Attempting to pack

I have been attempting to pack all day; obviously, I have been unsuccessful. This morning Lana, Sophie, Matt, Matt's little brother, and I went to Salt Lake. We went to Decades were I got to play with the kitty, and then out to lunch at the Pie. I had a great time and the pizza was delicious. We then came home and I fell asleep on top of Lana and Lauren. Sorry guys. But it was a great cat nap. Overall, my day hasn't been super busy, but for some reason I am having trouble gathering a few sets of clothing together to throw in my suitcase. I should get on that because I fly out tomorrow morning! Oh glorious Washington, here I come!!!

Wonderful Christmas and Roommates

Last night, we had a roommate gift exchange. I received a much needed new pair of socks and a coon hat. It is marvelous. I actually woke up this morning with a coon tail in my face. Apparently, I fell asleep with the hat on. At least my head was warm. Family, I hope that you are ready for me. Only 3 more days!!!

I think I can I think I can...

I am almost done with these blasted finals. I just have one more which I will most likely take tomorrow (thursday). But this is no common final this is the beast of all finals... physics! Currently, my grade is right on the verge. If I do well, I will be able to bump it up. In preparation, I have recruited Ben and Jerry and we will study all night. I just can't wait to be done with this semester. On saturday, I get to go home!!! I can barely contain my happiness. Oh Washington, how I miss you so.

What is art?

This last week while I was at the MOA with family, I started pondering "what really is art?" This weekend I decided to let my inner artist out. Here are the results:

Before

After

She how much I love you!!! Notice the "stress" signs mixed in. I am quite proud of my 7 hours of handy work. I don't know why my roommates are not more thankful. They always complain about the darkness of their room, so I just took the liberty of umm.... lightening it up?

500 pieces of paper- $7.98

3 rolls of tape- $5.00

The look of my roommates faces- priceless

Making history

That's right. Two posts in one day. I am actually just stealing these pictures from Sophie for my family to see. Sorry Soph. Perhaps with time you can forgive me. I love these pictures despite how unflattering they are. They depict our everyday life. There's not a day that goes by that I don't have someone jumping on me whether I am laying down or standing. In this case, Sophie was trying to tap a nap at some ridiculous time in the evening. Naturally I wanted to help her sleep at night by waking her from her unneccesary slumber. Somehow, Lana joined in.

Thanksgiving!

This Thanksgiving break was much needed. I really think that I was starting to go crazy! The night before Thanksgiving I had to work. I thought that it would be easy since it was the night shift and most people would be asleep. WRONG! It was ridiculous. Even the nurse had pitty on me. Between massive amounts of blood, puke, and just plain whinyness I somehow managed to survive. A resident even fell out of bed on purpose and claimed that he broke his hip. Seriously? We all knew that he was faking it because he has come up with different excuses to go to the hospital every night since he was admitted. He has been in the facility for almost 2 weeks now. Despite the fact that he was obviusly lying, I still had to monitor him and take his vitals every 15 mins which means that I didn't have time for the rest of my 30 patients. It was such a frustrating night, but at least it is over now.
Thankgiving went much better. The Lees invited me over for dinner. We went to Grandma Bingham's house. The food was delicious although I was partially asleep the whole time. I am so glad that I was able to spend this time with Sophie and her family. They are too good to me.
Today, I was able to see Mike and Debbie. We had so much fun together. I love them so much. We went out to lunch at the Happy Sumo. Thanks Lauren for directions. They also let me drive their new Dodge pick em up truck. Oh I miss driving big trucks. Next, we went to the dollar movie theater and saw Surrogates. I really liked the movie. I had actually heard nothing about it before. I love going to movies where I don't know what to expect. Afterwards, we went to the MOA. I forgot how amazing that place is. I definitely should go more often. Last, we went Laser tagging. It was super fun. We were somehow able to convince the guy to just let the 3 of us go. This allowed us all to be on our own team. It was awesome to have the whole course to ourselves. I should have totally won too. Apparently, the rankings are based on accuracy, not on the amount of kills. If it was based on the amounts of kills, I would have won. Mike was such a cheater. He covered his sensors with his hands and hat. He is such a punk. He always has been. I guess some things just don't change. I was also informed that Mike and Debbie are seriously considering moving to Provo soon!!! I can't even handle it. It makes me giddy just to think about it. Can you imagine? They would like to buy a house too. Hopefully, everything works out and Mike is able to come here in the fall for grad school. To top the day off, I got a letter from my friend Josh who is on his mission in Australia. It is so great hearing from missionaries. Although, he did chastise me for not writing him very often. Oops. I guess I deserved it. Also, I was able to briefly talk to Lana and Hilary on skype. It was very brief due to the fact that they couldn't hear a word that I was saying, but it was great seeing their faces. I guess it didn't seem real that Lana was visiting Hilary until I saw Hilary's face on the screen. Oh how I miss that girl. And Lana too, of course.
Currently, I am suffering from Lauren syndrome. I cannot decide upon a major. I think I have picked a winner. Are you ready for this? Wildlife Biology! I am quite excited because I really do love everything about it. I would like to specialize in marine biology. I think that it would be amazing. It also allows me different options when I graduate. I can either go to med/PA school or continue in marine biology. Oh there is just so many options. I rearranged my school schedule to start working on this major. There are so many classes were I just get to go play outside. I can't imagine anything more exciting.
Tomorrow is the BYU vs Utah game. Oh how I wish that we had cable right now. Never the less, I shall find a way to view this glorious game. This break has been wonderful, but I am ready for my family (Lauren, Nicole, Lana, and Sophie) to come back to me. The house is far too quiet. To cover the silence, I blast country music all day, so I guess living alone has its advantages.

Why...

Why are candy corn and tampons being thrown at me?

Riding around in a convertible with British boys...

Need I say more. How amazing. I think this is every girl's dream come true.

The good life

Each morning I wake up around 6:30 to read scriptures with the family and to see Will off to school. I then cuddle with the pussycats and then head outside to go for my morning ride. I saddle Jake up and we're off! When our ride is over, I drop him off at the pump house pasture to eat the day away. I walk home fetch the truck and bring Jake water (which he always manages to spill all over me) and to retrieve the saddle. Afterwards, I head home to start on my "to do" list that my mom makes for me everyday so I have something to do while she is at work funding my college education. These activities include scooping poop, getting 1 ton of hay, mowing the lawn, working with the other horses, and swimming. I don't mind these activities at all, but it reminds me of how buff I must have been back in the day because I'm struggling now. Life at home is wonderful but I count down the minutes until Will gets home from school so we can play together. Lately, my dad has been incorporating "quality bonding time" in the evenings. This is where Will, Dad, and I go down to the pump house garden and plant vegetables. This means in the fall I will have taters to bring back. Tonight we're in the clear because it's graduation so we have some parties to go crash.

On tuesday, I went to spokane/ coeur d'lane for the 8th grade trip. I felt kind of wierd being a chaperone because I honestly wasn't in middle school too long ago, and all the other chaperones were parents and old! Oh my goodness those kids are monsters. I got the list of kids I was in charge of and my jaw dropped. They gave me the worst 3 boys in the grades plus Will (but Will's a good kid). I was afraid of what I would find while searching their bags. To my relief there was nothing illegal. For the most part the kids behaved on the trip up and while at the place. They did a good job of checking in with me every hour or so. On the bus trip back was when things got interesting. They seperated the boys and girls. I was on the boys bus sitting in the back with all the trouble makers. I could see them look out of the corner of their eyes to see if I was watching. Of course I knew exactly what was going on since I was once one of those kids not as bad granted but still lookin to make trouble. They were jumping all over eachother, hitting eachother, playing with whoopi cushions, squirting invisible ink everywhere, making obscene gestures through the windows to the girls' bus, etc. But don't you worry- I laid down the law and got those kids straightened out. All of the other chaperones where in the front of the bus chattin away except for one. She was my 1st grade teacher and she sat in the middle. I could tell that she was worried for me. She helped out when she could, but I had it all handled. Overall, it was an interesting experience. I don't know if I would do it again, but it was good for me.

Yesterday while riding I made some new friends. Jake and I were just heading out of the neighborhood when we ran into two dogs coming back into the neighborhood. They had already been out for their morning stroll but turned around and decided to follow us. One dog who I named Sally Sue was a big black and white husky looking dog. Her buddy was a short blonde yappy ankle bitting type of dog. I named him Runt. At first, Jake was really irritated and didn't like them at all, so he kicked at them when they got too close. After a little while, he started to like them. They kept following us. I was hoping that at some point they would get tired and go home, but they didn't. They followed us for hours! Jake and I were covering a lot of ground too. It was interesting getting the whole herd of us across the highway. With Jake I can just dart across but with the other two I had to keep calling them back to keep them from getting ran over and then herd them across when there was a big enough break in traffic. They followed us for about 3 hrs until they finally got tired and gave up. Somewhere all the way across Burbank they laid down in someone's yard until a tree. When I got home, I decided I would grab the truck and go find them. My mom didn't approve of my actions because she didn't know if they were nice or not and she had zero sympathy for their owners because they should have kept them locked up. I reassured her that they were sweet little beasts and they were my buddies. I found them right about where I lost them a few hours before. I whistled and Runt came a runnin. I grabbed him and chucked him in the back seat. Sally Sue was a little more hesitant but I quickly won her over and she hopped on in. Sally Sue sat proudly in the backseat with her head between the two front seats and breathed and drooled all over me. Gross! Runt snuggled up in my lap and rested his head on my arm. To my relief Runt had a dog tag. As it turns out they lived just down the street from me. I called my mom and told her the address. Being the mail carrier, she knew exactly which house. They were in our ward. I don't know them because they have moved in since I have been away at school. She said she was so happy that I went to find them because they truly are beloved family pets and the family would have been devastated. I dropped them off at home but no one was home so I took them around back and gave them some water. I made sure to shut the gate properly so they would squeeze out again. Apprently, my mom left them a voicemail letting them know their darlings were home safe. The father called back to thank me. If he had seen me in person, I'm sure he would have given me a big ol hug.

Overall life is great. I really enjoy spending time with the family and the animal family. Mostly, I am going to miss Will. We have a lot of fun together making guns and flares even if it does result in a small fire. We also work outside together a lot. We don't always get a lot done when we're together but it's fun. So far my favorite memory is getting him all muddy. After we unloaded the hay we had a bunch of leftover leafy stuff in the bed of the truck so we always just go on a back road and drive really fast to get it all out. We could just sweep it out but that's not as fun. While doing this he usually stands on the outside of the truck on the step rail holding to the hand hold inside with the window down. There were some great mud holes on the way and I couldn't resist myself. He didn't see them until too late so he couldn't just jump inside the window. He was absolutely covered! It was quite the sight. Later my dad saw his baby (the truck) all covered in mud so I got chastised but it was totally worth it!

Home

Day 1 Sunday May 31st

I awake this morning at 6:30 am to my mother singing some hideous to the ears song entitled "wakey wackey wackey wakey". I was then informed that the animals needed to be taken care of. Will and I took the horses down to the pump house pasture and then came back and took care of the lambs. Once our animal husbandry was over we preceeded to the yard. We cleaned up here and there, carried rocks, and raked up branches. Around 9 am, we hopped in the shower to clean ourselves up to go see grandma in Spokane or in becky's terms spo-cane. My grandma was as crazy as usual. She caught us up on all the family gossip and exhausted us with her usual negative backstabbing attitude. Oh how I love that woman, no really I do. While in Spokane, we went out to Chinese food. It was delicious! I felt bad for all the tables around us because my grandma was on a roll and talking crap about everyone. It didn't take long to clear that place out. We arrived home around 8. We fetched the horses from the pump house and then fed the rest of the animals. After our chores were done, Will and I made a home made gun from metal piping, gun powder, tissue paper, lots of duct tape, and marbles. Will drove the van down to the wildlife refuge where there was lots of water just in case anything went wrong. We set everything up and of course anything that could go wrong went wrong. The gun backfired and started a fire in the dead dry plants. We quickly ran over and tried to stomp it out as best we could. We then found some buckets in the car and ran down to the ponds quick to load up with water. It was a close call but the fire was all put out. I returned home covered in ash and smelling like smoke. Our parents just chuckled a little and looked the other way; no questions were asked. That's probably for the best.

It's official!

From here on out, I shall be known as Reverend Paige Neuenschwander. That's right I can now officiate weddings, baptisms, etc. because I'm an ordained minister!!! When I actually have money, I will order my certificate and hang it on the wall. I have the perfect spot picked out.

New life

Feliz Cinco de Mayo pussygato. The other day we (lana and I) were watching speedy gonzalez and absolutely loved it when they called the cats pussygatos. Ho ho so clever. Being the great roommate that I am, I brought home ingredients to make taco wagon style tacos today. They were delicious if I do say so myself. Lana even made up a song in broken spanish about cinco de mayo. I also cut through the tip of my fingernail with one of her ridiculously sharp knives. I couldn't believe it especially since my nails are super thick!
For the first time ever I'm changing my major. I have decided that I need a major that I can do something with once I graduate. Exercise Science is not that major. I'm changing my major to athletic training or in other words sports medicine. It's basically the same thing but more practical. I'm also considering just double majoring since they are so similar. I have to apply for this major which stinks because I will be set back a semester, but it will be worth it. Today, I got into my intro to athletic training class that I have been trying to get into for-ev-er! School wise things are looking up. Today, was my second day of my CNA class. Oh my goodness it is soooooo boring. It takes the instructor 5 hrs a day to say things she could say in 15 mins or less. It's so frustrating. Most of the things we talk about is just common sense or I have already learned about in my pre-med classes. Yeah that's right pre-med at BYU! I'm getting the feeling that I'm slightly over qualified for this course. The upside is that I wrote a letter to a missionary today, practiced writing left handed, drew LOTS of pictures, and now know that I can count backwards from 10,000 several times. I'm trying to think of activities to do for tomorrow. Would it be rude to bring in a coloring book? Anyways, the house life is awesome! The ward is... awesome! Most importantly the roommate is... awesome! Also, we get to take our garbage can out to the road today yeah that's right our garbage can, we are legit now.

Hooray for vacations!

Today, we (shelby, kincheloe, and I) went to Natalie's wedding. Ok well we obviously didn't go to the wedding, but we met her when she got out of the temple and then went to the reception hall. I loved it when the photographer called us the bride's maids. Oh really? I didn't realize that I was a bride's maid but if the photographer says so then it must be true. Ok not really. The photographer was CRAZY (yes she had crazy eyes) and not very effective. Anyways, the trip to the temple was absolutely wonderful! I'm so happy for her; she married an absolutely amazing guy. The reception was a lot of fun and we had awesome food! I forgot how much I love receptions. Afterwards, we came home and packed. In the evening, we went to a bonfire with a large group of the ward. This was my first bonfire at BYU. I didn't realize that roasted starbursts were like a little piece of heaven. Currently, I stink of smoke, but it was a lot of fun. Tomorrow, Kincheloe is leaving me for good. The rest of the week will be filled with packing to move into the new house. I'm looking forward to it!

Finals are over!

So I officially finished finals yesterday (yes I took all 5 finals in two days) but the real fun didn't start until today. Today was quite productive. I went to the social security administration office here in provo to try and prove that I was indeed born on the 14th of Nov. They actually believed me this time and they apparently have to send me a completely new card which is stupid. Afterwards, I tracked down the girl that I will be replacing in the Kandell house and tried to chase her out of the house so I could move in. All attempts were useless. Next time I'll use my mean voice. I returned home to pack up most of my room. Some kids from the ward wanted me to play volleyball with them so being eager to please them I joined in on the game. Needless to say, I couldn't help myself and got sand in all sorts of unpleasant places. Afterwards, I helped shelby move some of her junk and I tell ya what she has a lot of junk! Later in the evening, we got invited to play ultimate with other kids in the ward. It was AWESOME. I was on a roll tonight. I even made a beautiful diving touchdown catch. It was amazing!!! But I'm paying for that now; my whole right leg has contusions and is scratched up. It hurts to put any weight on it, but it was totally worth it and the grass strains on my clothing bring me great joy. Concluding our game, Shelby, me, and a bunch of boys went to yozone. I was pleasantly surprised. I really enjoyed the frozen yogurt and mocking of rich kids. What a wonderful life. Why can't I always live like this- playing sports all day, kicking back and relaxing, and socializing. School is definitely over rated.

My life is complete

I have discovered the best little bakery/cafe in provo- kneaders. As I have come to find out everyone knows about this place except for me. This semester everyone in the ward always went on about kneaders. Apparently, my ward are their best customers. I got a text this morning at some ridiculous hour (around 9 ok that's not bad but I was sleeping) inviting me to kneaders. I told the guy that I couldn't go because I don't have money. He replied that it was a date and that he obviously would be paying. OHHHHH oops. So it was me and 5 other guys. Kind of wierd but not really because I was soaking it up. So long story short, it was the best breakfast EVER- delicious and free!

What's wrong with me?

The last two mornings I have woken up at 5:30 to play basketball with guys in the ward. I don't know why because I do not particularly like to do active things before the sun comes up and I love my sleep way too much. Last night, I didn't get home until 2 am and I didn't go to bed until 2:30, yet I still woke up after 3 hours of sleep to go play. Maybe I'm just starved of physical activity. Friends, I blame you! If you played with me, I wouldn't be going through this terrible phase.

Best Weekend EVER!

I had a wonderful weekend. It was filled with family, tennis, good food, easter festivities, and motorcycle rides.

On my motorcyle ride:


This is one of the roads that I rode down.

Everyone needs a tractor parked out front of their house.

I could just imagine how beautiful it would be in the summer when it's all green and filled with crops growing.

My sweet ride!

I look WAY better than Becky in a helmet.




Hiking the "Y":

Nickelcade:

Meeting of the crazy roommates:

Cooking the Italian Dinner Crepes

The food here was soooooooo delicious. Good call Will.

Poor boy was attempting to use the chop sticks.

This is the catholic cathedral where we attended mass while waiting for Lana.

Ahh DI and Conference

It's official! I have a place to live for spring and summer!!! I've been pestering aspen ridge forever and they finally confirmed that there are for sure 2 openings, so I jumped on it and signed the contract right then and there. Also, yesterday I went to DI and found some real treasures. Ok not really but I'm pretty happy with my finds:

I got a sweet cookbook for only $1. I told my mom about it and after much laughter she said she was proud of me. They also had discarded hymn books, so I got one from some orem stake center. Now, I can practice hymns again. The shorts were a steal! I had never actually bought used basketball shorts before. Together they were half the price of a new pair of shorts.

We camped out in our living room it was great. On the floor we have our mattresses laid out. It's kind of hard to see but the sign on the door says "no boys allowed- you know who you are" that sign was directed towards one boy in our ward who is always over and he's super annoying. He never knocks!!! He just opens the door and waltzes on in. The sign worked for friday night he saw it and went away but saturday morning he ignored it and walked on it and then ate our breakfast! This boy is trying my patience.

For Lana

Ok so I officially got tired of having long scraggy hair that has a mind of its own. To fix this problem I marched down the street to great clips and CHOPPED it all off (well a lot of it anyways). I feel much more springy now even though the weather still insists on snowy all the bloody time! Lana, do you recognize that hideous shirt?

Beatles!

Currently, I am listening to the beatles which brings me much joy because it reminds me of last semester. Also, I am quite depressed because I have to cut my fingernails for my game tonight. They are quite long and beautiful, but I also don't want to slice someone's jugular during my game. Lana, I don't think I can wait much longer. You need to hurry up and get here. Also, I think I will cut my hair before you get here and you should too. My hair needs help very badly! Becky, are you going to come to conference with Lauren and I this weekend? Also, I wish you had a frickin phone!!! Lauren, I love you.

Isn't BYU grand?

Today, I had the opportunity to attend the Draper temple dedication. I was so glad. The bishopric said that they got some tickets today so everyone rushed over with their recommends to secure a ticket. The dedication was fantastic. The whole marriott center was completely packed. I got chills when we did the hosanna shout with our hankerchiefs and then sang
"The Spirit of God." This was an absolutely amazing meeting, and I'm glad that I had the opportunity to go.

Finally the semester is winding down

This was actually quite an eventful weekend. It was Lana's birthday!!! (Also Kincheloe is already making plans of things to do with you Lana)
On Friday, I got a lot done.
1. I went to school
2. Let shrinks experiment on me but it was ok because I made $5
3. Take a test and I did awesome!!!
4. Go to a recital for class
5. Go to a dance party for Becky's birthday which is forever away
6. Went back to Lauren and Sophie's to watch speed racer.

Speed racer was a really good movie, well at least as far as I can tell. I fell asleep during the movie and woke up in the morning to see Sophie walking through the door. This really freaked me out because I was really confused why she was at my house, but I kind of came around and realized that I never made it home.

On saturday, we ate delicious cinnamon rolls in the morning then procedded on to our house hunt. AND we even found a prospective place. In the evening, my ward went to soldiers hollow to go tubing. This was a super fun experience. I even kept the injuries to a minimum. Although, tomorrow morning we'll really be able to assess the damage. I didn't realize that there was such a thing as ice burns! My face is a little sore and puffy in a couple of spots and I have a few scratches from people's fists, feet, and nails, but other than that I'm doin good. One time we went down as a huge group but kind of broke up part way through. I caught up to the group in front because they were stopped and my group was cruisin down the hill we all collided and somehow I got flung over the group and I skipped/slid down the hill the rest of the way on my stomach. By the time I got to the bottom, my pants were hanging extremely low and my shirt was up far too high. Needless to say, this is when I got my ice burns. Another time we had a huge chain and I was in the back pushing to start off. The chain got moving pretty quickly and I had to grab my tube quick sprint down the hill and lunge through the air and catch the chain. In the process, I knocked the wind got totally knocked out of me. I barely made it and I grabbed the guy's shoe in front of me and I pulled myself in. It was awesome because we were smokin down the hill. Throughtout the night, we tried just about any formation possible. My favorite was the flying "v." I had so much fun at this event and I would definitely go back. We also had a great testimony builder. A guy lost his single key somewhere. There was a group of about 10 of us searching for the key. We prayed for help and then proceeded to comb the hill. Surprisingly enough we found the key! Honestly, the odds were against us, but the Lord definitely helped us.
Tomorrow, Kincheloe is giving a talk in sacrament so we'll see how that goes. I told her not to quote movies again, so we'll see if she heeds the counsel of her wise and superior roommate
(me).

Stake conference

Today, we had stake conference in the Provo tabernacle. I've never been there before and I was amazed at its beauty. The spirit there was so great, and I know that our leaders care about us and are called by inspiration. Our stake presidency was released which is sad because I really liked them but even more sad because my bishop is now in the new stake presidency. I really like bis alyson and it was nice to have a bishop at school that I could really get close to, but he will do great. Soon we should be getting a new bishop and we'll have to see how that goes. But yes conference was a great experience.

school ugghh

I'm really starting to feel the pressure of school. Usually, I just ignore it, but it's really starting to be crunch time. Consequently, I feel like I am forever locked in my tower (aka bedroom) doing homework and studying for the never ending flood of tests. To calm myself down I was looking at some of my favorite pictures. I will share these with you.

After the haunted house in salt lake.

Walking with Jillian at graduation. I miss that kid and sadly she's getting married this summer.

Hmmmm yeah that was definitely freshman year.

Jillian and I in our cooking class senior year. This was the same class that the teacher told us to make sure to marry men that could cook because we obviously couldn't. Jillian was quite offended because she normally isn't a terrible cook. I guess I just bring out the... best of people.

District champs!!! Heck yes going state seated 1st!

Homecoming senior year with my buddies, jillian and kara. And yes I was royalty. For some reason this surprises people.

Paddy with Phoenix. I bought Paddy for my mom this summer with my first paycheck; good thing the government pays well. Also, to our surprise she was pregnant.

This is where I worked all summer- just me, my sampling pole, my country music blasting, and my muddy truck.

My lunch buddies.
My Jakers during christmas break of freshman year.
My little brother posing for my new camera out on the wildlife refuge where I go riding.