Day 93:

Resolution; The act of resolving or determining upon an action, method, procedure, etc.

Oh my glory! I can't believe it is already day 93! Time flies! I hit my 3 month mark yesterday! I'm a quarter of the way through! haha! That is insane to me. I arrived back in NY on Thursday, due to a cancellation of my flight the Monday before! I'm not gonna lie, i was sooo stinkin excited to stay in Utah for another 3 days! I just need to say one thing... I LOVE UTAH. So much. It is my home, and there truly is no place like home. I missed my family and friends so much, but i didn't actually realize how much until i got to be with them. I probably seemed like the biggest creeper, because i caught myself just staring at everyone,,, because i WAS SO HAPPY TO BE WITH EVERYONE! haha! It was such an amazing break! I don't know if i will remember everything i did, or on what day, but i am going to try, just for fun!

Friday Dec. 17th-

Flying ALL DAY LONG. The day started at 3 in the morning... after getting about hmm... one hour of sleep i got up and checked around for any last minute things, and ben was waiting outside! I am grateful that he took me to the airport, it was really nice of him. So i got dropped off, and ta-da! I was on my way! Yippee! I could hardly contain my excitement! The flights were torturing, because i was going home, and i just wanted to be there already!!! I couldn't sleep on the flight from laguardia to chicago, but i did get a window seat, so that was nice! Oh man guys, i wish everyone could've seen the sunrise that morning, from up in the sky! It was by FAR the prettiest sunrise i have seen in all my life! It was simply breathtaking! And i feel like i got front row seats! haha! I made it onto my next flight just fine, and turns out the librarian from SHHS sat right in front of me! We had a nice little chat, about eachother's lives, it was great! Extremely random, but great! haha! Fortunately on that flight i was able to sleep for about an hour, so that made time go by suuuper fast! Okayy, that was a lie, time seemed to decide to make like a turtle, and go really really really slow. But finally the plane landed.

And we walked out.

And i walked down the hall towards the baggage claim.

And there was my family.

HALLELUJAH!! :)

I was impressed with myself for keeping my composure, i only shed a few tears. But on the inside i just wanted to bawl like a baby in relief/excitement/love. One of the best scenes i have ever seen are those of when my family is all standing together to either greet me, or send me off. Just to know they are there for me when i need them the most is the biggest blessing. And i hope they know how much i appreciate it. My sister is engages, and i finally got to see the ring, it is STUNNING, and sooo Ashley. :) And i would like to officially announce that Jason passes THE Lawnchair Test. Which is a big deal. Actually its funny, because i believe i first met the boy on the 4th of July. I think. Anyway, i was just so happy to be with everyone. Blake didn't stop growing, he is almost taller than me! Its bonkers. My mom and dad haven't changed one bit, which i love! They are fantastic parents. :) Oh, also, Alyssa and Micky were going to be at our house later on in the day! YAY! So sweeeet! Aly is looking great, and Micky is HUGE! He will be the studliest boy ever,, probably because he already is. haha! We went out to eat at Gandolfo's, and then i had to get ready for the wedding. Sheii got married!!! What?!?! She is the first out of our little group of girls, its so awesome! Last to recieve her first kiss, and first to be wed. What a great life. haha! The wedding was beautiful! They are in love, and its just the cutest thing ever. Congrats Carson and Sheii Lindley! It was also great to be a bridesmaid. First time, and definitely not the last. Also, i saw my girl Kexa at the wedding! It had been sooo long since i have seen her, and i was SO happy to see her! She is so fetchin adorable, and beautiful! I just missed her! haha! I saw lots of old friends, but that one just stood out to me! So AFTER the wedding our girls had our little early Christmas Eve party! Let me just take the time to say how much i love my girls!!! All of them. Especially Heath, Kai, Becs, Sandy, Amanda and Jew. Friends for life. We exchanged gifts, and chatted, but that's about all that happened, because we were all totally exhausted! lol! So that didn't last super long, but it was most definitely memorable! We all soon zonked out.

Saturday the 18th-
Hmm.... dang it, already forgetting what i did. haha! Ope, i remember! That morning, i had to be home somewhere around 9ish so we could take some family pictures! They turned out absolutely darling, if i do say so myself! And it was so nice to all be together. That sounds so cheesy, but i mean it! I loved it. If i remember correctly, this was also the day we went ice skating! The salem singles ward was having an ice skating activity on the roof of Noah's, and Heath and i decided we wanted to go! She of course brought Jake, and i brought Braidan! It was a good time!! I actually didn't fall once, which was really good for me! ha!

Sunday the 19th-

I attended the Singles ward, as well as my home ward! Both were phenomenal, and it was good to see everyone!! I am so lucky. And again i am realizing all the things i took for granted. I never fully appreciated the support i have had at home from friends. One in particular is Brother Hal Jensen! He has always been my number one advice giver, and i just know he genuinely cares about what i'm doing with my life, and is so supportive of every decision. He is like a grandpa to me, which is nice, because all my real grandpa's are so far away! Anyway, i love that guy! I believe we played Canasta as a family that night, and GIRLS WON! :) Holla! I'm pretty sure i went over to my friend Alex's house that night! It is always good to see Alex. :) And his family of course! Keri is such a sweetheart, and not to mention a divine cook! You should've seen their house when i went over, it was FILLED with home made goodies that Keri was making for her neighbor/friend gifts! Let me tell you what, those neighbors/friends were spoiled! haha! I just sure do love my Alex, he's a great friend!

Monday-Thursday
All these days are kind of a blur. haha! But some key highlights were:
*Going to the Rowley residence multiple times. I SURE DID MISS THE ROWLEYS!
*Going to the Poulsen residence. I SURE DID MISS THE POULSENS AS WELL!
*Spending time with my bests. SURE DO LOVE MY BESTS!
*Random party with Ryan Reid and friends! haha. SURE DO LOVE RANDOM PARTIES AND RYAN!
*Going to get frozed yogurt for Becs birthday. I SURE DO LOVE FROZEN YOGURT. Also i got to see my great friend Evan this night. I think Evan is so great! What an awesome friend!!! I miss my little Ev chats. I SURE DO LOVE CHATTING WITH EV.
*Sleeping in. Something i missed dearly. I SURE DO LOVE SLEEPING IN.
*Morning talks with my dad. I SURE DO LOVE MY DAD!
*Sledding with Becca!!! I SURE DO LOVE SLEDDING WITH BECCA!
*Playing supermarioworld with Alex. haha! I SURE DO LOVE SUPER MARIO WORLD. AND ALEX!
*Doin a little shopping. I SURE DO LOVE SHOPPING.
And that is all i remember for now!

Friday; Christmas Eve.-

Oh how i love Christmastime! I love absolutely everything about it! I love how there is an association with Christmas for all the 5 senses! Sight: snow covered everything, lights on houses and trees and buildings and around wreaths, the colors red and green and gold, people holding bags full of gifts. Smell: pine, cinnamon, baked goods, chocolate, oranges, roasting nuts. Sound: bells, carols, crowded shopping malls, 'merry christmas, and happy holidays', laughter. Touch: fur trees, soft velvet and fur on santa's suit, ornaments, hugs all around, holding the shopping bags, wrapping and unwrapping gifts, snuggling up to a loved one. Taste: peppermint, spice, melting chocolate, baked pies, ham, potatoes, and green beans, nuts, sooo much sugar. But most of all, Feeling: the unmatched gratitude for our savior Jesus Christ, having family so close, watching someone open the gift you thoughtfully gave them. And this Christmas Eve was another spectacular evening. We did the usual big dinner, with the fam (minus lyssr) including Jason and his brother! The dinner was exactly how i remember! And we did the Christmas questions like usual! Then we all got our pj's which were some pretty legit blue basketball shorts, and a gray t-shirt! We were ballin. ha! We got to open one present, which was some gloves/hat/scarf sets for the gals, and blankets for the guys from Grandma and Grandpa Hall! They are so soft and cute! :) AFter that we talked for a while, and went to bed, of course in anticipation for the following day!

CHRISTMAS DAY!-

We got up somewhere around 7oclock a.m. and did the traditional reading of the Christmas story from the bible before opening presents! Then the unwrapping began!!! Our big present was a trip to Disneyland in March! YAY!!! I'm stoked! :) My favorite part was giving everyone the gifts i got them, because i actually had the money this year, and could get them something they may need! It was just a really good feeling! The rest of the day was super chill, dad made the LARGE breakfast, and we all kinda bummed around in our p.j.'s all day watchin movies and such! haha! Ash and Jason left to go up to spend the day in Logan with Jason's family! It was just a good family day! :)

Sunday the 26th-
Not gonna lie, Sunday was a blast!! First of all i got to participate in Elder Ryan Reid's farewell talk! We sang the EFY Medley, and it went reallly well! Ry also did great in his talk, i'm proud of him! He will be fantastic out there. After that i went to my home ward to sing there as well! I sang one of my favorite Christmas songs, it is like an undiscovered treasure! ha! It is called Little Did They Know. Its a lovely song! :) So that was good to be in the h-ward again! After church i was kind of somber, because it was supposedly my last day there. Hmmm... I got all packed up, and then.... looked at the comp. to check the status of the storm on the east coast,,, it wasn't lookin too good! Hundreds of flights were being cancelled! So we checked my flight plans and....

YUP.

i'm stayin. :)

WOOTfreakingWOOT!

We called the airline, and turns out the next available flight is Thursday!

What a beautiful thing.

I wasn't bummed one bit!! haha! Because i love Utah. And i love my family. And i love my friends. And this just meant more time with them!!! Yes!!! Monday i went shopping with the fam, and then went over to chill at the apt. with the girls! P.S. HAPPY BIRTHDAY BECCA!!! :) Tuesday was the real celebration for Beccer-Lou. We went to Spark, which is kinda a thing for our girls! And we got in the hot tub! It was way sweet! Oh and me, becs and sandy, decided to go to a movie! We saw Easy A! It was HILARIOUS!! But not quite as funny as freaking Sandy telling us that one time she hit a dog and reported it to the police and when they asked her what kind of dog it was she answered "oh.. it was a white... you know... e-coli!" BAHAHAHAHAHA! That was the best thing ever. haha! Man! Wednesday was family day, and officially my last day in Utah. (:( Mixed emotions. ha! I honestly do love NY, its just not home, ya know? I imagine that's normal! So the fam drove up to SLC, and rented a hotel close to the airport! We went to dinner at Olive Garden, my choice! Then we went back to the hotel, got in the hot tub there, and then went to bed! It was nice to just be with them. I love my mommy. Just sayin. So the next afternoon it was time to say goodbye. Again, i was surprised with my composure! But if i would've let myself cry, who even knows when i would've stopped. ha! So that was my journey home. :)

It is now Monday the 3rd, so i gotta tell you about NEW YEARS!

Melissa (one of my new nanny friends) and i were determined to go into the city and see the ball drop. So we did. Spencer came too, we went into the city, and got as close as we could. Pahaha! Which wasn't very close at all, but it was close enough! :) It was a memorable moment. On the train ride back, there was a group of drunk college boys that decided to sit right behind us... yiippeeee. haha! They were kinda funny! I was wearing those gloves that are half gloves, and half mittens ya know? And one of the kids said, "look that girl has glittens!!!" ha! so the whole ride they would say things like 'high five glittens' and 'i gotta get me some glittens' and 'yay for glittens'! haha! It was hilar. Finally they got off. But this other super wasted guy was sitting in front of us, and he was like putting his foot in the guys face that was sitting across from him, and like posing for imaginary pictures. Drunk people just act sooo dumb! haha! So that was my New Years! Happy 2011! ;)

Saturday was just a chill Sarah day. I went to the gym, went tanning, ran some much needed errands! And that night me and Melissa and her other nanny friend went to see Gullivers Travels! Also an extremely funny show!! I recommend it! :)

Sunday was absolutely fantastic!!! I am just obsessed with the singles ward, and new friends!!! We are actually even planning a trip into the city on Saturday! :) Plus the lessons were amazing. AND the food at the 'munch and mingle'! :) I love everything about church! E.V.E.R.Y.T.H.I.N.G.

And well... that brings me to today! :)
Today is back to the same old routine! School, naps, meals, and allll the other usual things! Anna is at Rachael's house for a playdate right now, and Ava is taking a nap. Its very... quiet. haha! I am expecting an e-mail from Elder Weber today sometime, which is ALWAYS super awesome! He is doing so well out in Nicaragua! He is such a stud, and one of my heroes! Tonight is FHE. Definitely going. haha! :)

Wellp, this concludes my longest blog post ever!!! If you read the whole thing, props! ;) haha! Peace and Blessings. :)