Spontaneous Roadtrip

Thursday was my last day nannying! So I decided to take the weekend off and take a spontaneous roadtrip. To Idaho! 

My bestie of seven years is currently studying at BYU-I so I decided to visit her. I haven't been enjoying church out there in Spanish Fork and I didn't have any plans for the weekend so why not? Plus I was leaving back for VA on Tuesday and needed to have a last hurrah. 

I got there in Rexburg around 1. Sage took me to this delicious soda place and then we kind of wandered around campus. 

They have really cool gardens there with chemically blue ponds. The only thing I think would improve them is if they had koi in them. But they'd probably die from all the blue. :)

They also had really cool orchards. Probably my favorite place on the entire campus. I someday want an orchard with tons of fruit trees. Is that to big of a wish?

Sage is minoring in photography and somehow manages to take cool pics on her crappy phone camera. 

But seriously look at this orchard. I want one so bad. They're just such a serene setting. 

Campus also had a cool greenhouse with all kinds of random plants.

It also had a little garden shop.  Although I don't see how much access college students would have to garden space to even plant a garden.

After all that wandering we ate some delicious legit Mexican food for dinner and then went to a play. It was called On The Verge. It was a really funny play that made me want to travel again. Stupid play. But in all honesty I love plays. They make me feel cultured. Is that weird? 

More pictures from the orchard.

First selfie of the trip.

Messing around with pictures. Seriously so much fun. 

Saturday was another fun eventful day. In the morning I played minecraft with my nerdy siblings. Then we went on another walk of adventures. 

The orchard again. I promise I didn't spend all my time there. That's just where I took the most pictures. 

Like my buns?

Sage is especially good at the candid pics. I wish I was. But I'm not. 

They also have these cool murals randomly placed around the town that make for cool pics.

Even if it's a mural about shredded nutrition.

My favorite was this love mural. We tried being artsy with it. I don't know if it turned out quite right though. 

For lunch we had pbj. As I'm sure you know that's not the most filling so when dinner came around I was pretty freaking excited. And guess what it was?

Teriyaki! I think I've posted about my love for teriyaki before. If I haven't I want you to know that it is probably one of my favorite west coaster foods in the world! The east has tried to replicate but they just can't. It's nasty compared to my scrumptious west coast version. 

And this chick new that and took me to a place that served it. She's an angel.

Anyway after that festive dinner we went to the cheapo movie theater and watched Beauty and the Beast. That was my third time watching it in theaters but I love it so whatevs. And Sage had never seen it so I had to take her. A question I have though is why don't we have those cheapo theaters in VA? It's ridiculous having to pay $13 to watch a movie. $4 is much more reasonable. And maybe they do have them in VA I just haven't found one yet. 

That was Saturday. Sunday I went to the singles ward. May I just say that was the funnest ward I've been to in a long time. If I ever go live on my own I think a student ward is the way to go. Fo sho man.

That evening there was a thunder storm and the sunset happening at the same time so we went and watched it. We went with one of her roomies and some of their FHE group. It was a really cool thing to watch.

Plus we had the temple behind us. 

Afterwards we went to a thing called Stadium Sing. It was really amazing. We sung hymns underneath the stadium and it was really cool how the songs resonated underneath the bleachers. 

Anyway that was pretty much Sunday. The weekend was really a blur of hanging out with Sage, meeting her roomies, and her FHE bros, and just feeling incredibly busy. I'm probably forgetting some of the stuff we did but you know when you just do so much and have so much fun you can't really remember it all? That's what happened. 

Monday I went to a music theory class with Sage. I was a little bored but it was interesting to see what a college class was like. I mean it was music theory. Then I went back to her apartment and packed. By the time I was done it was pouring down rain so I picked up Sage from her remaining classes and then we went to the taco truck again and ate that delicious Mexican food. After lunch I drove back the long four hours to Utah. I took a pit stop in Orem and had dinner with my cousins Rob and Jenica and that was a ton of fun. Especially since I haven't really been able to hang out with them since I came out to Utah. 

Tuesday I headed back home to good ol' VA. My aunt Lucinda was kind enough to drive me to the airport in the morning. And after that I spent the whole day flying. My favorite. I had a layover in Vegas. Dude that airport rips you off more than any other airport I've been to. I mean $9 for a salad is a little ridiculous if you ask me. And that was one of the cheapest things I could find. I made some discoveries on my adventures though.

Nevada is a desert waist land with a random lake in the middle.

You can find a cool rainbows at sunset.

And Tennessee is a seriously beautiful state. My goodness is was gorgeous. And it was fun hearing all my fellow plane passengers have southern accents. 

Anyway I finally got home at 11:30 p.m. and had my lovely family pick me up. Well a majority of them. I came home to Jane sleeping like I princess. I don't know why she sleeps so delicately considering her personality is anything but. 

I woke up earlier than I would've liked to get her out of bed and she was sooooo happy to see me. 

I mean look at that face. All day afterward she was my little shadow. Hugging me and telling me she loved me. Downside is that she wanted me to do everything for her. "Warley I poo." and other such fun activities. 

I also got to eat at my favorite pho place with the two little boys, mom, and the babe. He really likes limes. 

I also got to see my little Howell. I opened his crate and was so excited to see me. He was whining in joy and licking me and just moving all over the place in excitement. It made me happy that he missed me. It reminds me that he actually is intelligent. (The other dog is Axel. We're dog sitting. They're the same breed so it's hard to tell them apart sometime.) 

Pretty much my first day was being surrounded by my overly loving siblings. Joan-Claire said I looked like an old lady with my highlights in my hair. But that was really the only negative thing that was said.  It's been fun! 

Today has been slightly similar but I'm not quite as popular. Today I've spent unpacking and then re-packing. 'Cause guys! We leave for Spain tomorrow! I'm seriously so excited! But wish us luck because we have some seriously long flights ahead of us. With a baby. Anyway I probably won't blog till after our adventures. So you gotta wait almost two weeks but don't worry you're going to love it. Till next time!  

New Borns and Other Events.

 Well a lot of stuff has happened recently. It's almost ridiculous. So I'm just going to go chronologically and you're going to like it. If not to bad. 

Thursday was a really fun day. I had my nanny job, which I'm still loving. I then went to the cheapo movies where you can go for like $4. Why don't they have that in Virginia? That's my question. It's ridiculous how much it costs to go back there. Anyway after that I decided to take a stroll around the Mount Timpanogas Temple. This temple is kind of special to me. It's where Mom and Dad got sealed. Which you know is kind of a big deal since it's the place where they made it possible to be with my family forever. Awesome stuff. Then I went out to dinner with one of our now newly returned favorite missionaries, Elder Holdaway. Although I guess he no longer goes by that title. Whateves. 

That was Thursday. Friday (?) I video chatted with the fam. Jairus thinks video games are more important than me, but hey at least he didn't hang up.  

And have I ever said how much I love my parents? They truly are the most supportive people in my entire life. Whatever I want to do in life they support and help me find a way to achieve it. And besides being super supportive of me they are the best example of what a marriage should look like. In my opinion anyway. It's what I want to strive for when I get married someday. Whenever that'll be. Plus they're just the cutest! I mean look at them! 

Saturday I slept in super late cause I'm a free human and I do what I want. Haha anyway then I went with my cousins to a little lake thing and tried to even out my tan. You should see my knees. 

Sunday I went to the singles ward. May I just say the singles wards I've been to have not lived up to my expectations. But it'd probably be different if I was in a student ward and was living with people my age. But I mean whatever I'm going back to Virginia soon anyway so it doesn't really matter. 

Then Monday I watched my cousins so Elise and Preston could go have their BABY! 

It's really cute seeing little kids love their new siblings. Eva, the 2 year old, kept saying, "I like him." over and over again. Seriously so cute. It reminds me of Jane and how ONLY she could hold Norman and would say, "My baby. My baby." 

New born babies really are my favorite. They're just so sweet and innocent and new. Seeing how much love the parents have for that baby is amazing. I think that's part of the reason why I've been to the last 5 of mom's births. Just to see the pure joy she has to have that baby with her. It's just such a happy and beautiful time for everyone involved. It's the best. 

Anyway that's what's been going on for me this past week. Pretty exciting stuff I'd say. A week from today I fly back out to Virginia so I can go to Espana con Mama. Guys! In less than two weeks I'll be back in Spain! I've been looking forward to this for so long. Especially recently, I've really been missing it. I don't really know why but I have, so the fact that I get to go back when I just started to miss it is really a miracle to me. Anyway I love ya peeps. Till next time! 

My Eventful Life (or something like that)

Life is so odd. Sometimes I feel really unproductive and like I haven't been doing anything with my life. But really when I get ready to blog I'm like, "Holy crap! I've done so much! When did I do this?" It's weird. So for instance last weekend (the weekend before memorial day) Bishop and Grandma O from Virginia invited me to go to the ballet with them. 

There son is a principal dancer in the ballet company Ballet West and were out here to see him perform. 

I had so much fun! 

Con Abuela O.

This is her and bishop's son Chase and his girlfriend Beck Anne. They're both principal (main) dancers in the company. The performance wasn't really classical ballet. I would call it probably more contemporary ballet. It was really interesting to watch. I think I've only been to a ballet once or twice in my life but every time I go I'm so amazed and impressed with the talent and skill these dancers have. Just looking at the muscles and how gracefully they move is truly incredible. It just amazes me how hard these people work for this amazing art form. I truly enjoyed the performance. It was really fantastic. 

 Not only was the performance amazing but so was the theater. 

 Grandma O was telling me how they had designed it to look like the night time in Utah. With the "red rock" walls and the "starry" ceiling. 

 Overall it was just a really amazing experience. I love going to cultural things. Ballets, Orchestras, museums, really just anything. For some reason they really make me appreciate people and the world we live in. And that may not make much sense but that's how it makes me feel about life. I Love It. Thanks for inviting me you lovely O'Connells!  

Anyway that was last weekend. This weekend was also pretty dang productive. I don't know if you've realized but I consider a day productive if I've left the house. Kind of sad but whatever. 

So back to this weekend. Thursday my pal Johanna (you'll remember her from my Washington trip) asked if I could help her move some of her stuff from her old apartment to her uncles. That didn't end up happening so instead I just spent the afternoon with her and a couple of her extended relatives. We went and walked around the Provo City Center Temple grounds. The temple really is beautiful. I might just want to someday get married there. We also went to Cafe Rio and got some Fro Yo. It was a pretty great afternoon. 

Then in the evening I drove through glorious rush hour traffic up to Syracuse and visited my Aunt Felicia, who graduated Friday, and my Grandma and Grandpa who were in town for the Graduation. It was really good being able to see all my little cousins who I honestly don't really know and see my other relatives who I haven't seen in a long time. It was a good visit. 

Friday through Sunday I went legit camping with my Ewell cousins. Well most of them. I went camping with them five years ago when I came out to Utah for my first EFY. (that's all covered in my old blog) That was kind of the start of their yearly camping trip. Look at me being a part of starting traditions. :) I say legit camping because my family doesn't really camp. When we do it's in a proper campsite with usually a bathroom within walking distance. At least an out house anyway. 

This part of my family likes to do it old school. Pack up literally everything you may need and just go out into the wilderness. A.K.A. the desert. 

It was actually pretty fun. I did get a wicked sunburn on my knees and my face but you know that's part of life. 

I'm not naturally attracted to the beauty of the desert and it's mountains. I'm more of PNW person but it was really beautiful in it's own way. 

I went on several "adventures" with these youngins. Mostly flower picking adventures but it was still pretty fun. 

I would never expect desert flowers to be pretty but there were actually quite a few that I really liked. 

On our adventures we found a jack rabbit. You can kind of see it in the pic. But not very well. Pro camo skillage. 

We also found a skull from probably a deer and a bunch of apparently military wire. I don't know if that's what it really was but that was my uncle's guess as to what it was. 

In other news even though we really only cooked over a camp fire with the rare occasion of a camp stove we ate really well. This burger was made over the fire and holy crap it was delicious. It could have also been because I was hungry but I bet it was also because it was partially good tasting. 

My Uncle has a four wheeler so I got to drive that around a couple times. It was really fun. I felt super cool driving it. Probably didn't look cool but I felt cool. And that's what matters. Saturday I went on a super long ride with my cousins Aaron and Junior. We went up this mountain and found a herd of cows. Tons of cute little calves drinking from their trough. So cute! We also found a rather disappointing spring. But you know hey water is swelling from the ground in a dry desolate place! Hallelujah! 

We packed up Sunday evening and I got back home to Preston and Elise's around 11. It was a really fun weekend and it was nice being able to get to know my cousins more. It really weirds me out that they practically all have kids now. Like what's with that? 

Anyway my past couple weekends have been a lot of fun. Hopefully this week can live up to them. 

In other news I started a two week nanny job today. It would be longer but I'm going back to Virginia so that doesn't really work out. The kids were super fun and loving though. We had a water balloon fight today and they were all fighting over who's team I would be on. The cutest. That doesn't sound very cute but you guys get what I'm saying. I wish I was staying longer so I could be their nanny. I really like kids. If you haven't noticed. I think they're hilarious and fun to be around. Probably what I get for being the oldest of 9. Oh well. 

And guess what in like 3 weeks I'll be going to Spain! This seriously kept me up late last night. Till like 2. It really sucked but I'm SOOOOOO EXCITED! I can't wait to see my old friends, eat all that delish food, and just show mom what my life was like in Spain. It's going to be so much fun. I've really been craving tortilla so I'm especially excited about that. 

And speaking of Espana I think I forgot to tell you guys. While I was in Spain walking home with my two German Au Pair friends from getting Churros con Chocolate, I saw the google street view car. I totally forgot about it till like a couple months ago. I checked and voila I'm on the street view of Spain. Fancy right? 

Anyway life's exciting and fun and I hope I'm doing a good job of keeping you people up to date. Till next time!