grateful for family...

This summer, it's been fun to spend a lot of time with family! With the parents in Russia, the Bosters in Texas, and Josh in Mexico... Annie, Abby, Ryan, and I have gotten to hang out a lot! Ryan is such a champ to be the only guy most of the time haha. Some of our recent adventures include...

the CHEESECAKE FACTORY at city creek to celebrate abby's 23rd birthday!

i won 6 tickets to a country concert at the WESTERNER (aka a cowboy bar...good times) so i took the sibs, megan, and my friend darrell. the best part was ordering 2 orders of fries and 6 waters :) oh and playing pool was pretty legit too. ryan fit right in:

lots of random hangouts with annie! this one is from the night she came to a BASEBALL GAME with me to see a friend from my mission play... 

just last friday, annie came to provo to sleep over. we watched SMALLVILLE (our fav) with the shawcrofts while i made cream puffs for a bridal shower the next day. my first try was an epic fail (see top panel). luckily i had ryan, abby, and annie to help me get it right. turns out the words "rolling boil" are imperative. i was pretty proud of try #2 :)

it's also been a blast to see extended family recently! they are all so sweet to us with my parents off in siberia.

CAFE RIO with suzi when she was in town!

we also had a sweet visit with grandma and grandpa gibbons afterwards!

i'm sad i didn't get a picture last night of our party with the glenns at alta ridge! luckily it will be a fast sunday tradition, so i'll get a picture next time :) speaking of the glenns, it was a blast to hang out with them on andrew and haley's wedding day!

  

Thanksgiving Part II

To start off the holiday, Annie and I ran a 5k in Draper!

 in the car before the race...

Mandy and Chantelle joined us!

AFTER the race! excited about Annie's first 5k!!

Then off to the Glenns' for wonderful food and fun company :) here we are with Grandma Glenn!

And more of the group! (missing a lot...)

Annie and I then went over to say hi to the Stonemans! They fed us wonderful pie and we had fun visiting and joining in a Christmas sing-a-long with the whole group! Highlights:
*the grandsons getting super excited when they heard annie and I were there! Then some confusion...turned out they heard "a lizard is here!" Turns out cousin Liz is NOT as exciting as a real lizard.
*Calvin's dance during the group's rendition of "Feliz Navidad"
*Gunther requesting an encore of "Feliz Navidad"
*Little Kayla correcting Uncle Augie's confusion with the page numbers again and again
*Playing football with Grahamburger :)

OTHER WEEKEND HIGHLIGHTS:
-> Fun shopping day getting Josh's Christmas package all put together with Annie.  Now today we'll get it shipped off to Mexico!
-> A fun visit with Michelle! (and a repeat of our favorite past time: singing at the piano! it'd been way too long!)
-> Michelle and I headed over to Lori's house for a visit with the whole Riches family! love that house. intense mario kart tourney.  reminiscing. teasing kristin. the usual.
-> movie marathons with annie! holiday inn, random chick flicks on TV while waiting for our jello creation to set up, anne of green gables AND anne of avonlea (the gilbert version...where you skip any part without gilbert in it), and the music man!

Annie and I were so grateful to our extended family for making us feel so welcome! We missed mom and dad in Russia, the Bosters in Texas, the Shawcrofts in Colorado, and Josh in Mexcio...but we are certainly grateful for skype this year!! technology is a great blessing in my life as my family is scattered around the world.  I'm also very grateful for my dear sister Annie holding down fort here in the family home so I have a place to come home to :)

More than anything, I am thankful for the Atonement of my Savior, Jesus Christ.  I am grateful for His ability to do it, His willingness to do it, and His love for each of us that motivated Him to do it.  I am grateful that it makes it possible for me to enjoy peace, healing, and progression. I'm grateful He never gives up on me :) He is my truest friend.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

wow i'm on a roll...

since i'm on a blogging kick i might as well roll with it.  Updates and/or completely random thoughts:

*a new semester has begun! i am back in actual classes for the first time in 3 and 1/2 years (minus 2 classes i had last semester that only involved 4 people)
*i kind of forgot you had to buy textbooks and was once again jolted into the reality of how darn expensive they are
*did i mention i LOVE being back in classes? you know you're a nerd when you enjoy reading your textbooks... (unless you're dog tired)
*i'm exhausted! I forgot how much work it is to balance homework and research
*my parents went to lithuania this week for a mission presidents conference thingy. oh yeah, i skyped with lithuania this week.
*I moved into a new apartment (cute townhouse) in south provo. LOVING IT. i have my own room for the first time in a while
*i took steph with me since she's so fun
*it only took me 5 days and a trip to walmart for a dresser (no to mention the assistance of 5 guys with power tools to assemble and carry it) to get unpacked and settled. turns out when my room is in complete disarray so is my life.  life is much happier now :)
*i've been a total slacker and haven't been running all week.  next week will be different!
*i bought a blender. you know what that means....SMOOTHIES!!
*tomorrow i get to see my dear sister mohammad (mission companion) and have dinner at my fabulous aunt ruth's. EXCITEMENT
*STEPH AND I ARE GOING TO THE GRAND CANYON ON FRIDAY!! free airfare, free stay at a resort/spa, free guided tour, spending money provided, NBD.

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 :)