The Start of a New Year

well it's been quite awhile since i have updated, so ill go over some of the major highlights of the last few weeks!

so... i graduated! i honestly was so excited to be done, and when i left my last final, i actually cried on my drive home! not that i'm really gonna miss all the work and all the classes... but it's such a big change! and i can't believe that this chapter of my life is over. people always say the best years of your life are in college, and i agree 100%. i have loved the past 5 years... ok 5 1/2... and yes it had its ups and downs but through it all i have gained so much knowledge, so many great friends, and most importantly i have found myself. what an accomplishment, i can honestly say i am so proud of myself for finishing, i wanted to give up so many times! haha

the break was wonderful, and i spent alot of time with my family and my friends. christmas i spent with my parents, and then rob and his family came through the awful snowy canyon to meet up with us :) heather and jess and baby calvin were in idaho, and i missed them so much! calvin is such a cute baby, and i love spending time with him! it is so amazing to me to watch heather and jess with their darling little baby, and i wonder when the day will come for me! haha.. not for awhile obviously, but it is so fun to watch them become parents and learn things right along with their cute little boy.

i went on a fun roadtrip with a group of my friends to california and arizona for new years and for fun.. and it was a great trip! we drove through vegas to get to cali, and decided to stop to take a stroll down the strip for a few hours.

left to right: johnny, jim, van, kim, me, sam, tonya, jared

then we spent the night in victorville, ca in a crappy hotel. we woke up bright and early to drive to santa anita to go to some horse races! i have never been, but they were really fun! i am not much of a gambler, but i tried my luck on one race (i bet 2 dollars..) and i won 4! so... yea i made a lot of money haha.

this is us girls and van waiting outside out hotel :)

me, kim, sam, and tonya watching the horse races

then we made our way down to san diego to spend the night and go to an lds singles dance for new years! it was so much fun, and i had an amazing kiss at midnight with my friend jim who i have known for 4 years! i guess you could say we are kind of dating... and our first kiss was at midnight, isn't that so romantic?? anyway ill keep you posted how things are going with that as they progress, for now we are still just hanging out and are in the beginning stages.. haha. so the next morning we woke up from our night of partying (mormon style of course) and drive to the beach to look around. i have never been to san diego, and la jolla was beautiful! here are a few pics from that afternoon:

me kim and sam enjoying the freezing water and exploring caves

the view from the bay was beautiful! me and jim were looking at the sea lions down on the rocks

this is the whole crew, lookin like a dang pac sun advertisement! haha

straight from san diego me, johnny, van, kim, and jim headed to mesa arizona while jared and sam and tonya headed back to utah. we got to mesa at about 1130 pm that night and were amazed to find our guy friends living in a huge mansion!! we stayed there with them for days, and had a great time seeing around mesa and just hanging out with some friends that we have not really seen since they moved from utah!

our last day a few of us went fourwheeling while jim and johnny went to the fiesta bowl. it was a ton of fun, and some of the views from the small mountains were incredible!

below, me and jesse. he has some sexy legs right? he is single by the way ladies.. any takers? haha

here we posed in front of the sunset, and it turned out to be a pretty cool pic! our trip was fun and i really enjoyed the 75 degree weather, and it was so depressing to come home to utah to snow! now im back to reality, and looking for a job with my fancy new college degree. wish me luck, i hope i find one soon!!!