2011 Year in Review

For so many reasons this year has been one of the greatest of my life. Here are a few reasons why...

Best friends.
(need one of Kelsey too)

The many adventures of babysitting.

Welcoming my grandparents home from their mission in Vietnam in March.


Going to San Diego with my Grandma and Grandpa Jackson.

Being the Editor in chief of Golden Leaves, and being in Advanced Creative writing.



Graduating High School!!!

Going to my last Youth Conference with the adorable Oak Hollow ward girls!


Swimming and working at the Farmington Pool.


Watching Gavin in Marching Band for his first time.

Ending my childhood with the last Harry Potter movie.

Riding a dinosaur.

Building the Pantheon.

Starting college


Going to the games.

Seeing a LIVE broadcast of the 25th Anniversary Concert of the Phantom of the Opera at the Albert Hall in London.



Celebrating Diwali.


Becoming a Pirate.


Having great Roommates.

Surviving.

Friendship for the Holidays

Yesterday I got together with three of my very best friends, Jennie, Kelsey, and Aspen. We did a great little gift exchange, and watched a sketchy copy of Breaking Dawn. It is a darn good thing that I didn't watch that movie in the theaters, because I would have been laughing way too hard. Did I mention how much I love these girls?! One of the hardest part of being away at college is being away from these three since they all go to school downtown. Jennie and I have been best friends since the ninth grade, and even though we now live and hour and a half away from each other our friendship is still going strong. Kelsey and Aspen became two of my best friends in our French class, which Jennie was in as well. I guess when you are in such a spectacular class together there is no way that you cannot come out without being best friends.

Me and Jen

Kelsey and Me

Jen and Aspen

And by the way, how spectacular are the stockings Kelsey made?! One other thing that makes us best friends is our mutual love and passion for all things Harry Potter. Can I also point out how much I love my Neville stocking! These girls spoiled me rotten for Christmas this year, I am still in the process of making their presents, but it's going to be good.

Haircut Time

One of the things I love most about being home, is being able to proposition my Aunt Becca for haircuts! We have a nice little system where she gives me haircuts and I get to babysit her kids. And of course I always end up on top of the deal, because I absolutely LOVE to watch her kiddos!
So yesterday I went down to the Nu Trends salon in Centerville, and Becs gave me a MUCH NEEDED haircut! Now I also get to watch Bentley, Ayden, and Ireland on Saturday night. Seems like a good deal to me.

College: The Wonderful Land of Oz

One of my favorite television shows is Dawson's Creek. As cliche as many people may think this show is, I find it to be heartfelt, and it often resonates with my life. I have gained many a life lesson from this show. As I was chilling in my room today, I rewatched an episode that holds one of my favorite quotes. And it seems to connect nicely to my feelings about college.

Gretchen: You know Dawson, it might interest you to know that I did take one film class in college.
Dawson: Was it a monumental waste of time?
Gretchen: No, it was great actually. But you know what my teacher said was the most bogus line in Hollywood cinema?
Dawson: What?
Gretchen: "There's no place like home."
Dawson: Wizard of Oz.
Gretchen: Exactly. It's what everybody remembers about the movie, but it doesn't resonate with the rest of the story. Think about it. You know home is this desolate, gray, dust bowl of a place where some nasty old lady is trying to kill your dog. And Oz is ...
Dawson: Technicolor.
Gretchen: And sure it has it's problems. You know, poppy fields, flying monkeys, ...
Dawson: Talking trees.
Gretchen: But along the way you make friends. Good friends. With people that you never even knew existed when you were growing up. Straw people, tin people, ...
Dawson: And lions.
Gretchen: [laughs] Exactly. And you help each other realize that all the things that you want to be, you already are.

So as I celebrate my first semester of college, I have been able to look back on the incredible growing experience it has become for me. I have met so many people, made tons of new friends, and learned not just an enormous amount from my school work, but about myself as well. I feel that through college, or if I may the Wonderful Land of Oz, I have discovered a lot about myself, who I am and who I want to become.

Sweet Victory

Took all of my finals today!! I am officially done with my first semester of college! And to celebrate I made a victory dance video!!

Day Before Finals

Today is the day before finals...all three happen to be tomorrow. These are just a few examples of how I am feeling at the moment.

Missing My Girls

My family is extremely close to my mother's side of the family. We all spend so much time together, in particular I spend a lot of time with these two girlies, Bentley and Ireland. We are the only girl cousins, and I absolutely love them to death. One of the hardest things of being up at college is being away from them. I used to babysit them all of the time, and now that I live up in Logan not so much. But I always make sure to spend as much time with them that I can.

Ireland (I.I)

This is Ireland. She is just about the cutest little munchkin ever! She and I like to have funny face wars. Sometimes she likes to pretend she is a puppy and put things in her mouth. Ireland is probably the biggest fan of Rapunzel in the world. One night when I was watching her we watched Tangled three times consecutively. All the while she was brushing my hair with her Barbie brush, making me sing the song from Tangled that makes Rapunzel's hair grow.

Bentley

This is Bentley. She and I are great pals! During the summer we have weekly 'Bentley and Danielle Days.' Somedays we went to the swings at the West Bountiful Park, others we went to get shaved ice, or got ice cream at the Dairy Queen. This girl is probably the most flexible girl I have ever met, she can do back bends, splits, all of the works. She has the most feisty personality of any 7 year old girl I have ever met. Don't anybody mess with this girl, because she has FIRE!

Next Tuesday I can go home for the first time in three weeks and finally see my girls! And I cannot wait!

Never Too Much- Part lV: Boy Meets World

Of all the television shows I have watched in my life time, my favorite of all time is Boy Meets World! I love this show with all of my heart. It has this weird way of coinciding with my life when I need it to. Yesterday I was stressed out about finals, so I watched an episode of Boy Meets World. It just happens to be the episode where Cory, Shawn, and Topanga have to take three finals in one day...sounds EXACTLY like my life! The night before I left for college, I was up extremely late because I was too nervous to sleep, so naturally I watch Boy Meets World. It is the very last episode of the series, when the kids are grown up and and are moving away to New York. Of course I sat there crying my eyes out at the end of this already emotional episode made even more so by my predicament. This show has a way of touching my heart in ways that other shows do not; it is such a great example of friendship, love, and family- what good television should be all about. And apart from all the tenderness, it is hilarious beyond belief. Whenever I am feeling down or am boggled down by studying, I go to imdb.com and read all the Boy Meets World quotes. I can never feel down when I watch Boy Meets World. In a way Boy Meets World has helped me to meet my world, and helped me to learn many things along the way. So in a nutshell I LOVE Boy Meets World and can literally have never too much. P.S. Also the girl's name who plays Topanga is named Danielle. If that isn't appropriate I don't know what in life is!

Soundtrack to Finals

This week just about the only thing keeping me sane is music. Believe me, I have been listening to a lot of music this week. So what exactly is it keeping me sane...

21 by Adele

All things Michael Buble

The Last Five Years

Wicked

Well that is just a portion of what is keeping my head intact. Music seems to have some kind of special powers that help me to keep going on, and to keep me awake. So thank heavens for great music, because without Pepsi in my life it has become the next best thing to keep me awake until 3:00 in the morning.

Dead Week

In college the week before finals is commonly known as "Dead Week." Which describes it perfectly. I have been up past 2:00 am every night this week. CRAZY! Mostly I have been working on my American Culture Research Project, in which I am compiling a book of watercolors I have painted, and pieces I have written about the early mining community in Park City. Here is a sneak peak...


It's bad quality and backwards, but in case you can't tell it's the Egyptian Theater haha.
Somehow I will get the eight paintings done by tomorrow, and take a Creative Arts final! Who says college students can't be superheroes, with all the things I am accomplishing with my lack of sleep, I might as well be.

AHHHH Finals!

As you can see from the picture above, my head is about to explode. It is the last official week of the semester, and I have more to do then I have time. C'est la vie, I guess it comes with the territory of college. I will just be overwhelmingly happy when my research project for American Culture is done. I thought it would be a good idea to make a collection of watercolors...let's all pray I get done before Friday. Then finals are on Monday...so this weekend= STUDY TIME! Come Monday night, I will finally be FREEEEEEEE!

College

College is hard
It is the snow seeping into your shoes
Heavy eye lids drooping with the passing day
It is Ramen sizzling in your red pot

College is missing home
It is the absence of time
Icy winds rushing on your sleepy face
It is life lived day by day

College is me.

I LOVE Betty White

Only one more month left of my Betty White calendar! That makes me so sad! This has been my favorite calendar...ever. I only hope that my next year's calendar can have the awesome caliber that this one does! I also have Spongebob and Phineas on my calendar...it's how I do. But at least I get to bust open day one of my Christmas chocolate calendar today! Yay for Christmas.

Everything and Nothing...

I should be doing my homework...but I did this instead

Take that Geography homework!!

The Faab Five

Lately I have been missing these kids a ton! These are my writing buddies, Jonny, Erika, Jennie, and Thomas. I took Creative Writing for all three years of high school, and a big part of why it became my favorite is because of these kiddos! And of course the wonderful Mrs. Horstmann (aka the greatest teacher of all time.) We actually framed this picture for her, and wrote on the frame, "Mrs. H's Favorites." And of course, it still sits in her classroom, because let's face it, we really are her favorites! On top of them being my writing buddies, they were also my Golden Leaves staff when I was Editor. It is a good thing we were Horstmann's favorites, because we REALLY were crazy. We spent most of our time in the back room, where we pretty much did almost everything except writing. We jousted with rolling chairs, quoted Phineas and Ferb, had dance parties. But when we did write, it was always something great! For our last project, we were allowed to do a project together, in which we wrote a play about Green Jello taking over the world. To simply put it, it is probably one of the most epic things ever written, no big deal. We are going to make it into a movie. So expect us to be making an appearance at the 2013 Oscars!

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like...

CHRISTMAS!!!

For my entire life, my Grandma has made it a Thanksgiving tradition to give each member of my family a new ornament. She has worked at Tina's Hallmark for as long as I can remember, so every year we get our very own brand new ornament to hang on our Christmas tree.

Here is a portion of my collection!

I have a lot of fairy ornaments,

Each year I get a new one to add to my series.

But my favorite ornament is the Alice in Wonderland teapot!

Alice is actually inside the teapot!

Then of course there are the ornaments of my childhood,

My American Girl ornament, Molly.

The vintage Barbie.

I absolutely love them all.

And this year my Grammy gave me a Michael Scott bobblehead ornament!

He talks and everything!

He came to school with me.

The rest are on my tree back in Kaysville.

My mom actually puts up two trees.

One for our Hallmark ornaments,

And one with our fancy ornaments.

It can be said that we definitely have the Christmas Spirit in the Jackson House!

Turkey Day!

Being able to spend this last week at home has literally been SPECTACULAR! Thanksgiving in particular was one of the best yet. I feel like this whole week I have, not to sound too cliche, been getting in touch with my inner child. Not just my Rugrats marathon, but everything.

On Thanksgiving Day, I played dress up with my Sadie-Lou, and Ty. I was a princess, gypsy, salsa dancer, doctor, and minnie mouse!

The day before with the same kiddos, I watched The Little Mermaid 2, played superheroes (while playing Sadie taught me how to find my inner peace, and showed me how to meditate! Haha, such a funny girl!), and fought an evil green gooey monster.

I played with this little munchkin, and had a war of exchanging raspberry kisses. And, by the way, how cute is she?! I love my little Ireland!

Also, off of the subject, look at this scrumptious pie I made for dessert! Black Bottom Cream Pie. A delicious concoction of fudge, pudding, bananas, whipped cream, and pie crust. I think I may have discovered a new Thanksgiving hit! I love being back at home where I actually have the ingredients to bake. I don't think I have mentioned before, but I love to bake. I love it!


Well I hope everyone has had a fantastic Thanksgiving, and has found their inner child like me haha. Peace and blessings!