no one is as die hard as we are.

Once upon a time I went to Florida with my family.

 We spent four days bouncing between Universal Studios and Island of Adventure.

 We rode the Incredible Hulk multiple times in a row, screaming our lungs out as we spun upside down 7 different times.

 This kid is Mr. Fantastic.

 Spiderman became one of the favorites as we became part of the action through 3D glasses and real fire.

 We really enjoyed spending time as a family, and most of the time the 6 of us stayed together.

 We really liked Toon land and the feeling that we had stepped into a comic book.

 I basically didn't do my hair the whole entire trip.

 We are almost positive that we heard real dinosaurs rustling around in the bushes and then we saw real dinosaurs on our boat trip through the park, where we were attacked by a T-Rex.

 And then we had our first glance at Hogwarts.

 We stepped into a magical (and crowded) world of butterbeer and dragon fights.

 We marveled at the overpriced chocolate in Honeydukes.

 Rode a couple of dragons.

 Found Mr. Weasely's lost Ford Angular.

 Drank lots and lots of butterbeer.

 Saw Zonko's joke shop

 Ate at Captain America Cafe

 And took pictures in the bathroom there.

 We saw more real fire at Poseidon's Fury. Which is not a ride and does not have a single rider option.

 We stepped right into a Dr. Suess book,

And decided that Island of Adventures is way cooler than Universal Studios.

 Except for the Revenge of the Mummy ride. That one was awesome.

 We spent most of our last day in Florida back in Harry Potter World.

 Buying souvenirs,

 Drinking more butterbeer

 And then we watched Superheros ride motorcycles

 And rode a fear fall ride where a little boy was super irritating and dropped the F bomb.

 And on the way out, I had to snap a picture of flying Minions which will forever make me think of Ashley.

We arrived home safe and sound on Monday night, and had only a couple of mishaps. I found my backpack eventually and we made it out of the airport parking lot.
On Tuesday I took 3 midterms, on Wednesday I took 1 and then went to work where we were overrun with a convention of Asian NuSkin employees.
Thursday I started full time hours at Wavetronix and my summer has officially begun.
We had a fantastic trip and I'm so glad that I made the decision to go. I'm so grateful for my parents and the fun vacations they take us on which give us a chance to become closer friends. The older we get, the closer we come to that elusive sibling friendship. I love my family so much and it will be weird not living with them again.
A new chapter of my life is opening next week, and I'm so happy that the chapter of me living at home (again) is closing on such a great memory of our Spring Break in Florida.

my cliche year in review post

Ready, set, cue the cliche post!

January:I adjusted for being home for a weird winter break while everyone else that I knew was in school. I cut some bangs, got scuba certified and went to Mexico with my family where I tried alcohol for the first time in my life (accident!) I went to a super awesome modern music concert with Kara made cookies with my sisters and decided that being at home for the winter might not be so bad after all.

February:
I spent a lot of time with my best friend who just got home from his mission (and later fell in love with him and had my heart broken), we went to Jazz games, Trafalga, hot pots and hiked all over the mountains. I took sister bonding pictures and saw The Phantom of the Opera at PGHS. I babysat on Valentines Day and wished for things that haven't happened yet. I started voice lessons again and worked three jobs. 

March:I juggled my three jobs and had a great social life with my best friend. I did a lot of serious thinking and learned a lot of lessons. I went to the festival of colors and turned into a human crayon. I freaked out about how fast the break was going, I freaked out about going to New York, I freaked out about going back to school and freaked out about saying goodbye to the boy I was really liking.

April:
I colored with chalk even though it was raining, packed like a fiend, spent a week romping around New York and headed back up to Rexburg for my second semester at BYU-Idaho. I became great friends with my new roommates and we spent Easter together.

 May:I learned how to cook in crock pot and discovered that I have the ability to make the best mashed potatoes in the world. We made the best chocolate chip cookies in the world...repeatedly. We took trips to Idaho Falls to combat the feeling of being trapped in Rexburg. I took the shuttle down to Utah for Memorial Day.

June:
I immersed myself in school work, especially music theory and learned amazing things. We got a kitten that lived with us illegally for six weeks. I took a spontaneous trip to Yellowstone.

July:
I went home for the 4th of July (and started the longest, most dramatic break-up in the history of ever), had a camping trip with my roommates in our living room, started packing and cleaning for white glove, and saw Harry Potter 7 part 2 with my roomies. I prepared for finals and received injuries while giving our cat a bath. I went to St. George with my mom, sister and aunts and had a blast.

August:
I moved home for a very short 7 weeks, worked full time at Wavetronix (concluded the most awful break-up ever), and had sleepovers in my treehouse. Lots of them. Cammie and I took awesome pictures of each other and Ashley came to visit me from Boise!

September:I turned 20! I moved back up to Rexburg for my final semester and became best friends with some of the girls I lived with. I started school, taking 18 credits and a part-time job. I went hiking and to camp-fires, made new friends and really liked a physics major for three weeks. I went on a field trip to Montana to learn about earthquakes and volcanoes.

October:

I got my letter of admission to BYU and officially decided to transfer. I occupied my time by going to work and to class and going to watch my roommate's rehearsals. I went on an amazing Church History trip with my best friend Ashley and increased my testimony exponentially.

November:
I registered for my classes at BYU and entertained Merrie with my sleep-talking antics. I made myself a wand and read President Monson's book, To the Rescue. I crocheted hats and mittens like crazy and watched The Drowsy Chaperone (8 times). Ashley and I headed down to Utah for Thanksgiving which was awesome. :)

December:I prepared for finals and started finishing up my classes. I passed music theory and got a sweet T-shirt! I partied it up with the best FHE family ever at Big Judd's. I had a moment of panic when my roommate went to the hospital for 7 staples after being hit in the head by a piece of set and I fought my natural queasiness by becoming her official hair washer. I had spontaneous girls nights with my roommates, doing girly stuff like face masks. I graduated from BYU-Idaho with my Associates Degree in General Studies with a Custom Music Cluster. I moved home again and got a new job at a restaurant. I enjoyed Christmas with my family and had an awesome break!

2011 was such an amazing year for me! It was also one of the hardest years of my life. I'm glad to see the back of it and that I have all of the wonderful memories to contemplate and keep in my pocket. I can't wait to see what 2012 has in store for me!