2009

I cannot believe that this year has already come and gone. It feels like not to long ago I graduated, and it's almost been two years since. It's crazy how time flies so fast before your own eyes. Anyway, I just wanted to share a review (mainly for myself, and to realize how blessed I truly am) of what a great year I've had in..

...We all have our first of something. Quite a few of mine happened this year, so here are a couple...

.first year of college. accomplished.

.first real boyfriend.

.first kiss.

.first time skydiving.

...A few of my other favorite things that happened...

(in random order)

.making new friends.

.teaching swim lessons for a second year.

.and getting a good tan because of it.

.going to TEXAS.

.becoming an aunt for the second time.

.the many trips to stg.

.in-n-out in utah.

.skydiving in hawaii.

.boating with the Jensen's.

.swimming with dolphins.

.very much needed skype video calls.

.and talking with just Jackson for a good half hour over the computer.

.birthday celebration in cancun.

.and everything that was included with it.

.lake powell.

.jeeping.

.marriage of a best friend.

.having my own room at school.

.roommates=new best friends.

.old roommates=many lunches out to catch up.

.missionary.

.becoming best friends with his twin sister.

.thriller.

.cleaning the sink at angie's.

.learning to drive stick.

.lori's annual halloween party.

.volunteering at special olypmics.

.20th birthday in disneyland.

.christmas in texas, with family.

What an amazing year, one of my bests that's for sure. It's sad to say goodbye to it, but there will be plenty more great experiences to come. And I'm so excited for them. Thanks to my family and friends for everything they do for me, and making this year one to remember.

so long 19, hello 20

(this is a little late, but with finals here.. I've been a little too busy to find the time to do it, until now)

How can one feel so much older when they celebrate their birthday at disneyland?  

I was lucky enough to be in disneyland on my birthday!  This year my birthday also landed on Thanksgiving Day.  It was by far one of my best birthdays yet.

We drove all the way there the day before (hats off to my mom for driving all the [LONG] way, and not getting frustrated when I got us lost about twice, and making us driving in circles since we didn't go as far as we should have. THANKS MOM!!) In 2009 Disney celebrated their 150th birthday, so they let everybody in for free on their own birthday. They give you a pin to wear that says your name and that it's your birthday. Then every worker in the park says Happy Birthday to you as they pass. It's the for sure place to be if you love all the attention.

When we got there we noticed that everything was decked out in Christmas decorations.

I LOVE CHRISTMAS!

(especially the decorations, if you don't believe me just ask my mom... every year I make her get out the decorations right after Thanksgiving, I would do it earlier, but she wouldn't let me)

So I was just eating all the adorable Christmas decorations right up, I absolutely loved it.

Since we were there on Thanksgiving we kinda expected to not be having a traditional Thanksgiving dinner, but once again Disney stepped it up, and we had a delicious turkey, mashed potatoes, beans, stuffing, and a roll for lunch!

Not only were the street lamps and buildings covered in Christmas, all the characters had their Christmas outfits on! Two of the rides we went on were Christmas Style too.  The Haunted Mansion was turned into the Nightmare Before Christmas. It was so cleaver and fun with the twist they put on it.  It's a Small World also was redone.  All the countries were changed into holiday cheer, and they even did a mash-up song with Jingle Bells.  It was really cute, and I'm a little disappointed it didn't take pictures of the inside of each. While standing in line, we could tell that Small World was covered in lights and said that we'd have to come back at night it see it. So when we came back, as soon as we got there all the lights turned off. We didn't know what was going on. Then a song starts to play on the speakers, and it says something like.."Do you think it could snow?" And then they had projected lights and images onto the building to make it look like it was snowing. Of course Disney being the magical place it is, made it begin to snow. Like real snow falling from the sky, and melts in your hand type of snow. In 80 degree weather. (why can't it do that everywhere? and by that I mean Logan Utah...)

It was awesome! And once the little light show was over, Small World lit back up, and I got a picture of it!

I love the Santa hat on the clock face! So cute! :)

The crowd wasn't too bad for it being a holiday.  I mean there were a lot of people there but we didn't wait longer than 45 minutes for a ride.  We got to ride most of them twice, and we were being smart and got fast passes to Indiana Jones both times. Gotta love those fast passes!

We got to watch the Holiday parade with Santa and all the characters, but my pictures didn't turn out the best unfortunately.  We even got front row seats (technically we ending up standing) to watch the fireworks! And at the end, it snowed again. Amazing. What a great birthday, and a great way to kick my teenage years to the curb!

Thanks to my dad for making my wonderful birthday happen even when he couldn't be there.

 Best dad in the world!!

And thanks also go to my mom to for everything she does, she's one amazing woman!

Annnnnd, thanks to Derek for tagging along, and not complaining for all the girly things my mom and I wanted to do. You're awesome bro!