Thanksgiving

This year Thanksgiving was very different from anything I have ever experienced. Many of you might know that my parents were divorced this last year and my dad and I don't get along very well so I never see him. I decided to go to the Blake family dinner after much thought and prayer and eventually, I decided to go. I knew I wouldn't be able to go alone and even though my little sister was going she was not enough of a crutch. I took my friend Benn and hoped that it wouldn't be too awkward. well... it was. He was great in keeping me busy and distracted but my plan backfired on me. The only people at the dinner was my grandparents, my aunt Shelly and her family, my dad, Allie, Benn and myself. There was no way of going unnoticed during this particular dinner. And having Benn there with me caused a lot of questions and strange looks. It turned out good in the end though. It started off with my father throwing my birthday present at me (oh yeah...it was also my birthday...lucky me) and yelling at me in front of everyone that 'hanging up on someone is very rude'. okay. I took it like always even though I hadn't hung up on him and went on my way. We ate dinner in almost silence with super awkward glances between Benn and I. My aunt Shelly, always one of my favorites and probably the only reason I went to dinner, called me over and told me about a prom dress she had and wanted me to see it in case I wanted to borrow it. I thanked her and continued eating dinner. Benn then announced we had to leave to get to his family dinner (clever way to get our of an awkward situation) and thanked everyone for dinner. Shelly, whom I had thought had forgotten about the dress called me over and took me to the dress. Secretly I was very grateful that she cared. I won't tell you what she said... but it hit me hard. I am so grateful for people like her who love freely and are not ashamed to say it. When the rest of the 'family' on my dads side would not talk to me. That moment was worth all the awkwardness of the dinner. I left the house in complete shock and later broke down crying to Benn. Once again, I am so thankful for those friends who care enough about me to come on Thanksgiving day and suffer through dinner with me and later tell me everything will be okay. After leaving Benn and the dinner, I continued to reflect on my life and cry. When I got to Tara's house (my mom's sister) I felt at home. I knew that is where I wanted to be and was so glad to be there. I went down and talked to my grandparents, and watched television with Erin and Adam, and then went upstairs to dinner. Dinner was delicious and I loved every minute of it. I taught my family how to play Nertz and loved spending time with them. I was so grateful to feel welcome in their home and to not need a crutch there. I am so thankful for all of the Taylor family and for all the love they give me. The next day was my birthday. My whole family went to see Harry Potter (love) and after my mom and I went shopping. It was so fun to spend time with all of them. After shopping with my mom, I went to my best friend's house. Victoria Graff. We watched Eat, Pray, Love and talked about 'left-overs' best way to end your birthday ever. I am so grateful for her in my life. I don't think she knows how much she means to me. I have never spent my birthday with a friend before this year. And I was so happy she was available even though all of her family was in town. She is the best friend I could ever ask for. We later went to Krave (our favorite) and ate our 'usual' order. Great day.

I know I have only mentioned a few people who have impacted my life. But this i only the span of two days. Thank you to all of my family, friends, and teachers who all help me in this life and who make the journey fun. Thanks again :)

Even MORE California!!!

Whoo!!! 9hour car ride done and over with! Indio is so HOT!!! Last night at 10pm it was 102 degrees outside! I haven't even checked the temperature now that the sun is up! Well, Indio is honestly in the middle of nowhere. But, the resort we are staying at is incredible! There are about a billion pools, a lake, a grocery store, and a Dominoes!!! And that is just the stuff I found on my corner on the resort! It is incredible! Not to mention beautiful. The only down side to this place is the heat! The only thing you can do is swim...and, sad to say, I am not a real fan of swimming. So, I have found a very comfortable tube and have spent my day floating along the lazy river. Well, I hope something cool pops up. Glenda says the shopping here is incredible! So I am very excited for that :)

More California!

My family and I got to Angels Camp, CA Monday afternoon. It is now friday and we are heading WAY down state to Indio. It is supposed to be super hot there so I am not too excited about that one. Well, while we were in Angels Camp we went horseback riding. My little sister got put on a mule and I laughed SO hard!! She was so mad. I got put on a horse that was way slow and lazy...his name was Steve. And my mom got put on Ted who I don't think had anything wrong with it. But, the ride was very fun and beautiful! Angels Camp is incredible! After horseback riding we went to the Moaning Caverns. There, we went on a 1500ft zip line down the mountain! So great! And the guy who had to drive me back and forth up and down the mountain was very attractive... :) After zip-lining, we went rock climbing up those portable rock things...? Well, it was like 60ft in the air and so fun going up it! The guy who was running that let us climb it like a billion times! It was so fun! He tried to go up the super hard side of the rock and didn't even make it a third of the way up and my sister and mom did the entire thing! I guess it pays off living where you can go rock climbing everyday. He told us that out of everyone who tried climbing it, we were the ONLY ones to make it to the top! Crazy right?

Well, that was our only really fun day here. My aunt Jana and cousin Alex met up with us on Thursday and hung out and made a birthday dinner for Jana and my grandpa. It was very fun. Well, now I am off to Indio! Whoo! 9 hour car ride....

(top picture: birthday dinner; bottom picture: our favorite sign in Angels Camp...the prison was at the top of that road haha!)

CALIFORNIA!!!!!!!

So, my family and I got to Cali last Thursday and we are staying till Wednesday the 28th. We started out in Solvang which was way fun! All of the stores were so cute and the resort was NICE. We didn't really do anything too fun while we were there...we found an ostrich farm and fed the ostriches...and went to the El Capitan beach where I got COVERED in oil! And we found lots of starfish and crabs! ...but that wasn't too monumental. We are now in Angels Camp. It's our first day and I think we are going caving... I'm SO excited!!! My sister... Allie though...I love her to death but sometimes she just drives me CRAZY!!!! I hope today isn't one of those days... Since I've been here with my family we have watched 'The Proposal' four times!!! No joke. and my sister just put it on again...good thing I love that movie or else I would get really sick of it!!

Just before we left to come to California my cat Sophie had her kittens!!! Ooh I love them! They are so small and I am so sad that I will miss them growing up for two weeks... They will be SO cute when I get home though!!! Well, more to come as my trip unfolds! I'll write about Angels Camp when we get to Indio!

My Inspiration for the day goes to Scott Morris and Regina Spektor. Scott is a friend of mine who is on an LDS mission in Comayaguela, Honduras. He is one of my very best friends and I miss him terribly. He is the one who

introduced me to Regina Spektor ... He would ALWAYS be listening to her in his jeep. When we would go on drives together he would always sing along and I always wished I could sing with him... But I didn't know the words :) Just before his mission, he showed up on my door step with all of his Regina CD's that he had burned for me. Yes... I cried. I was so excited!!! haha and so sad he was leaving at the same time... He was great. He went to Sadies with me my sophomore year and it was the BEST date I have ever gone on. I miss him. Every Sunday Jaden (my brother), Stacia (a friend of Scotts), Benn (one of my good friends) and I would play volleyball in his back yard... haha none of us really were good but we always had SO much fun!

Well, this is my Regina song for the day. I have probably listened to it a billion times just today.

No one laughs at God in a hospital
No one laughs at God in a war
No one’s laughing at God
When they’re starving or freezing or so very poor

No one laughs at God
When the doctor calls after some routine tests
No one’s laughing at God
When it’s gotten real late
And their kid’s not back from the party yet

No one laughs at God
When their airplane start to uncontrollably shake
No one’s laughing at God
When they see the one they love, hand in hand with someone else
And they hope that they’re mistaken

No one laughs at God
When the cops knock on their door
And they say we got some bad news, sir
No one’s laughing at God
When there’s a famine or fire or flood

But God can be funny
At a cocktail party when listening to a good God-themed joke, or
Or when the crazies say He hates us
And they get so red in the head you think they’re ‘bout to choke
God can be funny,
When told he’ll give you money if you just pray the right way
And when presented like a genie who does magic like Houdini
Or grants wishes like Jiminy Cricket and Santa Claus
God can be so hilarious
Ha ha
Ha ha

No one laughs at God in a hospital
No one laughs at God in a war
No one’s laughing at God
When they’ve lost all they’ve got
And they don’t know what for

No one laughs at God on the day they realize
That the last sight they’ll ever see is a pair of hateful eyes
No one’s laughing at God when they’re saying their goodbyes
But God can be funny
At a cocktail party when listening to a good God-themed joke, or
Or when the crazies say He hates us
And they get so red in the head you think they’re ‘bout to choke
God can be funny,
When told he’ll give you money if you just pray the right way
And when presented like a genie who does magic like Houdini
Or grants wishes like Jiminy Cricket and Santa Claus
God can be so hilarious

No one laughs at God in a hospital
No one laughs at God in a war
No one laughs at God in a hospital
No one laughs at God in a war
No one laughing at God in hospital
No one’s laughing at God in a war
No one’s laughing at God when they’re starving or freezing or so very
poor

No one’s laughing at God
No one’s laughing at God
No one’s laughing at God
We’re all laughing with God

It's kind of corny but I think it has a strong message underneath.

Well, That's it for tonight!

My first post.

So, I was not going to get a blog... But my friend Victoria was telling me about her blog and how much fun she has with it so I decided to try it. So, two weeks ago I went on the trek with my ward. I had so much fun! I would totally do another trek. I had great 'parents' and it was fun getting to know everyone that went.

Last week I went to a music camp for cello called the Southern Utah Music Institute (SUMI). It was a lot of fun and I loved meeting all of the coaches that came from out of town but, all of the music was hard! I had the hardest time keeping up with everything. But, It was fun and I convinced my friend Victoria to go to the camp with me so that made it fun also. I don't think she and I have ever laughed so hard ever!

This week I am helping my mom plan a family reunion. She has a lot of good ideas and I am excited to see how they turn out but I really have no idea what she is talking about most of the time. I am excited to go this weekend though. I get to hang out with my family and get out of work! What is better than that?