Nutrition Expert

ac·com·plish·ment
–noun
1. an act or instance of carrying into effect; fulfillment: the accomplishment of our desires.
2. something done admirably or creditably: Space exploration is a major accomplishment of science.
3. anything accomplished; deed; achievement: a career measured in a series of small accomplishments.
4. Often, accomplishments.
a. a grace, skill, or knowledge expected in polite society.
b. any acquired ability or knowledge.

Tonight I accomplished something not so great, that felt really great after completion! I finally finished my summer nutrition class! It was a pretty easy, laid back class, and I enjoyed it. Being the procrastinator that I am, I saved up all the course quizzes for this last week and a half - two weeks. I guess I just assumed a quiz would be a quick 5-10 questions, quick, easy and done-with thing, but as I started taking them I realized my assumption was quite false. 17 quizzes, each consisting of 25 or more questions each, 50 question midterm and final, and one 20 question orientation quiz later.............. I'm done!! I think I should get some type of award, because I'm pretty sure I just read my entire nutrition book from front cover to back cover in less than two weeks! I can now use my newly discovered bits of information and create a healthy diet and life-style of activity for myself. Think it will really happen?? Doubtful.

Learning

My favorite quote for today is one I read a few days ago on Aunt Jody's wall in her kitchen. At the time I simply read it and only noticed the word 'too' was used incorrectly, but as the week has gone on, I've found myself restating the quote to myself. It's simple, but true, and goes like this,

"When life gets too hard to stand, kneel."

Behind the quote on Aunt Jody's wall was the word Prayer. Prayer is a great blessing. Sometimes I forget to pray, and I can always tell when I do by how my days pass by. I read a talk once on prayer, I don't remember when I read it, where it was, or who wrote it, but it talked about how our Father in Heaven just wants to talk to us, that's all. He just wants to make sure we're doing okay, he wants to make sure we're doing good things, noticing our blessings, and finally presenting our troubles to him in hopes that he can help us make the best decision.

Decisions are hard. I'm glad I have prayer.

Three Months

Three months today that I've been dating Dallin! Three months today that Dallin kissed me for the first time! Three months today since I had the biggest butterflies of my life! Three months today since I wondered if I was doing the right thing! Three months today since I made a great decision! Dallin is wonderful, here are three things I like about him. 1. He's my best friend. We get to hang out everyday, and there's no one else I'd rather spend time with. 2. He's a great listener. Even though he rarely does something that make me angry, if he does, once he's told, I can always, always see him trying hard to fix it. It's really easy to see him trying to do better, which is what we're here for, so I really look up to him for this. and 3. He cares about me. For the first time ever, I've never had to wonder if my boyfriend really likes me, cares about me, and worries for me. He always lets me know how much he cares for me, through words AND actions. Words are really important to me, so I'm really grateful that he uses them, and uses them very well! :)

Pioneer Day

For the 24th this year, I went with some friends to sleep down town for the parade. I absolutely loved it! When I was little, my single mother used to pack up her 5 daughters and take us down to the parade to sleep over. I remember looking and listening to all the different, slightly crazy, people and wondering why my mom wanted us to sleep there. It was so much fun though, I loved staying up all night playing games, watching the police monitor the streets, but mostly having a great adventure! I hated all the bugs. Sleeping at the parade was one of my favorite traditions. I can't remember why we stopped doing it though, so I was really excited when Jessica told me that's what they were doing for this year. I immediately accepted and asked Dallin if he wanted to go. It was exactly how I remembered it. We stayed up playing scatergories, watched the crazy people, and all the police were there on guard. It's weird how life changes once you're old enough to take care of yourself though. It felt weird being the one to pack up all the bedding, make sure to have treats, water, chairs and an umbrella for the hot heat we'd feel the next morning. The weirdest part was finding somewhere to park. I never thought about that obstacle when I was little! It was a really fun night, even though we didn't get much sleep!

The next morning Dallin and I went to Farmington to spend the day with my family. We both fell asleep instantly on the couch, and along with this got made fun of by Damian for his inability to tell if it was one or two people asleep on the couch. We were both really tired. After our nap we had a BBQ, all my siblings were able to come (except John and Sarah, both were missed). We ended our night with fireworks. This year Kara was the lighter- she did a good job, she is a lot like John. It was another great 24th of July.

Just another day..

These are the three faces I see everday, all day. Aren't they beautiful? If they look a little crazy, it's because they are! Annabelle, Ashley, and Georgia. I actually am happy to say this is my full time job. I love watching them, and getting paid for it. Although they can get cranky, and sometimes I feel overwhelmed, they are adorable.

These are the moments I love about my job.

Clouds That Look Like Mountains in The Sky

Last night I finally saw John Mayer in concert! For a good two years of my life, John Mayer was all the music I listened to. I remember driving home from a night of hanging out in Salt Lake City, I'd find John Mayer on my ipod, turn the music up as loud as it would go, and just sit back and soak it in. Kara always fell asleep. When I first started doing this, she complained she didn't like the music, but sooner than later, she knew all the words and told me she too, loved listening to John Mayer on our late night drives home. The concert was great, partly because the music was great, but mostly because I was with my friends, and of course Dallin. Dallin is such a sweetheart. He bought the tickets and refused to let me pay him back. I will have to find something great to do for him, because I can't believe he did that for me. It was a beautiful and fun night.

LagOOn

I'm way behind on my blogging, but last Thursday we went to Lagoon, and it was a blast! Glenn made us all t-shirts, they were a hit! On Wednesay night, Sarah, Kara, Dallin, Heather, Glenn and I all set out to make all the shirts. It took a LONG, long time, but everybody loved them! We made 180 shirts. Everyone in the extended family got one, and all day people at Lagoon were asking us what "Hammond" was?! They couldn't believe us when we told them we were family. "No, no, there's too many of you to be family", they all said. That's what I love, having a HUGE family. There is never a dull moment, and you always have plenty of friends! It's always fun to see all the cousins and visit with everyone, Dallin was an extra hit this year. All my Aunts and Uncles were interested in seeing who he was, and making sure he was a good guy for me. Don't worry, I'm 99% sure they all approve!

San Francisco (or close to)

This last week I was able to spend my time with some of my family in San Francisco. We were actually about an hour and a half outside of it in a place called, Bodega Bay. It was very pretty there. It was mostly fun to just be able to spend all my time with my family. I see my family plenty, but I haven't lived with them for awhile and it was fun. Maryjane, Kara and I all shared a room. It was a little crowded, but mostly just fun. My favorite part of sharing a room were the late night talks before we fell asleep. I remember having conversation after converstion with my sisters as we lay in bed each night when I was little, and this was fun to bring the memories back. Most the time we would end up in roaring laughter and drift to sleep shortly after. I don't have any pictures of the most adventurous part of the vacation, but on our last day there we all rented canoes and went down the Russian River. It was a lot of fun, even though the river was really shallow and our canoe got beached multiple times. I was in the front of the canoe, Alisha was in the back doing the steering, and Maryjane in the middle just sitting and enjoying the view. Even though my back is really sore and tight from the experience, it was probably one of my favorite things. We spent one day inside of San Fran, and that was fun too. I got to hold a live crab and see all the sights. The shopping wasn't too shabby either.The bay was really pretty, and I loved going down to the beach at sunset, it was so gorgeous. Bodega Bay was a really small town, and got a little boring at times. The first night there my mom, my sisters and I took a walk, and I quickly discovered that it was a very cute, and fun little town. I had a really fun time, but whenever I'm gone too long I miss my home, so I'm happy to be home!

Red, White, and Blue

Happy 4th of July! The 4th is one of my favorite holidays! It always seems like summer's way of saying, I'm Here!! My favorite thing about the 4th is all the red, white, and blue. For one, it reminds me how lucky I am to live in this country, but it also gets me excited for all the 4th of July festivities.

This 4th was a little different than most. Usually, my family gets together and has a BBQ and then we do fireworks. This year my family did not get together. I think it was mostly because we could barely get ourselves together knowing John would not be there this year. John has always been the designated firework-lighter. It's so fun to watch him strategically place the fireworks in the street and then walk down the line and light each of them. My favorite thing is watching for the sparkle in his eye, it is brighter than the fireworks, he always looks so proud. This 4th of July, I missed John a lot.

Although, I wasn't able to spend the fourth with my family, I was very lucky to be able to spend it with Dallin and some friends. Dallin's family apparently always eats fried chicken on the 4th, and he couldn't comprehend not doing so, therefore, Dallin and I drove ourselves to buy some fried chicken. It was fun to eat it in the park together. I decided that fried chicken is a tradition that will be easy to adopt, it was tasty! :)

After our traditional meal, we met up with some friends at Holladay Elementary. I've never been able to spend the 4th with friends, I enjoyed myself last night. Teresa was there, and it was very fun to lay next to her on the blanket and watch the fireworks. I consider myself very lucky to have such great friends. My favorite part of the night was snuggling up to Dallin and watching all the sparkly, loud colors of fireworks fill the sky. It was very romantic to be with him. Following the fireworks, we all made our way to Teresa's house and went for a midnight swim. All in all, yesterday was a great 4th of July, even if it was different than the rest.

"Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe, to assure the survival and success of liberty." -John Fitzgerald Kennedy

Happy Birthday Sarah

This is a day late, but yesterday was Sarah's birthday. Happy Birthday Sarah. Here we go with another list, these are the things I've noticed and love about Sarah;

-She has a great sense of humor. She knows how to make a group of people laugh until they pee their pants and it's always more fun when she's around.

-She loves children. She spoils the nieces and nephews rotten, but they all love her the most and there's no doubt about how much she loves them.

-She's a hard worker. Growing up, I always thought she was super cool when she'd go to work. She bought her own car at a young age, and has always shown through example, the importance of work ethic.

-She loves her family. She gets along with all her siblings and makes it obvious her love for them. Every year she remembers birthdays, and even though she lives farthest away, she sends gifts in the mail.

-She loves her husband. I've always heard you're supposed to marry your best friend, but not until I saw Sarah and Eric interact was it that I realised what they meant by that. She's devoted to him, she loves him, and she takes care of him.

-Sarah is a great example to me. Even though it's hard for her to say the words "I love you", I've never questioned it. I remember getting little notes and letters from her throughout my life. The time I went to Beehive Camp and thought I was going to die from being homesick, I got a letter in the mail from Sarah rooting me on and telling me she loves me. When I started high school, I remember being terrified and when I woke up to go to school I found a note next to my bed from Sarah telling me she loves me and good luck on my first day.

-When I hit my first "big bump" in life, although I was terrified to tell anyone, Sarah knew something was wrong, and without even telling details she comforted me and helped me remember my self worth and that I could move on. She helped me remember that I'm a good person and made it very clear how much she cared about me. I distinctly remembering the conversation we had, because it made me feel 100 times better knowing my older sister cared.

Sarah, I hope you have a great 23rd year. Thanks for being a great older sister. I love you.

a picture is worth a million words

I love pictures.

I love memories.

Here are a few of my favorite loves..

I love nature. I love Spring Break.
I love me and Teresa are friends. I love our mom's are friends.

I love kisses. I love a best friend.

I love Fall. I love school. I love roommates.

I love Gamma. I love instant friends, close friends.

I love Ashley. I love that she loves me. I love sleepovers.

I love babies.

I love nieces and nephews. I love when they love eachother.

I love playing dress-ups.

I love Bill. I miss Bill. I loved when he'd tell me I'm beautiful.

I love the beach. I love running. I love my mom.

I love my sisters.

I love my friends.

I love Lauren. I love that we can read eachother perfectly.