Summer in Salt Lake (part 2)

The weekend of the 4^th of July I went down to Tremonton to visit  my best friend Maria. Maria's family was having a "service" family reunion so I got to meet a lot of her extended family. It was nice catching up with her. That night I stayed the night at my friend Kim’s house in Providence. I got to sleep in a queen size bed (such a luxury! ;) The next day  (July 4th) I went shooting with a group of friends from Logan. I’m not the best shot  (especially since this was the 4^th time in my entire life that I had been shooting) but we all had fun J My friend Mike has this gun that is SO tiny. It is a little bit bigger than the palm of my hand. I was so worried it was going to slide right out of my hand when I pulled the trigger. Haha

After we expressed our independence in the best way possible, I went back to Maria’s grandparents home to spend some more time with her. I ended up helping the family clean out the grandparents enormous garage. My favorite part was carrying her grandfathers (pre-made) casket to the shed. True friends carry caskets together ;) I wish I had gotten a picture. It was so funny. I was laughing the entire time.

Later that night my friend Liz and I went to dinner at Olive Garden (SO American of us. haha) and then walked across the street to watch the fireworks at Sugarhouse Park. We were a bit further away from the fireworks then we thought we would be but we still enjoyed ourselves. After the fireworks, we walked back to our car  and witnessed an “almost” fight between two cars. The men were shouting and the women were all up in each others faces. Fighting in the olive garden parking lot….Classy. What is it about gatherings that bring out the worst in people?

Waiting for fireworks at Sugarhouse Park :)

The next day, Liz and I went to the Draper Temple. I hadn't been to that temple since my friend Stephanie got married there 4 years ago. (I was a bridesmaid). It really is a gorgeous temple!

The following weekend I drove to rexburg to celebrate Maria's Birthday and Mine and Katrina's Birthday. My car broke down on the way which was kind of intense. But Carson (and Katrina) came to my rescue so everything was okay. Also, Maria brought me ice cream (peanut butter and chocolate...she knows me well) to help console me after a trying day. 

The next day, Katrina drove me to Pocatello to pick up my car and then I went out to lunch with Maria and few other girls for Maria's Birthday. My old roommate Elise was there too and I just loved seeing her again.

Me, Elise, and Maria. Love these Ladies!

The next day, I babysat for Katrina and Casey while they went on a triple date to float the river. Little did Katrina know, I was also throwing her a surprise birthday party. I had bought all sorts of decorations and spent hours making cupcakes and treats for everyone. (Thank goodness for naptime or I wouldn't have gotten nearly as much done :) ) Katrina had thrown me a surprise birthday party three years ago on our 21st birthday and I had wanted to return the favor. I figured this would be the best time because she is surrounded by friends and she would be leaving Rexburg soon.
LOTS of Katrina's friends came and we all waited for Katrina and Casey to get home. I was nervous when Katrina texted me telling me that they had made plans to get ice cream after and were going to be late. Everyone was already at her house waiting. The living room was literally packed with people. Luckily Casey "felt bad for me" and told her that they should probably leave instead of getting ice cream. Sneaky Casey. Katrina's face was priceless. She was so surprised. The party was a success. And everyone liked my cupcakes :) That party TOTALLY made the weekend. I spent the rest of the weekend helping Katrina pack and had a teary goodbye when I left to return to Salt Lake. I realized this would be the last time I would visit her family in rexburg.

I was so busy trying to make the party go smooth...I forgot to get pictures. So I stole these from Katrina's Blog :) 

A couple days later (July 16th) was my birthday. The day started out like usual, I went to school, dealt with car troubles, etc. But around lunch time, my other best friend Sarah picked me up and we went to lunch and then to Leatherby's for dessert. It was so great to spend time with her and talk about her wedding plans. Plus she is pretty much an angel. She is always there to help when I need her.
That night, a group of people from my ward had made plans to go see a movie at the Imax theatre downtown. The movie was about Jerusalem (perfect huh? ;) and of course I LOVED it! It made me want to visit so bad! It's too bad there is so much going on there right now. I'm praying that my Berk family is doing well and that they are safe.
 After the movie, we went to get ice cream at Iceberg (a place that gives RIDICULOUS amounts of ice cream). I mean... I love ice cream! and I can eat a lot of it...but I couldn't even eat HALF of the "mini size". Crazy! A few boys were nice enough to buy my ice cream for me and then the entire group circled me and sang happy birthday. Kind of embarrassing but something I wont forget. :) I love my ward.

After ice cream, a few of us went to the pool at my complex and played night games at the pool. So fun.

That weekend, I went to Bear Lake with my old ward from Providence. I was hesitant at first because my car had been having problems but I'm so glad I went. I got to see Julies new house AND I had blast at Bear Lake. I got to go to Bloomington Lake which was my favorite part the previous year.I swam across the lake a played in the snow. It was kind of bizarre being in a swimsuit while making snowballs. haha
 I also got to go to Minnetonka caves this year. I missed out last year because I had to work so I was super excited. I was nervous that they weren't going to let me go in the caves because I'm from Ohio and apparently caves in Ohio have a fungus that infects bats... But they let me in and it was pretty cool! Wendi joined us for the last part of the trip and then she and I drove back to Logan together. I had been having "Wendi withdrawals" since she moved to Logan for the summer so it was nice to spend time with her.

Outside the Cave.

The next week I had a big final in my Motor Speech Disorders class so I had considered skipping FHE to study. But I decided to go anyway (partly because of guilt and partly because I had never been to a Bee's game before). I am so glad I went. We got into the Bee's game free, got a free hot dog, and enjoyed the Baseball game. I ran into my mentor Camille Smith. She and I talked for a while and she listened as I vented about not having a medical externship. She eased my worries with her smiles and past experiences. Then the next day she sent me a message. She had talked with her Medical Externship Supervisor at LDS Hospital (where I wanted to go) and she told me that they were still doing interviews. I emailed the supervisor and set up an interview right away. Thank goodness for Camille!

Later that week, after finals, a group from my ward went to dinner at THE PIE for a farewell party for Bill.( He was moving to Michigan to go to Med School) It was fun spending time with people and made me feel more included. Also, I got to try my new favorite pizza.Buffalo Chicken Ranch. YUM!
I also made a new friend in the ward named Ashley. She and I often go to the pool at the same time and we have a lot in common. She also painted my nails with shellac (over a week ago) and they still look great!

Bill's farewell party at "The Pie".

On thursday it was Pioneer Day. Pioneer Day is a BIG DEAL in utah. It's a state holiday so a lot of people have work and school off. I went to the pioneer day parade in downtown SLC with Katherine. There were some really creative floats. I loved that many of them were about family history! My favorite part by far was seeing the prophet Thomas S. Monson. My heart started beating fast and Im sure I looked silly smiling so big and waving like a crazy person. I know that he really is a prophet and that he leads the saints in these latter days. He recieves direct revelation for us from Heavenly Father and he loves us. And because of that, I love him! :)

Later that night, a group from my ward was throwing a Pioneer day party/BBQ. There was lots of yummy food and great conversation. A few guys bought a ton (seriously like hundreds of dollars worth) of fireworks and we let them off. (because that's legal here in utah) It was kinda scary being so close to the fireworks. I was worried the ash was going to get in my eyes. But I have to say the fireworks were BEAUTIFUL! I have never been so close to such BIG fireworks in my life. Nothing says "I love America" like fireworks! :)

On friday, my friend Liz came to SLC and she and I went to watch "The Adams Family Musical". Liz's sister was an extra in the play. The play was quirky and  pretty much everything I had expected from the title. haha. We had fun. After the play, Liz spent the night at my house. We made popcorn, watched a chick flick and basically had a girls night. The next morning I made a full breakfast (because I had an excuse to) and the Liz and I went shopping for my clothes for the temple. We also went to a couple other stores along the way while we tried to find the closest distribution center. We went out for lunch and then liz had to go back to logan. It was so nice to visit with her. Its my favorite when my friends come to visit me :)

A few hours later, Morgan and Nick texted me inviting me to go to a TRAIN concert. For Free!!! Of course I said yes. The concert was held downtown and there were hundreds of people there. Train is really good in concert. They sound exactly like they do on the radio. I love outdoor concerts. I don't feel as claustrophobic because I'm outside. After the concert we went back to Nicks new place and talked...for hours! It was fun.

This past week was my last week of the summer semester. I had to finish up all the paperwork for my clients and meet with my supervisors. It feels SO good to be done and have a few weeks break. I have officially completed/survived my first year of Grad School. I am now a "second year" student. :)
On wednesday I had my interview with LDS hospital (Intermountain Voice and Swallowing Clinic). I REALLY hope I get the externship, but if I don't I guess it just wasn't meant to be. Still....Fingers Crossed. :)


So yeah...that pretty much wraps up my summer in Utah. I'm headed to Ohio today (currently sitting in the Denver airport). I feel blessed that I get to spend the rest of my summer at home with my family. I think Ohio is just what I need to recharge and prepare for Fall Semester because let me tell you...I received my schedule and it's gonna be CRAZY! But I can do crazy....I've been doing it for a year now. :)