Well thank you, Mr. Ahrens.

2 years ago, July 23rd, 2007 to be exact, I started my first job at The Cleaning Cottage. Little did I know the many things that would happen at that simple little building. From Day 1 it was interesting. I was working with 2 girls named Carissa and Hope, that I didn't know at all. That day was very hot and it was exceptionally hot inside the dry cleaners, and I hadn't eaten or dranken (?) all day, smart I know. Needless to say, I passed out. On my first day. Great first impression, hey? Those 2 girls grew to be some of my best friends. I've had so many fun memories, throwing pants on people's heads accidentely, making up screamo versions of songs, hiding in the dryer or the bin, riding the moving clothes rack, etc, bad memories, the sheet fiasco, getting yelled at simply because I'm the night manager, people swearing at me, working with horrendously slow people, etc, horrifying memories, old men winking at me, countless times after you take somebody's clothes and they say, oh by the way my baby threw up on that, oh by the way, my dog peed all over those, oh by the way, those were the clothes we stripped off my dead grandmother after we found her in her bed, she must have been there a week it smelled so bad!, thank you people... finding tire-tracked grandpa whitey-tighties in the pants I'm tagging, and so many more. It's kind of a sick nostalgia I feel about that place. But today, my last day, something happened that seemed to make it all worth it. You need a little background to understand... We have a couple favorite customers. 1. Ms. Newman - should be nicknamed Ms. You-could-smell-me-a-mile-away-I-apply-so-much-perfume-Newman. Her jeans still smell very strongly after being washed. 10 times. She is probably one of the crabbiest ladies I've ever encountered. She's fun. I will forever recognize her scent. She taught me how to have sympathetic-looking apathy. 2. Mr. Bateman - Nobody understands why he and his wife both have an account and they put different clothes under each account and use different checkbooks for each account and only he comes in and insists on writing the checks perfectly painstakingly slow. He taught me patience. 3. Mr. Clements - I don't think I've ever heard somebody use viler language about buttons before. He taught me there are very uptight people in this world. 4. Mrs. Holmstead - I didn't know you could drain $100 on dry cleaning every month... She taught me there are very affluent people in the world. 5. Mr. Wingers shirts - I don't think I've ever smelled anything more foul. The mix between cigarette smoke and greasy chicken fingers... sickout. He taught me to breath out of my mouth when I don't want to smell something. 6. Mr. Evans - I never have seen the appeal of heavy starch on jeans... When something can paper cut you when it's not even paper, that's wrong. When something could walk away without a person it in, that's very wrong. He taught me... don't mess with cowboys. And one other for you this day, 7. Mr. Ahrens - He taught me don't ever judge a person. We all hated him. He would, without fail, come in every Tuesday, at 6:59 sharp. We close at 7. And when we say we close at 7, we punch out as the clock says 7:00:00, sometimes 7:00:01. It is frustrating at the utmost when we have to redo the whole til, because he ALWAYS pays in cash so we have to redo the whole til. And we get home late. One day though, I was working by myself and he came in and started talking to me and asking me about my life and such, and he was really nice. And every time since, he always says, you're going to BYU right? Studying chemistry right? You want to be a pharmacist right? He's good. And he's always really nice to me. Today, my last day, he comes in and drops off the usual, 2 white shirts, a little messy on the collar, medium starch. He asks me when BYU starts, if I'm living down there, if I'm excited for chemistry, etc. Another customer pulls up and he says, alright see you later! I help her, then go sit down in my spot. The door opens again, I walk over, and there he is again! He says, "so is this your last Saturday?" I say "yeah, my last day too!" He says, "oh okay, I didn't know if you were keeping your job or not. Well, I just want to tell you thanks, you've made a difference. You're very friendly to me and other customers and that means a lot. Good luck at BYU, you'll do great!" And then he waved and left. That is probably the last time I will ever see Mr. Ahrens. And so I'll never get a chance to really tell him thank you. That meant a lot to me, just to hear those words, "You've made a difference." Simply by being my friendly self, I made a difference. That's all I really want in life, is to make a difference in people's lives for the better. I know I'm not amazing and I'll probably never do something huge to impact people's lives that much, but with a little smile and friendly and caring attitude, I can make a difference. Thanks for helping me realize that and making the last two years of work worth it.
Thank you Mr. Ahrens.

just call me tie-dye master

That's right. Tie-dye master. Because I am the master.
I liked it first, I started the fad at my school.
Nobody can take it from me.
I love it with a deep burning fiery passion.
1/3 of my wardrobe is tie-dye as my friend kindly pointed out.
Just call me tie-dye master.

Oh St. Georgy...

St. George with the girls = a blastorama!
Here's a little sample....


Sad our favorite hike was closed and our trip was over and we are going to different schools... But we love each other and will see a lot of each other in the future!

Yes ma'am.

Things I am NOT impressed with today.
1. The mailman.
2. Customers at the dry cleaners.
3. My stomach.

Things I am impressed with today.
1. My focusing ablility.
2. My patience level.
3. Little Ceasers Pizza.

Day 3.

I like ice cream. A whole whole lot.

Helpful College Tips...

1. Don't take morning classes...
oops, broke that one already...
Chem 111 Honors at 8-8:50 daily.
Bonus, Josh said Asplund is the coolest!
But it was the hardest class he's ever taken.
Bring it on!

2. Generals stink. Get them over with.
Anthropology 101.
Sociology 101.
Check!

3. Go honors, its worth it in the end.
Book of Mormon Honors.
American Heritage Honors.
Check!

4. Have TONS of fun!
Don't you worry, I'm definitely planning on it!
AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

**Fun in the Sun**

Holy cow. I haven't written forever. AKA a month and a day.
So sorry for all of you, aka me, that actually follow my blog and have been wondering whats going on in my strange, strange life. So, here's your update.

- I did find my journal. Of course it was in plain sight the whole time.
- France. In a word, CRAZY! It is very different there and very hard to explain it really. You'll just have to go there someday for yourself to figure out what it's really like.
- Summer. Well for the about 2 weeks of summer I have actually been home, I've loved it. Here are just some of the fun activities I've participated in.
* Picnics. One of my all time favorite activities! I had an excellent one with Kyle after grad at a beautiful park, a good one with Spencer with parmesean and noodles, mmmm, a fun one with watermelon and cake with Jensen, Syd, Meggie, Kim, and Sarah! Needless to say, I thouroughly enjoy picnics.
* Trampolines. I have a strange lure to trampolines. I love that black bouncy fabric. To sit on, jump around on, dance on, star gaze on, sleepovers on, they're fab.
* Frolicking in corn fields. Even if it wasn't really corn but tall tall weeds, and even if Jensen has to ruin our pure joy after by saying that there are more dead animals than he can count buried in there. It was beautiful while in our innocence.
* Tucanos. Oh yes, what a fun night. From Meggie begging for Camille to bring us more water because we were parched, to Sarah's sure satisfaction every time the pinapple came around, to Kim trying to choke down sushi, to Syd's stymied face at the waiter aka Megatron's strange sense of humor , to Kaycee's disgusting love of red, blood dripping meat, to me throwing my tongs, and finally to Jensen's sheer amazement at the mechanizm at the planetarium.
* Laser Tagging. Believe it or not folks, its true. I shot Chad Johnson at least 4 times. My life felt complete. No matter I still ended up getting 19th place. Out of 19.
* Parties. Yummy crepes, homemade pizza and classical music and choking down chocolate to not hurt Meggie's feelings, parties that me and Reb only go to the end of... all sticky... Basically I like to party.
* Manti Pageant. Don't worry, they still have the same old voice recordings, the same old strange arm movements, and the same old mosquitos. But Kyle and I got a yummy blue snow cone, and I haven't had one of those for like ever, so that was fantastic!
* Lake Powell. I got to go with Kyle's family! It was oh so fun! Fake tatoos, pink sunscreen on our lips, purple backs, no air conditioning in the truck, catching lizards, star gazing, swimming, "hiking," Devan trying to stump me with Disney quotes, holly jolly ranchers, and just fun fun fun and sun sun sun!
* Rebbie. Oh how I love her. I am so excited to room with her in college!
* The sky. The sky is my favorite, I just love it! The clouds, the moon, the stars, the rainstorms and thunderstorms, they're most excellent!

And that is summer so far. With lots more adventures to come!