Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Easter!

Because a picture is worth 1000 words.... here are some pictures.. with a few captions... of my wonderful Easter. :)

my Easter outfit, compliments of Kohls and Target.


Preparations!





Sam man!



Love this girl :)


Easter Jello!

Best. Rolls. Ever.




Feeding the women of his life....




Overall... such a great Easter!

Customer Service: Part II

Okay, so maybe my skills in dealing with people whilst being a customer are getting better. After my not-as-hoped-for results from the airlines, today I had MUCH better luck! So I went to Pep Boys to get my oil changed and they have this sign in the window that say something to the effect of: "29 minute or less oil change! See store for details!" I did not think much about it except that it was good because I did not want to be there for very long. I called them first to make sure that they were not super busy too. So I get there and fill out all the info and the guy takes my keys and I go sit in the "Customer Lounge" that they have ha. So I'm sitting there minding my own business just playing games on my phone when I realize it has been close to 30 minutes and they still have yet to even put my car in the garage even though there were no other cars being worked on at the time.... I became a bit suspicious and just figured they were short handed and so I would wait another 15 minutes before I went and asked anything. Then I saw some guys just chillin out in the parking lot just talking and not doing anything so I went to the front desk and told them how long I had been there and then asked when my car would be ready. I did this in in a semi pleasant voice since it was the first time I was to say anything. They scrambled around and couldn't find the work order so by now I was getting really frustrated because there were four people working inside and none of them could find the order and no one outside working on my car! Then they finally found it and said they would check to see if someone was available to change the oil and then FINALLY got started but we're to only work on it for about five minutes before the guy came in and said I needed to replace my air filter as well. Joy. So they finally get started on it all and it took them at very close to half an hour to change my freaking oil and I was so annoyed by this point. Then, when they finally were done, I watched as the mechanic sat in my car trying to back it out. Don't worry, he had NO idea how to put my car in reverse. Ha! He finally came in and asked me and I just had to laugh because when I was at Sam's Club a few months ago getting new tires the guy there couldn't do it either.... I didn't know that it was that difficult. Oh well. So when I finally went to the counter to pay I asked about the whole 29 minute deal and what happened if it took longer than that and told the guy I had been there waiting for over an hour and a half. Don't worry though, when I mentioned this the store owner was standing there and had this look of horror and embarrassment come over his face that I had been waiting for so long when they were not busy at all. It all paid off though because after I sort of passive aggressively asked a few questions and mentioned the time and what not the owner said they would help take care of the oil change. I thought that meant they were going to give me a discount or something but turns out I got my entire oil change and air filter for FREE!!! That's right ladies and gentlemen, I said FREE!! It saved me a good $45 dollars and I walked out of there with a smile on my face! I guess I have learned from my dad over the years how to work the system a little bit to get what you deserve when the customer service is not up to par. Oh what a happy day. :)

Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Customer Service

Let me just tell you how much I dislike dealing with customer service representatives over the phone. They really are not all that helpful ever and 95% of the time they are impossible to understand and I feel terrible that I have to say "what?" or "come again?" like ten times before I know what in the heck they are talking about. I just spent about 20 minutes on hold with Delta Airlines only to talk to someone that I could not understand at all and tried to tell me that my flight reservation did not exist. She then transfered me to someone else who I still could not really understand but they were able to find my reservation and were of NO help to me at all in dealing with what I needed them to do. It is such a pain when plans to not happen like they are supposed to and then things just get more complicated and frustrating when you can't change things the way they need to be changed. I just wish that things would just go according to plan for once so that I wouldn't have to deal with customer service and get extremely frustrated about everything. I also wish, that when I do have to speak with customer service representatives over the phone that they would be easier to understand. Between their accents and the muffledness of the phone it drives me insane. 
Well, there is my rant for the day. I do feel a bit better now, although I am still on hold with Frontier....which I have been for at least 10 minutes. What a pain...... Colorado can't get here soon enough!!

Wednesday, April 20, 2011

A day of rememberance

Seven years ago today, Gramps past away from cancer. He was such a fighter and such a great example to me of faith, courage, strength, and love. I miss him dearly but am so grateful for the opportunity that I have to live with Nana and hear stories about him and about their past and get to know him better even when he is gone. 
I remember that all growing up they always lived out in Tennessee so we didn't get to see them very often but we would talk on the phone all the time. Even though our visits were few and far between, I remember very well when we all went to Nauvoo, my famliy, Eric, Elaine, Rachel, and Nana and Gramps, together and it was so much fun. Of course this was a very long time ago, when the temple was dedicated. Even though we didn't get to see them very often, we knew them very well and they knew all about our lives and cared so much about what we were doing and what kind of people we were turning in to. I remember that the last time I spoke with Gramps was on my birthday seven years ago. It will be a memory I forever treasure in my heart. 
I wish he was here today so that I could continue to learn from him and his example, but I know I can learn just as much from the example he was to others. I look forward to the day when Nana can be reunited with her "Silver fox" and "Bald Eagle" as he became later in life and the joy that will come from that event. 
I hope that I am living the kind of life that makes him proud to call me his granddaughter.

*Love you so much Gramps*








Also in our thoughts today, Columbine High School. 4.20.99

Tuesday, April 19, 2011

Monday, April 18, 2011

A day of life, a day of love, a day of celebration.

Today is a great day.... It is the day that I came in to existence! Yes, it is my birthday! Go me! haha. I'm sure my brothers and sister thought I was so annoying and still quite possibly am. But oh well :)
It started out with waking up to a few different phone calls and texts which were just splendid and then I had to go and get ready for good old school. I got all cute and curled my hair and whatnot and off I went! School wasn't too terrible, even though we are getting ready for finals this week. After my first class was over though, I walked outside to discover that it was POURING RAIN and somehow I managed to NOT have my umbrella anymore! What the heck! So off I went, hurrying around campus in the rain between classes. It was so ridiculous. Even after three hours it was still raining and after I trudged along through all the parking lots and campus and up the hill and across the street (it sounds like I am talking about freaking Red Riding Hood going to Grandmothers house here! ha) to the institute parking lot where I've been parking lot, this is what my hair had turned in to....

Ha, darn rain. 

The rest of the day I didn't do too much. I just mostly watched tv and movies and avoided doing homework and studying because that would have just ruined the day haha. I did however get these wonderful flowers from my mom and dad and the picture as well. They also sent my to Florida last month for spring break which was absolutely fantastic. My parents are just awesome!

        

I enjoyed these and got a card from my sister in the mail as well. A little while later there was another knock at the door and I opened it to find my cute visiting teachers there with this amazing looking cupcake from The Cocoa Bean. It looks like this....
  
Doesn't that just look absolutely divine?!?!?

Anyway, for dinner we went to Cafe Rio, one of my favorites. It was soo delicious. We came home and I wanted part of Dancing with the Stars with Nana and then went downstairs back to my computer and shows haha. I had a few more phone calls throughout the evening and then around 9:00 we went to Coldstone with Eric, Elaine, Rachel, and Sam. It was way fun and so good. It's also one of my favorites. Sam was so funny tonight, he was just dancing all over the place while we were at Coldstone. When we first went to their house on our way over there though, as soon as I walked in he was hiding under the table with one shoe on and one shoe off and wanting me to chase him and try to find him. He is so adorable. Then right before we left Coldstone, Sam was over by the freezers and I went to ask him if he wanted the rest of his waffle cone and as I was talking to him he grabbed my arms and wanted to play and then started giving me hugs. Then he kept jumping on me and holding on and trying to reach up and give me kisses. It was so cute. After I got my birthday kisses, everyone else was heading towards us to leave and Sam went around and gave everyone kisses. I just love that kid. 
More birthday celebration will be happening this week with some friends, but overall, turning 20 has been pretty low key. At least I am no longer a teenager! Woot woot! Even though it is a new phase in my life, I don't feel any different whatsoever. Go figure. 
Birthdays are also a great way to discover who your friends really are... it's quite interesting actually if you ask me. And such an eye opener...

Here are a few random facts about April 18th. 
I share this fabulous day of birth with the following awesome people:

America Ferrera
Melissa Joan Hart
Conan O'Brien (ooooh yes how awesome is this one!)

Karen Wynder {you can read her amazing blog here}
Zana Snapp-Cook (She is 11 today.. I used to babysit her when I lived in Colorado and she is such a fabulous young girl. I love her and her whole awesome family. :) )



Also some interesting facts about this day throughout history:

1775 - American revolutionaries Paul Revere, William Dawes and Samuel Prescott rode though the towns of Massachusetts giving the warning that "the Regulars are coming out." Later, the phrase "the British are coming" was attributed to Revere. 

1895 - New York State passed an act that established free public baths. 

1924 - Simon and Schuster, Inc. published the first "Crossword Puzzle Book."

1946 - The League of Nations was dissolved.

1949 - The Republic of Ireland was established. 

1955 - Albert Einstein died.

1985 - Tulane University abolished its 72-year-old basketball program. The reason was charges of fixed games, drug abuse, and payments to players.

1999 - Wayne Gretzky (New York Rangers) played his final game in the NHL. He retired as the NHL's all-time leading scorer and holder of 61 individual records.

2000 - The Nasdaq had the biggest one-day point gain in its history. 

Overall, I think that this is one of the best days out of the whole year! And April is absolutely the best month ever! Woot woot!! Gotta love birthdays!
Thanks to all who made it a very special day and wished me a happy birthday! It meant so much. :)

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Saturday, April 16, 2011

Friends make life worth living

So I only have four days left of this semester.... So instead of doing anything productive to start my weekend, I somehow managed to drop my phone out of my backpack (don't ask how because I have NO idea how it happened) while I was scurrying to get from English to Psych because we got out late and I couldn't be late and I was on the complete opposite side of campus. Anyway, so my poor phone fell on to the concrete my screen just cracked as the phone tumbled away from me. :( So much for that stupid case that was on it because as soon as it hit it just came right off. So here I was, in front of the institute just super frustrated because I just got this phone in February when this kid walking behind me stops and picks up all the pieces from my phone. How nice is he! I could tell he was in a hurry too but he still stopped and helped me (even though it wasn't like I fell or dropped all my books or something ha). It just made me a little less flustered about my phone. Then off I went RUNNING now at this point to get to class on time. Don't worry, I made it too. I think I made it on time because that nice guy helped me, at least that's what I like to think ha. So after I finished classes I went to Salt Lake to meet up with Sarah! We were going to Logan to hang out with the one and only Jessi. We all liked together last year and it was so great. I miss those girls. Sarah now goes to The University of Utah and Jessi is still at Utah State. Well, when I was at Sarah's, Jessi called and was asking us all of these random random questions about if we liked different peppers and pickles and all kinds of random things. It was pretty entertaining. So as Sarah and I made that awful drive to Logan, we just laughed and laughed and laughed. It was so great. We saw some of the most random things ever too. For one, we saw a freaking dead cow on the side of the road in a cow pasture as we were getting off the freeway at Brigham City. It was so ridiculous. When we got to Logan, we enjoyed a delicious meal that Jessi made (with all the peppers mind you... and a Cheeto!). We just kinda hung out and caught up on each others lives and then while we waited to see who else was coming over when, we got kinda hyper (Jessi and me, not Sarah) and were kind going crazy jumping on the not-so-lovable love sac and dancing some weird moves haha. Then Mikayla came over so we watched the Vampire Diaries from the beginning so that we could get Mikayla addicted to it because it is just oh so good. Haha. One of Jessi's roommates then came home and we all watched the 7th Harry Potter. Don't worry, it was after midnight when we started and I take after my mother when it comes to watching movies, especially at night, because I totally fell asleep. I woke up at the part with the freaking snake too which freaked me out since I hate snakes so much and then I had nightmares all night after the movie was over. Ha go figure. But overall it was so much fun to just be with old friends again and just hang out. We got up and headed home and Sarah and I were both so tired we thought we would never make it home. But it was so worth it. I just kinda vegged most of today too and did a little studying and cleaning and then Camille wanted me to go bowling at the Provo Beach Resort at Riverwoods with her and he little sister. Haylee has never been bowling before and it was highly entertaining to watch her learn. Camille was trying to show her how to do it at first and then just put the bumpers up. Don't even worry, Haylee totally beat Camille too ha it was awesome. The Provo Beach Resort is a pretty sweet place. It has all kinds of stuff and it super cheap too. I just might have to go there again sometime. Now here I am, dreading the last few days of school but wanting it to be summer oh so bad...... 

In Sardine Canyon there was this truck with three mail trucks on it

Ready for food!


Ya, don't ask ha




Jessi and her awesome apron that she didn't know existed until after she finished cooking ha

Funeral Potatoes and delicious ham and chicken 



The ever great not-so-loveable love sac












Jessi's penguin dance... to Harry Potter music nonetheless haha





When I jumped, I apparently jumped too hard because there wasn't much padding and I hit the floor really hard haha. The best this about this picture is my face compared to Voldemorts in the tv....





imitating the dead cow.. this is seriously what it looked like it was freaky. 




learning how to bowl



Camille was trying to show her where her fingers should go ha

I just love my friends so much. I have been blessed with amazing friends who make me a better person and who are amazing examples to me. I don't know what I would do without them.