Sunday, November 25, 2012
Everybody has to see it at least once.
Friday, November 16, 2012
Why I don't have a major.
Sunday, November 11, 2012
Ketchup? No, catch-up.
Wednesday, September 26, 2012
Beach Boys are my life.
1. Getting Nixon (duh)
2. THE BEACH!
3. Going on adventures
4. San Francisco almost every weekend
5. Mom visiting me!
Yes I know that all of these picture have Nixon in them. What can I say? With a face like his how can I not have him in every single picture I own?
Thursday, July 5, 2012
Happy Independence Day!
Thursday, June 21, 2012
Puppy Love
Sunday, May 20, 2012
I Saw My First Nudist Today.
Wednesday, May 16, 2012
Do You Know the Way to San Jose?
Wednesday, April 25, 2012
Photos and 2 Days Left!
Sunday, March 25, 2012
An Ode to Dan
I remember my first time meeting Orrin Hatch. I was a senior in high school and was fortunate enough to fly to Washington DC with the Bountiful City Youth Council. DC was a beautiful city and I was intrigued by everything about it. I was there with the Utah League of Cities and Towns convention and one of the meetings on our agenda was to have breakfast with the Congressman from Utah. Seriously? I was going to be able to meet our state representatives and have the opportunity to eat breakfast with them. This was a dream come true! For the past seven months in school we had been studying the US government in my AP Gov class. I had been taught about how our National and State government worked and all about our Federal Senators and Representatives. I couldn’t wait for my return home to brag to my teacher and our class about meeting all of them—especially the prestigious Orrin Hatch. He was so cool! He had been in for 33 years and had fought his way to the top to become a senior senator and was in all of the best committees in Congress. He had some powerful influence in DC. To say the least, I was proud to claim that he represented me from the state of Utah.
So there I was: a seventeen year old kid just waiting for the opportunity to shake his hand. Maybe he would compliment me on my interest in politics. Maybe he would congratulate me for being so ambitious. Maybe he would even ask me to become an intern for him once I graduated. Maybe when I turned 30 he would endorse me when I ran for a seat in the Senate. I felt like I had waited for this moment my whole life and I was finally getting the chance.
Hatch and the other congressmen were sitting in the banquet room when we entered. We listened to a “question and answer” that was followed by a breakfast. I scarfed down my food and anxiously waited for my chance to meet Hatch. As soon as I noticed others moving to his table I jumped up and took my chance. The butterflies in my stomach were enormous as I extended my hand to Hatch. Then something happened that I didn’t expect. Hatch also extended his hand, shook it, and began to speak to another man. Hatch did not even make eye contact with me. I was shocked. I hesitated for a second before walking away because I thought that he may turn his attention to me once he had finished with this other man but he didn’t. I left feeling extremely put off and very disappointed. I respected this man so much and he did not even acknowledge my presence.
Looking back years later after this experience, I am proud to say that I support Dan in his campaign against Hatch. And to clarify, my support is no longer with Hatch just because of what happened when I was seventeen, but it is because I believe that 36 years in the senate is too long. I strongly believe in the grass roots movement—I am not necessarily a tea-partier, but I believe that a senator should know who he is representing. And to me, Hatch no longer knows who he is representing.
My sister and brother-in-law moved to DC the summer after I graduated from high school. I loved that city so much that I moved in with them for a month. During my time there I was constantly amazed by the beauty of the city. Don’t get me wrong, I believe SLC is beautiful too, but compared to DC, I could see why Hatch could forget about SLC for the grandeur of DC. The capitol truly is the closest thing that America will have to a castle. If you worked in a castle, it would be easy to see yourself “above” others and thinking that you know best for them. I believe that Orin Hatch sees himself in that way and if Hatch is representing me and thinking like that, he just transformed from my Senator into my King. And if Hatch is my King, I no longer believe that he can truly represent me and should no longer be in office.
The republican caucus meetings recently were interesting. My mother and father are both active members in politics and didn’t just vote, but also ran as delegates. Since I am away at Brigham Young University, my mother reported from my hometown of Bountiful that the majority of delegates were older and were supporting Hatch. Why Hatch? Looking around at my peers, there are so many of us that support Dan. Comparing that to Hatch, I am not seeing hardly any support for him from people my age. If people are claiming that they want what is best for the youth, why aren’t they listening to us? We want Dan! We want someone who represents us! Who connects with us! Who listens to us! Who truly wants what is best for us!
My first time meeting Dan was an excellent experience. It was long before his candidacy for US Senate. I was a junior in high school and was attending Day with the Legislation with the Bountiful City Youth Council. Dan took time from his busy schedule to meet up with our group and shake each of our hands individually. When it was my turn to shake his hand, he looked me in the eyes and told me that he was glad for the opportunity to meet me. Those few simple words speak wonders to me. They let me know that there are still some legislatures out there who care for their people—especially their youth.
Dan is someone that you can trust. I believe that he is true to his word when he says that if elected he will go into Congress, fix what he promised and then come home to Utah. I believe that the whole time he is in DC he will be carrying a picture of his people in Utah close to his heart. I don’t believe that he will ever forget about us.
The delegates of Utah: you want to do what is best for the future? Then listen to the youth. The youth want Dan. The youth want someone to believe in—not someone who won’t even look us in the eye. Dan Liljenquist is what is best for the youth. Dan has my support and I would love to see him in office.
Wednesday, February 29, 2012
A Camie/Judd Day
Afterwards, Judd came over to my apartment and we made French toast with Nutella on it. I don’t know if anyone has ever tried it but it is DIVINE. My good friend Hannah Broom Stewart introduced it to me in high school and I have basically been hooked ever since. After taking the French toast off the pan, you immediately smother it in Nutella and let the chocolately-hazelnut yumminess sink in. Just writing about it is making my mouth water. It really is so good.
After breakfast was Arrested Development time. Judd and I are obsessed with that show. I am pretty sure that we watch at least one episode a day. We are almost done with it though and I have no idea what we are going to do when we do finish it. Everyone keeps telling us to just start another TV sitcom. Big Bang Theory anyone??? I’ve seen quite a few episodes and I am pretty sure that Judd will love it.
Anyway, after three hours of Arrested Development and a slow recovery from our Nutella coma, Judd and I went our separate ways for a few hours to shower, get ready for the day, and prepare to spend the rest of our time together studying in the library. However, “studying in the library” turned into “let’s talk for another three hours about nothing in particular.” Although I would like to say (and I know my mother would too) that I am upset about the “wasted time,” I really am not. In fact, I cherish the moments when Judd and I spend time together doing the little things in life. It seems like Judd and I have talked about everything in the world, but at the same time I feel like we always have new things to discuss. It really is so special to me and it is one of the reasons why I always get anxious to see him. I know that whenever I have a little story or piece of information he takes it in and really responds. I guess that is just another reason why he is my best friend.
Back to my Camie/Judd day, we eventually made it to the library to find it empty. I mean who really wants to spend their Friday night in the library—especially when there is a basketball game over in the Marriott. Do I feel like a loser when I spend my weekends in the library? Nope. This is what I did all last year too. But to defend my popularity bar, I will say that we left at 10:30pm. Of course, then I went home and went to bed so I guess that doesn’t really help my case. Good thing Judd still thinks I’m cool. And he is the only one that really matters, right? I sure hope so because it seems like he will be sticking around for quite some time and we will have a few more Camie/Judd days in the future.
Thursday, February 16, 2012
Soccer Games, Swollen Eyes, and Valentine's Day
However, I am pretty sure that two weeks ago that bar crashed and burned. Judd had a soccer game for his BYU intramural soccer team that I went to. As I was sitting there and imagining that I knew what was going on, my eyes started to itch. Not just one, both. It wasn’t a big deal and I assumed that if I went to the bathroom and washed them out that I would be fine. After looking in the bathroom mirror, I also noticed a hive on my neck and that my eyes were swelling. I panicked (which I am sure only made it worse) and debated on if I should go home or not. Judd only had a few minutes left in his game so I decided to stick it out until the end. Little did I know, my eyes were basically like a balloon and I would soon have a marshmallow face with slits for eyes. When the game ended I was getting plenty of strange looks from Judd’s teammates and many of them asking me if I was okay. That is when Judd saw me. I saw him muffle a gasp but his jaw still dropped. When he asked me if I was okay I knew I looked pretty bad. Everyone had been planning on going to Costa Vida after that game but Judd was determined to get me some Benadryl instead. I still didn’t believe it was that bad until we got into his car and I looked in the mirror. It was then my turn to gasp and have my jaw drop. Yeah. It was that bad. We rushed to the nearest Walgreens where Judd spent the next 15 minutes speaking to his dad on the phone of whether he should get me Children’s Liquid Benadryl or the regular pills. After coming to the consensus of the Children’s Benadryl (and me scratching my eyes out the whole time) I downed the bottle. Okay. Not really. And I am in no way endorsing OD-ing on Children’s Benadryl but I did take more than Judd and his dad suggested. I should’ve listened to them. I was passed out within the hour. Good thing Judd drove that day or else I would not have made it home. It was quite the adventure and I am very glad that I survived to tell the tale.
Switching gears completely now, two days ago was Valentine’s Day! For starters, I need to give my big sister Chelsea a shout out and wish her a happy 22nd birthday. Hope it was fantastic, big sis! Well my Valentine’s Day was fantastic. Like I was mentioning earlier about the supportive parents, every year before this one, they have been my Valentines. For instance, I have never been dating someone on the actually Valentine’s day before so I would wake up every morning on Valentine’s Day with a card and box of chocolates from my mom and dad (aren’t they the best?). This being said, I was pretty excited to have an actually Valentine (yes, I still got a phone call from my dad telling me that he had a card for me when I next saw him. He is such a sweetheart).
Anyway, Judd picked me up, blindfolded me, and took me to the car. We drove around for a while taking lots of twists and turns to get me lost (I have an internal GPS) and ended up parking. He got the door and led me still blindfolded to some stairs and then realized that he needed his keys to get in the “restaurant.” After opening it and leading me in, he took off the blindfold and I stood in his apartment with a home cooked meal and a candlelit dinner. Did I also mention that there were roses and chocolates on the table as well? It was perfect. We had yummy homemade chicken Alfredo (Mom is very impressed that he can cook) with parmesan bread and cut up strawberries we could dip in chocolate. It was very yummy.
However, there was one downfall from the evening and it was not Judd’s fault in any way. We had both gotten a little stomach bug over the weekend and although Judd was fully recovered, I wasn’t. I realized a little too late that I probably shouldn’t have eaten as much as I did and ran to his bathroom because I, unfortunately, couldn’t keep it down. I felt terrible but as soon as I exited the bathroom Judd had some mouthwash, gum, blankets, and Tangled waiting for me. The guy is a keeper for sure. We ended up cuddling and watching Tangled for the rest of the night (I am surprised he still wanted to be around me) and then took me home. It was a perfect evening and I am so grateful that he is in my life!
Tuesday, February 7, 2012
Bridesmaids
When I was in seventh grade, Becca Haynie, Katelyn Bleak—my two best friends—and I planned our weddings. I am pretty sure that mine involved lots of pink flowers, a big dance party, a giant chocolate fountain, and Katelyn and Becca as my bridesmaids. Here I am seven year later planning my wedding. It may not be exactly what it was back then, but one thing stayed the same: my bridesmaids. Last Monday I was able to go to lunch with Becca and Katelyn and officially asked them to be my bridesmaids. Maybe I took it to an extreme (I got them ring-pops and then “popped” the question), but it was such a fun, sentimental thing anyway.
We met up at Noodles and Company in Draper (yummy!) and all ended up ordering the same thing: the buttered noodles. I don’t know if any of you have tried them but they are DIVINE. I can’t even explain how many I find myself craving them. Next time you need a meal that is light but tasty, get them. And no, Noodles and Company is not paying me to endorse their product though they should. After the delicious meal, I pulled out my little gifts to give them. I am pretty sure that Becca knew what was going on, but Katelyn didn’t. I had them open it at the same time and luckily they both said yes! I am so excited to have them as my bridesmaids! I am almost as excited to have them as my bridesmaids as I am to have them wear their dresses that my mom and I found for them at the Wight House. It has been too much fun planning a wedding!
Monday, January 23, 2012
It is all about the little things...
Saturday night I endured the embarrassment as my parents met and dined with Judd’s parents for the first time. Joke! It was actually a really nice evening and I think everyone really enjoyed themselves. I figure that if Judd’s mom is still letting him marry me after my dad told them that I was their “special” child that we are past the point of no return. That is comforting. I think. Ha ha, no, it honestly was a really good night. There was only one thing that got to me. Our mothers started to speak about the wedding plans and that is kind of when it all became real to me. I think that for the past week I had been living in a dream/fantasy world where all of the wedding plans would just happen and that Judd and I would soon be married and riding off into the sunset. False. Luckily, Mom is really good at getting into the nitty-gritty stuff, especially when it comes to weddings (she has had at least three times to practice before). But I couldn’t help but feel completely lost. I wasn’t sure where to start or what exactly I should plan. Later that night after Judd’s parents had left and he and I were speaking on my couch, I told him about these feelings. You know when you’re talking to someone and you get the feeling that they are only half listening? I suddenly got that vibe from Judd and I glanced up at him. What was he doing? Flexing and checking out his muscles. Typical. But like I stated earlier, he was HALF listening, so he said simply, “Is this helping?” I couldn’t help but crack a smile and laugh. This silly boy is always making me laugh and smile. Just today he put on my roommates’ apron with frills and ruffles to help me cook dinner (please see the picture above). He really is the best and I feel so blessed that he is always there to make me smile. I guess it all just comes down to the little things that make all of the stress and worry worth it.
Friday, January 20, 2012
Gabrielle: The Make-up Consultant
One of the phone calls I received was from Gabrielle, a Clinique specialist at University Mall. I have to admit that the first time she called me I had no idea what she was talking about. She has a thick Peruvian accent and I was struggling following her when she informed me of who she was and what she wanted from me. I finally caught on after having her repeat herself at least four times (sorry!) and decided that I would come in today at noon to have a free make-up consultation. I was sold. I don’t have any classes on Friday so instead of bumming around and doing nothing, I figured that it would be a good excuse to get me out of bed (because homework definitely isn’t). I had Judd drop me off at the mall today (I had gone to some of his summer recruiting meetings with him this morning) and worked my way over to Macey’s and the Clinique counter.
You know that awkward feeling you get when you are trying to get someone in the store’s attention, but you don’t want to seem like THAT customer who is obnoxious and secretly hated by everyone nearby? I do. In fact, that was the feeling as I was randomly wandering about the counter looking at products that I will never use or need in my life. After a few uncomfortable moments, a small woman walked over to me and introduced herself as Gabrielle. Score. She found me. Her accent was just as I had remembered it on the phone but at least this time I could watch her lips and facial expressions. She sat me down and took off all of my make-up, the whole time complimenting me on my good looks (even if she was only trying to get me to buy her products, she sure made me feel good about myself). However, once the make-up was off, the real sale’s woman that she was came out. “You’re skin! It is so dry! Look at all of those dead skin cells!” Yup. She said that to me. Actually, it is more of a shriek and I noticed that others in Macey’s glanced over at where the voice was coming from. I am sure they were all thinking, “Man, am I glad I am NOT her. My skin is perfect and I know this because I have never had some Peruvian lady tell me that it isn’t.” Okay. Maybe they weren’t thinking exactly that, but I know that there had to be some kind of judgment upon me for not keeping my skin moisturized.
I could probably stop here and say that what Gabrielle said to me from here on out wasn’t much different, but then I would be skipping a key part of her. You see, even though she was insulting me with an accent that made me feel like I was a child being reprimanded, she was in the habit of calling me “sweetie.” She would say something like, “This moisturizer will make sure that those black circles under your eyes will be gone by your wedding, okay sweetie?” At least she was attempting to be nice to me. Personally, I think the more she called me that the more I began to like her. Gabrielle is someone that really grows on you the more time you spend with her. When we started to wrap up and she gave me a sales pitch, I couldn’t decide whether or not I wanted to buy the product because I needed it or because I liked her. However, being a poor college student who just recently quit her job to plan a wedding, I decided to pass but promised Gabrielle that if I ran into any money soon that I would come back in and buy her products.
So that was my adventure at the Clinique counter at Macey’s. Pretty exciting, I know. I have come to the conclusion that even though the ads, emails, and phone calls that I am getting can be annoying, maybe I should take advantages of the opportunities that these companies are giving me.
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
The Beginning
I struggled with the idea of whether or not I wanted to start this blog so soon. I knew that once I got married I would need to jump on the bandwagon and start one like my sisters, but I kind of liked the idea of starting one once I was engaged. I think that planning my wedding will be one of the most exciting events I have and I wanted to make sure that I remembered the process I went through for mine. So to appease that idea, I started this blog. I hope I am not jinxing myself. Brittany did a really good job of pointing that out, but luckily Becca came to my rescue and simply stated that I could delete it if something doesn’t work out. Thanks guys. I have such a supportive family J Well here I am, writing this blog because I feel that life isn’t just about the final destination, but also about the journey.
Two days ago I got a phone call from my boyfriend (and now fiancĂ©) Judd, asking me if I would meet with his stake president from Bountiful. He told me that they were very close and he wanted to meet me before we got engaged. I agreed to it. It seemed like a completely normal thing to me. Little did I know that when he asked me to “meet” with his stake president that he was actually asking me to marry him. So Sunday night rolls around and Judd and I began our trek to the Regional center. Regional center. Not stake center. I didn’t even notice that we were “meeting” with his president at the regional center instead of the stake center. However, Judd made it a point to tell me that they had just had stake conference there and that is why we were meeting him there instead of the stake center. We pulled up to the building and walked in to find an older gentleman posing as a secretary waiting for us. He informed us that the president was running a few minutes behind and invited us to wait there. In other words, that cute old man lied straight to my face. There was no president who was running behind. Of course, I didn’t know that so I just blindly followed Judd when he turned to the gentleman and informed him that we were going to walk around while we waited.
We began walking down the hallway to the main meeting area and made small talk about how this was where we both graduated from high school and how I attended his graduation without him even knowing it (my sister graduated with him). We then walked down the stairs into the main area and began walking towards the first place we ever really talked. A few months earlier during the summer, Judd came to my singles ward where we had first really seen each other. I am sure that we had probably seen each other in the halls at our high school or randomly around Bountiful, but neither of us can recall any of those moments. I remember him walking into the sacrament meeting and thinking he was cute. We didn’t talk or see each other for the rest of the Sunday meetings but after church there was a linger-longer up at the bowery. We both attended and ended up having our first encounter when he asked me if I was also looking for the garbage. To his surprise, (since I was holding a dirty, empty plate) was yes. We went on a trash-can finding adventure which lasted about 30 seconds and then parted ways.
Later that night there was a YSA fireside with Elder Ballard. I attended and afterwards was talking to some friends over at the spot where Judd took me last night. I couldn’t help but notice that he had been staring at me since I first walked over there. I guess he thought I was pretty cute because he had the guts to come over and speak to me. The first words out of his mouth? “Garbage girl, right?” Seriously. The guy is a charmer. I guess from that moment I knew I was hooked. I mean, who says that and finds that the girl he was trying to hit on is actually flirting back with him. However, his luck must have temporarily ran out on him because he later admitted that, although he wanted to, he couldn’t have asked for my number with my date and his date standing so near. But fortune did smile upon him and later that evening at the refreshment table (typical) we met up again and he mentioned that since we were both going to BYU in the fall, we should exchange numbers and hang out. This is when I pulled out my smooth moves and put my number in his phone. I didn’t ask for him to give me his number. I knew that I would be getting a call or text from him within the next few days. Turns out I was right and it all snowballed from there.
So back to the engagement story. Judd and I had walked to the exact spot where he had used that clever pick-up line. Knowing that I was not going to get engaged that night, I thought it was sweet and sentimental that we were standing there. I couldn’t help but get butterflies in my stomach for a second. After all, this is the place where we first talked and realized that there was probably a mutual attraction deep down. I realized that had we not been at that fireside that night that we would not be standing there now. I realized how lucky I was to be in the perfect spot at that exact moment where I could meet the guy I had been waiting for my whole life (Editor’s note: Please excuse all of the mushy-ness, but since I just got engaged I feel that I have every right to act like this). Judd kept walking and suggested that we go on the stand. I figured that we were going to have a mock stake conference only to have the stake president walk in and reprimand us, but to my shock (and I was VERY shocked) something else entirely different happened. We rounded the corner and started to walk up the stairs. Judd spoke to me in his I-am-trying-to-act-like-I-am-talking-like-I-am-nervous-on-purpose voice and asked, “What is this?” I turned to see roses. Big roses. Red roses. Yellow roses. A huge vase full of roses. Next an apple cider champagne bottle. Two glasses. A box. A ring. The most beautiful ring I’ve ever seen in my life. The ring. I stopped moving. I couldn’t catch my breath. The tears were coming. The tears were overflowing.
Judd had to drag me the rest of the way up the stairs because I couldn’t move. I wasn’t even sure if it was real life or if I was just having a very realistic dream. At this point though, it didn’t matter because Judd had grabbed the ring and was on one knee in front of me. He was laughing and smiling and I couldn’t help but notice that he was also a little teary eyed. He told me he loved me. I knew he did. And then he popped the question. He asked me if I would marry him. Looking back, it all seems like this giant whirlwind and everything was blurred together and I can only remember saying yes through my sobs. Like I said, I was surprised. So surprised. I have never been more surprised or felt that way before in my entire life. I wouldn’t have traded that feeling for the world, though. It was perfect. Everything had been perfect about it.
Judd grabbed the cider and poured us a glass. I guess he figured that since I gave him the answer he wanted, he could sit back and relax and not stress out over it anymore. But I highly doubt that it is easy to sit there while the person next to you is hyperventilating. But I guess that is something that I have always liked about Judd. He has always been able to act so cool in any kind of a situation. In fact, after finishing his glass of cider, he figured it would be cool to drink mine as well. So he did. Then he decided to mention that we were being recorded and that my two best friends, Becca and Katelyn, were hiding behind the curtains. He whistled to call them out and we reenacted the whole scene to take pictures. I couldn’t have been happier. Even today I feel that I have been walking on cloud nine and doubt I will ever come down. It isn’t everyday that your best friend tells you that he wants to be with you forever. Judd has been one of the greatest blessings in my life and I can’t wait to begin my life with him.
Yeah... He is pretty cute.