S*E*A*T*T*L*E

BYU doesn't get spring break. I went out of town for a week anyway. I roadtripped with old friends (the Murris and Cannons) back to SEATTLE!! Nothing can top a super great group of people partying it up in my favorite city. Going to Seattle always feels like going home. I didn't have time to visit a tenth of the people I would have wanted to, but I cherished the small amount of visiting I did have. It was always AWESOME to get to visit some places I'd never been to and experience more of that beautiful area. There was much laughing, driving, poem-reading, singing in the car (in perfect harmony...of course it was the Murris and Cannons!), staying up late, ferrying, watching movies, chatting, playing games, kayaking in the puget sound, visiting Pike's Place, visiting Leavenworth, taking pictures of us sleeping everywhere (random tradition that started the first day), dancing, and eating! Yay for my fake spring break and good friends!!

new talent!

Presenting Liz...the front flipper....

purchased

Purchased:

*1 plane ticket from Seattle to Washington DC
*1 plane ticket from Washington DC to Salt Lake City

(The best purchases are those that will be reimbursed...let's be honest.)

Oh...did I mention I get to go to Seattle for almost a week with friends in March? And did I mention I will head straight from that excursion to DC for a 2nd interview for a position as an Assistant Professor of Biology? (When did I grow up?) Oh...and did I mention the job interview in DC is actually for a university in KAZAKHSTAN?

Seriously?

my BIRTHDAY adventures!

For my birthday, Steph took me to get my hair dyed for the first time! (Well, last year, we dyed it darker on my birthday...but we just used a cheapo box and it faded after a couple weeks.) I was SO nervous but now that I've gotten used to it, I LOVE IT. Thanks Steph :)

 BEFORE

 AFTER

The next day!

My family and I will be celebrating my birthday late since my mom just got in from Russia (YAY!) but my birthday was pretty great thanks to good friends. Friday night I went to Salt Lake to have dinner with my good friends Maddie, Audra, William, Chris, Will, and Matt. I love that the years fly by but my friends are always there. Saturday I had a breakfast/lunch with some good friends in my ward. Unfortunately I didn't get any pics of these two parties. Annie was a sweetheart and drove all the way from Salt Lake to have dinner with me on my birthday. Thanks Annie!! Oh and also...on Saturday, my friend Jay took Steph, Tracy, and I up in a little airplane. IT WAS AWESOME. Jay is such a great pilot it wasn't even scary. I have great friends!

Formula for an awesome weekend...

Free rountrip flight to Phoenix

+ Peter waiting at the airport with a sign with your name on it, ready to drive you to Sedona 

(lunch provided in the car)

+ one great friend

+ 2 nights free stay at Amara Resort and Spa with...

...the comfiest beds ever made... 

....free gift bag upon arrival....

...and a GORGEOUS view by the pool

+ a free guided tour of the grand canyon

+ a HELICOPTER RIDE over the grand canyon!

+ dinner and shopping in Sedona

= most relaxing weekend ever! can't beat the price too :)

2008 in review . . .

well i've been thinking about the past year so i decided to take a trip down memory lane and relive all the good times through pictures :) i think that i feel this way at the end of every year, but 2008 has been one of the happiest of my life! so many wonderful experiences, hard things that made me grow, amazing people i have come to love, and so much to be grateful for. so here's looking at the year 2008 . . .

to start off, my goldfish theo who has seen me through the
entire year, the official mascot of 2008! one of my constants,
what a champ . . .

i turned 21! i'm getting OLD . . .



jane got ENGAGED! another amazing roommate
on to better things . . .



good times with dinner group . . .



i loved another semester working in the biology tutoring lab . . .



we lost lady to cancer :( best picture we could get before
she was put to sleep . . .



biophysical society meeting in long beach, california with the lab!
the ultimate road trip . . .







good times with the fam. here's easter and conference weekend . . .






some pics of james since the gibbons family has seriously revolved
around him this year, the cutie . . .





it was a fun year catching up with old friends as the guys got
off their missions and we girls are married, having babies, or
chuggin' away in school! makes me feel old . . .


my last dancesport. how appropriate to go out in style, the
country two step with isaac! we made the heel click famous . . .



this reminds me. 2008 will definitely be remembered as the year
i officially found the cowgirl in me and became addicted to
COUNTRY SWING DANCING on wednesdays . . .



ok here's a big one. i became a college graduate!!
a bachelor's degree in biophysics . . .









jane got MARRIED and i got to be a bridesmaid . . .



i moved out of the south downs and into the colony with janelle!
truly happy times . . .





i started working on my MASTERS degree in physiology at byu!
can you believe it? a summer of full time research . . .





i received my MISSION CALL to the washington seattle mission . . .





the fam at the extended gibbons family "round table" . . .



i officially became "hard core" during an amazing trip to
MOAB with friends . . .






i received my endowment in the salt lake temple . . .



yup i turned down being an efy counselor again to go to the
tim mcgraw concert. i don't know what that says about me,
but it was worth it . . .


not only did i become hard core this summer, but i also feel like i
unleashed my inner gangster. meet "lizzle" . . .


camping in american fork canyon
(including snow tubing in JUNE) . . .


some firsts: flying a kite, and hiking the Y . . .


family vacation to st george, always a good time . . .


road trip to washington for some camping, caving, and then
orb-hunting/partying in port townsend . . .


then i got to live at home for about a month, first time in a few years! we had a sister outing to see james taylor live, watched a lot of olympics, and saw josh go on his first date! crazy . . .

another lab trip: to use the two-photon microscope
at UC, irvine . . .


first time in chicago! fun labor day weekend.
my ninth state in a month (a record for me) . . .


everything always falls into place.
i moved into victoria place, got new roommates,
headed back to the lab to finish up my thesis project,
and deferred my mission for 6 months . . .


ok highlight of fall semester, camping in november: hiking in the gear like 10 miles (exaggeration) because the road to the campground was closed (willie: "look is that them? we're almost there! oh wait, it's only a mirage!"), and the girls' tent struggling . . .


well other than that, i've just been working really hard, playing with the fam, making new friends, and trying to keep in touch with all the old ones! life is happy . . .

thanksgiving and christmas at home . . .
(thanksgiving pics were just posted, christmas pics to come)

well that was a LOT of stuff, but it was across 12 whole months and i never was good at choosing favorites and narrowing it down. gosh after going through all that i realized how much has happened this year! so much has changed. it's funny how crazy life can be yet everything always seems to fall right into place! i can't wait to see what's up next. i do know it will be four months of hard work to finish my thesis and then off to the MTC on april 15th! i can't wait!! happy new year :)