Trip to AZ!!

oh man some good times went down in Arizona! i was so excited to spend some time with some good friends.. and be reunited with my long lost best friend Lexi Dahl. Her brother Ian got married this past weekend, and so i drove down with all his childhood friends, who coincidentally,  i have gotten to be really good friends with this summer! We had some way fun times.. and the pictures tell it all!

we went cliff jumping at this sweet place and this is my favorite picture of the day!!

Me and Lexi swimmin and jumpin at our way cool house!

Wedding day! all the groomsmen at the temple! It was soo hot at the Mesa temple that day! The bride and groom provided these cute white umbrellas! so fun.

Girls night out.. the night of the bachelor party.. Oh geez. we saw Time Traveler's Wife.. yeah i didnt like it all that much.

Sydney (13 yr)- 5' 11''

Lexi (19 yr)- 5'7''

Haley(19 yr)- 5'3'' 

.. we got problems here..

Me and all the boys at the reception

Dancin the night away!!

Gotta love Brock and Brandon. This wedding was crazyy fun. They played gangster music and i was LOVING it. "you could say i'm a G"... hahah good times

Our dance moves broken down to the song Paper Planes by MIA

Me shane and chris.

Me and Kenz doing our classic epileptic dance move. We honestly had a blast and i think all the AZ people thought we were from another planet. gotta love it.

Our awesome house.. the kitchen area

downstairs sleeping arrangements

The sickest pool!! soo much fun!

sorry this was uber long! but i had so much fun and i miss my girl Lexi already! it was a blast spending time with everyone and i loved AZ!!

boating!!

The other day Linda and Trevor were so nice and invited my family and i boating! it was a blast and we had soo much fun. I love spending time with Ben's parents cuz Ben really is such a good mix of his mom and dad. We went out to Utah Lake and it was a great day for boating! it was way choppy when we first got there, and prime for tubing! i have never laughed that hard in my life.. I swear Trevor was gonna kill us. It was really a blast though and i even did a little wakeboarding! wahoo. Thanks Linda and Trevor!!

oh i also learned to backflip this summer! so sweet!!

proud i finally got up!!

Me and my bestie Jessica Hill!!

great pic of me and Jess

Concluding the day!

anxiously waiting..

ahhh!!! tomorrow is such a big day!! chan gets home and our house has been crazy for the past month getting ready for it!! wow. time flew, but it seems like forever ago i saw my brother! i love him so much and am soo excited to see him tomorrow! wish me luck!

obsessed.

Last summer me and Ben had the opportunity to go to the John Mayer, Colbie Callait concert. It was AMAZING!! i may sound crazy when i say this.. but it was life changing. Ever since i have this new found appreciation for music artists. Especially John Mayer. Ok, so he may not be the classiest guy around, but the guy has got a very special talent for writing and preforming music.

Recently, i have been addicting to listening to his music! The lyrics are so true, heartfelt, and amazing to say the least. I dunno maybe it's just because i have been missing Ben so much lately and listening to someone who feels my pain makes me feel better. so lame i know. Really i probably sound like a freak. But next time you listen to any of John Mayer's songs, pay close attention to the lyrics. One of my all time favorite songs by him is titled "The Heart of Life". I quote when i say.. "Fear is a friend who's misunderstood. But i know the heart of life is good!" I can do this.. Life really is good :)

time to think

so i am sitting here.. its 1:00 am.. and i am not one bit tired. call me crazy but this summer sleep schedule is just how it goes. i have been contemplating all the things i could write about.. and well i really have nothing. There is one thing though that keeps coming to mind. and that would be the missionaries!! heavens i should be better at writing them but it is so hard keeping track of p-days, addresses, locations, etc of so many fine young men! I have friends serving all over the world and it is fun to hear of their stories!!

Elder Carson Williams- Dominican Republic

Elder Benjamin Woolf- Mozambique Maputo Africa 

Elder Preston Richards- Fort Worth, Texas

Elder Chandler Hansen- Minneapolis Minnesota

Elder Taylor Meyers- Culican Mexico

Elder Eric Proctor- Seoul, South Korea

Elder Tanner Langston- Stockholm, Sweden

Elder Zach Fackrell- Montevideo, Uruguay

ElderBrayden Ward- Morristown, New Jersey

Elder Merit Egan- North Carolina

Elder Jason Erickson- Fukuoku, Japan

Elder Nate Pulley- Nicaragua

Elder Matt Palmer- Japan

Elder Cody Raymond- New York, New York

Elder TJ Richards- LA, California

Elder Tyson Amudson- LA, California

Elder Bridger Battaglia- Portland Oregon

Elder Lance Lowry- Kennewick, Washington

Elder Jaes Jones- Finland

Elder Jason Shallenburger- California

Elder Hayden Moss- Long Beach, California

Elder Royce Lauck- Ft. Lauderdale, Florida

Elder Will KiniKini- Minneapolis, Minnesota

OK that is quite the list.. we got em all over the place! and this list doesnt include a lot of people! hmm.. anyway it is so fun seeing all of chans friends get home from their missions and hearing the stories and experiences they have had.. it is amazing what the gospel does for peoples lives!  i love the missionary program and cant wait for all of these boys to be back home!!! Even though, it will be awhile! Good luck to all these boys!!

Easton

So i have been thinking a lot lately.. I LOVE my Brothers!..(not that i dont love my sister.. but that will come later...) Ok maybe that sounds cheesy.. but its so true! You all have heard about Teagan.. but i think i need to give a shout out to my little-Big-brother Easton. Ever since Chan has been gone, me and East have gotten to be really close! Although sometimes i can't stand the kid, he really is amazing and someone i look up to. He has so MANY attributes i wish i had..

Easton is a Work-aholic. He has the most powerful work ethic of anyone i know. He is constantly driven and will do anything for anyone.. no matter what kind of effort is involved.

He always has the desire to do what's right. He is a people pleaser, and willingly does anything for anyone. We constantly find him mowing lawns for widows in our neighborhood, shoveling the driveways of the whole block, and always helping anyone in need.

Most people don't get to see this side of Easton. He has the most tender heart. He recently got called to serve in the Special Needs mutual. I can't imagine a better calling for East!  He is so sensitive and i love that about him

We also have the same sense of Humor. As bad as this sounds.. we love making fun of people, and i know.. if i don't say it.. he will!

so... if you dont know Easton... get to know him! He is one amazing kid and i am sure you will figure that out too!!

The family is finally reunited!!

For the next two weeks all my cousins from my dad's side are in town! It is my grandparents 50th anniversary so we have spent the whole week up in park city at the Marriot Mountain Side resort. what a blast it has been to finally see everyone! Between work and school, i have spent as much time as possible up there, but i cant wait to spend even more time with everyone when they are down here in Salt Lake! Here are some fun pics of the weeks adventures...

The cousins with Grandma and Grandpa

Probably my favorite cousin, Halle, and my aunt Cyd

Jumpin in the pool! we all look so cute

Main Street Scavenger Hunt.. I found the statue.

Some of the Girl Cousins

Everyone at the top of Main Street, Park City

Me and My dad and his sister Alison

sick..

Yup you read right! i am so sick!! i actually cant remember the last time i was this sick! Yesterday at work i started feeling weird, and as soon as i got home.. i lost my lunch. gross i know. But thats not the end. From about 3:30 til 9 i threw up every fifteen or so minutes. Of course, i hadn't eaten that much food, so there wasn't a lot to throw up after the first few times.. but it just kept coming. I couldn't even drink water, with out losing that too. So nasty. Then around 11 i started feeling a tad bit better so i drank some sprite, and water. And when i say "drank" i mean "sipped". I hardly had drunken anything, and the next thing i knew.. i was back in the bathroom. Bad night i tell ya. But the good news is, i feel a lot better today and am "eating". Wahoo... water has never tasted so good.

uhh are you serious!?

it is official.. The Shine is dead. My lovely cell phone of the past 8 months is gone. I am so sad. I was driving in Hay Dut's car this morning with my phone sitting on my lap. We turned a corner, and it slid of my lap, onto the floor of the car. Not a Big deal. I picked it up, and shoved it in my purse. Later on, i looked to see what time it was, when i realized my screen was black, and only a little corner was lit up. ARE YOU KIDDING ME?! ..i have dropped this phone SO many times, and it has survived. it even lived through a second story drop off my balcony to the cement, while down at school. So why now??.... the screen is cracked. i am on the verge of losing ever number, picture, video, and text that has formed quite the collection over the years.. The solution?? buy a new phone, or pay to fix the screen. Well i think i will go with option two, seeming that at least then i can save The Shine's life. Lets hope it is fixable!! 

letter!

Yesterday was a weird day for me.. i had work at the Life Centre from 12-4 at the desk. Usually during this time Ben would text me, and we would make our plans for the rest of the day. well, maybe i am just a psycho, but i kept checking my phone like i was expecting a text from him! Weird! i am a freak obviously! so i got off work, and took my sister down to the Real game. On my way home i was so sad! i had been good the day before, and then it was hitting me again! Right as i was just about to tear up, Linda (Ben's mom) called me and said she had just gotten a letter from him that he wanted me to read! I cant believe how much a single letter can affect your day! i was so happy and everything seemed to be so much better!! 

He sounds soo good! i am so proud of him! he is one tough boy, and so mentally and emotionally strong. He is doing awesome, and i couldn't be more happy!!

what a week!

Wow!! This week has probably been the longest week of my life! For real though.. it just keeps going, one things after another after another. But i will say this, although it had the potential to be the worst week of my life, i have realized so many blessings, which has made it seem so much better. 

Some of you may know, but my boyfriend, who is also my best friend, left for his mission this past wednesday. We have dated for the past year and a half, and we have known each other since we were in fourth grade. We became close friends way back in ninth grade, and have always kind of known that we had a certain "thing" for each other. So for quite some time now, i have been dreading this week. I have had many friends go through this same kind of deal, so i had an idea of what i was getting myself into... oh wait! No i didn't! Saying goodbye was so hard! i dunno i knew i would see him eventually.. but still, i have talked everyday with this kid for the past year and a half, and now, i am almost completely cut off? It doesn't seem fair sometimes.

But I have no doubt that what he is doing is right. He is going to be an awesome missionary. I am so excited for him to go to Mozambique and teach all the people! And i am stoked for him to learn to speak Portuguese. That's going to be sweet when he gets home! His mission will make him an even more amazing guy and i cant express how grateful i am that he chose to serve!

So, people keep asking how are you?? are you doing ok Haley? And the answer is.. Yes! i am great. Honestly. Now, obviously there are some hard times, but i get through it. I am so grateful for my wonderful friends. They have been so good to me, and are always there when i need to talk. I am not one who shows my emotions, so it is so nice to have such great friends who are there regardless of the time, or place. Even people that i didn't know were aware of my situation were so cute about it. Loren Petersen and Allie Morgan brought me over some cookies the other night. Such a small act, but it made me feel so loved and cared for. Even the little girls at my work were so concerned about me. They were fully aware of the whole "event" and told me on numerous occasions that they had the biggest crushes on Ben.-- who could blame them? he was soo cute with them. My conversation with them went like this..

Lexi: "Haley did you cry a lot when Ben left?"

me: "Yes i did.. but i am good now!"

Lexi: "When do you get to talk to him"

me: "oh not until around Christmas."

Lexi: (looking shocked and very disappointed) "well do you have his number?"

me : "no why?"

Lexi: "because i need to call him and tell him he needs to call you! (pause) and i miss him so much!"

I loved this little story! and i love my job. Although it is crazy, and sometimes so annoying.. i love my little kids, and they truly have helped me so much! I love my family, friends, and I am so glad this week is finally over!

Thanks to everyone!

FINALLY!!!!!

Holy crap!! i feel like it has been ages since i have updated my blog.. and indeed it truly has been forever!! Soo much has happened since my last post so here are a few quick things to catch you all up to date..in random order sorry.. it's just how my mind thinks..

1. Finished my first year of college!! yay!!

2. Moved home and started my job back up at the Life Centre

3. Had multiple friends leave on missions

4. went to Vegas with Ben and his family for a few days

5. got hit on by a creepy old guy there..

6. went on the stratosphere rides..pics to come soon!

7. ate some nasty buffet sushi..

8. Taylor Swift concert!!

9. Played state cup with my Celtic Storm Girls!! love them all

10. went fishing with the fam

11. hiked bell canyon

12. Lagoon!!!!

13. Ben's Farewell.. 

14. Received Chan's official release date! August 21

15. Talked to Chan on Mothers day!

16. went to my friend Natalie's wedding!! crazy!

17. moved Kalinee's bed into my room.. yes i will be sharing a room shortly..

18. TURNED 19!!! 

19. received a Carmello Anthony jersey 

20. signed up for summer school at slcc

21. sent off the love of my life to go serve the lord for two years

22. went on a bobsled ride up in Park City!!

The Great Race!

Every year at Dixie there is a college wide event known as The Great Race. Teams of 10 sign up to compete in a different obstacles that run all around campus. The soccer team put a team together and we made these sweet shirts.
 My leg of the race was the Mud Pit. I didn't think it would be that hard, but oh my heavens was i wrong! This is a picture of a random guy that is trying to make his was through the mud pit. Oh did i mention the pit was dug 6 feet into the ground, and i would say about 20 yards long. As though the mud wasn't a large enough obstacle, there were these tunnels that we were required to crawl through.
Ok, if you look close enough you can see me. I was exhausted and i was barely even half way done!
This is the after effect... And let me tell ya.. the shower did not look pretty after i was done with it. I also failed to mention that this day in St. George, it had been pouring rain, and it was reezing cold!...which didn't make it any more appealing to climb through this freakin mud pit.

My legs were literally coated with about a half an inch of mud on my legs!

And the after effects on my body.... nasty little bruise... Sweet i guess!

You have been called to serve in...

All while we were in San Diego, Ben's mission call had been delivered and had arrived at his house. Poor boy had to wait two extra days to even see his fate-filled envelope. We drove all the way home from San Diego to Sandy on Saturday. Needless to say, it was a very long day. All the way home i could see the stress, excitement, and anxiousness in his eyes. Finally we arrived home, and while i quickly showered and got ready, his family was meeting at Camee and Matt's home.

The moment he opened his envelope was so exciting! The spirit was so strong and i think everyone was a little emotional..
And the call is... Mozambique Maputo Mission! Now, how crazy is that! For those of you who don't know where that is, it's down in the southern tip of Africa, right above South Africa. It is a fairly new mission, and there are currently only about 20-35 missionaries serving there. He leaves June 24, and i am so happy, excited and anxious for him! It is still surreal to me that all my friends i have grown up with are now out all over the world serving missions! What a great group of boys i was blessed to be able watch as i saw them prepare for their missions! I know all of them are serving honorably and i love and appreciate each one. I also know Ben will be an amazing new addition to the country of Mozambique! I love the Missionaries!

The San Diego Zoo!

I know it has been awhile but i still want to tell you all about the rest of my spring break. For one of the day we went to the world famous San Diego Zoo. I hadn't been there since i was really little, so i was pretty excited! I was amazed at how massive the zoo was. All of the exhibits were super nice , and the animals were so cool!

This picture was taken at the opening gate.. we were laughing so this picture is kinda cheezy.
You can't really tell, but this picture overlooked the whole zoo. Honestly it is a HUGE zoo! so cool though!
The polar bear exhibit was one of my favorites! Me and Benj decided to take a pic on this metal polar bear.. sweet right?
Ok this picture still makes me mad!! We waited in line to get this character drawing thing done for so long!! It was getting late, and kinda getting cold, i had a pounding head ache. But i have always wanted to get one of these drawings done, so i was excited to finally have one.  When the guy turned the picture around to show us, i was so disappointed!! hahah it was horrible, i mean, Ben looked really good. And i honestly looked like some horse girl with huge gums. I was super mad, but whatever. To this day, ben makes fun of me for it, because it really looks NOTHING like me. Sooo funny. NOT.
Last picture of the day.. the Flamingos!

Body Worlds!..in san diego!

While in San Diego, we had some extra time and decided we would go to the Body Worlds exhibit. Oh my word! It was the coolest thing i have ever seen! and I definitely left with a greater knowledge of how my body works, and a higher respect for my Heavenly Father! call me crazy, but it made me realize even more, how wise our loving Heavenly Father is!

So these pictures have some funny stories behind them! We walked to the museum and on the way, there was this huge garden with a big gazebo right in the center. There were these little signs next to all the rose plants, and each one said some funny name! I thought they were hilarious so i took the time to take them out of the dirt, and take some pics! The one on the left says "Double Delight" and the right one says "Howdy Dooty!"
"First Kiss" and "Whisper".. i love how ben just plays along with me.. even though he was getting so annoyed and kinda embarrassed! i love it though!
This one is the one that my mom got so embarrassed and informed me after that there were "plenty onlookers looking in disgust" ahaha i thought it was so funny! oh my gosh. So if you can't tell this one says "Double D" because someone had broken the sign, so that was all that was left. and no.. i am definitely not a Double D but i just couldn't resist!

Spring Break in San Diego!.. Beach Time!

A couple weeks ago it was my spring break, and me and Ben really wanted to do something fun together, because who knows if we would get the chance again before he leaves for his mission. We ended up going with my mom and teag, and staying with my aunt and her family in San Diego. It was so Fun! She was an awesome hostess and we were constantly busy! 

The beach is one of my natural loves. I love everything about it! We planned Wednesday for our Beach day, because it was suppose to be the warmest day of the week. When we pulled up to the beach i was so disappointed because there was this thing they call the "marine layer" that had taken over the beach. The sun was no where in sight! It was warm outside, but it looks completely miserable! Nevertheless, we had a great time!

Me and Benjamin doin some boogie boardin! Ben was super good at it.. and as the day went on, i got pretty good too! Except i did have a very snobby california girl stare at me and say rudely, "Your board is upside down." and she turned and laughed with her 13 year old friends. ahah what joke! But I am use to things like that happening.. it is just such a Haley thing to do!
This picture was taken right after i had been destroyed by a massive wave, while ben watched. I actually smacked my face on the ground and it felt like i was broken everywhere! But, i will say, coming up out of the water and seeing Ben starring at me laughing is head off made me start laughing too, and made all my pain go away... Despite the amount of salt water i had just swallowed, and considering my back felt like it was broken!
Ok this beach was so cool! These seals come in and harbor there right on the beach! These little animals were so funny to watch and were pretty cute!
For Breakfast one morning my Aunt made reservations at this famous California beach house restaurant. It was really cool! ..and my blueberry pancakes were delicious. Oh! and my cousins from Iowa were also in town for the first day that we were there, so it was fun seeing them too! 

Teagan just happens to be like Ben?

Ahh i love my cute little brother!..These are two pictures that describe teagan perfectly in the past year since i started dating Ben. When Ben came home from our cruise with the "kanye sunglasses" teagan commented on how much he liked them and no one thought anything of it. A couple weeks later, Kalinee and Teagan were at the mall when Teagan stopped at a sunglasses stand and was giving a lot of attention to the same glasses that Ben had just bought on our cruise. Teag kept debating on whether he should buy them, because they were "just so cool." He never bought the glasses that day, but after the next week of non stop talking about these "awesome glasses at the mall" my mom eventually took him to the mall and he did indeed buy the sunglasses. Somehow Teag also randomly wanted "abercrombie shirts" for Christmas and his birthday in the past year too.. Coincidentally Ben also wears Abercrombie t's all the time?

Let's continue on this "coincidental" change in Teagan and his favorite styles and trends... once again, Teagan thought that ben's Polo shoes were just the coolest thing ever, and so he again forced my mom to go and buy them for his first day of school! And just recently he told my mom that his new favorite color was baby blue, and that he wanted to redo his whole room so that is was baby blue. Do you think it is a coincidence that Ben's favorite color is also baby blue? I think NOT! But my favorite of all these stories, just happened last sunday at sunday dinner. My mom knows that ben doesn't like tomatoes, so she didn't put any on his salad plate. Teagan pointed out that ben didnt have any tomatoes, and my mom told him that it was because he didn't like them. Later on at dinner, Teag hadn't eaten any of his salad, and when told he needed to eat his salad, his reply was "i don't like tomatoes." hahaha! what a joke! He wants so badly to be like Ben, and i think it's because just about a year and a half ago, he lost his biggest brother Chan, to an LDS mission. He was devastated, and still has a hard time with Chan being gone. But for some reason, i know that Ben not only came into my life at the perfect time, but obviously he has made a huge impact on my family's too. 

Bowling Night

This past weekend my team had a tourney up at the BYU indoor facility. It was so good to see the girls that i grew up playing with, and it was good to be back in a familiar territory.. I drove home early, so i got to spend some extra time with my family. On friday night i was hangin out with Ben and my family, and Teagan kept bugging us to take him bowling. Finally, we caved, and ended up going bowling.. It was so much fun! I miss being able to see Teag everyday, and it truly was so good to spend some extra time with my best little buddy. He can just brighten my day, and knows exactly how to make me smile. His little "10 year old jokes", really crack me up just because he thinks he is so clever! uhh i love my littlest brother!
Despite my horribly inconsistent bowling skills, i actually did pull off a few strikes! So i of course had to make my "strike" pose! 
Me and Benjamin after bowling. It was so funny because he swears that he pulled a muscle that night.. seriously though.. Who pulls a muscle while bowling? hahaha! That's like saying you broke your arm throwing darts.. or something along those lines! :)