I want...

to go back to this day!

life was easier and much less complicated!
if i close my eyes, it's almost like i'm back here.
Here, where the people in my life were my best friends, we shared everything, we shared our lives.
Here i was happy, so happy.
i went to school, i went to work, i went to the library (and laughed my head off in the library)!
Here i ate bagels and cheez its.
and just for tonight, i'm going back there!

I have a blog!

I haven't blogged in 6 months! I'd forgotten that i even had a blog!

The first 3 months of my blog hiatus were because i had nothing to blog about. i was getting ready to go back to school and really the only thing i would have written about were my anxious feelings about returning to school. The past 3 months I could have written about so many things- starting graduate school, my impressions of BYU, my new friends, ward, roommates, boys...but i've been busy doing all of those things to sit down and write about it!

But today i decided that i want to sit down and write about my cohort!

when i say "cohort", most people have no idea what on earth i am talking about- my cohort are the 9 (now 8) people that i take all of my classes with and will take all of my classes with for the next 2 years, but my cohort has now become the term that i use when i talk about my best friends. i love these people more than i thought i could love people after knowing them only 2 months!

This is my cohort!

We are goofy but i love us!

Erin, Hayley

Ben, Elizabeth, Victoria, Jason

Me, Alex, Danielle and Ruthann

I spend a good chunk of my time with these incredible people and i am so grateful for each and every one of them! We are all different which makes us such an incredible group, but i'm learning more and more that we are more alike than it seems.

i love these people!
and you should love them too!

ROOMMATE REUNION!

(thanks Shan'tel for the picture!)

Last weekend, a miracle happened!

5 years ago, i moved into an apartment full of wonderful girls! wonderful girls that became the best friends i've ever had! oh i love my 308 girls!

after we all lived together and went our separate ways, we promised that we would get together and see each other from time to time! at the time we said every year, but we realized that wasn't realistic! about 2 1/2 years ago, we all got together in Rexburg.

and the miracle is that last weekend, we were all going to be in the western United States!

Kayla moved to Virginia a year ago, but her and her family are in Boise for the summer!

Becca lives in Texas but was spending a few weeks in Utah.

that meant that we were all in Idaho or Utah!

that was too good a chance for us to pass up!

by some miracle, we made it possible to all get together in Utah for a day!!

and it was a wonderful day!

we met up in the morning and talked and caught up. we made some spaghetti for lunch and then spent the afternoon at the wetlands conservation...which was an incredibly special place to the experienced eye! it was mostly a wetlands with a boardwalk throughout. Tayler took care of the kids (thank you Tayler) so us girls got to just walk and talk and be together!

the rest of the afternoon was spent talking, napping and shopping. we made a bbq dinner and enjoyed the beautiful weather on the back porch! it was a lovely evening! it was so good to just all be together like old times!

we ended the evening with a trip to Dairy Queen for our roommate tradition of Blizzards! (p.s. I just joined the Blizzard Fan Club!) we have always loved Blizzards, and it was so great to get together in our favorite place! we ate Blizzards, laughed and cried while laughing! it was so like old times, i almost believed we were back in Rexburg and it was like we were still living together!

many years have passed, and we've had 3 marriages, 3 kids with 2 on the way, moved thousands of miles away but we are still wonderful friends! i am so grateful to have had Megan, Kayla, Shan'tel and Becca as my roommates and i'm so blessed that they are still my best friends!

i love you ladies!

Mr. and Mrs. Olsen 2!!

Introducing Mr. and Mrs. Olsen!! another wedding! yes we've been doing weddings a lot around here! Taylor and Courtnie got married on May 21, 2011! happy day!! i now have sister #2!

I got to be a bridesmaid for my lovely new sister!
she picked the most beautiful colors- purple and gray! i loved it! everything was beautiful and she was the most beautiful of all!

look at me and my beautiful sisters!

we tramped out to this field to take pictures and although it was a little inconvenient, the pictures turned out amazing!! good thing Court had a helper!

i love this sister of mine!

and look at my studly brothers! dang, they are freaking handsome!

Taylor and Courtnie are one good looking couple! don't you think?

my family is growing! and we are loving it! and we are a good looking bunch of people! :)

me and Lindsey waiting while the boys take pictures! we took a lot of pictures, and Dallan smiled through them all, a great improvement from the last wedding!

the church looked really beautiful! the ceremony was lovely, and that little ringbearer was adorable! you rocked that bowtie Jack!

"I now pronounce you husband and wife!!"
they are one happy couple!

it was a great night and we had a blast celebrating wedding #2!

Taylor and Courtnie are happily married and off on their honeymoon! thankfully they are going to live close by for a while, so we still get to see them! love you two! :)

Congrats my brother and new sister!

WICKED!!

This weekend i got to go see Wicked!!

for the second time!

It only gets better the second time!

3 years ago, we saved up our money and Shan'tel, Heather, Jessica, Ryan and I made a long trip to LA to see Wicked! it was the best trip ever! totally worth every cent!

about a year ago, we found out that Wicked was coming to Boise! the fact that a Broadway touring company was coming to Boise was huge! so my parents, my neighbors and everyone i know rushed to get tickets. i was dumb and didn't get a ticket because i thought to myself,

"self, you've already seen Wicked, you can't really justify spending $80 to $100 on a ticket, you've already seen it, you don't need to see it again."

so time passes, and Wicked comes to town last weekend. i babysat for my neighbors while they went to Wicked and i was more jealous than i've ever been!! green with envy you might say!

i didn't have a ticket and i wanted one!! but the show had been sold out for weeks- what is a girl to do!?!? thankfully, i didn't have to do a thing!

a week before, my friend Dustin texted me and told me that his mom and sisters were going to Boise to see Wicked. i told him i was super jealous and that his mom and sisters should sneak me in....fast forward a couple of days...Dustin's sister Kati texts me and tells me that they have an extra ticket, and it's mine if i want it!! HECK YES I WANT IT!! it was the best news i heard all day, all week even. maybe the best news all month!

as it turned out, the Peters sisters had ordered tickets a year ago, like so many smart people had done, but they had never received their tickets in the mail. they called the company, the company apologized and offered to upgrade their tickets to the 11th row and to give them an extra ticket at half price!!! AHHHH!

BEST DEAL EVER!

the girls mentioned to Dustin they had an extra ticket, thank heavens he didn't want to go and thank my lucky stars that he knew i wanted to go!!

so not only did i get a ticket to Wicked, i got an 11th row ticket at half price!!!

The show was spectacular!! i had forgot how truly breathtaking it is!! when Elphaba sings Defying Gravity, it took my breath away!

BEST SHOW EVER!

next time i have a chance to see it, i'm not wasting time getting my ticket!!

Mr. and Mrs. Olsen!

Saturday, April 16, 2011 was an exciting day!Brenen Thomas Olsen and Lindsey Renae Despain were married for time and all eternity!

my little brother is a married man!

They are darling and i'm so happy for them!

I'm happy for my brother and so happy to now have a sister!! The almost newlyweds! Taylor and Courtnie are getting married in 5 weeks, my 22 year old and 18 year old brothers getting married 5 weeks apart- who would have thought?

Oh how i love my siblings!! (and my new sisters)!

sorry Court, the dang photographer got in the way and hid you in the picture!

THE HAPPY COUPLE!

SOOO glad my Vegas cousins came to visit!

I love you Linz and Paige!

i'm so glad i got to see you

and even more glad i get to see you soon! :)

my studly brothers!

look how grown up they are!

the cake!

Me and Courtnie, my soon to be sister!

It was a long day, and Dallan had had enough! although, this was his face for most of the day!

It's official...

I'm going to Brigham Young University!!

i officially accepted the offer to attend on Sunday!

i'm going to BYU in the school psychology program!

i'm going to become a school psychologist!

oh my heck, oh my heck, oh my heck!

it's real now.

for the past year, i've been in the process of applying and getting ready for graduate school, but now it's done. I'M IN!

and now the hard part, actually going back to school!

yikes!

but the good news is- i have a plan for my life and it's looking good!

i've applied to graduate school and i got into a great one!

HOORAY FOR ME!