WE like to PARTY

4 days after I got home from school, my parents took us all (including Maren, Bryan, & E but minus Hayley) down to Cabo for a week. We spent the week laying by the pool, playing uno, eating Costco muffins, drinking LOTS of water, going into town, and enjoying each others company. There was also a fishing trip adventure (I can now safely say I am NOT a fan of fishing in the ocean) and a jet ski adventure (I AM a fan of these). Overall it was a wonderful week of family, sun, and being lazy. What a perfect combination!

Here are some pictures from our trip:

View from my room

 Before the fishing trip (before we knew what we really got ourselves into)

 At least we all caught a fish! (except dad) We went home early...

 hahahaha this kid loves the beach/sand!

 After riding jet skis (that was a BLAST!)

 E seriously spent so much time in the pool the whole trip. Couldn't resist this picture

 And these last two are just precious. Look how cute he is in that little baby tank!

As you can tell, we LOVED having little E along for the adventure. We were all joking that he was going to have withdrawls when he got home because there wouldn't be 6 extra people wanting to hold him at all times! hahaha We sure did love the extra time with Maren, Bryan, and Easton.

I do have some pretty funny stories about fishing and jet skiing, but I think this post is long enough for now. I will post again later about them. I am so thankful for the family I have and trips like this that bring us closer. We missed you Hayley! Next time you better be there because it is not a complete party without you!

I hope everyone is having a fun and safe summer!

Home Sweet Home

Man, I love this place.

(Photo is from Spring Break. Pipes beach)

We got home yesterday around 2 and my mom immediately took my sisters and I to the beach. I live in paradise. I am convinced of that. I am so happy to be home. Anyway, I was pretty tired last night and slept the best I have slept in 7 months. I love my bed, my room, my house, the sound of the ocean, the smell of this place, the PERFECT weather, and being with my family again. Seriously, I couldn't be happier right now. Sorry for ranting about this wonderful place ;)

While I am happy to be home, I do miss my roommate. Annie Platt. She is the best. We had some really great times together and I am thankful for those memories. This was a stressful semester for us both, but we always found time to mess around and laugh together. I thank her for that :) It really was one of the best semesters yet. I miss her. Some of the things I will never forget about this semester are:

-Playing games of basketball with Annie, Ryan, and Keith and having things get very competitive sometimes (especially when a DQ blizzard was involved)!

-sleep walking and scaring Annie to death, pretty much every night. (I don't remember these things, but the stories every morning will be missed)

-Hearing hilarious/horrible stories from Ryan and Keith about working at Bernett

-group dates, staying in or going out :)

-laughing with Annie at our goofy boyfriends and the things they would do

-setting up a kiddie pool and watching Annie and Ryan try to fit in it together (when Ryan would share)

-tanning on the lawn after classes

-yelling at the man mowing the lawn at 7 am every day

-dealing with crazy people/roommates and laughing with Annie about it all

and getting to share a room with one of the most amazing, thoughtful, sweet, and funny people I know.

Thank you Annie for a wonderful semester :) You really are the greatest!

Now, time to get going on that list of things to do this summer...I keep adding more! Good thing I have 5 months here! Love you all!

xoxo

ciao, 

Paige

One with Nature

I'm a little late on this blog post, sorry.

Better late than never, right?

Last weekend Hayley came and got me Friday afternoon to go on a little 24 hour adventure. When she got here we went and got doughnuts and lots of trail mix, a tent, and water from Walmart. Where were we going you might ask? 

Just this little place called Yellowstone, aka Bear Country.

For those who know me and think that I don't seem like the kind of person who would enjoy camping/hiking adventures...I would say, "That my friends, is a false assumption. I actually enjoy being one with nature. For a limited time." 

Anyway, our adventure was a lot of fun. We drove through a little bit of Montana and into Wyoming to the park, saw Old Faithful, lots of trees, bison, elk, more trees, caught a whiff of some smelly sulfur, and observed a beautiful waterfall in the canyon. It was a really beautiful trip. We got caught in a pretty gnarly thunder/rain/lightening storm on the way over but after that the weather was perfect. On the way home we drove through the Teton National Park, which was equally as beautiful as Yellowstone. Don't worry, I took plenty of pictures. 142 to be exact. 

The clouds rollin in

 Yes, that is hail

 SO green!

 This is for Hayley. "Those people are just living the dream!" *Notice man zipping up his pants on the left....we were stopped in this line of cars for some time.

Oh, joy

 This was our "Tent of Love" I encourage you to ask Hayley about her slogan for it!

 Bison. Right there, practically on the road...really kind of scary

 Waterfall in the canyon

 Top of the small mountain hike we went on

 Right by the lake. (photo product of self timer..)

 The Grand Tetons

I just couldn't resist this last photo. We tried to take another self timer photo without the door in it and this is what we got. Wind storm+self timer=

Overall, it was a really fun trip. I am so glad Hayley took me with her. It was a lot of driving for her and I know she was extremely exhausted by the end, but I'm glad we did it. I love her so much and am so grateful to have her as one of my older sisters. She is a great example to me. Plus, she really knows how to party! 

Love you Hayley. Thanks for such a memorable 24 hours! 

There really isn't much more to write. This week has gone pretty fast. It was Keith's birthday on Tuesday but it rained so we didn't get to go golfing, which is what he REALLY wanted to do. We did hang out and watch Sports Nation, open presents, and go out to dinner. It was low key, but fun :) Since we didn't do much during the day, I didn't take any pictures. I apologize to those who wanted to see some. I think Keith is ok with no photos being taken on his birthday....he doesn't really love to be in them hahaha. 

Everything is good here though. School is FINALLY wrapping up and the weather has been pretty good. This next week is going to be a little bit insane, I just know it. Its finals/moving out week which is never a good combination. Lots of stress and things to do with hardly enough time. Oh well, I will be home in 8 days! So close.

I love you all and will see you SO SOON! 

ciao 

Paige

**If you want to see more pictures, there is a whole album on my facebook. Feel free to check em out :)

4th of July; We love America!

As we all know, yesterday was the 4th of July. You know, that day we honor America by lighting fireworks, going to the fair or beach, getting drunk all day (not all, but most of america does this), having a bbq, etc. You get the picture. We party. In honor of our wonderful country. I grew up celebrating the 4th of July on the beach or going to small bbq's so coming to Idaho and spending the 4th up here has been quite an experience. This place has a lot of patriotism. A LOT of it. Last year it was on a Sunday, so there wasn't much partying going on up here but that weekend Keith, Scott, Christina, and I went to a fair in pocatello for the evening to watch fireworks. Keith and I decided that was a bit of a trek for one night and some fireworks so we wanted to do something a little closer to Rexburg this year. After some research and a little bit of nagging on my part, Keith and I decided that Jackson Hole, Wyoming would be a fun place to spend the day. Annie and Ryan came along and it was so fun! It is a little less than 2 hours to get there and the drive was beautiful! I took some pictures (some of you may have noticed my facebook is gone) so I could share them on here. It was a lot of fun going and I am so glad Annie and Ryan could join us :)

On our way!

Pretty yellow flowers in the fields

Still snow!?

First things first, picnic time in Jackson Hole!

This is for you Lauren!

After Annie climbed up and sat on one of these extremely expensive wolf statues...

Best picture ever.

"We didn't have to break a bears legs to pet one Paigey!"

I thought these were pretty funny

Lauren, for you again! There was so much moose merchandise in that store, made me think of you!

We had such a great time that on our way home we had to get a picture by the Wyoming sign

We wore them out! hahaha

After our day in Jackson Hole we decided we would buy some fireworks and light em off ourselves. I mean, it's legal here so why not!? We were going to stay in Jackson Hole for their fireworks, but they weren't going to happen until 10 pm and we didn't want to drive home that late. We ate at this Mangy Moose restaurant for dinner at the Teton Village Ski Resort. That resort was pretty awesome. Really pretty out there at this time of year too...Anyway, we got back and Annie and I took Keith's car to get some fireworks for later that night. We came back and all sat out on our lawn to see if there would be any firework shows in Rexburg. There were a lot of people lighting off their own so Keith and I went up and sat on the hill above our complex. We could see all of Rexburg from there and got to watch quite a few firework shows! They weren't super awesome, but they were good enough for me. Fireworks are my favorite part of the 4th of July, so I am glad I got to see some!

Annie and her "wand"

We had other fireworks besides sparklers, but we didn't get them on camera. Hope everyone had a wonderful 4th and stayed safe! Love you all!

xoxo
ciao
P.

I sure do love those oldies!

As you can probably tell (or I guess hear), I gave my blog a tiny little makeover. I got bored with a silent blog and felt the need to add some tunes. The whole playlist is oldies (which I sure do love!) which will hopefully give you a pleasant reading experience.

I am currently sitting in the Ricks building (where my psychology class is held) doing my math homework. I luckily checked my email right before class and discovered that my class had been canceled. Lucky me! Except, that is one of my favorite classes....I would have been a lot happier if my science class was canceled. But that will never happen. Anyway, it's 4th of July weekend! Only one class today, water balloon fight tomorrow, relaxing allllll Sunday, Jackson Hole on Monday, and one class on Tuesday! yes, this will be a wonderful weekend. I'm sure of that. Only 3 more weeks here in Rexburg! wow! Time sure has flown by in these last few months. There are only four days this next week, then Keith's birthday the next week, finals after that, and then the looooong trek home. I'm really excited if you couldn't tell. haha. I am excited to go home, get a job (I know mom and dad, try not to pass out from that one), eat sushi, play with my fast growing nephew, hang with the fam, and lay on the beach. That's all I'm going to do for 5 months. Be jealous :)

I must go now, I have some math homework here in desperate need of my attention. I will talk to (and SEE) you all soon!

Love you guys so much!
ciao,
Paige