sand dunes...so they go real fast and slide A LOT...it's super easy to fish tail....Let's just say that on Saturday I was in my element....until I almost died and almost killed my friend....I know...a tad bit scary. So let's talk about my near death experience but totally awesome all at the same time...
To start off, my bishop was leading the pack...there were 4 four wheelers. There was a couple that had never ridden them before and a couple that had. Because I had driven them before, my bishop wanted me to follow him and then the couple who never rode to follow me so they could follow my tracks and then another couple to trail behind them to make sure nothing happened. Nothing against them at all...but I couldn't be too daring since they had to follow my tracks....I had to take it easy. Eventually I told my bishop that I couldn't handle how slow they were going and the fact that I couldn't do anything...he let me go in the back so I could play around a little bit :).....BAD IDEA. Once I got in the back of the pack I felt like I was free....the wind blowing...dirt in my teeth and up my nose (you know how it goes)....sooo I decided to go off a jump....first one was a success....then there was another one right after...I gunned it and sure enough landed on my front two wheels...slammed my body into the handle bars and just about flipped my four wheeler. I started cracking up knowing that I almost got destroyed by hundreds of pounds of metal...ALMOST is the key word here. Well, knowing me...this didn't stop me from continuing with what I was doing. I saw another jump about an hour later and decided it was time again....went off the jump...put on the breaks way too soon...started to slide on one side...started to feel the four wheeler roll...decided to jerk the handles the opposite way...totally fish tailed out of it. You can just see it. It was so awesome. But I decided to stop and see if my friend behind me had seen what happened. I didn't realize I was so close to the base of the jump. I turned around, had seen my friend land (REALLY CLOSE TO ME)...she had to break really hard and jerk the handle bars to the right to avoid hitting me...All I saw was a big cloud of dust...my friend and her boyfriend launched about 5 feet with the four wheeler rolling towards them... My friend stood up and started laughing because she was so scared...meanwhile I still saw the four wheeler rolling towards her...I screamed out to her "Nikki...MOVE!" Her boyfriend jumped up shoved her out of the way and literally grabbed the four wheeler and jerked it back on all 4 wheels. Let's just say the four wheeler was on it's two side wheels literally just about to roll over one of my best friends....Talk about SCARY. Luckily they both just got some scratches and bruises...it could have been a lot worse than it was. And luckily our bishop didn't see (we're planning on telling him next week at church) Moral of the story?....I've decided I'm a boy at heart and I should probably not be overly daring on a piece of equipment that weighs about 5 times as much as I do. It was still SO much fun!

First Sale!

Well everyone...it's official...I am in business! I made my first sale for my headbands! Of course it was just my roommate that bought one...but it was still a sale nonetheless! It got me really excited about it! Something even more exciting is that I think I came up with a name unless any of you can think of something better...I'm definitely up for suggestions. But I wanted the name to be pretty girly obviously and I wanted to keep some sense of my name in there. Drum roll please.....Bella Boutique. What do ya think? I've always loved the name Bella...(no not because of Twilight...I liked it before that even came out). So that's what I've come up with so far. If you have any other suggestions please let me know! Something else that is exciting is I'm expanding my little business and I'm making belts! Now you may think that's a little crazy or may look tacky but I came up with the idea this past weekend. This is how it all happened. I was sitting at my kitchen table, crocheting another headband and talking to my roommate. I had just finished the headband and then accidentally dropped it in my lap. It landed perfectly around my waste and not to boast or anything...but it looked pretty darn cute. :) I'm definitely looking forward to this photo shoot with Tamara soon! I'm on my way to being a little entrepreneur!

Babysitting

Lindsey was kind enough to let me babysit her kids for a few hours a couple days ago and it was SO FUN! It's always interesting as college student trying to figure out what you are going to do to make things fun for the kids. Well I needed to make some brownies to take to a friend, so I figured it would be a good activity for Brooklyn to do. And boy, did she love it. After we made brownies, we went and played in my "sand box" (volleyball court). Because I don't have any sand toys we had to make do with tuberware and measuring cups! haha Brooklyn didn't know the difference and loved it! Easton enjoyed eating the sand just as much as Brooklyn loved playing in it. I had to make a card to put with the brownies so I told Brooklyn that we were going to color :)...See the way I get my errands done :)...All you need to use is reverse pyschology. Brooklyn insisted on drawing my friend a picture as well. Overall, it was so much fun to spend time with them! I'm excited to babysit Bre's kids on Monday and Brad and Tam's on Wednesday! Thanks again Lindsey! You're kids are so dang cute!

Look on the Bright Side...

Last Monday I got word from my boss that everyone's hours are getting cut to 20 hours a week rather than working a full 40 hours. At first I was really upset about it. I was expecting to make a lot more money the last month of the Summer. Now I only work Monday-Thursday from 7:00-12:00 in the morning. No one likes to hear that they won't be making the money that they were planning on...and as a college student, lots of us live paycheck to paycheck. With school coming up and all the expenses that brings it's definitely a trial of faith. Luckily, I've planned ahead and saved a lot when I was in high school so I'm not taking a huge hit from this like other people are. It still doesn't change the fact that I was hoping to reach a certain goal money wise in my bank account and I won't achieve that since my hours are cut. However, as I started to think about this more, I realized what a blessing in disguise this really was! I have so much more time on my hands! I have been wanting to do so much stuff but just never had time to get it all done! These are all the things I've been doing now!:

*I go to the gym every single day because I'm not as tired at the end of the day!
*I get more vitamin D now than I ever have! (Lots more pool time)
*I've slacked off so much on practicing the piano but now I have time to rebuild that skill
*I can actually do my laundry now
*Last but definitely not least...I'm being so crafty! I've been making tons of headbands and will hopefully be doing a photo shoot with my sister in law Tamara to launch this little business of mine. (pictures will come soon) For all I know, it could fail miserably but how will I ever know if I don't try right?! So everyone support me! We hopefully will be doing this with in the next couple weeks so spread the word and advertise for me :) Also, if you hear of little boutiques or things that I could bring my stuff to please let me know! If worse comes to worse, and I sell absolutely nothing, I've just developed a new talent and can make lots of cute stuff for my girls when I have kids...and as for now I can be making it for my cute little nieces. Let's just hope for the best!

Life is so beautiful! We have trials in our lives but if we look at the positive side of things it makes life so much easier and we really can find joy in the journey!

Sleepless Nights

So you would think since I have to wake up at 6:00 in the morning every day to go to work that I would have enough common sense to go to bed at a decent hour of the night. Think again. I just figure I only have so many years to live it up at college so why waste my time sleeping?! The past few nights I've gotten less than 5 hours of sleep every night. I just forgot what it's like to party with friends every night! It's awesome! The only people that will read this is probably my family so this is all dedicated to you. Yes..I am very aware that I am the next one in line to get married. And considering my dating history I'm sure you're all guessing that I will start dating someone next weekend. Well you guys are right! I'm dating someone again! JUST KIDDING! I'm taking a new approach on life. And you will all probably laugh and think it won't happen but I'm very much determined to make it happen. My plan is to stay single and date around. (I know...keep laughing. How many times have you heard that one come out of my mouth and I never follow through) However, I really think I can do it. I'm taking this one up with the Big Man. AND I've been studying my scriptures a lot differently recently which I think will really help. But I can honestly say that I am praying to be single! Who prays to be single at BYU? It's a crazy idea isn't it?! But I'm really excited about it! Because I feel with the approach that I'm taking, I won't settle for someone. Obviously if Heavenly Father tells me that someone is worth it then i will go for it. But I'm really excited to make a lot of friends. I'm really looking forward to the fall and getting back into school but we all know what I'm really excited for...FOOTBALL SEASON! Ahh I just can't wait. I'm still the same old Julie but I feel like I'm really learning a lot about myself especially with the different way I've been reading my scriptures and I'm excited to see what the future holds. I can tell a difference in the way I've been feeling about myself and life in general. Love you all! Thanks for all your help and supporting me in this single and fun time in my life!

School's Out! Summer Time!..It's our Vacation...

I am absolutely in love with the fact that School is out for 4 months. Finals went well for the most part...especially my Family Finance exam. Let's just say that Heavenly Father was on my side the night I took that exam. I went into the exam..sat down...looked at the 25 question test and literally knew NOTHING!...I knew a total of MAYBE two questions. I'm not kidding when I say that I guessed on 95% of it and was literally making cool designs on my bubble sheet. I walked out...handed the lady my test...stopped to look at the computer screen...awaiting my less than 50% grade. And what did I see?..." 7-2119: 80%" REALLY? I seriously guessed on all of them. Heavenly Father was seriously on my side. I have no clue how I possibly got an 80%. I stood there in front of the computer screen for a good minute...walked out and then walked back in because I didn't believe what I saw. Sure enough...I got an 80% on my finance final and realized God was very very gracious to me. And as for now...."I'm goin goin...back back to Cali Cali...."

Smokey Kitchen

With out fail, every time anyone in my apartment cooks chicken the entire apartment reeks and gets super smokey. There's nothing we can do about it either. We open the windows and the door just to prep for this occasion. It still doesn't help. The worst part about the whole experience is that you reek like chicken afterwards...your hair, your clothes...EVERYTHING. And lets be honest...smelling like burnt chicken is not the most appealing smell to have. I always have to pretty much do the duck and cover tactic...hoping that it will help...it usually doesn't but it's worth a shot. I usually put a huge sweatshirt on over my clothes and then put the hood on so that my hair doesn't completely smell bad....it looks a little something like this....
I just look so un-put together hahaha. Hey desperate times calls for desperate measures....