What Happens in the Summer

WARNING: This is an epically long post to make up for lost months! The only promise is that there are lots and lots of pictures! :)

KELLI'S DAY!!

As always.. Kelli's Day was celebrated in style with spaghetti and meatballs, a ladybug cake, confetti, and a movie to watch.  We chose "We Bought Zoo" for this year's movie. So inspiring.. Chelsea left ready for her 20 seconds of courage! I ended up falling asleep for the middle of the movie, but the beginnings and end were fantastic!! 

Ready to get our party on!

 

Sweet Alexa and her mother sweet Holly sent me a package for Kelli's Day which included some sweet tatoos. So the Kienlen's were definitely there in spirit! 

In the end, it was a fantastic holiday, and I'm glad I have so many friends that remember my day to make it special! Hopefully the tradition will continue! :)

A CARE PACKAGE!

New wards are always a challenge for me. My social nature fights with my natural inhibitions,

 and so I hate it.  So my mother aware that I was having a rough month sent me a mixer! I now have two kitchen appliances to my name! Woohooo!! What a sweet mother I have!

ROOMMATE LOVE!!

Stacey and I did some twinner hair one Sunday.

And we thought we looked fantastic so we took pictures!

The month of June was Carl's Jr. month, because we had so many coupons.

This meant a lot of roommate dates, which were super fun!!

 THE 4th of JULY!!

Ty was sweet enough to come down to Provo to hang out with his lowly, pathetic sister! I was so grateful to have some family to hang out with.  We started the day off at the parade!

We sat with a rowdy bunch of people who were heckling all the parade people.  It was all in good fun which made it all the better.  Ty and I were right behind them and we thought the whole thing was hilarious. They often shout things like "turn the banner" at the people and most people were willing to comply.  One time a banner or something was coming up and one in the heckler group said to his family: "You know what to do!" And the whole group started up. 

Here's an example:

We were supposed to go to my Uncle's house for dinner, but since he had just moved we got very lost. So there was no All-American picnic for us chumps.  So instead, Ty and I really got in touch with the melting pot idea and had some Cafe Rio.  

We then headed up to the temple for some fireworks.  We moved a billion times. People in Provo are intense about their 4th of July rituals and they had already been camped out for hours by the time we go there.  Ty and I are pretty unassuming people so we didn't know where to go -- so we ended up in some pretty random places, trying not to infringe on anybody.

At the temple area...

 Ty and I then thought the Stadium of Fire was lamer than ever and it was getting late so Ty dropped me off and headed back up to Salt Lake.  20 minutes later the show started. 

So I booked it up to campus by myself and watched the show.  Stacey joined me for the last little bit of the show.

Blurry picture, but that's all the smoke from the fireworks!

 A ROOFTOP CONCERT!!

Provo does some pretty cool things, and one of those things is the Rooftop Concert Series. They usually have local artists put on a show for everyone, and it's super fun! This time they did a Tom Petty song night and had a bunch of different local artists do some songs.  

Me, Stacey and Christy!!

One of the local artists they had come to the show was the Neon Trees band. They are not so local anymore, but they remembered the little town they got their start in! It was just the drummer (who is pregnant and an amazing singer as well!), the bassist, and the lead singer.

The Neon Trees guy is crazy intense! Way fun to watch! I'd love to go to a concert! 

A BRIDAL SHOWER!!

Sweet Darcee is getting married in 19 days!! So we threw her a bridal shower. She requested no games, which I'm fine with because.. really bridal shower games can be pretty lame. So instead Chelsea and I threw together a fantastic fiesta! Just a bunch of taco stuff, but it was delicious! I would call the evening a success! 

The spread -- minus the chips, tortillas, and meat, which were still heating up.

These were a Pinterest find but I thought they turned out really well,
and they taste super good!! 

Cake Pop Favors! 

We only played the "How well does Darcee know Stephen" game.  Turns out she knows him pretty darn well! :)

Darcee in her natural state!

The LAST HOORAH/weekend get away!

With Darcee getting married so soon we decided we needed one more time just the three of us! 

So last Friday, we headed up to Salt Lake for a vacation!

Trax ride!

Darcee got her dress fitted, and then we did some shopping for friend of the bride clothes, 

because of course we need to look great for her wedding too! :) After finding nothing worth buying, we camped out at the KOA in SLC, which felt really more exotic than it was. So it was worth it!

Home Sweet Home

 After a quick swim that morning, we were on our way to a great hike!

Before we started for reals...

In true Wyoming fashion, we headed up the mountain without much information. We just trusted that we were fit enough, and awesome enough to finish it all.  We got to the top of the mountain, only to realize that we were really low on water.  We weren't aware of the time since we left our cell-phones behind.  So even though the trail continued up to the next peak we decided to feel really good about what we had already accomplished, and go back down.

The view!

Playing in the stream!

We finished!!!

Chelsea looked up the trail after we got back and found out that rattlesnakes are supposedly very common on that trail, and we thought the lizards were bad!

Last night, after we got back, Chelsea came with Darcee and I to our ward activity and it was just like old times in the Powell 2nd Ward, except more fun (no offense P2 people, it's just different when your Bishop has a giant pool and a basketball court in his backyard. And when there are so many new people to get to know and enjoy.)  It's been a great summer so far, and hopefully I'll post again before the end! :)

ALSO... This is my
100th
Post!
so thanks for staying interested, reading, and commenting all the way up to this huge milestone!!

Happiness is.....

...Taking a trip home to see your little brother graduate! (Congrats TODD!)

...Being at home at the same time as all the rest of your siblings

Toni missed the picture taking..

...Having 3 sweet nieces!

Brynn and Camilla! Both are tuckered out! :)

All THREE! - Camilla was on the move for this shoot!

...Winning marbles with your Grandma 

(and for those of you who don't know what 'marbles is' .. don't worry about it, but NO we are not flicking around a bunch of marbles in a chalk circle with our thumbs)

Although my Grandma looks like a sweet lady here..
She's an assassin at marbles, I'm glad we're on the same team!

...Reading cheesy chicklit to your brother on the drive

What a great brother -- he even took the time to read me a few pages while I was driving!

...Watching cheesy western/pioneer love stories (many times in a row)

...Living with your best friends! (Current roommates are:)

(Darcee we need more recent pictures together, okay?

...Getting an unexpected call from another best friend.

thanks Lex!

...Doing nails with your roommates on a Sunday afternoon

Thanks for the color Lynnster!

...Did I mention my sweet nieces?

Aubrey was full of good moods and smiles!
(and bad moods and tears... Bless Toni's heart for having a newborn and toddler!)
Camilla was such a sweet girl and never got fussy during our long Sunday! --Stake Conference and Graduation!
And sweet Brynn was so tiny and newborny and adorable!

(No pictures for these ones, but you should just feel some happiness reading them!)

...Making dinner for more than just yourself!

...Fresh baked cookies

...Being humble enough to ask for help when you need it

...Going to Church

...Walking to the store 25 minutes away for something do
...A clean room

New Life Goal: Become A Vigilante

In reality...

• I hate violence.
• I've never tackled anybody in my life, and I don't plan on it.
• If I ever saw a felony being committed I would run away, hide, and/or start crying.

Leaving reality behind...

• I would become a real-life vigilante, carrying out numerous citizen arrests and saving the world!

I have always had a secret desire to do a citizen arrest.  It would be the best thing ever! I can just imagine myself (please feel free to imagine with me) yelling "CITIZEN ARREST" and flying through the air as I tackled some hardened criminal, and then pulling out my trusty zip-ties to handcuff him until the cops showed up.  .... This is an item on the top of my (dream) bucket-list.

So as I considered this dream yesterday I decided to do some Googling to figure out how to go about doing a citizen arrest.. I found out that I am not the only one with this dream! Check it out:

I thought this was the best answer:

Just in case you guys get any crazy ideas I did find out that in Utah it is illegal to use deadly force to stop and/or secure a felon (and in most states it HAS to be a felony for you to take any action).

BUT.. If you also share my desire to become a real-life-regular-Joe-saver-of-the-world, then move to Kentucky. In my limited research, it seems like Kentucky has the most indulgent laws for people like us! Apparently, "Kentucky law holds that a person witnessing a felony must take affirmative steps to prevent it, if possible. (See Gill v. Commonwealth, 235 KY 351 (1930.) Indeed, Kentucky citizens are permitted to kill fleeing felons while making a citizen's arrest (Kentucky Criminal Code � 37; S 43, �44.)" -- quoted from a news article I read, emphasis added! (I WOULD NEVER KILL ANYONE; I just thought it was weird that they said you could...)

So join me fellow citizens let us save America! Let us rise up and stop the felons!! 

Who's with me?

Being Old....

 I have never felt 'old' before, and believe me I know that 21 is a little early to start feeling this way.....

But today as I was stalking a band, I realized that I was older than all of the members! 

ALL OF THEM! 

After this epiphany, I, for the first time in my young life, felt 

OLD.

mere children

I thought that since this wasn't some Disney band that these kids would at least be 21+.

Nope.  

The oldest was born in December of 1991 (I'm a '91-babe just to clarify)
and the youngest is younger than my little brother!

What are these kids doing going on tour in foreign countries,
and being chased by preteens, teens and young adults everywhere?

Apparently I'm starting my quarter life crisis 4 years early (it's a real thing!)! Yeah for me! 

Luckily, the next generation is producing some great tunes to help old-timers like myself survive.

Here's the song I listened to on repeat for two hours this afternoon. Enjoy.

And a final good luck to my BYU friends with finals this coming week!!!

New Things!

Charming Text Messages:

Received at: 4:58 a.m.

"Do you and riker want to fight me and chase"

Sent at: 7:53 a.m.

"Good morning! This isn't who you think it is (I think you've got the wrong number) but i don't think you should fight anyone! :)"

Further texting throughout the day revealed that I was, in fact, not the person they were trying to reach, and that in the end they decided not to fight. Phew! A little more peace in the world!

New Games:

My sweet roommate Stacey has introduced me to the game called Nerts.  The only problem is that you need a deck of cards for everyone playing! So.. I bought my first deck of Rook cards recently! I feel like I've just become even more of a Lewis! Another right of passage out of the way! :)

Divine Comedy:

I went with a friend to Divine Comedy (comedy group of BYU) last night! My first time EVER going, and let me just say! Good times. I always wondered how I'd react at a live comedy thing, because I never find comedy laugh out loud funny.  However this stuff was actually funny.  The show I went to was their best of show, so I believe I saw the best of the best and greatly enjoyed it.  They did the clip below, but also did spoofs on other movies (Breaking Dawn, and Phantom of the Opera), events, and BYU culture. Good times! 

Easter Egg Hunts:

This morning I volunteered at the Provo Easter Egg hunt. My job was face painting! The children were all so sweet after I ruined their faces with my subpar skills. So that was good. It was crazy to see all the people that could turn out at events like these, but I believe the event was wildly successful! So it was a good way to spend my morning I'd say! 

Sweet Lessons at Conference!

This weekend was General Conference!

I feel bad because I don't feel like I super prepared for conference,

so many of my amazing insights will have to come from the Ensign!

However, I did catch a couple of sweet things that I thought I'd share:

Sweet President Eyring!

WITH HIS OWN CANDY DISH!

Although I couldn't tell for sure, I'm pretty sure every apostle's got their own dish!

I just had never noticed this before and I thought it was interesting.

I'm sure you've already seen this, but here's a pop star turned choir boy for your viewing pleasure
 -- some sweet eye candy for those of us without a personal candy dish!! :)

Just in case you missed it -- it's Elder Archuleta now! 

Those are some of my conference highlights! But on a more spiritual note -- 

anybody have suggestions on a favorite talk that I should read first?