Imaginary Concussion

Oh how time flies! When your having fun! NOT!!! It has been a stressful past couple of weeks.  Studying, Writing, Reading, Studying, Writing, 5 minute nap, Studying, eat, repeat. That's how a lot of my day's have been going. So you probably know what is coming up in my life. FINALS WEEK. Oh wait, technically it is final weeks right now...and what am I doing? Blogging. I think it is only fair for me to take a minute to blog because A) It is good practice for writing B) It is a stress reliever for me and C) I stayed up until 11:00 last night writing a 10 page paper, then I woke up this morning at 7:00 A.M to finish it. And guess what? I FINISHED IT! Oh it feels so good to have that over with! Now I just have to study for Sociology and Communications.  There is also a 13 page math packet waiting for me in my backpack, that I have yet to do.  Now I know there are a lot of college student's out there who are having the same kind of week as me, or even worse! So here are tips from shlyn on how to survive finals week. (ya tips from a freshman in college, you heard me right)

 

1. Get a lot of sleep. Some of you may be thinking it is impossible to sleep right now. You must get as much studying in as you can with your few hours left! But, this is simply NOT true.  The best thing you can do right now is get rest.  So, wake up by 8 A.M. everyday this week, and go to bed by 10:00 P.M.  This will give you a full ten hours of sleep, making you awake, focus, and aware of what you are doing all day. (I know I mentioned earlier that I stayed up until 11, and woke up at 7, but this is only because I was able to fit in a Sunday nap yesterday)

 

2. Drink lots of water. Actually don't. This will only make you need to pee a lot, setting you up for distraction's along the way to the bathroom. (The other day I left my homework for two seconds to use the bathroom and ended up making cookies. How? I just don't know)

 

3. Take productive study breaks. If you are going to take breaks, don't spend them on pinterest. Get outside, go for a walk, do yoga, take a bubblebath.  Either do something productive, or something to relax you. (pinterest shouldn't count as either of these things)

 

4. Remember to breath. You will do fine, if you are studying as much as you are stressing, you will be FINE! Just study and remember it's okay because if you fail, everything will be okay because CHRISTMAS IS NEXT WEEK!

 

So you are probably wondering why I have such an odd title.  Well let me just start by telling you that Courtney is back in town! YAY! She is very lucky to be done with finals.  Anyway, Courtney and I hung out the night she got here. We got ice cream and snuggled. On Friday I went shopping with my mom, then hung out with Jeff, Carly, Courtney, Phil, Tyler, Dubs, Sydney, Anna, and Lou.  We made gingerbread houses at Phil's house. Failure? For me, Courtney, and Lou yes. For the other teams? No. pictures soon to come.

 

On Saturday, I went up to meet Courtney in Park City to watch the looge competitions.  When Courtney called up there that morning, they said the race was at 5-6:30. So we got there around 4:30, and when we went inside the lady at the desk told us that they were over already. We were so sad and disappointed. So since there were no looge races to go to, we went to eat at Red Rock. Yum!

 

So after we went sledding.  It was dark outside, but we didn't care.  We had a lot of fun, until...I had my "Imaginary Concussion" What does that even mean? Well me and Courtney were talking about concussions while we walked up the sledding hill.  And literally 2 minutes later I went down the hill on my sled, biffed it, and landed on my head and rolled down the hill.  Courtney came to help me. I think I just blacked out because I am still confused about the whole situation. But as it was happening, I think I psyched myself out into thinking I had a concussion.  Courtney drove my car home for me, and we hung out at my house. It was actually a fun night! We made pancakes, popcorn, and lemonade of course.  Then Lou and Carly came over. Then Zach Williams came over. Then Jeff, Dubs, Sydney, Tyler, Ben, Phil, and Anna came over! Then Zach left and everyone started a movie. Oh did I mention we got new theater chairs? We got rid of the Love Sacs and moved the two rows of single theater seating down.  On the very back row we put reclining love seats. 4 of them.  So when we started the movie, I realized that I was a ninth wheel.  Jeff and Carly were in a loveseat, Anna and Phil, Tyler and Lou, and Courtney and Ben. Sydney and Dubs left before we started the movie.  So It was everyone snuggling with someone else on the love seats. Then there was me. Hahaha! So I went to bed to avoid the awkward situation. 

 

On Sunday I went to church, studied, and ate dinner with my family.  Then we watched "The Santa Clause" and then I continued to study. So pretty wild weekend I know.

 

I am getting very excited for Christmas! I am also getting VERY excited to go to Hawaii after Christmas! WOOHOO!

 

xoxoxoxoxoxoxo

SHLYN

Fat Pants and Mondays

I have been singing Christmas music at the top of my lungs for the past fifteen minutes until now. When I realized it was 11:30 at night and everyone in my house is asleep. So now I will have to sing quietly, but that doesn't mean I have any less Christmas Spirit!

Well I already know this week is going to be a dud. 

How do I know that? Because I am already ready for the weekend, and Monday hasn't even ended yet.

Why do Monday's feel like an eternity long? 

I try to stay positive. I REALLY, truly do. If you don't believe me, as Carl. She will tell you. The whole way to school this morning I didn't stop saying things like "Oh my, today is going to be AWESOME!" 

(I even sang the word "AWESOME" to add a little Jazz)

So it is only Monday, but I guess I will just have to suck it up and take it like a Man. 

One problem though, I am not a man. I am a girl. A five year old girl at times, because I still wear footie pajamas, and I color hearts on my homework, and at times i giggle so much that I pee my pants. 

Another reason I just KNOW this week is going to be crummy is because I know that I will just be comparing it to last week, and last week was the BEST!

Last week, I only had school on Monday, work on Tuesday, and then I was done for the whole week! 

Can you say AWESOME? (question is, can I spell awesome? thanks autocorrect)

Anyway, so my weekend pretty much started Tuesday night! Awesome!

I hung out with Carl, Tessa, Dubs, Jeff, Tyler, and Lu on Tuesday night. Well I hung out with them until I was too tired to watch the stupid movie they picked out (Inception) and so I went to bed. 

On Wednesday, I slept in, and then later that night I hung out with Carly, Zoe, Tessa, and Lu.  We also hung out with some new friends that I absolutely LOVE! Anna and Sydney! Anna has been mentioned in previous blog posts, but I just recently met Sydney! We had fun with them, then Jeff's friends came over too.  All of the girls left with Jeff's friends to another boy's house except for me and Carl.  We had far more exciting thing's to do. 

When everybody left, me and Carl went to Courtney's house.  Courtney goes to the University of Washington.  We haven't seen her in a long time, since school started in fact. 

Courtney is one of our bestest friends. (oh here we go with the "bestest" I am a five year old)

She came to Salt Lake to have Thanksgiving with her family. 

Wednesday night was the night she got here. On our way over to see her, Carl and I were literally shaking! We were so EXCITED! But this was nothing, when we saw her silhouette in the living room window of her house we SCREAMED! We jumped out of the car, bursted through her front door, and just hugged her! We couldn't even believe that she was there, it felt like a dream!

We hung out with Courtney for the rest of the night, it was so much fun! We even went for our traditional 1 AM In-And-Out run! Yum! 

Cutest

You know I am truly happy when I smile like that

Don't laugh at me. I wasn't it my "usual" COVERGIRL mood that night obviously because THIS is the best picture we could get of all three of us. That's saying something.

And this is a true candid shot

So Thanksgiving was the next day.  Andrea, Sean, Lindsay, Josh, Todd, Janette, Chandler, and Jackson all came over to eat with me, my parents, and Jeff. It was delicious! I love Thanksgiving. I love mashed potatoes, and stuffing the most.  

After dinner, we all went and saw the second Hunger Games movie, "Catching Fire" it was AWESOME! Except for the fact that I ate a whole bucket of movie theater popcorn! Drizzled with BUTTER! It's okay though because it was Thanksgivin'

(also i didn't feel that bad when I discovered half of it had spilled down my shirt, that means I didn't eat as much as i thought. Of course half of it went down my shirt, because I eat like a five year old)

On Friday, I slept in to about noon and woke up to Courtney calling me asking me to come meet her for lunch at Normandie Cafe with the other Cats who were in SLC.

Tessa, Zoe, Carly, Courtney and I were all there. We were missing Taylor because she was in Disneyland with her family and Ruby was in Santa Cruz for Thanksgiving with her family.

We had so much fun just chatting it up like old times.

Talking Loudly, laughing loudly, and being a disturbance to the whole restaurant. Also like old times.

Courtney had to leave to go to family parties afterwards, but me, Tessa, Zoe, and Carly went to the mall. It was really fun! I went to Carly's house after to help decorate her room for Christmas. We hung a few lights, but then I ended up cleaning her room and putting away her clothes while she was on facebook. Typical us.  I went home and showered after and got ready, then we hung out.  We went to Cafe Rio, then to Ben Hopkins house. He lives in a really big house.  With a indoor basketball court. We have alot of fun there always.  Lot's of people were there. Ben, Ben, Zoe, Tessa, Me, Carly, Sydney, Anna, Dubs, Julio, Phil, the list could go on. There were so many people.  Courtney came later, after going to a Jazz game with her family. We had fun introducing her to our new friends. 

On Saturday night, me, Carly, and Courtney went to Zuppas for dinner. Now writing about it, I want to cry. Not because I am a five year old, not because I am sad, but just because I am now realizing how much I just enjoyed being with my favorite girls this weekend! Courtney, Carly, Tessa, and Zoe. The only thing that could have made it better is if Tay, and Ru were there!

After dinner, the same crew of people from Friday night came to my house to hot tub. We had fun hot tubbing, playing games, and doing a massage train until 2 AM! When everyone left, me, Carly, Courtney, and Jeff just all cuddled on the couch for another half an hour or so.  I didn't want them to leave, I just love my friends so much! 

Then it was Sunday.  I went to church.  Ate Dinner with my family, visited grandma and grandpa, and watched a Christmas movie (The Holiday) with my whole family. I like Sunday's. Lazy Sunday's.

Now it is Monday. 

Oh Monday.

I hate you.

But I love you all at the same time.

...

Just Kidding, 

I don't love you.

But I love life.

I love my friends.

I love good smelling shampoo.

I love Christmas.

I love my dog.

I love peanut butter.

...

Monday's aren't on that list though.

More pictures from this weekend:

Top Left: Zoe getting her ear re-pierced at the mall this weekend
Top Right: In-And-Out run
Middle: Me, Carly, Zoe, and Tessa with Christmas Carolers and the Mall
Bottom Left: The not so covergirl picture of me with Courtney and Carly
Bottom Right: Me and Carly at Zuppas

I love snapchats from Tyler Skinner, while he waited for us to come home in my basement.

BIG IN-AND -OUT picture

Courtney and Ben fell asleep holding hands during the Hand Massage train we all had.
We all put our hands in the middle and just massaged whoever's hand was closest to ours.
Sounds weird, I know. Sound's like something I would invent.

Well goodnight!
xoxo
Christmas is in 21 Days! Don't think I have forgotten!!!

The Cats Are Back

The weeks are going by so quickly now! How is it Sunday night already? We had a late night visitor tonight. It was Carly and Livy! They came to hang out with me and Jeff, due to the fact that me and Jeff have been orphaned for the week while my parents are in Arizona.  And because she loves to hang out with us.  So they just barely left, and it is 1 in the morning...great. Waking up for school tomorrow is going to be pleasant... But hanging out with my favorite people makes it worth it.

So on Thursday afternoon, I headed down to Temple Square to pick up Ruby! That's where the shuttle from BYU Idaho dropped her off.  She came down for a doctor's appointment, and since her parents are living in Santa Cruz, California now, I told her she could stay with me!  I took her to her doctors appointment on Thursday, and they sent her to get an MRI on Friday afternoon so I took her to that appointment as well.  After her appointment, I showered and got ready. Then Zoe, Tessa, and Taylor came over.  We haven't really seen much of Ruby since Senior Trip in June, because she moved to Santa Cruz with her family during the summer and then went straight to school in Idaho from California.  So we were all pretty excited to see her! We talked for awhile, then went to Cheesecake Factory and met up with Carly and Lou. It was fun to shop, eat, and be with my cute friends again.  We went to my house after and slept over. We did all the fun stuff, painted nails, looked through old yearbooks, played ping pong, snuggled, and we even went for a photoshoot up the canyon in the morning!  (pictures to come soon) Here is some pictures i had on my phone from the weekend. 

All of our Cats? almost, we are missing Courtney!

Carly, Zoe, and Me in our Utah Freeskier Society Tees

On Saturday afternoon, Ruby had to be back at the shuttle to go back to BYU Idaho. My family came with and we stopped at City Creek before dropping her off.  While we were in the "GAP" I was trying to snapchat my friends me with the manikin.  Then I accidentally broke her hand off...I''m cool.

While my dad and Jeff went to their stores, and my mom went to her's, I walked ruby over to Temple Square.  Here is a cool picture i snapped of the Temple. It is such a beautiful building, even on a cloudy day.

Dropping off Ruby at the Shuttle!

 Did I mention I had three dogs this weekend? Yeah, Andrea and Sean went out of town with Sean's family and they left their dog Bear at our house, and Andrea and Sean left Charlie. So we had Max, Charlie, and Bear.  They are a HOOT!

Dressing up Charlie in a Santa Costume...

Charlie eating at the "people" table

My cute nephew Jackson also learned how to text off of my sisters phone this week...So along with some jumbled texts and emojji's, I got "selfie" pictures my nephew took of himself. Here is my favorite pone I got.

The Happiest Place on Earth

Oh dear, I should have posted this weeks ago!

Over Fall Break, the Stringhams hopped on a plane from Miami to Phoenix, stayed over night at a friend's house in Arizona, then drove the rest of the way to Newport Beach, California. Meanwhile, Dad, Mom, Jeff, Me, Lindsay, and Josh drove from Salt Lake City to Las Vegas, and then in the morning we drove from Vegas to Newport where we met the Stringhams!  It was so fun to see them! 

We stayed in California for a whole week, during which we went to the beach, rode bikes around balboa island, and went to Disneyland! It was a very fun-filled exciting week. Sean and Andrea didn't get there until the fourth day, but we didn't go to Disneyland without them so it was okay!

I can't believe it was my third time in Newport this year...Oh how I LOVE LOVE LOVE that place! It is so fun to hang out on the beach, ride bikes on the boardwalk, play in the waves, and so much more!

The first day at Disneyland, we walked into the gates of California Adventure Park.  When we got through the gates we were all gathering each other together.  While we were distracted by planning what to do first, Andrea was able to sneak away for a minute to talk to a Disneyland employee.  No one noticed until the lady Andrea was talking to came over to us and asked if we wanted our picture taken.  Dad gave the woman her camera and we all got together, including Andrea.  To be honest, i was a little confused, we were taking our picture in front of the Disneyland bathroom! Then the lady started counting. "1.2.3, say cheese!"  she took the first picture and then said "Okay, ONE MORE!" we waited as she counted again. "1.2..." she stopped "ANDREA'S PREGNANT!"  She managed to snap a picture and capture everyone's reaction to the big news!  Yay Andrea and Sean!! I can't wait to be an Aunt again in May 2014!

So the trip was awesome! I think everyone had a really good time, a nice way to spend time over the long fall break.  Plus, it was the first time EVERYONE was together since the day Jeff left for the MTC in June of 2011! CRAZY!

Here are some pictures from the trip...

    

                                         

Those are just a few of my favorite pictures from the trip! There are so many more on my dad's camera that I don't have access too! Anyway, the trip was so much fun! I wish it never ended!