hotel california

remember how tax season ended on april 15th? it did. and on april 16th i got the heck out of arizona and had a lovely weekend in huntington beach.

i went with friends hillary, brendy and morgin. we had SO MUCH FUN. nothing cures me like a road trip to california, and the girl time wasn't so bad either.

saturday we spent a huge chunk of the day at the beach. and i got REALLY sunburned. it's 5 days later and i'm still red. and before you be like my dad and say "you're dumb!" i have to defend myself. the only sunblock we had was spf 70 and i knew if i put that on i was going to get NO color and that would have totally defeated the purpose of going to the beach. so i put some on my face and was going to put more on the rest of my body after a couple hours.
well.
i fell alseep.
and it was overcast.
and you know the rest of the story.

sunday we went to the newport temple and even found a singles ward to go to! we maybe only did that in hopes of finding cute boys (there weren't any) but the point is that we got to take the sacrament, right? (right.)

funny stories:
1. we were sitting on this wall watching people play volleyball and a big group of guys walked by. they made it almost all the way to the water when one of them turns around, walks back to us and says, "um... you forgot to ask me for my number when i walked by earlier" HAHAHAHA! if you're wondering, yes we got the number and we applauded him having the guts to do that.

2. hillary had on a bright neon yellow bathing suit (that was super cute) and she had a victoria secret tote that said "love pink" on it and the straps on that were also yellow. there was a different group of guys that walked by and one of them said "she loves pink but she's wearing yellow..." hahaha, it was great.


things i learned:
1. driving in california makes me speed like no other.
2. when they put the north and south entrances to the freeway on the same side of the road i get REALLY confused.
3. i need to live closer to the ocean.
4. when the back of your knees turn purple from the sun, moving becomes extremely difficult.
5. i can be easily persuaded to agree to run a half marathon.
6. i am going to become one of those people who flakes out on things they never really meant to agree to.

no worries, i'm already trying to figure out when i can go back.

ob-la-di, ob-la-da

my friend megan and i email back and forth during work a lot. and sometimes, we say funny things.

i've provided examples:

m: i wish i worked for an airline so i could get free flights.
c: i think i want to marry a pilot.

-------------------------------

m: it is my favorite coworker’s birthday today, and i got her a zebra print snuggie. it’s a HUGE hit!!!!! HAHAHAHAHHAHA
c: there was a snuggie at the gift exchange my parents do with my dad's side of the family and my dad got it and then it was stolen :( i was sad. weezer made a snuggie and i think i need it.

-------------------------------

m: i want in n out burger sooooooooooo bad
c: good thing they have one up there now! that actually sounds so good right now. i think i just decided where i'm going for lunch
m: we are so cool! lets exchange pictures while we're eating haha

-------------------------------

m: and i want you to know that i am so bored that i just dissected my wrist pad. well, it used to be my wrist pad, now it’s just a huge pile of plastic all cut up. i regret this decision………

-------------------------------

m: so just now, my phone was in my purse and it went off and i realized i never turned it down this morning. so it was on FULL blast, while someone was calling, and my ring tone is…………… the Sesame Street theme.

-------------------------------

m: WORK IS BOOOOOOOORING
c: I JUST SPENT THE LAST 3 HOURS PUTTING TOGETHER A TOY ROCKING TYPE HORSE. yes, it really took me that long. and i broke the noise maker and it took forever to fix because those screws were RIDICULOUSLY tiny. ah. and my back kills like a friggin mother. i don't want children.

-------------------------------

m: i am so annoyed with 97% of my coworkers.
c: so far, i'm only annoyed with 20% of mine.


and now she is moving to egypt for the summer. who is going to provide my entertainment at work??

h-ween

for halloween this year i decided that since i have like 2 friends here, i should go to provo. wise choice on my part. usually i dread halloween because i never have cool enough ideas for costumes and i just find things like that uncomfortable. but this year was a blaaaast. my costume, a rockstar, was nothing special but considering i haven't dressed up for halloween since i was 11, i think it turned out pretty good.we had some trouble deciding what to do because there were a lot of options but we finally settled on a place and had a fabulous night getting sweaty (i.e. dancing). next year i hope to find a man to go along with my womanizer idea.

the whole weekend was crazy fun. a highlight was paying this lovely friend $5 to walk into target like this:she got a bloody nose in the car. that was all that was available.

and now, catching up on my shows :)

i say a little prayer for youuuu (my best friend's wedding)

this weekend my dear emily got married.

this is us at efy, where our little friendship started, 3 years ago.

(please don't ask why basically all the friends i have right now came in one form or another from the fact that i went to efy in 2006.)


at the reception. she looked amazing!!

and to clarify, i am only in jeans because i came straight from something else and had 20 minutes before the reception was over. there was no time to change.

and now, the good stuff.
friday was the bachelorette party.
and oh what a PARTY it was.
here is almost everyone that came:

yes, i am aware i am short. though in my defense, some of them are wearing heels. and that just isn't really my thing.

she didn't get a bridal shower, so we played a couple bridal shower games too.
our toilet paper wedding dresses:
(please note the paper man in the background ;))

me and hillary. the winners. because we rock. please ignore my face.


it seriously was aaaaamazing. we had so much fun.
NOT PICTURED:
the gifts. because some were wildly inappropriate :)
we are already making plans for the next bachelorette party.. now we just need someone to get married.

take your time

as if i didn't have a big enough homework pile to do
i just made this for my desktop background.
except certain parts are driving me insane
so i'll probably make a new one
(but i'll wait until my homework is done... maybe.)


in other news, i got a mattress this weekend!!!!
...why is that exciting?
because i've had my bedroom furniture for almost 4 weeks now, but had no mattress. i got everything moved into my new room right before i left for utah, but since jessica took my old room, i had no where to sleep. so i'd been sleeping on the couch and/or floor for about 2 weeks.

but no more!!

pictures coming soon!

they got more bounce in california than all y'all combined.

remember that one time when i spent a week in the fabulous california?
i finally got the pictures! (thanks bethanie)

don't worry, that tan is long gone. and i know what you're thinking, "what tan?" that's as dark as i've been since 7th grade when i wasn't afraid to wear shorts.

there was a reason i posed like that, but now i can't remember.

this is why i sometimes despise my curly hair. can you say POOFY?! (this and the fact that in 8th grade a kid once told me my hair made me look like a poodle. i never really got over it.)

lovely.

the whole gang!

it was amazing! i'm so thankful to have a wonderful friend who likes me enough to take me on trips with her. we've already decided we're going to make it a yearly vacation with our own families :)

hey thanks, thanks for that summer

so long sweet summer,
i stumbled upon you and gratefully basked in your rays
so long sweet slumber,
i fell into you, now you're gracefully falling away
-chris carrabba


dear summer 2009,
i think we should break up. we've had a lot of fun, but school is starting and i'm actually pretty excited for it. school brings a form of organization to my life that you, unfortunately, lack. if it makes you feel any better, you kicked summer 2008's butt. i would even go so far as to say you beat out summer 2007, and that's saying something. really, you're going down in the books as an absolute success.
yours forever,
me


can i just say that WHOA i start school in a week? as excited as i am, i'm sad summer is ending.

highlights:
countless girls nights
the proposal (i've only seen it 4 times)
the vegas
all american rejects concert
changing majors
trying to clock my running speed
x-men origins: wolverine
discovering MOJO!
california
harry potter 6
response from adam lambert
friends getting calls/leaving on missions
(500) days of summer
american idol concert
karaoke party!
getting through all 4 seasons of the oc (almost done)
transformers 2
institute/bowling nights
farkle!
spending enough time in the sun that i don't blend in with the walls anymore
family feud tryouts
mill ave trips
weddings
& other random adventures i can't think of right now


AND, just to not jinx the rest of my summers...


bummer deals:
first car accident
planning 2 cali trips and not going either time
friends getting calls/leaving on missions
getting sick for the 3rd time this year
running out of gas IN the parking lot of the gas station
...i think that's all.



yes, i've had a rockin' summer. but i still have a week and i fully intend to make the most of it :)

as i said, i'm sad. but i'm ready for school and for what little fall arizona gets. plus, i only have school mon-wed. and i don't work fridays. and i fly for free... meaning i can spend many a weekends in utah with bethanie. this might just be my favorite YEAR ever.

chest

this is why i love my life:

our family portrait.






sometimes, i think we have too much fun.

p.s. "chest" is our names.
C assie
H illary
E mily
S hannon
T ara

no worries, the shirts are in the works.

move along

today, bethanie and i went to in-n-out for some fries. we went in the drive thru, ordered and pulled up to the next car. two cars in front of us there was a woman in a huge truck. when the cars in front of her pulled forward, she didn't move. you could tell she was in park so i thought maybe she would just wait for the cars to move one more time. well, they did and she still didn't move. not only did she not move, she opened her door, stuck her head out and screamed "they aren't working. just turn your car off." the guy in the car in between us, aka tattoo man, was talking to her but i couldn't hear him. she just kept saying "they aren't working." and the whole time this is going on, the cars keep pulling forward. there was a car behind me who wasn't quite up to the thing to order so i yelled and told her that the guy couldn't order until she moved and all she would say was "but they aren't working!"

finally, the guy behind me backed out of the drive thru so me and tattoo man could get out too. we parked so we could go inside to get the food since we had already ordered it. when i got up to order i said, "uh, i just ordered fries in your drive thru and there is a crazy lady who turned her car off and she won't move and she is claiming that you guys aren't working." one of the workers turned around and said "i know! i went out there and she started screaming at me telling me we weren't working and i just kept asking her to pull forward because we had her food." tattoo man came inside too so we all started talking about how bizarre it was. in the mean time, she had finally decided that yes, the people at in-n-out are working and that she could pull up to the window. i didn't notice she was there until tattoo man yells, "yeah, if you don't want to hear it just close your ears! don't even serve her you guys, just close the window." so apparently she heard us, which i did feel bad about but i was watching them talk to her and she was definitely on something. it was so funny. she was seriously CRAZY.

anyway. i needed something to do to help me avoid doing laundry/packing, so i thought i would share that fun story. why can't everything i need just magically show up to california? i hate packing and preparing for trips- too much stress for me. but don't worry, i will be in heaven come saturday.

goodbye 110 degree weather. see you in a week.

next stop, VEGAS please.

i should warn you now, this is really long. i just couldn't take stuff out. i want you to have the full effect of the vegas.

about a month ago, i learned that the all american rejects were playing in the vegas on july 3, leaving us to party it up in the vegas on the fourth (yes, we call it "the vegas"). since my friend bethanie and i were trying fit in a trip there this summer, we were stoked. after reactions from parents however, we kind of just let it go. then on wednesday (july 1), we just decided, why not? by the time we decided that we could do it and once we got our parents to agree, we had just over 24 hours to put together our 3 day trip. after a lot of phone calls/texts and even more stress, we figured it out. we didn't actually have a confirmed place to stay until about 11 on thursday and we left friday morning. hence the stress. BUT, we went and we loved it. our friend ashley came with us and it was seriously so fun. i think the most common phrase used was "i love the vegas!" the traffic on friday was no good. my dad wanted us to drive thru flagstaff to get there, which was okay except it took us over 4 hours just to get to flagstaff. YEAH, it was ridiculous. after that the traffic was normal. and then it started raining. at first it wasn't bad, but then it started pouring and i literally couldn't see the hood of the car. we pulled over twice and just sat hoping it would light up and it really didn't. we finally said a prayer (seriously, i've NEVER seen rain like that. i was scared to drive) and it became light enough for us to feel comfortable driving in. then later, there was a truck with a motor home attached to the back. we were about a half mile behind it when we noticed the motor home swinging back and forth. it wasn't bad, but we thought it was weird that the guy wasn't pulling over. about 2 minutes later it was swerving so bad it was going over both lanes and came extremely close to hitting the car next to it. if that car hadn't been paying attention and slammed on its brakes, the thing would have hit him. we had to slow way down for that and thankfully the guy finally pulled over. it was scary. i really wanted to get a picture or video of it but i was preoccupied with terror. after all that and with 6 stops (including when we pulled over because of the rain) it took us NINE hours to get to the vegas. yes, 9. needless to say, we took the normal way home :)

we got there so late that we had to get ready and eat really fast to make it to the concert. the show was at mandalay bay (if anyone has been there) but it was outside, something we were not aware of. they have a little wave pool/fake beach with sand and everything. they put the stage in the middle of the pool, but since we were all wearing jeans, we just stood at the edge of the sand. of all the shows i've been to (and i've been quite a few because i love it), it was probably one of the best. i don't know if it was because it was outside in the fake beach or because it was the vegas, but it was the most fun i've had at a show. the lead singer was so funny to watch. he would just dance and it was hilarious. my favorite time was during the song "fallin' apart" but sadly i do not have video of it. i do, however, have video of part of "gives you hell." you have to watch the whole thing to see the funny part.

seriously entertaining. we kept looking at each other and laughing and saying "i love him" because he was just good. the whole thing was amazing. i wish they would have played longer though, they only played for just over an hour. it was so worth it though.me, ashley and bethanie just before we left for the show

our feet in the sand at the fake beach.

happy!

he used two microphones for a couple songs. it sounded sweet.







yes, he had his shirt off the whole time.
yes, we enjoyed that.
yes, we (bethanie and i) have found our new obsession.

saturday we woke up and headed to the strip. we walked around the mall for a while and walked through the venetian. that place is amazing. if you ever go to the vegas, the venetian is a must see. its gorgeous. friday night we stayed at someone's house, but saturday we had a hotel. we left to go check in and freshen up. we went to dinner and watched fireworks sitting on a wall next to our hotel. that was cool because we could see the whole strip so we watched about 10 different fireworks shows at once. then we headed back to the strip. there were SO many people. we didn't take many pictures that time because we couldn't really stop, and we didn't want to make one person stand too far away from the other two, and no way was i trusting any of those people with my camera. our rule was to never separate, no matter what. we walked through the bellagio and that is really cool too. the water show there is awesome. we really wanted to go to caesars palace and the forum shops but when we walked up the fire alarm was going off so we voted against that. sunday we woke up and just drove home.waiting to get on the tram to take us from treasure island to the mirage.

on the tram.

me & ashley at some fountain.

wax version of michael jackson.

blue man group. we tried to copy the faces. i failed.

we think we're funny :)

yeah, they were getting married.

that was a real person. it freaked me out.

me & ashley and the umbrella room in the venetian.

me & bethanie at treasure island.

fashion show in the middle of the mall.

they were fighting over that spot on the bed. i, being the good friend that i am, took pictures.

our elevator had a mirror for a ceiling. a picture was necessary.

on the wall watching the fireworks.

me & ashley

me & bethanie

the trip was amazing and i loved that it was a last minute, "hey, let's go to the vegas this weekend." the AAR show rocked and i recommend their new cd to any and all. i will say i was shocked at the amount of people that had kids with them on saturday night. it was 11 at night and there were kids everywhere on the strip. i thought that was weird. the vegas is dirty and a little scary, but the hotels are beautiful. the only bummer thing is we were booked to stay at the bellagio, but since none of us were 21 we couldn't stay there. since every hotel has a casino in it, the person checking into the room has to be 21. bummer deal. it was a blast. we're hoping to go back to another show at mandalay bay. don't know when, but we'll be going because we love the vegas!